MUSI 2570 / 3090: Performance in Africa

Michelle Kisliuk
3.0 credits
MTWRF 10:00am-12:45 pm, Hunter Smith Band Building

This course explores performance in Africa through reading, discussion, audio and video examples, and hands-on practice. This is an academic course that integrates reading, writing and discussion with practical study. Practical work as learner and performer is crucial to the overall work in the course (no experience is expected). We will explore African music/dance styles, their sociomusical circumstances and processes, as well as performed resistances and responses to the colonial and post/neo-colonial encounter. In addition, we will address the politics and processes involved in translating performance practices from one cultural context to another. Each students’ personal relationship to the material/experience will be integrated into study.

Readings, discussions, and written work will focus heavily on topics and issues related to the main music/dance traditions that we are learning to perform each day, though we may venture beyond those areas from time to time. The course will explore both "traditional" and "popular" styles, leading us to question those categories. Those enrolled in the 3000 level will have some reading and writing/discussion work beyond those in the 2000 level.

The syllabus will be updated daily as the session evolves, based on student interests and the direction of discussion.

MUSI 2120 / 3120: History of Jazz Music

John D'earth
3.0 credits
MTWRF 1:00-3:15 pm, Old Cabell B012

An in-depth look at the way jazz musicians listen to music. What do they listen for? How do they use great jazz perfomances to grow as musicians and improvising artists? What skills are required to develop timing, phrasing, and musical creativity? The course will examine the recorded work of major jazz artists, explore the “inner hearing” of musicians with participatory exercises in rhythm, melody and movement, and demonstrate the processes by which jazz musicians master theory, musical structure, and their instruments. No previous jazz experience necessary. Taught by jazz trumpeter and composer John D’earth (Buddy Rich, Lionel Hampton, Bruce Hornsby, Miles Davis/Quincy Jones, The Kronos String Quartet, Dave Matthews; D’earth’s career is documented in Oxford’s Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz by Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler.)

MUSI 2390 / 3390: Music and Computers

Yuri Spitsyn
3.0 credits
MTWRF 1:00-3:15 pm, Wilson 235

MUSI 2390/3390 will introduce you to the dynamic field of computer music. You will learn about topics including acoustics; digital sound, editing, and processing; recording and multi-track mixing; and MIDI. You will also learn about the historical evolution of electronic and computer music, and will study selected examples of both. We will cover elements of compositional design and hear them applied in a range of styles. You will have ample hands-on experience, and the opportunity to create original music. This course counts for the composition component of the Music Major. Programs to be used include Bias Peak, Frequency, Digital performer and Sound Hack. We will be working on the Mac platform, though the concepts you learn will be broadly applicable.

MUSI 2570 / 4509: Gender, Sexuality and Race in Music Videos

Matthew Jones
3.0 credits
MTWRF 10:00am-12:45 pm, Fayerweather 215

This course introduces students to a variety of analytical methods for the study of music video. Drawing on work in music, feminist, queer, media, and critical race studies, students develop paradigms for understanding and interpreting representations of subjectivity and identity in music videos and music on television more generally. The course is heavily oriented toward discussion of readings and video examples, and students compose an analytical final paper on a topic of their choice. No musical training/music theory knowledge is necessary or required for this course. The 4509 course will count towards the Music Major, and require a slightly longer paper.

MUSI 1310: Basic Musical Skills

Aurie Hsu
3.0 credits
MTWRF 1:00-3:15 pm, Hunter Smith Band Building

Have you ever wanted to read sheet music, write a melody or rhythm, or compose a basic score for other musicians? What do pop songs, film scores, symphonies, the Beatles, and Mozart all have in common? What is the music around you - on ipods, at concerts, at ballgames - “made of”? The basic concepts of European-American music lie at the center of each of these questions. You use the same basic musical skills whether you’re a beginning songwriter, Pulitzer prize composer, Grammy-nominated artist, or simply have an interest in the building blocks of music.

MUSI 1310 is an introductory course that combines basic music theory with in-class interactive exercises. Written exercises are designed to develop your fluency in music terminology and notation. Topics include pitch, rhythm, intervals, meter, keys, scales, triads, and building and recognizing melodies and harmonic progressions. We will practice basic aural skills connected to these theoretical principles. Listening assignments and analysis will also promote your understanding of how the elements work together in diverse pieces of music.

Student responsibilities include readings, written and listening assignments, in-class discussion and performance (clapping, singing, etc.), quizzes, concert review, exams, and a final composition project.

MUSI 2070 / 4519: Popular Musics

Emily Gale
3.0 credits
MTWRF 10:30-12:45 pm, Gibson 211

People seem to either love or hate popular music; mention Lady Gaga at a party and you’ll get a response! But what is Popular Music and where does it come from?

From its place in the theaters of vaudeville to the stadiums of arena rock, from muzak to the ipod, popular music has pervaded the soundscapes of the long twentieth century. This course surveys forms of Popular Music in North America from minstrelsy in the nineteenth century through to recent tracks by Lady Gaga and R. Kelly. In this class we will listen to popular genres including Blues, Country, Rock’n’Roll, and Hip Hop and consider topics such as love songs and protest music. We will discuss issues that have occupied popular musicians, scholars, and critics including the appropriation of African-American musical styles, the music business and mass culture, the relationship between popular music and identity, and how technology has affected both the production and consumption of music. Through extensive listening assignments, students will become familiar with hit songs and landmark recordings. Students will also be responsible for reading and writing assignments, in-class discussion, exams, and a final paper. For students in 2070, no previous knowledge of music is required.

MUSI 2340: Learn to Groove

Robert Jospe
3.0 credits
MTWRF 1:00-2:30 pm, Old Cabell B018

"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.