Spring 2025 Undergraduate Courses
MUSI 1310 Basic Musical Skills (3 credits)
Study of the rudiments of music and training in the ability to read music. No previous knowledge of music required.
Rah Hite - MWF / 9:00-9:50 am / OCH 107
Section 1 / Class Number: 12982
Ben Rous - MWF / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH 107
Combined Sections:
Section 2 / Class Number: 12983
Section 3 / Class Number: 19766
MUSI 1410 Symphonic Listening (3 credits)
Symphonic Listening focuses on the sounds and forms of symphonic music. Listening skills are emphasized, with no prior musical knowledge required. We will learn to recognize orchestral instruments by their timbre, discern levels of consonance and dissonance, identify types of textures, and think critically about how musical content expresses cultural context. Students will gain a framework for understanding symphonic music of any genre.
Ben Rous - MW / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH 107
Section 100 / Class Number: 12990
Discussion Sections:
Katie King - R / 9:30-10:20 am / OCH S008
Section 101 / Class Number: 12991
Katie King - R / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH S008
Section 102 / Class Number: 12992
Katie King - R / 12:30-1:20 pm / OCH S008
Section 103 / Class Number: 12993
MUSI 1620 History of the Wind Band (2 credits)
Drew Koch - T / 9:30-10:50 am / 101 Hunter Smith Band Building
Class Number: 13076
MUSI 2021 Creative Discovery (3 credits)
Discover your creative potential! We often wonder about an artist’s immense creativity, seemingly harnessed with ease. Each of us has tremendous resources of creativity, often under-explored. In this course, students learn to unlock their own potential.
No previous artistic experience is required. Class activities include readings and discussions; weekly responses collected via a Google Form; two reflective papers; a presentation on a “found” resource; and one creative project in a medium of the student’s choice.
Elliott Tackitt - MW / 3:00-3:50 pm / 101 Hunter Smith Band Building
Class Number: 13621
MUSI 2120 History of Jazz (3 credits)
Perhaps you have heard this anecdote. Someone asks, "What is jazz?"" And the answer is, "If you have to ask, you willl never know." But that's no longer true.
In this class, we will teach you about jazz. We will explain what music improvisation is, and how it works. We will offer guides about how to listen to the music. And we will tell you the story of jazz: how it fits into American history, and more specifically Black history. You will come to know the music and the personalities of jazz titans such as Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Parker. And you will get to see the intertwining of styles and recordings that make up the jazz tradition.
This class presupposes no musical knowledge, beyond the desire to learn about traditions that may be outside your experience. With that in mind, the first two chapters in the textbook Jazz concentrates on musical elements. Learn as much as you can by 1) reading Chapters 1-2; 2) watching the lecture videos on Collab under Chapters 1-2; 3) consulting the Norton study space, which has ample discussion of terms and concepts.
The course itself tells the story of jazz, starting with the origins in the complex musical culture of the early 20th century and proceeding, step by step. We will arrive at the present in three ways: 1) through the modernist narrative, which leads to the jazz avant-garde; 2) the fusion narrative, which links jazz to popular culture; and 3) the historicist narrative, framing the jazz present in terms of its past.
Scott DeVeaux - MW / 12:00-12:50 / Nau Hall 101
Section 100 / Class Number: 20062
Discussion Sections:
Dilshan Weerasinghe - T / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH S008
Sections 102 / Class Number: 20064
Dilshan Weerasinghe - T / 12:30-1:20 pm / OCH S008
Sections 103 / Class Number: 20065
Dilshan Weerasinghe - F / 9:00-10:50 am / OCH S008
Section 104 / Class Number: 20066
MUSI 2302 Keyboard Skills (Beginning) (2 credits)
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. Requirement: Instructor Permission
Shelby Sender - TR / 11:00 am - 12:15 pm / OCH 113
Section 1 / Class Number: 11023
Shelby Sender - TR / 12:30-1:45 pm / OCH 113
Section 2 / Class Number: 14494
MUSI 2304 Keyboard Skills (Intermediate) (2 credits)
Intermediate keyboard skills for students with some previous musical experience. Satisfies the performance requirement for music majors. Requirement: Instructor Permission
John Mayhood - TR / 9:30-10:45 am / OCH 113
Class Number: 11024
MUSI 2307 Play Guitar! 1 (2 credits)
Fundamentals of playing guitar, with an emphasis on rhythmic training along with some music theory. This class will start from scratch and is meant for beginners. Experienced guitarists are encouraged to enroll in MUSI 3307 Play Guitar! 2.
Mike Rosensky - MW / 1:00-1:50 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 12981
MUSI 2311 Vocal Performance Class (2 credits)
Vocal Performance requires a broad skillset. This course offers students a toolbox of practical techniques & methodologies including study of diction and language, physical expression, textual analysis, dramatic storytelling/acting, collaboration with a pianist, physical/vocal health, and many other components of stagecraft that can be addressed well in group lessons. A baseline level of music-learning and -preparation ability, as well as some prior experience in any genre of vocal solo performance, is ideal.
Pam Beasley and Brenda Patterson - T / 3:30-5:00 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 19774
MUSI 2340 Learn to Groove (2 credits)
"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.
Robert Jospe - MW / 10:00-10:50 am / 101 Hunter Smith Band Building
Section 1 / Class Number: 11490
Robert Jospe - MW / 11:00-11:50 am / 101 Hunter Smith Band Building
Section 2 / Class Number: 14497
MUSI 2342 Learn to Groove Intermediate (2 credits)
"Learn to Groove" hand drumming and rhythmic fluency with Robert Jospe. This is the intermediate level of the class. It 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.
Robert Jospe - MW / 1:00-1:50 pm / 101 Hunter Smith Band Building
Class Number: 14495
MUSI 2559 New Course in Music (3 credits)
Topic: Meet the Beatles
Scott DeVeaux and Mary Beth Bauerman - MWF / 11:00-11:50 / OCH 113
Class Number: 20763
MUSI 2600 Jazz Improvisation (3 credits)
Mike Rosensky - TR / 3:30-5:00 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 11316
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 (1-3 credits)
Requirement: Instructor Permission
MUSI 3040 20th- and 21st-Century Music (3 credits)
Moving backward in time from the 2020s to 1900, we will listen together to pop music, jazz, classical and everything in between. Central questions for this course include: What can music teach us about race, gender, colonialism, technology, and the environment in the 20th and 21st centuries? How did musicians respond to the major political events (American and global) of their eras? How does historical perspective change how we listen? An incomplete list of musicians we will study includes Charlie XCX, Beyoncé, Avril Lavigne, the Backstreet Boys, DJ Screw, Whitney Houston, NWA, Kenny G, Michael Jackson, Gerard Grisey, Alice Coltrane, Carlos Santana, Bob Marley, Pauline Oliveros, Harry Belafonte, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Art Blakey, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Kurt Weil, Jean Sibelius, Eric Satie.
Jade Conlee - TR / 3:30-4:45 / OCH 113
Class Number: 20291
MUSI 3050 Music and Discourse (3 credits)
Studies the range of music that has flourished since the end of the 19th century including modernist and post-modern art music, popular music, and world music, through historical, critical, and ethnographic approaches.
Karl Hagstrom Miller - MWF / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH B012
Section 1 / Class Number: 14099
Molly Joyce - MWF / 1:00-1:50 pm / OCH 113
Section 2 / Class Number: 19762
MUSI 3060 Motown vs. Everybody: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (3 credits)
This course explores Motown Record Corporation's profound impact on culture and society, tracing its roots back to its inception and structural model of The Ford Motor Company. Along with its exceptionally talented artists, such as Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, the record label played a significant role in breaking down racial barriers and unifying people from diverse backgrounds through the undeniable power of music. In addition, we will compare Motown to two other record labels, Stax Records and Philadelphia International Records, to better understand how all three reflected the political and social movements of the U.S. from the late 1950s to the late 1970s. As these three labels reflect the ideas of assimilation, integration, and self-reliance in Black America, we will explore why music is a powerful tool in resistance and examine how music as resistance continues to be relevant in today's society.
JoVia Armstrong and Alonya Castillo - TR / 9:30-10:45 / OCH B012
Class Number: 14732
MUSI 3307 Play Guitar! 2 (2 credits)
The course will have flexibility from semester to semester depending on the makeup of the class. Topics may include: Bar Chord/Power Chord Refresher, (Advanced) Syncopated Strumming, Blues Form, Three-Note Major and Minor Triads up and down the fretboard, Pentatonic Scale Positions, Major Scale Positions, Scale Patterns, Song Analysis, Composition, Improvisation, Seventh Chords, Chords of Higher Tension, Funk Grooves, Introduction to Jazz Guitar.
Mike Rosensky - MW / 2:00-2:50 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 13090
MUSI 3310 Theory I (3 credits)
Studies the pitch and rhythmic aspects of several musical styles, including European art music, blues, African drumming, and popular music. Focuses on concepts and notation related to scales and modes, harmony, meter, form, counterpoint, and style.
John Walker - MWF / 9:00-9:50 pm / OCH B012
Section 1 / Class Number: 11778
Neda Nadim - MWF / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH B012
Section 2 / Class Number: 14413
MUSI 3320 Theory II (3 credits)
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 significan compositions by period composers.
Michael Puri - TR / 9:30-10:45 am / OCH 107
Class Number: 11988
MUSI 3332 and 3334 Musicianship I and II (2 credits)
These lab courses give practical experience with many aspects of musical perception, performance, and creation; this includes sight-reading/singing; dictation of melody, rhythm, and harmony; and aural identification of intervals, chords, and rhythmic patterns. Students are welcome to take Musicianship more than once, whether by moving to a higher level or repeating the same level. Musicianship I and II may be taken for a grade or CR/NC. To satisfy the Musicianship requirement in the Music Major though, students must take Musicianship once as a graded course.
MUSI 3332 Musicianship I (2 credits)
Brian Lindgren - MWF / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH 113
Section 1 / Class Number: 10804
Qi Shen - MWF / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH B012
Section 2 / Class Number: 13337
MUSI 3334 Musicianship II (2 credits)
Adam Carter - MWF / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 10805
MUSI 3374 Composing Mixtapes (3 credits)
This course focuses on the craft of writing rap songs as well as the collection, selection, and integration of other media to collaborate toward the composition of a class mixtape. Experience writing raps or producing beats will be helpful, but it is not necessary that students have previous experience to take this course. Students will listen to, attempt to deconstruct, create, and evaluate a broad range of music and literature while collaborating on the mixtape. Along with composing the mixtape, students will learn songwriting techniques and some alternate theoretical approaches to composing other hip-hop works.
A.D. Carson - TR / 9:30-10:45 am / NCH 398
Class Number: 19775
Labs:
Varun Kishore - M / 9:00-9:50 am / NCH 398
Lab 101 / Class Number: 19776
Varun Kishore - M / 10:00-10:50 am / NCH 398
Lab 102 / Class Number: 19777
Varun Kishore - M / 11:00-11:50 am / NCH 398
Lab 103 / Class Number: 19778
MUSI 3400 Ecoacoustics (3 credits)
Ecoacoustics explores the intersection between ecology and music. It engages with natural systems of change and the unique sonic energy of places. Students learn recording and analysis techniques, and create their own ecoacoustic sound works as we study seminal works from the musical and artistic fields of acoustic ecology, sonology, soundscape composition, sonification, earthwork art, and deep listening.
Matthew Burtner and Gabrielle Cerberville - TR / 2:00-3:15 / OCH 107
Class Number: 14101
MUSI 3510 Music and Community Engagement (3 credits)
Topic: Sound Justice
This class explores connections between sound, listening, and the law. How do legal proceedings play out in sound? What does the law hear – and what does it not? Course materials include court cases and transcripts, music, film, novels, and academic articles. The class has a civic engagement component that offers students opportunities to meet with lawyers, artists, and other community members in Charlottesville and beyond, to produce research and creative work. It also provides a space to respond to and engage current events. The class can be used to fulfill the music major requirements, but musical or other artistic experience is not necessary.
Nomi Dave - TR / 9:30-10:45 am / Wilson 117
Class Number: 13072
MUSI 3993 Independent Study (1-3 credits)
Requirement: Instructor Permission
4523 Issues in Ethnomusicology (3 credits)
Topic: African Electronic Music
In 2018, the renowned British music journal Fact boldly claimed that “the world’s best electronic music festival is in Uganda.” Indeed, African cities have long been places for some of the most futuristic music, sounds that reverberate between local identities and international avant-garde scenes. Explosive, hypnotic and ultra-modern electronic sounds meld stunning dance forms with musical theatre and fashion, articulating the urban youth experience in cities as diverse and vibrant as Johannesburg, Nairobi, Kinshasa, Lagos, Dar es Salaam, and Kampala.
In this course, we will engage multiplex genres of electronic music from the African continent, including Congolese congotronics, Ugandan acholitronix, Tanzanian singeli, and South African shangaan electro and gqom apocalyptic bass music, paying close attention to innovations in artistic practice, remix culture and Afrofuturism. Blending critical and contextual work with exciting opportunities for real world outputs, we will be engaging with professional artists from different electronic scenes, such as the boiling Nyege Nyege collective and The Black Power Station, alongside other professional partners in music production, radio and written journalism, as well as exhibition and museum curation. As a way to open professional avenues for students, coursework will be driven towards the organization of an end of the semester multi-modal event representing in Charlottesville the electronic music bursting from the African continent. Building on each other’s interests and skills, students will all be working to imagine, design and curate this event.
No prior musical experience is required.
Noel Lobley and Basile Koechlin - MW / 2:00-3:15 pm / Wilson 142
Class Number: 19763
4543 Sound Studio (3 credits)
Studies in computer music studio techniques, sound synthesis using a variety of software packages based on the Macintosh platform, and the creation of original music using new technologies. Prerequisite: MUSI 3390 or instructor permission.
Ted Coffey - R / 5:00-7:30 / OCH B011
Class Number: 19780
MUSI 4559 New Course in Music (3 credits)
Topic: Black Music in Virginia
What lessons do music archives hold about the individual and collective experiences of early black Virginians? How have black Virginians engaged music to envision and enact freedom for themselves and others? What did black epistemologies, their unique ways of knowing the world, sound like? This course argues that music history helps us understand people, traditions, and cultural change. Virginia’s black music history presents us with opportunities for intellectual and moral contemplation about courage, resilience, innovation, transformation, and community; educating us about how the Virginia we currently live in came to be. The music studied in this course invokes memories of those who witnessed slavery and the transition to legal freedom. We will read about traumas and social paradoxes that are both historic and painfully present in U.S. society. We will examine black Virginians practices during slavery, the advent of emancipation, reconstruction, and during Jim Crow. Selected music recordings will mediate cultural, political, economic, and gendered dynamics of southern life and connect our class to a broader American music history. We will also examine the history of African American music preservation, and the representation of music history in museums and other public spaces. There will be opportunities for us to collaborate with musicians, librarians, museum curators, and scholars from other universities. We will investigate public discourse about Virginia’s black music history in groundbreaking scholarship, recordings, exhibitions, and use our findings to design a museum exhibit. In doing so, we will engage in a multi-sensory study of the past.
Elizabeth Ozment - M / 2:00-4:30 pm / Wilson 244
Class Number: 19764
MUSI 4582 Composition II (3 credits)
Composition II is an advanced undergraduate music composition course. Students will receive a combination of weekly individual lessons intermixed with monthly group sessions. The course will provide a forum for students to listen, discuss, workshop, develop, and explore inspirations, compositions, and ideas. Over the course of the semester, students are expected to compose a large-scale work or a series of smaller works for the instrumentation and in the style of their choosing (including electronics).
Note: individual lesson times may be scheduled outside the listed course times. Lesson times will be scheduled the first day of class.
Prerequisite: MUSI 3380, 3390, or permission from the instructor. Students are expected to have some prior composition experience and must be proficient with standard music notation. The course can be repeated for credit.
Leah Reid - T / 2:00-4:30 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: 19765
MUSI 4770 Choral Arranging (3 credits)
This class will explore the art of writing for chorus and small vocal ensemble, and will aim at developing practical skills in creating and transcribing arrangements. Students will study a variety of examples from the repertoire, and attention will be paid to fundamentals of writing for the voice, setting text, etc. In addition, the class will serve as workshop chorus, such that student arrangements can be performed and studied in the classroom.
Prerequisites: MUSI 3310 or Instructor permission. A basic knowledge of music theory, and a basic ability to sing from written sources will prove essential.
Michael Slon - MW / 2:00-3:15 / OCH 107
Class Number: 19809
4950 Performance Concentration Seminar (3 credits)
Requirement: Instructor Permission
Daniel Sender - TBA
Class Number: 12185
MUSI 4993 Independent Study (1-3 credits)
Requirement: Instructor Permission