Winter

Songs are getting shorter. Hyperpop has reached the mainstream. And Taylor Swift has released thirty-four different versions of her latest album. What do these things all have in common? This course will propose that the answer is music streaming, which over the last two decades has radically reshaped the way artists write, record, and release music. We will explore streaming’s impact on the popular music soundscape by reading recent scholarship on the economics and politics of streaming, digging into the curation practices of platforms like Spotify, and listening closely to streaming-era genres like hyperpop and Soundcloud rap. Along the way, we will consider big questions about musical creativity and standardization, democratization and homogenization, and privacy and surveillance. Students need not read music notation or know music theory; they should come prepared to read challenging theoretical texts and listen attentively to a lot of music. Assessments will include essays, research projects, and self-produced podcast episodes.

This course provides an introduction to ethnomusicology and related disciplines with an emphasis on the methods and contemporary practice of social and cultural analysis. The course reviews a broad selection of writing on non-Western, popular, vernacular, and "world-music" genres from a historical and theoretical perspective, clarifying key analytical terms (i.e., "culture," "subculture," "style," "ritual," "globalization") and methods (i.e., ethnography, semiotics, psychoanalysis, Marxism). In the last part of the course, students learn and develop component skills of fieldwork documentation and ethnographic writing. 

In this introductory course, students will expand their understanding of music composition by delving into experimental and creative practices in sound. During this course, students will create sound compositions and electroacoustic pieces. The topics will include physics of sound, soundscape composition, binaural sound recording, introduction to modular synthesis, electromagnetic field listening, and multichannel sound. There will be an emphasis on production and experiential learning through exercises and workshops. Along with readings and discussions, we will examine numerous examples from sound art and experimental music by various composers, including, but not limited to, Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, Daphne Oram, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Christine Sun Kim, and Yvette Janine Jackson. This course is introductory; however, it is open to students who want to incorporate sound-based works in their interdisciplinary projects at any level. 

The second quarter explores extensions of harmonic syntax, the basics of classical form, further work with counterpoint, and nondiatonic seventh chords. Musicianship labs in ear training and keyboard skills required.

This course aims to develop students' analytical and critical tools by focusing on a select group of works drawn from the Western European and American concert tradition. The texts for the course are recordings. Through listening, written assignments, and class discussion, we explore topics such as compositional strategy, conditions of musical performance, interactions between music and text, and the relationship between music and ideology as they are manifested in complete compositions.

This course aims to develop students' analytical and critical tools by focusing on a select group of works drawn from the Western European and American concert tradition. The texts for the course are recordings. Through listening, written assignments, and class discussion, we explore topics such as compositional strategy, conditions of musical performance, interactions between music and text, and the relationship between music and ideology as they are manifested in complete compositions.

This course aims to develop students' analytical and critical tools by focusing on a select group of works drawn from the Western European and American concert tradition. The texts for the course are recordings. Through listening, written assignments, and class discussion, we explore topics such as compositional strategy, conditions of musical performance, interactions between music and text, and the relationship between music and ideology as they are manifested in complete compositions.

This introductory course in music is intended for students who are interested in exploring the language, interpretation, and meaning of music through coordinated listening, analysis, and creative work. By listening to and comprehending the structural and aesthetic considerations behind significant written and improvised works, from the earliest examples of notated Western music to the music of living composers and performers, students will be prepared to undertake analytical and ultimately creative projects. The relationship between cultural and historical practices and the creation and reception of music will also be considered. The course is taught by a practicing composer, whose experience will guide and inform the works studied. No prior background in music is required.

This course is a selected survey of classical, popular, and folk music traditions from around the world. The goals are not only to expand our skills as listeners but also to redefine what we consider music to be and, in the process, stimulate a fresh approach to our own diverse musical traditions. In addition, the role of music as ritual, aesthetic experience, mode of communication, and artistic expression is explored.

This course is a selected survey of classical, popular, and folk music traditions from around the world. The goals are not only to expand our skills as listeners but also to redefine what we consider music to be and, in the process, stimulate a fresh approach to our own diverse musical traditions. In addition, the role of music as ritual, aesthetic experience, mode of communication, and artistic expression is explored.