Faculty of Fine Arts
Music

Department of Music - Spring 2013

Course Descriptions That Do Not Appear in the Calendar

Music 2850 – American Popular Music

This course provides students the opportunity to broaden their understanding and appreciation of various popular music styles that emerged in America during roughly the first half of the twentieth century. Several popular music styles and traditions will be studied, including blues, jazz, various formats of musical theatre, and some immediately pre-rock’n’roll styles. In addition, emphasis will be placed on many of the various socio-cultural aspects that helped foster these new popular music styles.

No prerequisite

Music 3000 – The Symphony in the 18^th Century

The eighteenth century saw the birth and rapid development of one of the most important genres in classical music—the symphony.  This seminar will follow the course of the symphony from its beginnings in the Baroque opera overture and ripieno concerto to the late works of Haydn and Mozart and their lesser-known contemporaries.  It will deal with the genre from various perspectives – historical, sociological, analytical and interpretive – and will also delve into issues related to the development of the orchestra and orchestration.  

Emphasis: History

Prerequisites: MUSIC 3480 (Music History IV: Romantic Music) and MUSIC 3460 (Theory IV)

Music 3200 – History of Jazz

This course provides a comprehensive overview of jazz history, covering the major jazz styles and important musicians that have pioneered this music. We will trace jazz from its infancy, beginning in New Orleans and will highlight how this music has developed through the years and has grown into various sub-genres. Some of the styles that will be covered include: Early Jazz, the Swing Era, Bebop, Cool, Fusion and Modern jazz.

Other important topics will include learning important jazz terminology, becoming acquainted with the preeminent jazz artists from each style, and most importantly, analyzing how jazz has evolved since the early twentieth-century. We will connect the important stylistic periods of the past and trace the various directions these trends have gone since. This course will provide students the opportunity to broaden their understanding and appreciation of this diverse music form.

Prerequisite: 15 university-level courses (a minimum of 45.0 credit hours) - as per calendar

NOTE: Not counted in the 16-course Arts & Science major or the core courses in the B.Mus. degree. 

Music 3200 ‑ History of Rock & Roll: 1968-1990

This course is meant to be a follow‑up course to the History of Rock Music (1948‑1969).  It will cover the fragmentation of rock 'n' roll styles through the seventies and eighties, beginning with the trends of the late sixties, through the mass marketing of the early seventies and ending with the technological boom that characterized much of eighties rock and roll.

Prerequisite: 15 university-level courses (a minimum of 45.0 credit hours) - as per calendar

NOTE: Not counted in the 16-course Arts & Science major or the core courses in the B.Mus. degree.  Students with credit in Music 2850 (History of Rock & Roll), 2850 (3850) (Popular Music in the 20^th Century) or 3010 cannot receive credit for the same offering in the Music 3200 series.