100

A study of the basic concepts and skills of diatonic music: chords in major and minor keys, voice-leading, part-writing, harmonic progressions, introductory analysis, non-chord tones. Musicianship portion to include recognition of scales, intervals, triads, seventh chords, and rhythms, plus executing rhythms and sight-singing with solmization.

A survey of western art music from a listener’s point of view, the styles and composers of the various periods, and the relationship of music to the other arts and to its social and historical background.

This class is a survey of “country & western” music (or, more familiarly, “country music”). We will discuss the history of the genre, starting with its origins in cowboy music, folk music, blues, and other genres in the American south and Midwest; progressing through to radio and screen in the 1930s, thanks to shows like Grand Ole Opry; continuing to its assimilation into rock n’ roll with the advent of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and others; and into the present day and the many genres (alternative country, crossover country, neocountry) into which it has splintered. Along the way, we will see—and hear—how the genre of country music has responded to, reflected, and influenced major historical and cultural milestones in American history, including the “Golden Age” of Hollywood; the building of the Interstate Highway System and the birth of “trucker culture”; the Cold War; the Middle East Wars and 9/11; and the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements.

This course will survey selected stage works of American musical theater and Broadway, from the early twentieth century to the approximate present. We will study these works alongside the historical circumstances during which they were written to see how the latter influenced the writing and reception of the former. Among the musicals to be studied are Show Boat, Oklahoma!, West Side Story, Cabaret, Company, Cats, and Rent. No musical experience is required for this course.

This course will survey the history of American rock and roll from its origins in the early twentieth century to the approximate present. We will study the various stylistic milestones of rock music (blues, the "British invasion," the grunge movement, etc.) as well as the cultural, social, and political circumstances that gave rise to these developments. Among the issues we will discuss are: the African-American roots of rock and roll, and the degree to which those roots are acknowledged or overlooked today; the commercialization of rock and roll; the role of gender in rock and roll production and reception; the cultural politics of the Civil Rights Era and the Vietnam War, and their influence on rock music; the advent of MTV and its effect on the marketing of rock music; the "postmodern" culture of the late 1990s and its ongoing influence on rock music today.