Courses

This course will examine the various tonalities, meters and compositional structures that characterize the various music styles from the Mediterranean region. This is a survey course focused on the folk music from the Mediterranean with a spotlight on how melody is the defining and dominant feature of the music. Students will explore modal systems with limited harmonic progression and tonalities not always consistent with western tonal systems and metric forms. The influence of religious music, the differing ethnic traditions, and the sociocultural differences of the principal music sources will be reviewed and studied. Listening, performing, songwriting, and sight singing are the main activities of this course.

In this course students will develop musicianship, ensemble performance, and improvising skills as they play in various sub-styles within the historical timeline of jazz drumming. They will strengthen their critical thinking skills by reading, listening, watching, analyzing, critiquing, and evaluating music performances. They also will be cognizant of the historical, sociological and technological impact of jazz, including its influence on other styles of music and develop a global perspective for music and society. Students will also be urged to apply skills and knowledge acquired in this course into their own experiences in real world musical situations.

In this course students will develop musicianship, ensemble performance, and improvising skills as they play in various styles within the historical timeline of modern drumming. They will strengthen their critical thinking skills by reading, listening, watching, analyzing, critiquing, and evaluating music performances. They also will be cognizant of the historical, sociological and technological impact of these styles (and their influence on each other): jazz, rock, funk, fusion, Brazilian, Latin, reggae, and other global styles. Through this course, students develop a global perspective for music and society. Students will apply skills and knowledge acquired in this course into their own experiences in real world musical situations.

A study of the history and development of European/orchestral, African and Afro-Latin/Caribbean percussion styles and instruments.  Emphasis will be on all the non-drumset percussion instruments (e.g. timpani, snare drum, glockenspiel, marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, steelpan, etc.) as well as the music and hand percussion instruments of Africa, Cuba, Brazil and the Caribbean.

This course is an interactive historical study of the development of contemporary, U.S.-based vocal styles, examining the social, aesthetic, technological, and commercial forces that shaped this music. Students engage in close listening, transcription, style analysis, and discussion of assigned audio/video recordings; and perform in class to demonstrate understanding of material studied. Starting from African chant, work songs, field hollers, and spirituals, students explore the roots of blues by studying such artists as Bessie Smith; the roots of jazz by delving into the vocal stylings of Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday; and the roots of gospel through the recordings by Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. From this foundation, students continue to explore artists who have shaped the music they perform today. Upon completion of the course, students will understand the cultural and aesthetic sources of styles studied. They will be able to demonstrate fundamental attributes of these styles in a culturally viable manner, and use this knowledge to inform their own artistic decision-making.