MUSC 0021E. Good Vibrations: The Music of Everyday Objects.

This seminar will investigate the sonic properties of everyday objects and environments, and how they can transform into musical expression. Through a focus on listening and experimentation, the seminar will explore resonance, reverberation, field recording, feedback, circuit bending, archaeological acoustics, and other topics. Students will create individual and collaborative compositions and performance situations. No formal music background is required. Enrollment limited to 19 first year students. Instructor permission required.

MUSC 0021F. Popular Music and Society in Latin America.

This course examines how Latin American musics shape, and are shaped by, their social environment and the political histories of their homelands. Focusing especially on Cuban and Andean styles, it explores the way that sounds connect with the lived experiences of local audiences, the artistic and political goals that have motivated key performers, and the effect of their actions on broader social debates. Issues covered include the relationship between music, race, and national identity; sound as a medium for social politics; the roles of industrialization, migration, urbanization, and media dissemination in driving musical change. Enrollment limited to 19 first year students.

MUSC 0021H. Manifestos: Art, Politics and the Idea of Progress.

Ever since Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote their "Communist Manifesto" (1848), artists, activists and politicians have used manifestos to announce radical change and justify provocative new ideas or practices. This seminar examines the manifesto as a genre of writing with a particularly strong influence on artistic movements in 20th century Modernism. Looking at examples by poets, musicians, and visual artists, we consider how they are informed by visions of progress, social action, political efficacy, and artistic or historical necessity. Authors include Russolo, Apollinaire, Schoenberg, Munch, Klee, Kandinsky, Stravinsky, Dali, Borges, Artaud, Frank O'Hara, Duchamp, Mallarmé, and Boulez. Enrollment limited to 19 first year students.

MUSC 0021J. Stephen Sondheim and the American Musical.

This seminar considers the theater shows of Stephen Sondheim in relation to the history of the American musical. Through close study of selected scenes and shows, we examine how and why Sondheim and his collaborators “reinvented” the genre. Special emphasis will be given to Sondheim's critical skepticism concerning the myths, characters, and ethos of social optimism that have been central to the Broadway tradition. We examine links between the shows and post-WWII historical contexts, and consider the political implications of the circumscribed social universe—predominantly white, urban, and affluent—within which most of his shows take place.

MUSC 0021M. Music, Sport, Games, Play.

This course uses the organizing figure of play to explore several forms of human activity, and to consider the relationship between them. Building on existing scholarly approaches to the role of play in human flourishing, it asks how play structures music, sports, and game in ways that are comparable, how the different modalities of each activity give rise to unique principles of play and competition, and how these three domains interact with one another. Topics will include musical improvisation and competition, in forums ranging from rap battles to air guitar; the role of sound in professional sports marketing and in-game experience design; the songs that enliven children’s games and the soundtracks of video games; forms such as capoeira, which involve playful interaction in several different domains; and many more.

MUSC 0032. Music and Meditation (RELS 0032).

Interested students must register for RELS 0032.

MUSC 0033. From the Blues to Beyoncé: Popular Music in the U.S..

This course seeks to view U.S. cultural and social history of the last century through the lens of popular music. We will investigate the history popular music from its roots in the early twentieth-century to the present. We will examine the social, cultural and political contexts that gave birth to various genres of popular music by exploring the music through the lenses of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, advances in technology, and developments in the music business. No musical background is required. There are conference sections for this course that meet every week.

MUSC 0063. Contemplative Music of India.

Contemplative Music of India provides a comprehensive overview of many important traditions within the contemplative musical heritage of India, including a detailed exploration of Vedic hymnology, the classical musical traditions of both North and South India (Hindustani and Carnatic musics), the devotional music of the medieval bhakti mystics, and the ecstatic modes of the Sufi saints. With these varied practices in mind, the class will explore the myriad ways in which South Asians have used music as a vehicle to achieve and sustain contemplative states of mind. The class is open to everyone regardless of musical background. Enrollment limited to 20.

MUSC 0064. Honky Tonk Heroes.

This course explores country music from its origins to the present day. We will trace its development through the careers of foundational artists like the Carter Family, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, and Willie Nelson, and evaluate the way that their legacy is reflected in the work of contemporary artists like Corb Lund, Hayes Carll, and Neko Case. Beyond the individual creativity of these figures, we will consider the way that country music has been shaped by the recording industry, the relation it has to race, gender, and political identities, and the international spread of the American country sound.

MUSC 0068. Music in China Since 1900.

From the early 20th century until now, war, political movements, ideological and cultural shifts, and later economic booms have dramatically impacted music and musical life in China. This course examines various genres of music in China, both native and imported, including traditional instrumental music, propaganda songs, opera, ballet, standard and contemporary classical music, pop music, and communal activities like amateur choruses and calisthenics. This course will exercise critical listening and thinking and comparative analysis skills, with a mix of source readings, recordings, and historical background. No background in music or Chinese history is required.

MUSC 0070. 1000 Years of Listening: Stories from the History of Western Art Music.

This course aims to introduce you to a variety of music and a range of ways of listening to, and thinking, talking, and writing about music. The majority of music dealt with will be drawn from the so-called “Classical” repertory, from the medieval period to the present day. We cover canonic favorites, but we will also explore music you may have never have encountered before. We will become familiar with the technical workings of music, while at the same time thinking about—and rethinking—some of the stories we tell about the history of Western art music. This is a tradition which has kept some musics alive across centuries, but it has also excluded many voices. In this class, we will think about the idea of the musical canon, what it offers, and how it might change.

MUSC 0071. Opera.

A survey of the history, aesthetics, and politics of opera from 1600 to the present day. Analyzes operas and scenes by Monteverdi, Purcell, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Wagner, Strauss, and others. Ability to read music not required.

MUSC 0075. Jazz: Race, Power and History.

Explores jazz in relation to American history, discussing how economics, war conditionsm regional differences and race relations shaped the music an its public reception. With readings from A. Baraka, L. Levine, R. Ellison, L. Erenberg, E. Lott, G. Early, S. DeVeaux and others, we address how jazz embodies social and political values or expresses national character. Open to non-musicians. Music proficiency preferred but not required. Enrollment limited to 60.

MUSC 0080. African Popular Music.

This course is a comprehensive overview of African popular music, highlighting its evolution and significance across the continent. We will explore the social and political contexts as well as the cultural influences that have shaped the diverse genres within African popular music. Students will engage with a wide range of styles from seminal genres like afrobeat, highlife, soukous, jùjú, Tuareg blues, and kwaito to contemporary styles such as afrobeats and amapiano. Key topics include the origins and development of the category, sonic characteristics of various genres, global interactions, and recent trends. In addition, we will examine the core concepts and theories essential to understanding and analyzing African popular music. Through lectures, listening sessions, and critical analysis, students will gain deep insights into the vibrant and dynamic world of African popular music and develop a nuanced appreciation of its diverse genres.

MUSC 0170D. Musical Youth Cultures (AMST 0170D).

Interested students must register for AMST 0170D.

MUSC 0200. Computers and Music.

Computers and Music examines the production, history and theory of music technology. The course tracks the development of musical inventions and their impact on musical thought and culture. Students completing Music 200 will gain a practical knowledge of electronic music based on first-hand experience with music production software to complete several creative assignments. Students will also gain an appreciation for the pioneering work done in previous decades in research, songwriting and performance. Finally, students will become familiar with the literature of electronic music and learn about the impact of technology on popular and experimental genres. The course combines synchronous online lectures with in-person lab sections. No special knowledge of music or technology is expected. Priority given to lower-level students and music concentrators. Upper-level students will be admitted as space allows, by permission of instructor.

MUSC 0220. MEME Ensemble: Collaborative Composition and Improvisation Ensemble.

The collaborative approach to sound creation often yields new possibilities, ideas, and perspectives on sound that can be later utilized in the creation of new music projects. In this course, students will have the opportunity to explore different types of improvisation in collaborative studio sessions, create their own music projects, and learn about existing "open score" repertoire. Students may engage in projects that also include video, audio recording, and, if it's of interest - theater and choreographic elements. The course will culminate in a public premiere performance of the newly created works.

MUSC 0221. MEME Ensemble: Sound To Color Improvisation.

Improvisation is more than just spontaneous creation, it is a sustained practice of thinking, making, and sensing otherwise. In this ensemble course, we will explore how we can make sense of ourselves, each other, and our environment through improvisation and collaborative performance. Students will explore contemporary and historical approaches to improvisation across multiple modalities, including but not limited to music, dance, writing, visual art, theater, and social/community practice. Classes will focus on readings, discussions, and sensory improvisation exercises. This will be a highly collaborative class where we will become creative researchers who collectively shape our class experience and artistic output. This highly collaborative framework using improvisation, mixed with research and writings on synesthesia, and more specifically chromesthesia, will be our foundation throughout the semester. The course culminates in a presentation of works devised and performed by the ensemble.

MUSC 0400A. Introduction to Music Theory.

An introduction to musical terms, elements, and techniques. Topics include notation, rhythm and meter, intervals, scales, chords, melody writing, harmonization, and form. Students will develop their musicianship skills, including sight-singing and keyboard, in labs which meet twice weekly. No prior musical experience is necessary. MUSC 0400A or 0400B may fulfill part of the theory requirement for the music concentration. Enrollment limited to 30. Permission granted based on questionnaire given in first class. Preference given to lower-level students.

MUSC 0400B. Introduction to Popular Music Theory and Songwriting.

An introduction to musical terms, elements, and techniques, with an emphasis on how they apply to Western popular music. Topics include notation, rhythm and meter, intervals, scales, chords, melody writing, harmonization, and form. Students will develop their musicianship skills, including sight-singing and keyboard, in labs which meet twice weekly. No prior musical experience is necessary. MUSC 0400A or MUSC 0400B may fulfill part of the theory requirement for the music concentration. Enrollment limited to 30. Permission granted based on questionnaire given in first class. Preference given to lower-level students.

MUSC 0450. On Songs and Songwriting.

A study of the art and craft of song from the perspective of the listener, writer, and performer. Students will examine a large range of music, from the middle ages to the present. Topics include: song and memory; declamation and delivery; melody and harmony; rhyme and rhythm; phrasing and form. Emphasis will be on both creation and interpretation as students develop their personal approach to songwriting. Some prior knowledge of music desirable. Course will culminate in a presentation of original songs by students enrolled in the class. Enrollment by application and limited to 19. Application form link: http://www.soundidea.org/mu450/Music450-questionnaire.pdf

MUSC 0505. The Humanities in Context: Literature, Media, Critique (HMAN 0800A).

Interested students must register for HMAN 0800A.

MUSC 0550. Theory of Tonal Music I.

Intensive study of the building blocks of tonal music traditions including western and popular music with focus on melody, harmony, counterpoint, keyboard skills, ear training, sight-singing from musical notation, and composition. Prior keyboard experience helpful but not required. A required placement exam is administered at first class meeting. Students who do not have experience reading music notation should take MUSC 0400 prior to MUSC 0550. MUSC 0550 is a prerequisite to many music courses and is a requirement for the music concentration.

MUSC 0560. Theory of Tonal Music II.

The objective of Music 560 is to advance the student's knowledge of the theory and practice of tonal music, with an emphasis on more advanced techniques of voice leading and harmony, such as modal mixture and chromaticism. Labs focus on mastery of related keyboard, score-reading, and aural skills. Form of tonal music will be studied, including sonata form.Exercises include four-part harmonization, analysis and composition in a variety styles and genres. Compositional assignments are given in order to encourage musical creativity and to illuminate theoretical concepts in the process. A more substantial final compositional project is due at the end of the semester and will be performed in class. MUSC 0560 is designed as part of a year-long comprehensive course in the theory of tonal music. Prerequisite: MUSC 0550 or permission of the instructor.

MUSC 0570. Jazz and Pop Harmony.

For students with knowledge of rudiments of music, including scales, intervals, key signatures, rhythm and meter. Keyboard skills strongly recommended. Intensive study of chord scales, chord progressions, modulation, voice leading, melody writing, harmonization, reharmonization, chord symbols, and lead sheet construction. Lab sessions will focus on ear training, keyboard exercises, and sight singing. Emphasis will be on the vocabulary of jazz theory and the repertoire will be American popular song. Course section is limited to 25 students.

MUSC 0600. Chorus.

Half credit each semester. A practical study of choral literature, techniques, and performance practice from Gregorian chant to the present, offered through rehearsals, sectionals, and performance. Enrollment is by audition, based on voice quality, experience, and music-reading ability. Instructor permission required.

MUSC 0610. Orchestra.

Half credit each semester. A practical study of the orchestra repertory from Bach to the present, offered through coaching, rehearsals, and performances. Enrollment is by audition. Students will be notified of audition results within the first seven days of the semester. Restricted to skilled instrumentalists. May be repeated for credit.

MUSC 0620. Wind Symphony.

Half credit each semester. A practical study of the wind band repertory from Mozart to the present, offered through coaching, rehearsals, and performances. Enrollment is by audition. Restricted to skilled instrumentalists. Instructor permission required.

MUSC 0630. Jazz Band.

Half credit each semester. A practical study of jazz from the 1920s to the present through coaching, rehearsals, and performance. Seminars on arranging, ear training, and improvisation are conducted for interested students but the focus is on performance. Enrollment is by audition. Restricted to skilled instrumentalists and vocalists. Instructor permission required.

MUSC 0640. Ghanaian Drumming and Dancing Ensemble.

A dynamic introductory course on drumming, dancing, and singing of Ghana and the diaspora. Students learn to perform diverse types of African music, including Ewe, Akan, Ga, and Dagomba pieces on drums, bells, and shakers. No prerequisites. May be repeated for credit. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission required.

MUSC 0642. World Music Ensemble.

This ensemble focuses on global percussive and song traditions, especially those of the African diaspora (based on instructor's vast musical experiences). Here western instrumentalists fuse with traditional musicians from every culture: bongo, gyil, ukulele, tabla, etc. Students will grow and develop their musical skills by learning new techniques on their own instrument, exploring a range of repertoire representing genres such as highlife, reggae, salsa, afrobeat, Afro-jazz, and global fusions. There will be unique opportunities to work on improvisation taking influence from Steve Reich, Tito Puente, Randy Weston, Hugh Masekela, Paul Simon, Miriam Makeba, Ghanaba, and Milton Nasimiento.

MUSC 0646. Brazilian Choro Ensemble.

Half credit each semester. Students will play this popular Brazilian style, which emerged in the late 19th century and is often compared to early jazz. Classes run according to the traditional roda model, a structured jam session where performers read through, improvise upon, and hone their abilities to play familiar tunes. Prior familiarity with choro music not required, but some instrumental expertise is. Ability to read notation preferred. Typical instruments include guitar, cavaquinho (Brazilian ukulele), mandolin, flute, and pandeiro (Brazilian tambourine), but others may participate on instructor approval. Enrollment limited to 20.

MUSC 0650. Javanese Gamelan.

Half credit each semester. Instruction, rehearsals, and performances in the gamelan music of Java, on instruments owned by the department. No prerequisites. Enrollment limited to 18 students.

MUSC 0651. Javanese Gamelan.

See Javanese Gamelan, MUSC0650, for course description. Enrollment limited to 18 students.

MUSC 0670. Old-Time String Band.

Half course each semester. Instruction and ensemble playing. Music taught by ear. American (southern Appalachian Mountain) traditional music on violin (fiddle), 5-string banjo, mandolin, and guitar. Enrollment limited to 20 students.

MUSC 0680. Chamber Music Performance.

Half credit each semester. The practical study of the literature of chamber music through participation in a small ensemble. Regular rehearsals, coaching by department staff, and performances are required. Enrollment is by audition. Students will be notified of audition results within the first ten days of the semester. Restricted to skilled instrumentalists. May be repeated for credit.

MUSC 0695. Gospel Titans, Divas, and Dynasties (AFRI 0690).

Interested students must register for AFRI 0690.

MUSC 0810. Applied Music Program: Instruction in Vocal or Instrumental Music.

Half credit each semester. Restricted to skilled musicians. Openings are limited. Enrollment and re-enrollment is by audition and jury. Lessons are given by consultants to the Applied Music Program. A fee is charged for enrollment. Copies of the Applied Music Program Guidelines giving detailed information are available online at www.brown.edu/music. May be repeated up to four times for credit.

MUSC 0825. Social Justice and the Musical Afrofuture (RELS 0822).

Interested students must register for RELS 0822.

MUSC 0890. The Romantic Generation.

Beethoven’s shadow looms large on the young romantic generation, setting off a collective anxiety of influence unparalleled in musical history. “what next?” seemed difficult to answer as Beethoven brought the abstract forms of sonata, symphony, and quartet to unreachable heights. The range of answers gave birth to a musical style that looked backwards into the Baroque for textural density and flow, abandoning the articulated symmetry of the classical phrase, while pushing the harmonic language, musical drama, and effect into new horizons. All the while, the search for alternative structures and points of musical departure, resulted in a new sort of interaction between music and other art forms. Schumann’s E.T.A Hoffman’s inspired character pieces, Berlioz’s program music, the proliferation of the Lied, Liszt’s Dante Sonata and Petrarca sonnets are telling examples of this search for a new musical style and context.

MUSC 0910. From Darkness to Light: Medieval and Renaissance Music.

Western Music 1000-1700 Topics addressed - among many others! How was music notated before the staff was invented? What repertoire developed when Notre Dame was built- 1099? What did the Crusaders sing? What is Polyphony? What was sung for the dedication of the Florence Duomo in 1440? How did the rise of printing change music? What music drove the Pilgrims to distraction? What did Bach hear as a child? Why did Opera develop, and what sort of music was written for its first 100 years? A few of the composers studied: Hildegard, Machaut, Dufay, Josquin, Palestrina, Byrd, Gesualdo, Schütz, Purcell, and Monteverdi.

MUSC 0920. Baroque and Classic Music.

A history of music of the Baroque Era in European society from Monteverdi's opera to Bach and Handel studied through texts, scores, CDs, DVDs, and YouTube. We'll spend most of our time on these composers: Bach, Handel, Purcell, Monteverdi and Lully. Prerequisite: MUSC0550 or equivalent.

MUSC 0930. Romantic and Modern Music.

A history of European and American art music from Beethoven to the Postmodernists. Prerequisite: MUSC 0550 or permission of instructor.

MUSC 1005. Arts Workshop for Practice and Practice-Oriented Research (LITR 1000).

Interested students must register for LITR 1000.

MUSC 1009. Black Music Performance (ARTS 1009)..

Interested students must register for ARTS 1009.

MUSC 1010. Advanced Musicianship I.

Training in advanced musicianship skills relevant to Western art music from the sixteenth Century to the present, including sight singing, ear training, score reading, keyboard harmony, improvisation, and musical transcription. Prerequisite: MUSC 0560 or MUSC 0570, or permission of the instructor.

MUSC 1011. Advanced Musicianship II.

Continuation of MUSC 1010. Prerequisite: MUSC 1010 or permission of the instructor.

MUSC 1020. Modal Counterpoint.

An introduction to contrapuntal techniques of the 16th century with particular attention to the music of Lassus and Palestrina. Two hours per week of ear training and sight singing. Prerequisite: MUSC 0560.

MUSC 1030. Tonal Counterpoint.

The contrapuntal techniques of the 18th century with emphasis on music of Bach. Written exercises in and analysis of several genres including fugue. Prerequisite: MUSC 0560 or permission of instructor.

MUSC 1040. Analysis of Romantic Musics.

This course introduces analytical approaches to both 19th-century Western European art music and more recent genres that have been influenced by its harmonic vocabulary and aesthetic aims. Building on students’ previous study of music theory, the course comprises three broad units, respectively centered around theories of Romantic form, chromatic harmony and voice-leading, and rhythm and meter.

MUSC 1050. Advanced Music Theory II.

A study of theories of Western art music since Debussy. Exercises in analysis and composition, focusing on works of Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Webern, Bartok and Ives. Students give presentations on selected later composers. Prerequisite: MUSC 0560 with grade of B, or the equivalent.

MUSC 1060. Analysis and Performance of Music.

Study of the implications of musical analysis for performance. Students prepare solo or chamber works for performance in a formal concert presented at the end of the course. Focuses on problems of interpretation and their resolution through analysis of musical structure. Short analytical assignments and an extended analytical project required. Prerequisite: MUSC 0560 or permission of the instructor and proficiency on a musical instrument.

MUSC 1100. Introduction to Composition.

Introduction to Composition explores a wide variety of compositional theories and practices with the goal of honing students’ technical skills and developing their unique compositional styles. Through creative assignments, readings, and listening, students will have the opportunity to observe and reflect on various compositional practices that may in turn be applicable to their own work. We also will address questions of musical craft including notation, technology, and instruments. To merge the gap between theory and praxis, in addition to our normal coursework we will conduct several reading sessions with hosted guest musicians, and we will conclude the semester with a final in-class concert. Prerequisite: MUSC 0560 or MUSC 0570 or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 20 students.

MUSC 1110. Seminar in Composition.

This is a seminar-based course with a creative component focusing on specific compositional techniques such as writing transitions and motivic development, and writing for specific kinds of ensembles. These techniques are applicable to all kinds of music, from concert music to popular genres. The course will also address aesthetic issues, trends and influences and how they affect living composers’ individual voices. Besides studying notated repertoire from the concert tradition, we will also examine approaches to film scoring, improvisation, and environmental sound worlds outside of the traditional concert hall.

MUSC 1120. The Technique of Orchestration.

The study of orchestration includes the ranges, sounds, and idiosyncrasies of the individual instruments, and the combination of those instruments into ensemble textures. A series of graduated assignments, including pieces for solo cello, string quartet, wind quintet, wind ensemble, and full orchestra, form the basis of this course. Prerequisite: MUSC0560 or permission of the instructor. Not open to first year students.

MUSC 1140. Classical Improvisation.

A historical and practical study of improvisation in western classical traditions from the middle ages to the 19th century, with emphasis on the common practice period 1700-1850. Students will apply theoretical knowledge in harmony and counterpoint to in-class improvisations, learning such skills as melodic ornamentation, chaconne-bass elaborations, variations, preluding, and free improvisation starting with simple exercises and gradually elaborating more complex pieces. These practices will be studied in relation to their historical contexts and shifting aesthetic purposes. Historical topics include cadenzas, harmonic experimentation, the relationship between oral and written transmission, and the social contexts of performance. MUSC0560 and consultation with instructor recommended. Prerequisite: MUSC 0550. Enrollment limited to 15.

MUSC 1150. Seminar in Improvisation.

This is a seminar with a strong creative component that explores the art of improvisation. It caters to musicians (incl. singers) and composers across genres - whether jazz, rock, classical, hip hop, folk, electronic music, etc. We will analyze the properties of improvisation while focusing on soloing, group improvisation, groove and time-feel, ideation, improvisation in composition, production, and on the bandstand. We will transcribe, deal with questions such as “how to play without sheet music,” and address aesthetic issues, diverse lineages and context. We will analyze other artists’ improvisations, learn how to improvise ourselves, and obtain the tools necessary to develop our craft independently. You will need your instrument, voice, and - most importantly - your ear. Music and instrumental proficiency is required. A questionnaire will serve as a prescreening. Access to the seminar will be given via override approval.

MUSC 1170. Classical Forms & Performance.

This course aims to examine the relationship between different kinds of analysis and the performance of large classical forms.
Through a combination of secondary reading, score analysis and performance workshops we will tackle questions regarding bar structure and phrasing, tonal-harmonic relations and the musical narrative, the connection between texture and character as well as dramatic contrast and the evolution of the motivic material in the sonata and variations forms.
Developing a heightened awareness of the inner forces in music and arguing that a deep reading of a musical work, as individualistic that reading may be, has to be rooted in a full grammatical understanding of the score.

MUSC 1200. Recording and Sound Design Techniques.

Music 1200 is a rigorous study of music production techniques taught in parallel with topics in psychoacoustics. Students will create original studio work while developing listening and technical skills for audio production. Technical topics include recording, signal processing and mixing software, microphone technique, and sound engineering fundamentals. Class size is limited and some prior experience with digital audio workstations is expected. Preference will be given to students who have successfully completed MUSC 0200 and are active in the music department. Admission is determined by an entrance questionnaire completed at the first class meeting.

MUSC 1210. Seminar in Electronic Music: Real-Time Systems.

Seminar in Electronic Music is a study of music employing electronic media, including real-time digital signal processing, multimedia, and live performance. Technical aspects of the course focus on programming using Max/MSP to create interactive projects and algorithmic compositions. Permission of instructor required. Interested students must come to the first class. Preference will be given to students who have completed MUSC 0200.

MUSC 1215. Site and Sound (VISA 1710).

Interested students must register for VISA 1710.

MUSC 1235. Exploration in Video Art (VISA 1730).

Interested students must register for VISA 1730.

MUSC 1235A. Black Protest Music (AFRI 1230).

Interested students must register for AFRI 1230.

MUSC 1240D. Experimental Musical Instrument Design (VISA 1800Q).

Interested students must register for VISA 1800Q.

MUSC 1240E. Experimental Data Representation (MCM 1700U).

Interested students must register for MCM 1700U.

MUSC 1240F. Circuit Bending and Hardware Hacking as Musical and Artistic Expression.

Creative experimentation with hardware electronics and re-appropriated technologies is the main focus of this course. No prior experience of electronics is required. Initially, we will build a range of simple electronic circuits and explore a variety of strategies to animate and interpret pre-existing electronic devices. Students will then develop individual instruments and/or performance environments and engage in a number of solo and collaborative projects. The aesthetics of handmade electronic music and post-digital performance practice will be foregrounded throughout. Permission of instructor is required.

MUSC 1240I. Building Musical Instruments.

In Building Musical Instruments, we will study and create expressive musical sound by building electronic instruments. Using sonic goals as inspiration for design features, we will build contact microphones, basic synthesizers, digital controllers, and physical enclosures, and we will consider the ways in which these distinct objects can unite to form a musical performance system. Topics include: musical listening and design, resonance of different materials, soldering, breadboarding, reading a basic schematic diagram, creating an enclosure, and expressive interaction with instruments. Override codes required; interested students must attend first day and complete questionnaire, only after which will override codes be distributed.

MUSC 1240N. Analog Practice.

Analog sound is uniquely tactile, expressive, and flexible. Through a series of solo, collaborative, recorded, and live-performed projects, this class explores the practice of creating analog sound. We will use a wide array of modular and semi-modular analog synthesizers, including the rare ARP 2500. Beginning with broad concepts of voltage flow and modulation, we will expand into considering the unique affordances of various synths, addressing questions such as tone color, ease of sound production and variation, and conduciveness to combination with other sound sources. Interested students strongly recommended to attend first day; final class list determined by questionnaire.

MUSC 1240R. Intro to Rap Songwriting.

This is an introductory production seminar in which students will explore various aspects of rap songwriting and performance. Over the course of the semester we will examine a range of poetic constructs, song structures, and storytelling approaches through deep listening sessions, class discussions, and lectures from invited guests. Creative assignments will be paired with materials that contextualize our work within the broader history of hip hop as a black cultural expression and locate certain songwriting trends within ongoing musico-cultural dialogues about authorship, race, gender, sexuality, and genre, among other topics.
In lieu of a formal lab, there will be a minimum of four workshops per semester to provide a basic studio foundation for students without prior recording experience and a space for more advanced students to practice and share. Planning of these workshops will consider the group of enrolled students' schedules.

MUSC 1240S. Feminist Sonic Futures.

This course is a weekly discussion seminar that examines the intersections of feminist praxis and sound studies. Students will survey a range of feminist discourses that inform and are informed by various sonic practices—from the production of pop songs to the documentation of disappearing soundscapes. Over the course of the semester students will critically engage with the work of feminist and womanist scholars, activists, sound engineers, performers, and composers who are largely concerned with the ways in which the sonic is deeply implicated in the coproduction and resistance of categories of difference like gender, race, class, sexuality, and ability.

MUSC 1241. Genealogies of Noise.

You can’t look directly at noise. It slips between your fingers. The moment any sense is made of it, maybe even the moment it’s identified, it loses its real noisiness. It’s the underbelly of prediction. Despite its obstinance, it's everywhere: musical/critical theories, medical/military practices, pastoral/urban mythologies, and architectural/neurological frameworks. Thinking with noise draws music history, and history history together, as it exposes the stakes of creative practice. This seminar takes up a theoretical and practical/experimental approach to this din that is the discourse around noise, as participants develop noise methodologies as modes of response. Background in music is not required, but a commitment to experimental practice (writing included) is. Topics: generative AI, fascist propaganda, ecological new materialisms, creolization, urban design, cybernetic theory, and aesthetic theories of the sublime. Overrides given the first day of class.

MUSC 1242. Sounding Gender: Music, Identity, and Sexuality.

This course concerns the wide range of relationships between music, gender, and sexuality across a host of musics and localities. Together we will explore how music informs and reflects cultural and social constructions of gender and sexuality. Drawing from examples that include popular music and Western art music, this course will investigate not only the methods by which music scholars have engaged with issues of gender and sexuality, but also how non-normative and sexualized subjectivities are negotiated, produced, and transgressed in and through musical practices. Students will come away with a firm sense for the questions that scholars have posed and the ways in which these questions have shaped and guided the relationships between gender, sexuality, and music. No prior knowledge of the subject material is required, nor will students need to have any knowledge of musical notation.

MUSC 1250. Sound Design for Multimedia and Soundscapes.

This production seminar is a study of techniques and aesthetics used to create sonic environments and effects that enhance a variety of media including video, cinema, radio/podcasting, audio art, new media, theater, and installation art. Technical topics include audio production in multi-channel formats, advanced audio editing, mixing and synthesis techniques, and audio system design. Enrollment is limited. Preference will be given to students who have completed MUSC 1200 or have significant experience related to the course topics. Admission is determined by an entrance questionnaire completed at the first class meeting.

MUSC 1255. Sound Design - Synthesis and Spatialization.

Sound synthesis and spatialization techniques are fundamental to the history and contemporary practice of electronic and computer music. Music 1255 will examine synthesis techniques from the discipline’s analog history through the latest software innovations. Through focused study of synthesis and spatialization technologies, MUSC1255 will explore sonic timbre and space as compositional materials. Students will gain fundamental understanding needed to successfully design original sounds in the many variations of software and hardware interfaces that exist. Spatialization techniques for working on a variety of systems - from binaural processing on headphones to concepts for working on multichannel systems - will be studied and explored for their musical and compositional value. Class size is limited. Preference will be given to students who have successfully completed other advanced electronic/computer music and music production courses.

MUSC 1255A. Making the 21st Century Musical (TAPS 1251A).

Interested students must register for TAPS 1251A.

MUSC 1260. Advanced Audio Techniques.

This course will focus on developing and reinforcing technical skills, musical concepts, and critical listening abilities associated with the practice of composition in electronic/computer music studios and software. These studies will be tied to a broad range of aesthetic approaches and discussions of sound processing, synthesis, spatialization, and recording techniques. Through projects and focused study, students will expand their knowledge and craft, and will provide each other with a forum for exploring their creative studio work. Class size is limited. MUSC 1200 is a prerequisite, and preference will be given to students who have also taken other music technology courses.

MUSC 1275. Sonic Practice Studio (VISA 1750).

Interested students must register for VISA 1750.

MUSC 1285B. The Creative Ensemble: Poetry in/to Performance (TAPS 1280B).

Interested students must register for TAPS 1280B.

MUSC 1290. Analog/Digital Hybrids.

This course is focused on advanced synthesis techniques and analog/digital hybrid systems. Students will engage with the university’s hardware synth equipment and examine how digital tools, such as the “Max” programming language can be used to supplement them. Emphasis will be placed on generative "real time," systems in order to create complex, evolving synth patches capable of producing non-repeating musical gestures. We will also explore "feedback," and how it can be utilized as both an audio and control signal.

MUSC 1500. Major Masters and Repertoires of Music.

The advanced study of the music of selected composers. Prerequisites: MUSC 550 or permission of the instructor.

MUSC 1500A. The Genius of Bach.

An examination of the life and work of Bach, his vocal, orchestral, keyboard music, including its place in German society, views of his contemporaries and explanation of his performance venues, manuscript and publishing history.

MUSC 1500B. Messiaen.

Oliver Messiaen is one of the most influential and eclectic musicians of the 20th century, yet he remains a highly enigmatic figure. This seminar explores Messiaen’s life, theoretical writings, and above all his music. Critical listening and analysis will focus on Messiaen’s idiosyncratic harmonic and rhythmic language as well as performance practice issues. We will investigate Messiaen’s use of color, plainsong, “modes of limited transposition,” birdsong, serialism, and rhythm via representative works. We will also examine Messiaen’s formation and his legacy as teacher/composer/performer. Prerequisite MUSC 0560.

MUSC 1505S. Music and Sports in Americas (LACA 1503S).

Interested students must register for LACA 1503S.

MUSC 1510. Baroque and Classic Music.

A history of western music from Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607) to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (1824). Prerequisite: MUSC 0550 or equivalent.

MUSC 1570. Jazz Harmony Applied To Bebop Improvisation.

Students will be able to play with improvisational variety from studying melodic harmony techniques and will have the ability to play with unity from studying motivic development techniques. This course will further improvisational knowledge and fluidity for performance and composition. This is a performance based course to benefit students in jazz combo groups, jazz big band ensembles, composition studies and anyone interested in developing improvisation skills.

MUSC 1640A. Opera, Politics, History, Gender.

The will to social order and the desire to trangress it: this conflict in modern culture has been negotiated dramatically in opera. This seminar concentrates on operas by Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Debussy, and Puccini. Each opera will be placed into dialogue with historical and theoretical texts and analyze how opera engages power in relation to gender, nationalism, modernism, and crises of representation.

MUSC 1640C. Wagner's Ring.

This seminar will pursue a rigorous musical, textual, historical, and political analysis of Wagner's tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung. It will include an analysis of production styles, with specific attention to the production currently in joint development at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, and the Berlin State Opera, to be directed by Guy Cassiers. We will address themes such as globalization and its discontents, the interplay of music drama and visual technologies, and the contextual importance of serial novels such as those of Marcel Proust, Robert Musil, and Hermann Broch. Enrollment limited to 20 students. Instructor override required.

MUSC 1640D. Opera: History, Theory, Practice.

This seminar will analyze the history, theory, and practice of opera in its textual (words and music), and performative (in the theater and in society) dimensions. We will focus paradigmatic works of Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner alongside key works in philosophy, cultural theory, and gender/performance/opera studies. We will also discuss the genesis and implementation of key productions. In addition, each student will select a 20th or 21st-century work for individual research and presentation to the group.

MUSC 1640G. The Case of Wagner.

Richard Wagner (1813-83) changed forever the forms, meanings, and contexts of European music, especially the symphonic and operatic traditions. He transformed the way we listen to music written before him. This course will pay close attention to several major music dramas, especially Lohengrin, The Ring of the Nibelung, and Parsifal, focusing on music, words, and the history and variety of staged productions. We will also consider Wagner’s relation to literature, philosophy, and history, including such issues as nationalism, modernism, anti-Semitism, and the persisting controversies around his work in Germany and Israel. This is an upper-level seminar but open to all.

MUSC 1641. History and Theory of Listening.

This upper-level seminar will explore the phenomenon of listening as related to musical works and musical experience. How do we listen to music, how do we understand musical works to be listening, and how do we listen to musical works as they seem to us to be listening to themselves, their pasts and their futures? We will examine spaces for music (architecture and acoustics) as well as cultures of listening including religious, psychological, and political contexts.

MUSC 1650. Adorno Goes to the Opera.

"Of all the tasks awaiting us in the social interpretation of music", wrote T.W. Adorno, "that of Mozart would be the most difficult and the most urgent." Using writings by Adorno on opera as a point of departure, this course goes on to a critical examination of selected Italian, German and French operas between Fidelio and Wozzeck. Finally, it takes up Adorno's challenge by reconsidering some of Mozart's mature operas, from Figaro though The Magic Flute, in terms of later opera history and theory.

MUSC 1660A. Mahler's Century.

This seminar will explore key works of Gustav Mahler in multiple contexts, including critical/interpretive traditions, conducting and performance practices, and the contexts of political, cultural, intellectual, and aesthetic history. Readings will include work of Sigmund Freud, Theodor Adorno, Carl Schorske, Julia Kristeva, Judith Butler, and others; we will think about problems such modernism, orientalism, Jewishness, montage, noise, shock, and melancholy.

MUSC 1663. Women in Music.

This course comprises a chronological survey of female composers and music creators from the ninth century to the present day. This will include the study of many pieces of music by women, accompanied by readings addressing the social, economic, cultural, and political circumstances that surrounded their composition. Additional readings address the larger context for women’s composition and its reception over time as well as the development of a feminist perspective in music scholarship.

MUSC 1677. Music and Culture in Third Republic France.

This course explores musical and cultural life in France during the Third Republic (1870-1940). Topics include: works by Bizet, Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky; folk music in the French provinces; cabarets, music halls, and music in everyday life; and jazz in interwar Paris. More broadly, we will consider the relationship between music and broader cultural phenomena and events, such as: the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune; the Dreyfus Affair; nationalism, colonialism, and internationalization; gender politics; and “modernity” and “modernism” in their various manifestations. Prerequisite: MUSC 0550 (Theory of Tonal Music I) or permission of the instructor.

MUSC 1680. Musical Performance: Theatricality, Body, and Spectacle.

Explores the visual and theatrical dimensions of music performance--both recent and historical--through the analysis of live performances, video clips, and historical documents. Using the critical methods of performance studies, we seek to uncover those aspects of musical experience that have become transparent or normalized by their familiarity, and which are eluded by a traditional focus on music as "sound alone." We concentrate on five genres--rock, classical, pop, jazz, and experimental--and consider figures such as Arturo Toscanini, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Pauline Oliveros, John Zorn, Diamanda Galás, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Enrollment limited to 24. First year students require instructor permission.

MUSC 1690A. Miles Davis: An Evolution in Jazz.

This seminar examines the life, music, and iconic status of Miles Davis, the most complex and varied figure in the history of jazz. From the mid-40s, when he emerged as a sideman to bebop virtuoso Charlie Parker, to his death in 1991, Davis was often on the cutting edge of jazz's evolution, spurring on the development of cool jazz, hard bop, progressive jazz, modal jazz, post-bop, and various forms of fusion. He was at the same a powerful though elusive personality who continues to inspire critical controversy. We will examine his creative evolution in the context of the history of popular music taste, race relations, gender roles, and social class in America. Readings include biographies, studies of his music, and collections of critical essays. There will be extensive listening assignments and occasional required video screenings.

MUSC 1700. Score Reading and Conducting.

The art of reading, analyzing, and conducting a musical score. Studies in clef reading, transposition, ear-training, and structural analysis to develop the skills needed for full comprehension of an orchestral score. Introduces the theory and technique of conducting with practice in the art of physical gesture. Selected repertoire from the Baroque through contemporary periods are studied and conducted in class. Prerequisite: MUSC 0550 or permission of the instructor.

MUSC 1701. Orchestral Conducting.

We will discuss, study and practice various technical approaches to conducting through the examination of standard repertoire. Students will develop skills in score reading and analysis. This course will provide a supportive workshop environment. Students will be given the opportunity to conduct an in class ensemble. Repertoire will small to large symphonic works from Händel through Stravinsky, depending upon the needs of each student and over all class level. Pre-Requisites: MUSC 0550-0560. Audition on the first day of class with Händel’s Messiah Overture. Students will play for their colleagues. Prior knowledge of orchestration and instrumentation is helpful. Knowledge of transposition and C clefs is helpful. If you have placed out of music theory at Brown or have questions, please contact the instructor at: brandon_brown@brown.edu

MUSC 1710. Choral Conducting.

An introduction to the art of conducting, with emphasis on choral training. A study of the relationship of gesture to sound will be combined with a survey of the choral repertoire, beginning with Gregorian Chant and covering renaissance motets, masses and madrigals, Baroque works with instruments, excerpts from Mozart's vespers, 19th- century Romantic partsongs, and selected 20th-century. Issues of basic vocal production, warm-ups, rehearsal planning, editing, programming and concert production will also be included. Prerequisite: MUSC 0400 or 0550. Written permission required. May be repeated for credit.

MUSC 1810. Applied Music Program: Instruction in Vocal or Instrumental Music.

Half credit each semester. Restricted to skilled musicians. Restricted to skilled musicians demonstrating mastery of an advanced repertory in their fields. Openings are limited. Enrollment and re-enrollment is by audition and jury. Lessons are given by consultants to the Applied Music Program. MUSC 0830, 0840 is prerequisite to this course. A fee is charged for enrollment. Copies of the Applied Music Program Guidelines giving detailed information are available online at www.brown.edu/music. Prerequisite: MUSC 0400, or MUSC 0550, MUSC 0560. Written permission required. May be repeated up to four times for credit.

MUSC 1905A. Music and Cultural Policy.

What is to be done about music and the people who make it? All over the world, individuals, governments, NGOs, and other groups are making plans for music: to ensure its survival, to make it known to a wider public, or to use it as an engine of economic growth. This course will examine various social engineering projects involving music. Topics will include media and internet regulation; ownership of music and intellectual property law; the role of institutions such as UNESCO; music in war and peace; music, heritage, and cultural tourism; and conservation, stewardship, and sustainability. No prerequisites.

MUSC 1905B. Indigenous Music of the Americas (ETHN 1890D).

Interested students must register for ETHN 1890D.

MUSC 1905C. Open Source Culture (MCM 1700N).

Interested students must register for MCM 1700N.

MUSC 1905F. Latinx Music in the U.S. (LACA 1504E).

Interested students must register for LACA 1504E.

MUSC 1905K. Governing Culture: Music and the Arts in Political Life (HMAN 1974K).

Interested students must register for HMAN 1974K.

MUSC 1910. Music and Mind.

Explores music perception in terms of auditory and cognitive processes such as auditory perception, memory, and learning. Lectures, discussions, and demonstrations review and analyze a body of scientific research on the psychology of music. Problem sets and a collaborative laboratory project. Prerequisites: PY 1 (PSYC0010) and MU 1 (MUSC 0010) or permission of the instructor.

MUSC 1920. Music and Modern Life.

Examines topics related to the everyday use of music: the determinants of musical taste; music for emotional self-management (in the health club or Iraq War); "high" vs. "low" music; eclectic taste; popular music and the music industry; mp3blogs; new business models. Readings (in sociology, history, and cultural studies) and original field research by class members. Instructor permission required. Enrollment limited to 20.

MUSC 1921. Music, Nature, Ecology.

Explores how music mediates human relations to the natural world. Via case studies drawn from Western and non-Western societies, we will examine how theorists use sound to think through the difference between humans and non-humans; how composers and soundscape artists like Grieg, Ives, Westerkamp, and John Luther Adams shape listeners’ perceptions of natural worlds and ecological systems; how people in Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, and the Bolivian Andes use sound to coordinate ecological awareness; how instruments are implicated in human relationships with the environment; and the ways that sound art helps to challenge longstanding distinctions between nature and its others.

MUSC 1923. Music in the Andean Countries.

This course provides an introduction to the music of South America’s Andean countries. Through texts, listenings, and hands-on instruction, students will explore the social histories and stylistic principles of genres like Colombian and Peruvian cumbia, Afro-Peruvian festejo and landó, Chilean nueva canción, and the sikuri and huayno music of South Andean Quechua and Aymara peoples. Class sessions balance cultural analysis with opportunities to play. No experience is necessary, though inexperienced musicians can expect to focus on instrumental or vocal parts that present a lower bar to participation.

MUSC 1926. Gospel Music from the Church to the Streets (RELS 1650).

Interested students must register for RELS 1650.

MUSC 1930. Music of Indonesia.

The traditional music of Java, Bali, and Sumatra, with special attention to the bronze percussion orchestras (gamelan) and their use in ritual, dance, and drama. Topics include: music and trance; the impact of colonialism; nationalism, modernization, and tourism; and Indonesian music and "world beat." Theory and practice are integrated through extensive instruction on Brown's gamelan instruments. Enrollment limited to 20 students.

MUSC 1931. Music of Ireland.

An introduction to the traditional music of Ireland through readings, lectures, listening, and participation. The historical and cultural context of the music is considered as well as the instruments, genres, and styles.

MUSC 1933. Music of India.

A survey of the music cultures of India. Intensive study of the classical traditions as well as an introduction to folk, tribal, and urban popular musics. Reading, listening, and class discussions focus on theory, history, and aesthetics. Improvisation; music and the dramatic arts; the social organization of music-making; and music as an expression of class, culture, and subculture in modern India. Prerequisite: MU 55 (MUSC 0550) or permission.

MUSC 1935. Beyond Bossa Nova: Brazilian Music and Society.

With a musical culture that ranges from roots samba to favela funk, and from the music of indigenous Amazonian peoples to the neo-African sounds of candomblé ritual, Brazil’s soundscape rivals its social and geographic diversity. This course provides an introduction to the "erudite," traditional, and mass-popular sounds of Brazil, emphasizing their role in creating and contesting visions of nationhood and Brazilian society over the twentieth century. There are no prerequisites, but a background in either music or Latin American studies will greatly aid students' progress in the course. Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

MUSC 1936. Tradition and Protest: Persian and Iranian Music (MES 1000).

Interested students must register for MES 1000.

MUSC 1940. Applied Ethnomusicology.

Theory and practice in applying the cultural study of music outside the academic world and in the public interest. Students will research, document, interpret and present music from local and regional ethnic communities. Prerequisite: MU 5, 6, 120 (MUSC 0050, 0060, 1200), graduate standing, or written permission from the instructor.

MUSC 1950. Transcription and Analysis of Jazz.

Transcriptions from major jazz recordings are made by the students. The personal styles of the musicians are defined through analysis in the context of the various trends in jazz history. The transcriptions are analyzed within the parameters of rhythmic and harmonic structures, tone quality, motific design, and idiomatic performance. Singing, ear-training, and dictation are used to develop transcription skills. Instructor permission required.

MUSC 1960. Advanced Ghanaian Drumming and Dancing Ensemble.

Students with experience in African and related musical traditions perform drumming, dancing, and singing of Ghana and the diaspora. Focus on a more challenging repertoire with emphasis on multi-part, lead, and improvisational playing. Prerequisite: audition. May be repeatable for credit. Instructor permission required. Enrollment limited to 15 students.

MUSC 1970. Individual Independent Study.

Directed undergraduate research for advanced students. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Section numbers vary by instructor. Please check Banner for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course.

MUSC 1971. Digital Media and Virtual Performance.

This seminar investigates digital media practices at the intersection of virtual and embodied experience, exploring overlapping genres of play, performance, pedagogy, and participatory culture. Topics include digital games, viral videos, online music and dance lessons, and the performative aspects of virtual communities. Theoretical approaches draw on scholarship in media ethnography, performance studies, human-computer interaction studies, gender studies, and ethnomusicology. We will give equal attention to production, circulation, and reception practices, and consider their contemporary convergence. The course requires critical engagement with a diverse range of media, genres, and cultural contexts, encouraging students to examine their own media practices. Registration permission granted based on questionnaire distributed at first class meeting.

MUSC 1973. "...from Topographic Oceans": Analyzing Progressive Rock.

Emerging out of late 1960s psychedelia, progressive rock deviates from the norms of mainstream popular music through its extreme stylistic contrasts, complex grooves, and extended song forms. Through close listening, transcription, and musical analysis, we'll discover how prog musicians play with listener expectations to realize their aesthetic ambitions while also exploring related socio-cultural and aesthetic concerns. Beginning with key exemplars of 1970s prog like King Crimson and Yes, we will also examine related musical styles (e.g., jazz fusion), more recent subgenres of prog (e.g., progressive metal), and prog's influence on video game and anime music.

MUSC 1975. Jazz & The Explosion Of Genre: Music, Culture, and History Between 1970 and Today.

This discussion seminar examines the diverse streams of jazz and improvised music, its history, culture, and entanglements across musical genres between 1970 and today. Why start in 1970? - Because this is where jazz history courses tend to end as jazz’s avid fusioning with allegedly contrasting styles such as rock, funk, hip hop, folk, and pop made the question of genre increasingly complex. The examination of one seminal album a week will serve as a course guide. We will build deep listening skills, listen in various settings, and use different playback devices (vinyl to digital) to critically reflect on and challenge our own habits of music consumption. Furthermore, critical readings and writing assignments accompany each album to prompt further exploration of topics surrounding genre, culture, identity, race, and the interplay between tradition and postmodernism. Music proficiency preferred but not required.

MUSC 1980. Group Independent Study.

Directed undergraduate research for advanced students. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Section numbers vary by instructor. Please see the registration staff for the correct section number to use when registering for this course.

MUSC 1985. Research Practice and Discourse.

This half-credit workshop for seniors completing Music Honors / Capstones addresses questions including: What comprises musical research? How do different research practices - critical, creative, empirical, performative, etc - inflect one another and juxtapose to promote productive discourse? Through study of substantial music research projects, and discussion and workshare of student projects, we will examine the meaning of contemporary musical research. Preference given to music concentrators working on senior projects not linked to another class, but other students working on specific musical projects welcome. Interested students must attend first class; override codes are required and will be distributed after first class.

MUSC 2000. Theory and Method in Ethnomusicology.

This core seminar offers a graduate-level survey of the discipline of ethnomusicology and its history, building on previous coursework in ethnographic methods and the history of anthropological theory. Students will complete independent research projects as well as shorter assignments geared to professional development (e.g., exam field proposal, scholarly book review, historical investigation of the Society for Ethnomusicology).

MUSC 2010. Field Research in Ethnomusicology.

Introduction to the theory and practice of fieldwork with people who make music. Project design, interviewing, still and video photography, recording, ethics, the researcher's roles, relations with human subjects, and strategies for documenting music in its human context. Prerequisite: Graduate standing or written permission.

MUSC 2020. Interpretation in Ethnomusicology.

How to think and write about people making music. Ethnomusicological representation and authority; analytical, interpretive and experiential approaches; postmodern and postcolonial considerations; hypertext multimedia representations. Prerequisite: Graduate standing or written permission.

MUSC 2026. Timbre.

This seminar takes as its starting point a collection of commonplace complaints in music studies around timbre: timbre is misunderstood; it is difficult to define; it is a woefully understudied musical parameter; it lacks a standardized theory and vocabulary; it needs more systematic analysis. At the same time, with the recent publication of books, edited volumes, and special issues devoted to timbre, people have also begun to speak of timbre studies as an emerging, discrete subfield. This seminar delves into this diverse literature in order to think critically about the concept of timbre and the struggles to understand it.

MUSC 2030. Modernizing Traditional Music.

This course examines two types of modernization: changes in the sounds of traditional music, and changes in its social-ideational contexts. We examine general theories of modernity, and the association of modernity with the urban, rational, secular, mobile, and technologically advanced. We then inspect the processes of modernization at work in four case studies taken from four very different societies. Prerequisite: Graduate standing or written permission.

MUSC 2040. Current Directions in Ethnomusicology.

The field of ethnomusicology has become increasingly interdisciplinary over the past decade, drawing inspiration from cultural studies, gender studies, popular culture studies, performance studies, psychology, phenomenology, postcolonial studies, and science and technology studies. In this seminar we will read major works of musical scholarship (most from the past ten years) that illustrate the key theoretical approaches alive in ethnomusicological research today.

MUSC 2050. Musical Thinking.

An ethnomusicological approach to the analysis of musical structures and processes. Case studies include jazz, Irish music, French-Canadian fiddling, North Indian singing, Javanese gamelan, African drumming, and Japanese court music. Topics include linguistic, psychological, and oral-formulaic theories; historical change; cross-cultural modal theory; improvisation; the nature of African rhythm; "insider" versus "outsider" accounts. Readings, discussion, and first-hand experience of selected musics. Facility with Western staff notation required.

MUSC 2060. The Efficacy of Music.

The power of music to influence the human body and mind is widely acknowledged but poorly understood. This course considers the efficacy of music in general and connections between music and altered states of consciousness in particular. Perspectives come from musical ethnography, participant observation, phenomenology, religious studies, and neuroscience.

MUSC 2070. Music and Identity.

From 19th-century European nationalism to 20th-century American multiculturalism, people have used music to affirm their identities. Drawing on anthropological and sociological theory, we examine the variety of connections between music and identity in several case studies. We consider the possible contributions of music to cross- cultural understanding, and discuss the ethics of musical border- crossing.

MUSC 2076. Global HipHop Cultures.

This course explores the global circulation of hip hop, focusing on its evolution from a localized movement in the Bronx to a cultural phenomenon that transcends geographical boundaries. From the streets of Johannesburg to the underground clubs of Tokyo, the vibrant scenes of Madrid, and the urban landscapes of Beirut, hip hop has been embraced as a form of entertainment as well as a powerful tool for self-expression and social change. Using specific countries as case studies and paying close attention to the various strategies for localization, we will examine how hip-hop has been reimagined and contextualized in diverse settings. By the end of this course, students will have a nuanced understanding of the global significance and resonance of hip hop in diverse cultural and social contexts.

MUSC 2080A. Music and Technoculture.

This seminar explores ethnographic and theoretical approaches to the study of music technologies in cultural and historical context. How do emergent technologies affect the nature of musical experience? What does technology have to do with ideologies of musical creativity, authenticity, virtuosity, and aesthetic value? We will give equal attention to production, distribution, and consumption practices (and their convergence). Major topics include “liveness” and recording, remix and remediation practices, interfaces/instruments, labor and property, virtual scenes, and digital gameplay. Prerequisite: graduate standing or written permission.

MUSC 2080B. Ethnography of Popular Music.

This seminar explores ethnographic work on popular music, including scholarship rooted in ethnomusicology, sociology, and performance studies. We will discuss case studies from around the world and will compare contemporary ethnographic research with other approaches to popular music (e.g., Frankfurt School critical theory, Birmingham School cultural studies, and text-oriented popular music studies). Prerequisite: graduate standing or written permission.

MUSC 2080C. Music and Memory.

This graduate seminar will investigate how music is bound up with human memory (individual and collective, cultural and cognitive). Readings will draw on scholarly work in ethnomusicology, anthropology, history, and cognitive science. Key themes include diaspora, nostalgia, oral and written transmission, ritual commemoration, and music's place-making potential. Students will undertake individual research projects. Prerequisites: graduate standing or written permission.

MUSC 2080D. Music, Nation, and Nationalism.

This course explores the relation between music and nationhood, as a historically particular form of collective identity, and a dominant political category in late modern societies. Students will work with key texts in the study of nationhood and nationalism, applying them to musical case studies from different world regions. Touching upon art and popular music, these cases will explore the use of nationalist rhetoric to draw citizens into state projects; the appropriation of minority expressions in defining a national self; efforts by postcolonial societies to forge national sentiment from the fragments left by decolonization; and the nation's fate after globalization.

MUSC 2080E. Historiography of Music and the Performing Arts.

This course introduces some of the most important directions, trends, and methodologies in current musicological scholarship. Most-- but not all-- readings are drawn from the last ten years. Weekly topics include: bodies and voices, disciplinarily, text and event, sound studies, materiality and technology, race and identity, mediation and networks. The workload is focused on weekly reading and small writing assignments. This course is open to undergraduates with permission.

MUSC 2080F. Music Beyond Borders: Transnational Sounds in Theory.

This course explores the effects that follow when music is set in motion beyond local spaces of creation. Bringing a variety of different theoretical perspectives to bear upon case studies from around the globe, it surveys the distinct social and technological networks that enable sounds to travel, and considers the way that methods of circulation give rise to different kinds of social groups. It explores the way that such processes challenge inherited cultural and political boundaries, and shows how technological changes present musicians and listeners with novel means to resituate musical meaning, in new contexts. Open to graduate students only.

MUSC 2080G. Sound Studies.

Explores sound studies through readings of exemplary texts and discussions of the key debates that enliven this interdisciplinary field of inquiry. Drawing on philosophical, musicological, anthropological, and other kinds of writings, it explores issues like the way that relations between sound, noise, silence, and music have formed in different cultures and different historical periods; ideological structures that determine the place of sound in artistic practice and in everyday life; the power relations that are implicated in the design of local soundscapes; and the place of aural perception within the sensorium, among other potential topics. Enrollment limited to graduate students.

MUSC 2080H. Key Concepts in Sociocultural Theory.

Ethnomusicology has always been interdisciplinary, and is becoming more so. The student today may encounter concepts from semiotics, linguistics, cultural studies, literary theory, political economy, sociology, cognitive psychology, media studies, sound studies, science and technology studies, organizational studies, and material culture studies, and other disciplines as well. We will examine some of the key concepts of these fields and consider their possible uses in the study of the performing arts. From ‘affordances’ to the ‘type/token distinction,’ from ‘actor-network theory’ to the ‘third-person effect,’ we will learn to apply (and criticize) concepts presupposed by much current socio-cultural theorizing.

MUSC 2086. Qualifying Exam Preparation (Musicology and Ethnomusicology).

This workshop-style course is designed for students preparing their third-year qualifying exams for the Ph.D. program in Musicology and Ethnomusicology. It provides a structured space for students to study and apply the reading, writing, and oral strategies that are necessary in preparing the kinds of review essays and course materials that the exams demand. It also provides a weekly forum for students to discuss and evaluate their progress on lists and essays, modeling the summary discussions that make up much of the exam essays, learning how to navigate questions about a field orally, and learning from one anothers’ challenges and solutions. Peer feedback on draft materials is essential to the pedagogy of the course.

MUSC 2090A. Seminar in Ethnomusicology: Hypertext, Multimedia.

Instruction in, and critical discussion of, computer-based hypertext and multimedia representation and interpretation of people making music. Sounds, pictures, texts, animations, movies. Students will complete a non-linear, reflexive hypermedia project to take advantage of ¿the experimental moment¿ in musical ethnography. Prerequisite: graduate standing or permission of instructor.

MUSC 2090E. Black Feminist Sonic Praxes.

Black Feminist Sonic Praxes is a graduate-level sound studies discussion/production seminar that explores a range of sound-based methodologies that reflect and inform Black feminisms, from the early 20th century to the contemporary moment, with a particular focus on the sonic practices devised, examined, and espoused by black women, girls, trans* and non-binary folks based in the U.S. Students will critically engage with the creative and scholarly contributions of theorists, historians, artists, and/or other sound workers like Zora Neale Hurston, Moor Mother, and DJ Lynnée Denise to examine how we might use sound-based methodologies to attend to Black feminist and womanist notions of knowledge production, pleasure, care, wonder, and dis/respectability. The source material includes a mix of popular and academic texts, drawing from black studies, sound studies, gender and sexuality studies, and ethnomusicology among other fields of study.

MUSC 2100A. The Instrumental Sonatas of Beethoven.

An analytic survey of Beethoven's sonatas for piano, violin and piano, and cello and piano from a variety of perspectives, including: topical, semiotic, and hermeneutic analysis; Schenkerian analysis; historical and critical studies; and recent developments in theory of sonata form. Students who have taken MUSC 1040 may request permission to enroll in this course. Written permission required.

MUSC 2120. The Jazz Orchestra and Orchestral Approaches to Jazz.

This course offers several views of what it means to write for the “jazz orchestra.” As the history of jazz tends to prioritize the contributions of individuals and small groups, what does it mean for composers who have ambitions that extend beyond typical expectations of instrumental forces, duration, and form? We will focus on specific examples that have challenged conventions and redefined idioms. From the innovations in orchestration and scale of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the classic Gil Evans/Miles Davis albums, to the “progressive” experiments of Stan Kenton (and later Don Ellis), to the intergalactic theater of the Sun Ra Arkestra, to works for full symphony orchestra, we will examine complex issues of tradition, community, and race that have accompanied these collaborations, and the compatibility (or not) of musical challenges regarding improvisation, notation, and pedagogy.

MUSC 2180. Issues of Time and Space in New Music.

Time and space in music are rich and complex subjects of study. This seminar examines how these concepts complement and intertwine with one another in the music of contemporary composers such as Murail, Xenakis, and Brant. We will explore how composers have attempted to redefine musical temporalities and how they create acoustic and environmental spaces. We will consider how space is orchestrated, ways of engaging with the physicality of instruments, and how composers can use electronics to further convey and manipulate space and dimensionality. This seminar also considers the ways new experiments with increasingly complex timbral palettes changed compositions.

MUSC 2200. Composition Seminar.

A forum for graduate composers to share and critique current projects. Visiting artists and analysis of relevant outside repertoire will augment the group and one-on-one meetings. Enrollment is limited. Written permission required. May be repeated for credit.

MUSC 2210. Digital Performance.

A production seminar examining the artistic impact and creative potential of digital media in the context of live performance. Readings and analysis of work examine innovations in performance practice from dance, theatre, performance art and music. Collaborative assignments investigate video projection, sound design and interactive sensor technology, culminating in a final large-scale performance. Permission will be granted based upon a questionnaire given in the first class.

MUSC 2220. Designing and Playing Alternative Controllers.

This seminar will explore the science and aesthetics of designing alternate controllers for musical performance. Topics will include basic electronics and hardware prototyping, instrument construction, theories of gesture, human-computer interface issues, and the challenges of mapping sensor data to meaningful musical parameters. Previous experience with MaxMSP or other real-time programming required. Permission of instructor required.

MUSC 2221. Seminar in Computer Music and Multimedia Composition.

A weekly forum for graduate composers to share and critique current projects. Visiting artists and analysis of relevant modern repertory will augment class discussion of student work. Individual private lessons - taught in addition to the three-hour seminar - help students focus on compositional technique and other problems of expression specific to their own projects.

MUSC 2230. Composing for Real-Time Systems.

This course examines complementary issues of time and space in 20th and 21st Century music, providing a nuanced discussion of how composers have attempted to redefine musical temporalities and portray or actively use acoustic or environmental spaces. From early spatialization experiments of Ives and Mahler to music that eschews traditional development - thus freezing temporality (Feldman) - or is in a constant state of transition (spectral music), we will also examine ideas of orchestrated spaces produced by timbral and material constructions of instruments, and advances in complex timbres and electronics. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor’s permission required for undergraduates.

MUSC 2240. Composing and Improvising with Real-time Systems.

This seminar will explore the use and creation of interactive computer music systems from the point of view of the performer/programmer. Using improvisation as a starting point, we will explore the aesthetics and philosophy of performance, designing real-time systems in MaxMSP that enhance the relation between action and event using network strategies.

MUSC 2245. Experimental Voice.

In Experimental Voice, we will study and undertake acoustic and electronic modifications of voice. We will consider applications of voice by diverse practitioners such as Jaap Blonk, Ami Yoshida, and Pamela Z. Using these pieces as inspiration, we will make creative and critical work aimed at challenging and broadening our notions of what voice and vocal performance can be. Students from all departments are welcome. Prerequisites: none. Permission required for undergraduates. Maximum enrollment: 12.

MUSC 2255. Sound Networks.

This graduate-level seminar explores the creative and critical underpinnings and ramifications of “networks” in mediated sound practice. We will study various extant approaches to networking, including transmission of audio signals and control information in musical ensembles and interactions with big data and corpus composition, and we will make new sonic works based on these techniques. We will also examine the institutional contexts of networks, relating to scholarly notions of liveness, community, scene, and genre. Override codes are required for enrollment, and will be distributed based on first-class attendance and questionnaire responses.

MUSC 2260. Topics in Computer Music Theory and Analysis.

Explores the science and aesthetics of designing alternate controllers for musical performance. Topics include basic electronics and hardware prototyping, instrument construction, theories of gesture, human-computer interface issues, and the challenges of mapping sensor data to meaningful musical parameters. Written permission required.

MUSC 2270A. Exploring Technologically Mediated Performance via Attali’s 'Noise: The Political Economy of Music'.

This course configures Attali’s notions of ‘representing’, ‘repeating’, and ‘composing’ as theoretical catalysts for the development of contemporary creative practice. The course is structured around seminars, collaborative ensemble work, and individual projects. We negotiate Attali’s text in its entirety and realize appropriate responses in a variety of formats, including: performance, installation/intervention, audio/video documentation. Additional short readings and presentations enrich critical discussion and practical activity. This course is intended to follow on from various MEME courses such as 1210, 1240F, 1240G, 2220, 2230, 2280. Enrolment is restricted to fourteen. Permission of instructor is required.

MUSC 2270B. Performance in a Virtual World.

A co-taught production course exploring emerging technology in the context of live performance, focusing on techniques where the body appears both on stage and on screen. What does it mean to be “live” in a virtual world, and how does that impact movement, interaction and expression? Students participate in a series of hands-on workshops that examine embodied performance using projections, motion capture, video processing, and sound design, along with various interactive and immersive techniques. The course culminates in a public performance of new works created in collaborative groups. Open to graduate and advanced undergraduate students. Permission required.

MUSC 2280. Designing Large-Scale Projects.

A production seminar designed for students to create a single, large project in Multimedia, Video, Performance and/or Electronic Music. The course covers planning and implementation strategies, including brainstorming sessions, visual storytelling, and sketching. Each project receives group feedback at several points in the process, such as initial proposals, prototype presentations and work-in-progress. The proposal includes an annotated bibliography of research materials that students present on in class. The course culminates a public presentation of the projects. The class is open to graduate students and seniors working on a capstone or thesis project. Permission will be granted after the first class.

MUSC 2290. Seminar In Sonic Practice.

This studio and seminar course provides an exploration of contemporary sonic practice, facilitates the development of sound-based creative work, and encourages a critical approach to producing work in the field. Through discussion, reading, listening exercises, independent research, creative production and critiques, we will examine a number of intersecting areas of sonic practice including sound as a cultural, environmental, and artistic medium, phonography, sound installation, mobile audio, noise as strategy and material, linguistic and other sonic narrative structures. Students will develop sound-based pieces individually and in groups which function as creative research into the subjects areas of the course.

MUSC 2300A. Critical Improvisation Studies.

Advanced seminar exploring improvisation from various perspectives: historical, anthropological, philosophical, ethical, and creative. We study improvisation in diverse musical traditions, in other arts, and in problem-solving contexts such as business, technology, and games. Discussion topics include individual vs. group improvisation, the status of "freedom" in creative processes, and the social and artistic functions of improvisation. Instructor permission required.

MUSC 2405Z. Instruments and Instrumentalities (HMAN 2400Z).

Interested students must register for HMAN 2400Z.

MUSC 2450. Exchange Scholar Program.

MUSC 2970. Preliminary Examination Preparation.

For graduate students who have met the tuition requirement and are paying the registration fee to continue active enrollment while preparing for a preliminary examination.

MUSC 2980. Reading and Research.

Directed graduate research. Section numbers vary by instructor. Please check Banner for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course.

MUSC 2990. Thesis Preparation.

For graduate students who have met the residency requirement and are continuing research on a full time basis.