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.

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.

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.

Individual instruction in musical performance. Details available here: http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/music/performance/privatelessons/index.html. May be repeated as often as desired, but no more than 16 performance credits may be applied toward the baccalaureate degree in the College, with an additional 4 available for Distinguished Majors. There is an additional fee for private lessons. Please contact the McIntire Department of Music for information.

An ensemble that performs at all home football games and selected away games each season, also traveling to Bowl games and performing at special events. Students assist in mentoring new band members enrolled in MUBD 2610. Prerequisite: MUBD 2610.

Study of art music in the 20th century. Examines ways in which the aims and functions of European/US musical art were re-imagined, particularly in association with modernism. Explores the century's radical shifts in musical language and their relationship with the pressing cultural, political, and social concerns of the period. Fulfills part of the 'Critical and comparative studies in music' requirement for majors. Prerequisite: MUSI 3310

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.

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

An ensemble that performs at all home football games and selected away games each season, also traveling to Bowl games and performing at special events. This course counts as performance, and thus subject to the limit of eight credits of the 120 required for the B.A. Prerequisite: Students are selected by audition.

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.