Catalog
Music
Professors Matthews and Parakilas; Associate Professors Chapman, Fatone (chair), and Miura; Visiting Assistant Professor Thomas; Lecturers Bourne, Corrie, and Williams
The Department of Music gives students the opportunity to study music from cultural, historical, theoretical, psychological, creative, and interpretive perspectives, including study of Western and non-Western classical and popular musical traditions. Most of the courses offered are suitable for general liberal arts students. Music majors and minors have the opportunity to pursue individual interests in depth. In recent years, students have completed interdisciplinary and double-major programs including substantial work in music.
MUS 101, 103, 104, 212, 248, 249, 254, and 262—courses introducing musical traditions and concepts—are open to all students without prerequisite. MUS 231 is the beginning course in music theory; students considering a major or minor in music should take it as early as possible. MUS 235, 237, and 238 are introductory courses in composition. MUS 270, private instruction in vocal or instrumental performance, is open to first-year students with permission of the instructor. MUS 290 (Musical Ensemble Performance) is open to any student who qualifies to participate in one of the department's faculty-directed performing organizations: the American String Band, College Choir, College Orchestra, Gamelan Ensemble, Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Steel Pan Orchestra, and West African Music and Dance Ensemble.
More information on the music department is available on the website (bates.edu/Music).
Major Requirements
Students majoring in music choose one of three tracks in the major: performance, composition, or cultural musicology.All music majors take the following:
MUS 210. Classical Music in Western Culture.
MUS 212. Introduction to Ethnomusicology.
MUS 231. Music Theory I.
MUS 232. Music Theory II.
MUS 331. Music Theory III.
MUS 332. Music Theory IV.
MUS 457 or 458. Senior Thesis.
One of the following cultural musicology courses:
AA/MU 249. African American Popular Music.
MUS 247. History of Jazz.
MUS 248. Music in Contemporary Popular Culture.
MUS 266. Miles Davis.
Cultural musicology majors may, with permission, substitute another course for 332.
Performance
Students on the performance track also take:One of the following:
MUS 220. Performance in Western Classical Music.
MUS 222. Jazz Performance Workshop.
MUS s26. Performance in Western Classical Music
All of the following:
Two credits (four semesters) of applied music (MUS 270).
Four semesters of credit or participation in a faculty-directed ensemble appropriate to their applied music study.
Two semesters of credit or participation in a different faculty-directed ensemble, employing a different instrumental or vocal medium.
Composition
Students on the composition track also take:MUS 235. Music Composition.
MUS 237. Computers, Music, and the Arts.
Two additional courses in composition or orchestration.
Performance and composition majors may fulfill the [W3] requirement by completing a junior-senior seminar in the senior year or a [W3] course in a second major.
Cultural Musicology
Students on the cultural musicology track also take:A junior-senior seminar (MUS 395-398).
Three other music courses, not including MUS 101 or 103 or more than one credit of applied music or musical ensemble performance; for one of these three courses they may substitute a course pertinent to their musical interests, offered in another department or program.
Students on the cultural musicology complete the [W3] requirement through the thesis (MUS 457, 458).
Study of languages other than English is strongly recommended for students planning graduate work in music.
Pass/Fail Grading Option
Pass/fail grading may be elected for one course applied toward the major.Minor Requirements
The minor in music consists of seven courses: MUS 231-232 and five additional music courses (which may include PHYS 103, Musical Acoustics), and up to one credit (two semesters) of applied music or musical ensemble performance. MUS 101 cannot count toward the minor.Pass/Fail Grading Option
Pass/fail grading may be elected for one course applied toward the minor. CoursesMUS 101. Introduction to Listening.
Reading and listening assignments, demonstrations, and class discussion provide the opportunity to become familiar with the basic materials and structure of music. The elements of music and the sociology of music making are studied, using primarily Western classical repertoire from various historical periods. Students also acquire a rudimentary musical language through basic ear training, in-class exercises, and frequent homework assignments. The course is open to, and directed toward, students unskilled in reading music as well as those with considerable musical experience. Enrollment limited to 60. H. Miura.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 103. Music in World Cultures.
This course introduces students to the fundamental elements of music in selected music cultures of the world. Lectures include use of recordings, films, live performance, and hands-on workshops with guest musicians to enhance each student's understanding of relationships among performance practices, aesthetic foundations, and belief systems. The course explores the basic principles of ethnomusicology, musical connections to dance and ritual, cross-cultural interactions and influences, and specific performance contexts in various cultural areas of the globe. Enrollment limited to 40. G. Fatone.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MU/RE 104. Music and Religion.
Music renders words, spaces, and rituals sacred. It opens individuals to spiritual experience and unites individuals into religious communities. In this course students explore, across different religious traditions, the question of how people use music to relate to the divine. Traditions investigated include the historic choral music of the Catholic Church, the vocal and instrumental music of African American churches, and the mystical musical practices of Sufism. Issues include music as a vehicle of prayer, music as a means of entering a spiritual state, and the debates within various traditions about what kinds of music are proper for worship. Not open to students who have received credit for MUS 104. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 165. Music, Media, Technology: A History.
In this course, students investigate the historical intersections between music and technology, exploring the relationship between contemporary music technologies and their historical predecessors and considering how new technologies and media create new possibilities for musical production and circulation. Topics include the historical development of instruments, from the bone flute to the piano to the theremin; various Western and non-Western systems of written musical notation from the medieval era to the present; music printing and publishing; architectural acoustics and spaces of listening; recording, radio, and amplification technologies; the digital age; iTunes, mobile streaming, and the impact of the internet. Not open to students who have received credit for MUS 254. Enrollment limited to 40. One-time offering. C. Thomas.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 210. Classical Music in Western Culture.
An introduction to the study of Western classical music. This course is at once a survey of representative works, an investigation of the concepts that have shaped the institutions and practices of classical music, and an introduction to the kinds of study that support classical music culture. The course considers the nature of a musical tradition in which works are defined by their place in a historical sequence and in which performance consists of interpreting historic written texts. Students choose a composer and a musical genre as subjects of individual projects. Prerequisite(s): any one course in music or permission of the instructor. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. Staff.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
MUS 212. Introduction to Ethnomusicology.
An introduction to the field of ethnomusicology, the study of "music as culture." Emphasis is on the interdisciplinary character of the field, and the diverse analytical approaches to music making undertaken by ethnomusicologists over time. The centrality of fieldwork and ethnography to the discipline is also a core concept of the course. Through readings, multimedia, and discussion, students examine relationships among ethnomusicology, musicology, anthropology, and world music, and consider the implications of globalization to the field as a whole. Students explore applied music learning as well as performance as a research technique through participation in several hands-on workshops with the Bates Gamelan Ensemble. Open to first-year students. [W2] Normally offered every year. G. Fatone.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
MUS 222. Jazz Performance Workshop.
This course is an introduction to the art of jazz improvision; basic fluency on an instrument or voice is required, and it is helpful to have past experience listening to jazz. Course activities include transcription, analysis, developing a repertoire of standards, and the development of a jazz language. Vocalists and performers on any instruments may enroll. Prerequisite(s): MUS 231. Recommended background: instrumental or vocal performance experience. Open to first-year students. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every year. L. Williams.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 231. Music Theory I.
Beginning with a study of music cognition, the course proceeds with analysis and composition of metric and additive rhythms, modes, melodies, first and second species counterpoint, harmonic progressions, and musical form. The musical repertoire used includes popular and classical styles. The course includes practical ear-training, sight-singing, and keyboard work in additional weekly lab sessions. Students desiring to learn music notation should begin with MUS 101. Prerequisite(s): a reading knowledge of music. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. J. Bourne.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 232. Music Theory II.
A continuation of Music Theory I. Prerequisite(s): MUS 231. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every year. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 235. Music Composition.
Composition may be pursued by students at various levels of expertise and training. The course includes a weekly seminar and private lessons, and concentrates on—without being limited to—contemporary idioms. Prerequisite(s): MUS 232. Open to first-year students. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every year. H. Miura.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 237. Computers, Music, and the Arts.
A hands-on study of music and video making with computers, using the facilities of the Bates Computer Music Studio. Topics include digital synthesis, sampling, MIDI communications, simple programming, and the aesthetics of art made with computers. No computing experience is presumed, and the course is especially designed for students of the arts who wish to learn about new tools. Work produced in the course is performed in concert. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 18. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every year. W. Matthews.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 238. Contemporary Popular Composition and Arranging.
This course explores a variety of composition and arranging styles from recent American popular song. Students develop skills necessary for contemporary composition, gaining knowledge through listening and analysis, harmonic and/or melodic transcription, in-class ear-training exercises, and composition assignments. Recommended background: competence on guitar, piano or another harmonic instrument. Prerequisite(s): MUS 231 or permission of the instructor. Open to first-year students. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 247. History of Jazz.
American jazz offers a rich tradition through which one can study music, race, and American history. Through extensive listening, reading assignments, and interaction with musicians themselves, students explore the recorded history and contemporary practice of jazz. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: MUS 101, 103, or 231. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 96. D. Chapman.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
MUS 248. Music in Contemporary Popular Culture.
The last thirty years have witnessed a sea change in contemporary society, as dramatic technological and economic transformations have altered the way we see the world. This course addresses recent developments in popular music, jazz, and "art" music, examining how trends running from minimalism to hip hop and MTV comment upon this cultural environment. The course raises many questions: How has information technology altered our worldview? How does recent music reflect our ideas about race, class, gender, and sexuality? How does it disrupt conventional ideas about the separation between "high" and "low" culture? Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 60. D. Chapman.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
AA/MU 249. African American Popular Music.
The history of the twentieth century can be understood in terms of the increasing African-Americanization of music in the West. The rapid emergence and dissemination of African American music made possible through recording technologies has helped to bring about radical cultural change: it has subverted received wisdoms about race, gender, and sexuality, and has fundamentally altered our relationship to time, to our bodies, to our most basic cultural priorities. This course explores some crucial moments in the history of this African-Americanization of popular music and helps students develop an understanding of the relationship between musical sound and cultural practice. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. D. Chapman.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AS/MU 252. Musics of Southeast Asia.
Designed for students interested in performing arts cultures based outside the West, this course introduces selected historical and contemporary musical traditions of mainland and island Southeast Asia. The integration of music, dance, theater, and ritual is a unifying theme of the course. Special attention is given to historical and contemporary gong-chime cultures of the region. The study of Southeast Asian arts contributes to students' understanding of the region. Several practical sessions, in which students learn to play instruments of the Bates Gamelan Ensemble, enhance the grasp of formal principles common to a variety of Southeast Asian musics. Prerequisite(s): any course in music or Asian studies. Open to first-year students. [W2] G. Fatone.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MU/PY 253. Music and the Embodied Mind.
An exploration of the nature of musical experience in cognitive and neuroscientific terms. Does music belong to an altered state of consciousness or is it a function of our ordinary state of consciousness? Are the emotions that we experience through music the same as those that spring from our personal experiences? Is music essentially an interior experience, and if so, how does it connect us so powerfully to others? How can music and speech become one in song? These questions, long fascinating to philosophers, are now being considered through the scientific study of the brain and mind. Recommended background: previous study of music, neuroscience, or psychology. Not open to students who have received credit for MU/PY 395. G. Fatone.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 254. Music and Drama.
How do music and drama go together, and how are the possible relationships between them exploited in different media? This course is a study of dramas that use music, not only opera, but also musicals, movies, and non-Western musical theater. Works are heard and seen through audio and video recordings, and the class may attend an opera performance in Boston or Portland. Open to first-year students. C. Thomas.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
INDC 256. Rites of Spring.
Le Sacre du printemps—The Rite of Spring— began as a ballet, with music by Igor Stravinsky, choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky, and sets and costumes by Nicholas Roerich. Premiered in 1913 to riots in Paris, The Rite of Spring has lived on to become one of the most important pieces of music in the Western canon and the zenith of stature and daring for choreographers. This course examines where it came from and how it has evolved over time through dance works, music, and cultural context. Cross-listed in dance, music, and Russian. [W2] C. Dilley.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MU/WS 256. Opera and Gender.
Considering topics from mad and dying heroines to cross-dressing characters to real-life divas, this course serves as an introduction to opera history and representations of gender on the operatic stage from the seventeenth century to the present. Engaging with the music, texts, and visuals of select operatic works, students explore a range of topics including gender subversion, castrati, pants roles, and cross-dressing; the hero, antihero, and the femme fatale; women in positions of power; madness, exoticism, and disease; intersections of gender, race, and class; diva culture; female opera composers, librettists, and directors; and women in the opera industry today. Course crosslisted beginning Winter 2017. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. One-time offering. C. Thomas.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 256. Opera and Gender.
Considering topics from mad and dying heroines to cross-dressing characters to real-life divas, this course serves as an introduction to opera history and representations of gender on the operatic stage from the seventeenth century to the present. Engaging with the music, texts, and visuals of select operatic works, students explore a range of topics including gender subversion, castrati, pants roles, and cross-dressing; the hero, antihero, and the femme fatale; women in positions of power; madness, exoticism, and disease; intersections of gender, race, and class; diva culture; female opera composers, librettists, and directors; and women in the opera industry today. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. One-time offering. C. Thomas.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MU/TH 262. Performing Music Theater.
Learning to perform musical theater means learning to put the arts of singing, acting, and dancing—along with instrument-playing—at the service of dramatic characterization and interaction. In this course scenes and numbers from shows in a variety of styles are studied; some of these are performed in a cabaret evening at the end of the semester. Open to students with some experience singing or dancing or acting or playing an instrument employed in musical theater. Enrollment limited to 32. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 266. Miles Davis.
This course explores the life, music, and cultural significance of Miles Davis, using his work and persona as windows into the turbulence of mid-twentieth-century America. The course considers such issues as his role in challenging historically entrenched representations of race, as well as his controversial defiance of musical conventions. Students develop a critical understanding of his musical output, from his early work with Charlie Parker to his late explorations of funk, psychedelic rock, and hip hop. Miles Davis is studied in the context of other major jazz musicians such as John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Wayne Shorter, and Wynton Marsalis. Prerequisite(s): MUS 231 or 247. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. D. Chapman.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
MUS 270. Applied Music.
An exploration of the literature for voice or a solo instrument through weekly instruction. Problems of performance practice, style, form, and technique are emphasized equally. Individual instruction is available in banjo, double bass, electric bass, bassoon, clarinet, drum set, euphonium, fiddle, flute, French horn, guitar, harpsichord, oboe, organ, oud, classical or Middle Eastern percussion, classical or jazz piano, saxophone, sitar, tabla, trombone or bass trombone, trumpet, tuba, viola, violin, violoncello, and voice. Instruction may be available in other classical, jazz, folk, and non-Western instruments when demand exists. One-half credit is granted upon completion of every semester of MUS 270. The course may be repeated for a maximum of four course credits. Students register for the section(s) corresponding to the instrument(s) they are studying. A special fee of $320 per semester is charged for each course. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every semester. A. Carr.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 280. Applied Music II.
See MUS 270 for course description. Students register MUS 280 only if they are also taking MUS 270 in another medium during the same semester. One-half credit is granted upon completion of every semester of MUS 280. The course may be repeated for a maximum of four course credits. Those who register for applied music instruction on an instrument must have at least a beginner's facility with that instrument. For the first semester (MUS 281), permission of the instructor of record (named below) is required; for subsequent semesters (MUS 282), it is not. A special fee of $320 is charged for each course. Corequisite(s): MUS 270. Open to first-year students. Normally offered every semester. A. Carr.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 290. Musical Ensemble Performance.
Each of the courses in musical ensemble performance provides instruction and experience for qualified students in the skills and repertories of ensemble performance through rehearsal and performance in one of the music department's faculty-directed ensembles. Any of the MUS 290 courses may be taken more than once for credit, but no more than one may be taken for credit in a single semester. One-half credit is awarded for the completion of each semester in a course. Open to first-year students. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every semester.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 290A. College Choir.
College Choir is a large mixed choir that performs classic choral works, many with full orchestra. There are three required rehearsals per week and performances at the end of every semester. Admission is by audition; the ability to sing at sight is not required. Open to first-year students. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every semester. J. Corrie.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 290B. American String Band Ensemble.
Members of the American String Band study and perform a wide variety of American music that falls into the category of roots music, including but not limited to bluegrass, country, jazz, NewGrass, folk and rock and roll played on traditional instruments. The band performs publicly at least once per semester. Students are required to practice between rehearsals. Admission is by audition; all string instruments (including mandolin, guitar and banjo) and vocalists are welcome. Open to first-year students. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every semester. H. Miura.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 290C. Gamelan Ensemble.
Study of the bronze percussion ensemble of Indonesia called gamelan. Instruction is provided in traditional and contemporary musical styles from and influenced by West and Central Java. Rehearsals are twice a week, and a performance is given every semester. No previous experience is necessary, and various skill levels are accommodated. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 14. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every semester. G. Fatone.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 290D. Jazz Band and Jazz Combo.
The Jazz Band is a large ensemble that performs styles from classic big band and swing to funk and Afro-Cuban. Rehearsals are once a week, and practicing between rehearsals is required. The Jazz Band performs at least one concert per semester. The ensemble uses standard jazz band instrumentation, and students who play other instruments should consult the director. The Jazz Combo is an instrumental or vocal jazz setting in a small ensemble experience. Singers and instrumentalists may enroll. Basic proficiency on instrument and standard notation reading ability is required. Basic instrumental proficiency, ability to read standard notation, and lead sheet or fake book improvisation skills are required. Admission is by audition; basic reading skills are required. Open to first-year students. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every semester. L. Williams.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 290E. Orchestra.
Members of the College Orchestra study and perform music of all periods, giving a concert every semester. Rehearsals are held once a week, and practicing between rehearsals is required. Admission is by audition. Players of all standard orchestral instruments may apply. Open to first-year students. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every semester. H. Miura.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 290F. Steel Pan Orchestra.
The Steel Pan Orchestra plays music in a wide variety of styles, from calypso to jazz to classical. Rehearsals are once a week, and a concert is given every semester. No previous experience is necessary, and various skill levels are accommodated. Open to first-year students. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every semester. H. Miura.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
DN/MU 290G. West African Music and Dance Ensemble.
This ensemble course offers students a chance to study and perform dance and music from several West African cultures. Students gain hands-on experience with various instruments, including drums, rattles, and bells, and learn about multiple traditions of West African dance and song. The group performs at least once per semester. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 25. H. Miura.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 290G. Brass Ensemble.
The Brass Ensemble will explore varied repertoire, including arrangements of music in different styles and compositions written specifically for brass. The size is flexible, ranging from a quartet to 11-pieces or larger, depending on repertoire and/or enrollment. The ensemble is open to trumpet, French horn, trombone, bass trombone, euphonium, tuba, and percussion. The group rehearses once a week, and individual practice between rehearsals is required. The brass ensemble will perform at least one concert each semester. Admission is by audition. Basic instrumental proficiency and the ability to read standard musical notation are required. Open to first-year students. Instructor permission is required. Normally offered every semester. A. Carr.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 300. Bates Dance Festival Musicianship.
This course provides Bates music students with the opportunity to participate in the Bates Dance Festival and receive training in dance accompaniment from festival faculty mentors. In this immersive experience, students accompany dance classes, observe rehearsals, attend concerts and informal showings, and write performance reviews and a final reflection paper. Festival and music department chair permission are required. Department chair permission is required. H. Miura.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 331. Music Theory III.
A continuation of Music Theory II, emphasizing four-voice textures, modulation, chromatic harmony, and sonata forms. Students compose music in several forms and styles, and continue practical ear-training and keyboard work. This course includes regularly scheduled laboratory sessions. Prerequisite(s): MUS 232. Normally offered every year. H. Miura.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 332. Music Theory IV.
A continuation of Music Theory III, emphasizing chromatic harmony and the post-tonal styles of the twentieth century. This course includes regularly scheduled laboratory sessions. Prerequisite(s): MUS 331. Normally offered every year. J. Bourne.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 340. Music and Cinema.
Cinema has barely more than a hundred years of history, and sound was only introduced on screen in the 1920s. This course is designed for composers investigating the ways in which sound interacts with moving images beyond the preconceived notion of a "soundtrack." Traditional film scoring techniques such as underscoring and leitmotif are investigated through compositional and theoretical affinities between Hollywood film music and late romantic operas. Alternative approaches are explored through late twentieth-century narrative and experimental cinema. Students compose a score to a short silent film of their choice. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: MUS 235, 237, or 238. Enrollment limited to 15. H. Miura.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 360. Independent Study.
Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study per semester. Normally offered every semester. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 365. Special Topics.
A course or seminar offered from time to time and reserved for a special topic selected by the department. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 394. Junior-Senior Seminar in Musicology: Music, Business, and the Law.
This course explores the historical development and contemporary practices of the music industry. Students examine institutions ranging from small independent labels to multinational entertainment conglomerates, and address business models extending from Tin Pan Alley publishing houses in the late nineteenth century to Spotify-era strategies of music dissemination in an age of declining record sales. Other topics include the changing relationship between music and intellectual property, the role of technology in "disrupting" longstanding patterns of production and consumption, and the practical considerations faced by contemporary musicians as they navigate a market environment of shifting contractual obligations and consumer expectations. Enrollment limited to 15. [W3] D. Chapman.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 396. Junior-Senior Seminar in Musicology: Music History and Cultural Politics.
Music embodies a kind of radical potentiality, a statement of the possibilities dormant in cultural norms. This potentiality is of central concern to the musicologist, whose role is to understand the relationship between music and its historical context. This course addresses the capacity of music for creating social meaning and embodying cultural change. Students engage with influential writings in historiography, music criticism, ethnography, performance practice, and analysis, with perspectives on repertory ranging from Josquin des Prez to Kanye West, from Robert Schumann to the Ronettes. Prerequisite(s): MUS 232. Enrollment limited to 15. [W3] D. Chapman.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
MUS 397. Junior-Senior Seminar in Musicology: Texts, Performances, Recordings.
The field of musicology was created with the purpose of perpetuating the notated music of past eras as a musical tradition. Musicologists have created canons of works, editing their texts and offering guidance to their performance. But the field has increasingly concerned itself with unnotated kinds of music as well, especially folk music and jazz. Some scholars have treated this unnotated music as texts—through transcriptions, recordings, and film—while others have demanded more appropriate approaches to it. At the same time, scholars working on notated music have challenged the field's tradition of text worship. This course introduces the debates. Prerequisite(s): Music 232. [W3] Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 398. Junior-Senior Seminar in Ethnomusicology.
This course focuses on ethnomusicological research methods with an emphasis on the fieldwork experience. Students design and undertake an innovative field research project that reflects an understanding of the current philosophical underpinnings, ethical considerations, and approaches to ethnography within the discipline. The development of a feasible research problem and the forging of logical relationships between project design components are emphasized. Processes of participant observation, interviewing, and various techniques of documentation become part of the student ethnographer's toolkit. Students analyze and interpret their gathered materials from within a selected theoretical perspective, culminating in a final, multimedia document. Prerequisite(s): MUS 212. Enrollment limited to 15. [W3] G. Fatone.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 457. Senior Thesis.
An independent study program culminating in: a) an essay on a musical topic; b) an original composition accompanied by an essay on the work; or c) a recital accompanied by an essay devoted to analysis of works included in the recital. Students register for MUS 457 in the fall semester. Majors undertaking an honors thesis register for both MUS 457 and 458. [W3] for majors on the cultural musicology track only. Normally offered every year. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS 458. Senior Thesis.
An independent study program culminating in: a) an essay on a musical topic; b) an original composition accompanied by an essay on the work; or c) a recital accompanied by an essay devoted to analysis of works included in the recital. Students register for MUS 458 in the winter semester. Majors undertaking an honors thesis register for both MUS 457 and 458. [W3] for majors on the cultural musicology track only. Normally offered every year. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS s24. History of Electronic Dance Music.
This course explores the development of electronic dance music from its inception in the house and techno subcultures of Chicago and Detroit to its global apotheosis as the soundtrack for rave culture. The enormous popularity of this music challenges some of our most deeply held cultural assumptions, and raises crucial questions about the relationships among music, technology, the body, and culture: How do various subgenres of electronic dance music map out our sense of postindustrial reality? In what ways do the use (and deliberate misuse) of such sound technologies as turntables, digital samplers, drum machines, and musical software challenge traditional notions of musical authorship and authenticity? In what sense do these genres and subcultures present alternative models of sexuality, or different ways of understanding the politics of the body? Enrollment limited to 30. D. Chapman.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS s25. Performing Musical Art of Indonesia.
Hands-on, intercultural musical experiences allow students to approach humanly organized sound from expanded perspectives; as listeners, and as creative artists. This course introduces students to traditional and contemporary gamelan music of Indonesia, primarily through applied instrumental study. Basic introductory readings and audio-visual materials, as well as class discussion, allow students to locate Indonesian gamelan in the larger context of Southeast Asian performing arts and as an increasingly globalized phenomenon. Students study a selection of regional gamelan traditions from Central Java, West Java, and Bali. The course culminates in public performance of music learned during the term. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 14. G. Fatone.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS s26. Performance in Western Classical Music.
A study of performance issues in the Western classical tradition of music. How does a composer convey a fully developed conception of a musical work through written notation? How does a performer interpret that notation? How do performers reconcile past with present resources and conditions, and how do they learn to improvise in this tradition? Through study of historic performance textbooks, early and recent recordings, and current debates about performance, students consider how performance traditions are passed on and challenged and how interpretative concepts are translated into sound. Projects may take the form of either performance or written analysis. Prerequisite(s): at least one semester of applied music. Not open to students who have received credit for MUS 220. Open to first-year students. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS s27. Exploring Jazz Guitar.
This course explores the nature of the guitar in jazz. A historical survey of jazz guitarists includes extensive listening and viewing of video performances, with special attention to the techniques that established their individual voices on the instrument. Elements of guitar acoustics are discussed and demonstrated in the laboratory. While the course is designed for players and nonplayers, it includes a discussion of jazz theory and analysis. Private lessons are available for guitarists. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. J. Smedley.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS s32. Orchestration.
The course is designed to provide students with working knowledge of orchestral instruments, scoring techniques, and notational systems. By reading scores and listening to the recordings of orchestral excerpts from Mozart to Ligeti, students learn about idiomatic writing, as well as how instruments can be treated in specific groups to expand a compositional palette. Each week students are expected to workshop compositional ideas and sketches with guest instrumentalists. The final project in this course is an orchestration of a piano piece. Prerequisite(s): MUS 231 and 232. Enrollment limited to 15. H. Miura.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
MUS s50. Independent Study.
Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study during a Short Term. Normally offered every year. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations