Music

Not open to students already qualified to elect MUSI 2302 or 3310. Study of the rudiments of music and training in the ability to read music. Prerequisite: No previous knowledge of music required.

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.

This course provides the opportunity to offer new topics in the subject of Music.

The class is designed to give an introductory look at wind band music development from the early 20th century to present. The class does not require any previous musical experience. The course provides students with historical facts surrounding the wind band movement while allowing students to experience the music aurally.

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. Activities include readings & discussions; weekly responses; two reflective papers; a presentation on a "found" resource; & one creative project in a medium of the student's choice.

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.

Centrally, close study of the Beatles' music, along with biographies, relation to the history of American rock 'n' roll, the breathtaking early years, the devastating new sonic landscapes of their later studio work, and the context of the 1960s--that turbulent decade that shaped, and was shaped by, these four English lads.

Scholarly and critical study of music of the Americas, with attention to interaction of music, politics, and society. Specific topics announced in advance. Prerequisite: No previous knowledge of music required.

When we think about knowing the world through the senses, we are likely to think of the visible world. But sound, hearing, and listening are crucial too. How do sound art, technology, and design create the world we inhabit and our everyday social and political experience? How can vibrations both heal and destroy? We will ponder such questions through theoretical, experiential, and creative explorations.

Listening sets us up to be involved fully in the life around us, and to be interactive in communities that create together. This course explores listening and sound-making in daily life from many angles including field research, reading, writing, discussion, and group performance workshops. We explore ideas about improvisation, uniting the aesthetic sphere with the broader sphere of social life and active engagement.

Survey of jazz music from before 1900 through the stylistic changes and trends of the twentieth century; important instrumental performers, composers, arrangers, and vocalists. No previous knowledge of music required.

Jazz has historically been a male-dominated field. Who are the women artists whose work emerged in jazz, what is their music, and what are their stories of inspiration, creativity, struggles and triumphs? Through our exploration of recordings, scholarship, music journalism, video, film and live music performance we will ponder these questions and gain a better understanding of how the politics of gender have challenged jazz music.

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. Prerequisite: Instructor permission by audition.

Intermediate keyboard skills for students with some previous musical experience. Satisfies the performance requirement for music majors.  Prerequisite: Instructor permission by audition.

Fundamentals of playing guitar, along with rhythmic training, music theory, song forms, and more. This class will start from scratch and is meant for beginners. Experienced guitarists are encouraged to enroll in MUSI 3307 Play Guitar! 2.

This class is designed to teach the fundamentals of healthy vocal production. Classes are designed to improve vocal performance for each student, and to provide a introduction to standard vocal repertoire. This course will also include a look at the anatomy of the voice, resonance and articulation in singing, and voice classifications.

Training in vocal technique and performance skills for popular music styles. Attention to healthy vocal production, confidence, and expansion of repertory.

Vocal Performance requires a broad skill set. 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, vocal health, and many other components of stagecraft that can be addressed well in group lessons. For students with some experience of vocal performance.

Study of rhythmic patterns associated with rhythms from West African, the Caribbean, Brazil, and the United States, through theory and performance.

"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.

Technosonics is an introduction to the history, theory, and practice of electronic music and sound art. We will focus on the role of new technology in shaping musical thought, production, and culture from the turn of the century through today. Listening examples are drawn from a broad range of styles and genres, including experimental computer music, ambient and dance music, sound art, and multimedia.

Develop aural, analytic and creative abilities through songwriting. Learn about rhythm, melodic design, harmonic progression, lyrics and song forms. Develop ear training, so that concepts you learn will be sonically meaningful. Examples considered from blues, folk, tin pan alley, musicals, R&B, rock and hip hop. Introductorty course with no prerequisites.

Introduction to the use of computers in music composition, with hands-on experience. Appropriate for non-majors.

Selected topics, announced in advance, exploring the study of music through specific contexts and methods. Appropriate for non-majors.