MUSI 1010 Introduction to Music

Bonnie Gordon
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 11:00-11:50 pm / Maury 104
Class Number: 18563

Discussion Sections:

Section 101 (Stephanie Gunst): F / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 18564

Section 102 (Stephanie Gunst): F / 1:00-1:50 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 18565

Section 103 (Stephanie Gunst): F / 2:00-2:50 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 18566

Sound / Music / Noise

What is the difference between music and sound? What did it feel like to listen to music in a world before car alarms and amplified sound? What were the technological equivalents of headphones and Spotify in previous centuries? When you hear Opera does it make you cringe or swoon? What does your favorite playlist reveal about your identity, your history?   How can you listen more carefully and intentionally to your world? This class is designed to guide you towards answering these questions for yourselves. This class explores primarily Western music in various historical contexts. The class is rooted in the classical music canon.  But it also explores the cultural biases implied by the very notion of a canon.  We will learn new ways to hear a selection of pieces from the musical canon; listening to composition, improvisation, text-music relations, the representation of dramatic stories, the expression of religious ideas, and performance. We will also read what writers of the time said about music. We will get to know some pieces of music extremely well; the aural experience of reading a book until it’s binding has frayed.

MUSI 1310 Basic Musical Skills

3.0 credits

Lecture / Section 1 (Jeff Decker): MWF / 9:00-9:50 am / OCH 107
Class Number: 11058

Lecture / Section 2 (Justin Mueller): MWF / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH 107
Class Number: 11059

Lecture / Section 3 (Kevin Davis): MWF / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH 107
Class Number: 11060

Study of the rudiments of music and training in the ability to read music.  Prerequisite: No previous knowledge of music required.

MUSI 1993 Independent Study

1.0 - 3.0 credits
Instructor permission and instructor number required to enroll.

MUSI 2070 Popular Music

Noel Lobley
3.0 credits
Lecture: MW / 9:00-9:50 am / Minor 125
Class Number: 15335

Discussion Sections:

Section 101 (Courtney Kleftis): M / 1:00-1:50 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 15336

Section 102 (Courtney Kleftis): W / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH 113
Class Number: 15337

Section 103 (Courtney Kleftis): W / 1:00-1:50 pm / OCH 113
Class Number: 15338

Section 104 (Tanner Greene): M / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH S008
Class Number: 18573

Section 105 (Tanner Greene): M / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH S008
Class Number: 18574

Section 106 (Tanner Greene): M / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 18575

Scholarly and critical study of music circulated through mass media. Specific topic for the semester (e.g. world popular music, bluegrass, country music, hip-hop, Elvis Presley) announced in advance. No previous knowledge of music required.

Love, fame and money; heartbreak, obscurity and the rise and fall of immense industries. Popular musics touch, move, drive and become almost everyone on the planet, and yet how do we study the songs and sounds we hear everywhere and everyday. What makes music popular? Why do we like music? What identities, values and messages do we share through popular music?

In this course we will connect a dizzying range of popular music genres –from rock to reggae, from global hip hop to country, from EDM to love ballads – tracing fascinating stories that inevitably link love and temptation, money and crime, dreams and death.

Our special topics will include a close look at global hip hop, global rock, and the rise and fall of the recording industries.

MUSI 2110 Music in Everyday Life

Michelle Kisliuk
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 2:00-2:50 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 18579

Discussion Sections:

Section 101 (Kyle Chattleton): W / 9:00-9:50 am / OCH S008
Class Number: 18580

Section 102 (Kyle Chattleton): W / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH S008
Class Number: 18581

Section 103 (Kyle Chattleton): W / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH S008
Class Number: 18582

What is the soundscape of our quotidian (everyday) experience? How does it condition our consciousness, and what implicit cultural messages circulate within our ever-changing daily soundtracks? This course focuses our attention not on music highlighted in performance, but on that which we usually take for granted. A close look at how music works in our everyday lives can offer a new awareness of our ongoing experience, open us to choices we never thought we had, and get us wondering about the depths of aesthetic experience.

MUSI 2302 Keyboard Skills (Beginning)

2.0 credits, instructor permission

Lecture / Section 1 (Craig Comen): TR / 11:00 am - 12:15 pm / OCH 113
Class Number: 11062

Lecture / Section 2 (John Mayhood): TR / 12:30-1:45 pm / OCH 113
Class Number: 14276

Introductory keyboard skills; includes sight-reading, improvisation, and accompaniment at the keyboard in a variety of styles. No previous knowledge of music required. Satisfies the performance requirement for music majors.

MUSI 2308 Voice Class

Pam Beasley
2.0 credits, instructor permission

Lecture: MW / 4:00-4:50 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 14996

An introductory course to basic vocal technique; discussion to include those elements essential for healthy singing in a variety of styles. Will involve group and solo singing to apply these elements. No previous voice training or musical background required.

MUSI 2340 Learn to Groove

Robert Jospe
2.0 credits

Lecture / Section 1: MW / 10:00 am-10:50 am / Hunter Smith Band Building
Class Number: 11772

Lecture / Section 2: MW / 11:00-11:50 am / Hunter Smith Band Building
Class Number: 19726

"Learn to Groove" hand drumming and rhythmic fluency with Robert Jospe. This is a hands on drumming/percussion class using congas, djembes, claves, shakers, etc. This class is designed to enhance ones knowledge of syncopated patterns associated with jazz, rock, African and Latin American music and to improve ones facility in playing these patterns. This course will follow my book "Learn To Groove" and can include music students, non music students and is open to students of all skill levels. The course requires that students have or purchase a hand drum of their own. Congas, bongos, djembes, doumbeks or any other hand drums are appropriate.

MUSI 2350 Technosonics: Digital Music and Sound Art Composition

Matthew Burtner
3.0 credits
Lecture: MW / 12:00-12:50 / Maury Hall 209
Class Number: 14061

Discussion Sections:

Section 101 (Kristina Warren): M / 9:00-9:50 am / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14062

Section 102 (Kristina Warren): M / 10:00-10:50 am / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14063

Section 103 (Kristina Warren): M / 11:00-11:50 am / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14064

Section 104 (Ryan Maguire): T / 9:30-10:20 am / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14065

Section 105 (Ryan Maguire): T / 10:30-11:20 am / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14066

Section 106 (Ryan Maguire): T / 11:30 am - 12:20 pm / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14067

Section 107 (Eli Stine): W / 9:00-9:50 am / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14068

Section 108 (Eli Stine): W / 10:00-10:50 am / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14069

Section 109 (Eli Stine): W / 11:00-11:50 am / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14070

Section 110 (Christopher Luna): R / 9:30-10:20 am / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14407

Section 111 (Christopher Luna): R / 10:30-11:20 am / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14408

Section 112 (Christopher Luna): R / 11:30 am - 12:20 pm / New Cabell 268
Class Number: 14409

This class (www.technosonics.net) explores the history, theory and practice of digital music and sound art. Students learn tools and techniques of music technology that inform many genres and traditions. In addition to historical and theoretical concerns, students will experiment with digital tools for musical creation.

MUSI 2559 Music Among the Arts

Michael Puri
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH 107
Class Number: 19722

Can music ever mean? If so, what are the means by which it means? How does it interact with other arts in multimedia genres such as film, video, opera, ballet, and advertising? At a broader level, how do we understand the relation between hearing and the other senses? This new lecture course will explore these and other questions. No prior musical experience is required or expected.

Discussion Sections:

Section 101 (Aldona Dye): T / 9:30-10:20 am / OCH 107
Class Number: 19723

Section 102 (Aldona Dye): T / 12:30-1:20 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 19724

Section 103 (Aldona Dye): R / 12:30-1:20 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 19725

MUSI 2600 Jazz Improvisation

John D'earth
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 3:30-5:00 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 13320

The Jazz Improvisation Workshop explores the basic techniques and procedures for improvising in jazz and other musical contexts. No previous jazz or improvising experience is required but students must demonstrate a degree of fluency on their main instrument, an ability to read music and some familiarity with the basics of music theory. An individual interview/audition with the instructor is required before registering for this class.

MUSI 2993: Independent Study

1.0 - 3.0 credits
Instructor permission and instructor number required to enroll.

MUSI 3040 Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Music

Joel Rubin
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 11:00 am - 12:15 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 20277

MUSI 3040, Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Music, offers insight into understanding the complex developments in Western art music from the turn of the 20th century to the present. We will study numerous compositional movements, composers and their works, looking at aspects such as compositional and performance style and techniques within the broader framework of social, cultural and political movements of the time. We will also read what the composers themselves and other writers from the time said about the music. The goal is to help you form your own opinions and interpretations of the music—not only of the examples that we study in class, but of the many others that you may encounter both during and after this class as performers, composers and/or listeners. While the course materials focus primarily on the Euro-American situation, we will also examine developments more globally, drawing on developments in popular, jazz, folk and world musical traditions.

Fulfills part of the 'Critical and comparative studies in music' requirement for majors. Prerequisite: MUSI 3310

MUSI 3050 Music and Discourse Since 1900

Scott DeVeaux
3.0 credits
Lecture: MWF / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH 113
Class Number: 14411

Studies the range of music that has flourished in the twentieth century, including modernist and post-modern art music, popular music, and world music, through historical, critical, and ethnographic approaches.

MUSI 3070 Intro to Musical Ethnography

Nomita Dave
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 3:30-4:45 pm, OCH 107
Class Number: 14410

This course explores ways of examining and representing music and sound as a fundamentally social practice. Such an approach looks beyond the notes to study music as part of human social life and experience. Readings and listenings will focus on a number of genres and traditions from throughout the world, including singers in Nepali nightclubs, dance bands from Central Africa, Islamic pop songs, Moroccan trance, and country music from Texas. We will consider in depth the theories and methods involved in conducting research and writing about music as a social phenomenon, considering the roles and perspectives of musicians, listeners, markets and the media. We will also examine the role of the researcher, considering the ethical issues involved in representing music and culture from elsewhere.Students will have the opportunity to apply the methods we discuss in class in short assignments involving music-making in and around Charlottesville.

MUSI 3310 Theory I

3.0 credits

Lecture / Section 1 (Steven Lewis): MWF / 9:00-9:50 am / OCH B012
Class Number: 11064

Lecture / Section 2 (Scott DeVeaux): MWF / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH B012
Class Number: 11065

Lecture / Section 2 (Jarek Ervin): MWF / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH B012
Class Number: 11066

Studies pitch and formal organization in European concert music of the 18th and 19th centuries. Includes four-part vocal writing, 18th-century style keyboard accompaniment, key relations, and form. Students compose numerous short passages of music and study significant compositions by period composers. (Y)

MUSI 3332 Musicianship I

2.0 credit

Lecture / Section 1 (Adam Carter): MWF / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 11068

Lecture / Section 2 (Victoria Clark): MWF / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH 113
Class Number: 11067

These lab courses give practical experience with many aspects of musical perception, performance, and creation. These will include sight-reading and sight-singing; dictation of melody, rhythm, and harmony; aural identification of intervals, chords, and rhythmic patterns; and exercises in musical memory and improvisation. Students entering the sequence take a test to determine the appropriate level of their first course. At the end of each course, students take a placement test to determine whether they may enter a higher level course. Courses may be repeated for credit, but each course may be counted toward the major only once.

MUSI 3334 Musicianship II

2.0 credit

Lecture (Tracey Stewart): MWF / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 19727

MUSI 3370 Songwriting

Ted Coffey
3.0 credits
Lecture: MW / 2:00-3:15 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 14412

The goal of this course is to delve into songwriting; to develop your aural, analytic and creative abilities and to join them together in understanding and composing songs. You will learn about rhythm, melodic design, harmonic progression, lyrics and song forms. You will also work on eartraining, so that concepts you learn will be sonically meaningful. We will consider examples from a broad musical spectrum: blues, folk, tin pan alley, musicals, R & B, rock & roll, hip hop. We will also discuss the issues that songwriters encounter. You will have the opportunity to suggest songs for study, and some assignments will be done in groups. In these situations, we will organize groups that have complementary abilities for in-class performances. The Lab is a required part of the class, and you must sign up for a lab section. During the lab you will go over concepts we are covering in class, as well as work on additional eartraining, analysis and creative projects.

MUSI 3390 Introduction to Music and Computers

Luke Dahl
3.0 credits

Lecture: TR / 9:30-10:45 am / OCH B012
Class Number: 11070

Discussion Sections:

Section 101 (Max Tfirn): F / 11:00-11:50am / B011
Class Number: 11072

Section 102 (Max Tfirn): F / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: 11071

Section 103 (Max Tfirn): F / 1:00-1:50 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: 11073

Introduction to Music and Computers in an upper-level introductory course in music technology. Students gain theoretical, historical and practical knowledge of electronic and computer music. An emphasis is placed on creative hands-on experience composing computer music.

Theoretical and practical topics include acoustics, recording, editing and mixing, MIDI, sound synthesis, and audio DSP. Programs used will include Audacity, Spear, SoundHack, Pro Tools, Logic, and MaxMSP. Note that you MUST register for the Lab (0 credits) as well as the course.

3390 fulfills the composition requirement of the Music Major. This is a composition class and most assignments are creative in nature.

MUSI 3993 Independent Study

1.0-3.0 credits
Instructor permission and instructor number required to enroll.

MUSI 4331 Theory III

Michael Puri
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 2:00-3:15 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 11075

Studies in 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century techniques and styles through analysis and composition. Prerequisite: MUSI 3320 or instructor permission; Corequisite: MUSI 3332, 3334, or 3336, except for students who have already passed the exit test for MUSI 3336.

MUSI 4509 Cultural and Historical Studies

Topic: Pragmatist Aesthetics and Experimental Practices

Fred Maus
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 9:30-10:45 am / OCH 113
Class Number: 15342

The pragmatist aesthetics of John Dewey and Richard Shusterman; art and the everyday; music improvisation as therapy; the ideas and practices of John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, and the Fluxus artists. Lots of great reading. Class meetings will combine discussion and experiential work.

MUSI 4519 Critical Studies of Music

Topic: Global Electronic Music

Noel Lobley
3.0 credits
Lecture: MWF / 1:00-1:50 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 19728

The possibilities for electronic music are limitless, connecting scenes, cities and histories for over one hundred years. Whether as mainstream as US EDM, or as underground as Japanoise, electronic music pulses in almost every city and town across the globe. In order to examine the social and cultural influences at play in the composition, circulation and performance of electronic music in global context, we critically engage with multiple musical examples, including: auto-tuned Afropop and pioneering film music, sonic art and distorted r’n’b,  dubstep and remixology, as well as the sounds of military experiments, video games and global hip hop.

MUSI 4520 Critical Studies of Music

Topic: Systems for Play

Peter Bussigel
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 12:30-1:45 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 21322

This is a course in experimental and systems-based approaches to art-making and performance. Drawing on concepts from music, intermedia, game design, theater, cybernetics, biology, ritual, and chance processes, we will explore the history of experimental performance and create our own scores, scripts, rules, and other systems for structuring play. Short projects serve both as prompts for art-making and opportunities to think critically and generatively about the systems with/in which we live. This is an intermedia course and students in all disciplines are welcome.

MUSI 4523 Issues in Ethnomusicology

Topic: The Human Voice

Nomi Dave
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 11:00-12:15 am / OCH S008
Class Number: 18603

The human voice is arguably the most complex and intimate sound we know. Our voices allow us to express who we are, to participate in society and politics, to speak, and to sing. In this class, we will consider the range, meanings, interpretations and aesthetics of vocal production, from shouts to whispers and growls to glissandos, from the individual voice of a mother to her child, to the collective voices of street protests and massed choirs. Our discussions will include examples of vocal music and sounds from the US and around the world, including various song traditions, expressive techniques, vocal disorders, voice disguisers, and the increasing prevalence of computer voices in our everyday lives.

MUSI 4535 Interactive Media

Topic: Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble (MICE)

Peter Bussigel
3.0 credits
Lecture: MW / 5:00-6:15 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: 21323

Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble (MICE) is an advanced seminar in composition, software programming and intermedia performance. The class explores the theoretical and practical aspects of composing and performing real-time interactive multimedia with computers. Emphasis is placed on gaining a deeper and more personal understanding of the possibilities of human-computer interaction in music and the arts. Students in the class form the Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble (MICE) and create new works for the group to perform. Musicians are encouraged to join MICE, and this class meets a composition requirement for the Music Major. Creative and technology-oriented students from the other Arts Departments and Engineering are also encouraged to join the class as we will focus on intermedia approaches to live performance with technology. 

MUSI 4559 Sound Synthesis and Control

Luke Dahl
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 3:30-4:45 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: TBA

Discussion Sections:

Section 101 (Turowski): T / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH B011
Class Number: TBA

Section 102 (Turowski): F / 2:00-2:50 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: TBA

In this course we will learn various techniques for synthesizing sound on a computer, and explore ways to control sound in real-time in order to create new performable musical instruments. Sound synthesis techniques will include subtractive and additive synthesis, amplitude and frequency modulation, granular synthesis, and spectral processing. We will build a number of simple instruments by programming in Max/MSP and using MIDI, touchscreens, and gestural sensing as input. And we will create short musical works using our new instruments.

MUSI 4710 Instrumental Conducting I

Kate Tamarkin
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 2:00-3:15 pm / OCH 113
Class Number: 15350

MUSI 4750 Choral Conducting I

Michael Slon
3.0 credits
Lecture: MW / 2:00-3:15 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 18609

Studies in the basic technique and art of conducting, with weekly experience conducting repertoire with a small choral ensemble and instruments.  Instruction will include mastery and understanding of beat patterns, basic hand/baton technique, elements of musical expression, and aural awareness, as well as an introduction to score study, aspects of the voice, and basic rehearsal techniques. 

Prerequisite: basic musicianship and theory; sight-reading skills. Previous experience in a choral or instrumental ensemble is preferred. Interested students should consult with the instructor before registering, and instructor permission is required.

MUSI 4993: Independent Study

1.0 - 3.0 credits
Instructor permission and instructor number required to enroll.

Below is a listing of graduate-level classes offered for the Fall 2015 semester.

MUSI 7511 Introduction to Research

Bonnie Gordon
3.0 credits 
Lecture: T / 2:00-4:30 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 11634

MUSI 7519 Current Studies in Research and Criticism

Fred Maus
3.0 credits 
Lecture: R / 2:00-4:30 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 14719

MUSI 7525 Topics in Ethnomusicology

Michelle Kisliuk
3.0 credits 
Lecture: W / 2:00-4:30 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 18612

MUSI 7543 Sound Studio

Ted Coffey
3.0 credits
Lecture: T / 5:00-7:30 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 18613

MUSI 7559 Sound Syntheseis & Control

Topic: Composing & Intermedia

Peter Bussigel
3.0 credits
Lecture: R / 5:00-7:15 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: 20379

This graduate seminar is organized around questions related to composing and music-making within today’s rapidly changing technoculture. Using the concept of intermedia as a point of departure, we will examine how our field(s) and practices have evolved, explore the media structures within which we currently operate, and speculate about future trajectories in music composition, sound art, and performance. 

The course format is designed to provide a weekly space and time for critical discussion about music & technology and to engage perspectives outside of our own practices. The first part of the semester is structured around short readings and participant-led presentations/discussions about other artists. The second half of the semester will bring these conversations to your own work—you will propose a project, present work-in-progress, and participate in constructive discussions and critiques informed by relevant readings/materials.

MUSI 7582 Composition

3.0 credits

MUSI 8820: Advanced Composition

3.0 credits

MUSI 8840: Advanced Composition

3.0 credits

MUSI 8910: Supervised Research

3.0 credits
Reading and/or other work in particular fields under supervision of an instructor. Normally taken by first-year graduate students.

MUSI 8920: Supervised Research

3.0 credits

MUSI 8960: Thesis

3.0 credits

MUSI 8993: Independent Study

1.0-3.0 credits
Independent study dealing with a specific topic. Requirements will place primary emphasis on independent research.

MUSI 8998: Non-topical Research

3.0-12.0 credits

MUSI 8999: Non-topical Research

3.0-12.0 credits

MUSI 9010: Directed Readings

3.0 credits

MUSI 9910: Supervised Research

3.0 credits
Reading and/or other work in particular fields under supervision of an instructor. Normally taken by second year graduate students.

MUSI 9920: Supervised Research

3.0 credits

MUSI 9940: Independent Research

3.0 credits
Research carried out by graduate student in consultation with an instructor.

MUSI 9998: Non-topical Research

3.0-12.0 credits
Preliminary research directed towards a dissertation in consultation with an instructor.

MUSI 9999: Non-topical Research

3.0-12.0 credits
For doctoral dissertation, taken under the supervision of a dissertation director.