If you have no musical background, this class can be challenging. If you have some musical background, this class won't give you too much trouble. If you listen to jazz regularly, this class is for you!
Deveaux is passionate about jazz and wants his students to be as well. The syllabus presents everything in detail at the beginning of the semester. It's not a fluff-class, as he expects you to do the work it takes to make an A out of the class, but it's completely manageable to do so.
Deveaux is very enthusiastic and even plays the piano during class. There is a lot of material and you have to be good at listening to music and analyzing it. Overall, this class is not too hard if you read and do the listening for each chapter.
great professor, very easily accessible during office hours
Oh Scott Deveaux...breaking the internet every MWF at 1pm. Despite Scotty D's profound (and hysterical) inability to use technology, it was an ok class. The beginning was more interesting until he "discovered" YouTube and class became just watching videos for 30 minutes not really learning anything. The listening is way easier than people make it out to be, and the extent of my musical ability was middle school band. Easy A, interesting, 4 credits, non-western/humanities - can't go wrong.
If you have a strong musical background, this class will be very easy for you. It's very straightforward, memorizing people and dates. I put very little time and effort into this class, compared to most classes at UVa. It's also great because its a Humanities and Non-Western Perspective requirement. Deveaux also wrote the textbook so it goes right along with his lectures. I've heard those without a musical background have trouble with this, so be aware of that. Otherwise, great class. Enjoyed the professor.
I loved this class. You don't need any real musical experience but you listen to the music on the CDs so you can recognize the songs played during the listening sections of the tests. A good ear for music helps, but again it isn't essential. Other than that, going to lecture and reviewing the powerpoints will get you an A.
this isnt an easy class if you have no prior musical experience. it was hard because of the exams being divided into listening and historical questions. you need a good ear to do well on the listening portion
Deveaux is an engaging professor who is really passionate about jazz. There are two midterms and a final and each test is about 40% listening and 60% history. The listening is pretty difficult but if you take the time to go to class and study before tests, you should be fine. He tries to get you to take it credit/no credit at the beginning, but it isn't too hard to pull an A- or an A in the class. In all, very enjoyable and boy do you learn a lot about jazz!
Took this class for a non-western perspective requirement. It was pretty interesting; however, it definitely helps to have music knowledge. The listening parts of the tests are very difficult, but the fact-based questions are pretty easy. I averaged a C on my tests and ended up with a B. There is more to the grade than just the exams (i.e., papers, discussion grade, etc.) which is good. Deveaux is a great teacher and a great guy, but be wary, as the class is difficult (esp. if you have no prior music knowledge)
