2023-2024 Graduate Bulletin

Music-Academic Classes (MUAC)

 

MUAC 3002 Form and Analysis (4 Credits)

Analysis of structural elements and stylistic features in solo, chamber and orchestral literature from 1600 to present. Prerequisite: MUAC 2006.

MUAC 3006 Post-Tonal Theory: Mode/Rhythm (4 Credits)

Works of Stravinsky, Bartok, Satie, Debussy, and others are studied, employing various transformational theories, diatonic set theory, and 20th-century metric theories. Prerequisite: completion of Music Theory I and Music Theory II sequences.

MUAC 3023 Rhythm & Meter in Music (4 Credits)

Rhythm pertains to experienced or measured durations in music. Meter pertains to the cyclic organization of music’s durations. A hegemonic view of meter emerged in music theory and related disciplines in the mid-20th century, one most appropriate to Western classical music and, to a lesser extent, Anglo-American popular music. This view holds that meter “in music” consists of (1) hierarchically arranged beats (2) whose durations are nominally equivalent and (3) whose onsets among coordinated musicians are nominally aligned. This course examines rhythm and meter by interrogating three components of the standard view of the topic. Looking at Western classical music, but also traditional and commercial music from Africa and the African diaspora, we will explore the nature of meter and rhythm in music where durations might not be arranged hierarchically, of equal length, or aligned.

MUAC 3024 Introduction to Tonal Analysis (4 Credits)

This course introduces students to various types of musical analysis for tonal music that are more advanced than what is introduced in first- and second-year music theory. Prerequisites: MUAC 2006 and MUAC 2022.

MUAC 3025 Topics in Analysis: Brahms (4 Credits)

This course explores a variety of analytical techniques used to understand the compositions of Brahms. We examine works by musicologists and theorists such as Allen Forte, Walter, Frisch, Arnold Schoenberg, Carl Schachter, and David Lewin. Issues discussed include developing variations, rhythm, form, and ambiguity in Brahms. We cover a wide range of repertoire, ranging from piano works to choral works to symphonies.

MUAC 3026 Sonata Form (4 Credits)

This is a team-taught course on the topic of “sonata form,” one of the central musical structures in classical Western art music, from Mozart to Brahms and beyond. The course will feature a dialogue between history, analysis, and performance, reflected in class activities at multiple levels.

MUAC 3027 Arranging for the Classical Musician (4 Credits)

Music initially created for one context becomes music for a new context through the art of arranging. How much of your professional life will you spend performing or teaching arrangements? Have you ever thought about writing your own? Is an arrangement automatically less worthwhile, or can it ever surpass the quality of the original? Class sessions will be spent studying arrangements of music by Bach, Björk, Chopin, Michael Jackson, Mahler, et al. as arranged by Brahms, Jacob Collier, Gil Evans, The Piano Guys, Ravel, and others. Students will also receive individual guidance as they plan, write, and perform arrangements of pieces and songs of their choice.

MUAC 3030 Seminar-Performance Psychology (2 Credits)

MUAC 3059 Audio Production II (4 Credits)

This course covers theory in audio engineering and provides hands-on training in professional audio engineering for studio sessions and live events. Students receive classroom instruction as well as on-site training at Lamont School of Music performances. This is the first sequence in the audio production concentration.

MUAC 3060 Extra-Musical Roles of the Music Director (1 Credit)

Under the supervision and guidance of the director of orchestral studies, students will gain hands-on, actual experience with many of the non-musical tasks that conductors face. These experiences will include managing orchestra personnel, librarian activities, running auditions, and recruiting. Open only to Artist Diploma in orchestral conducting students.

MUAC 3061 Audio Production I (4 Credits)

An introduction to analog and digital synthesis, MIDI sequencing, and DAW software.

MUAC 3064 Audio Production IV (4 Credits)

This course covers theory in audio engineering and provides hands-on training in professional audio engineering for studio sessions and live events. Students receive classroom instruction as well as on-site training at Lamont School of Music performances. This is the third sequence in the audio production concentration.

MUAC 3065 Audio Production V (4 Credits)

This course covers theory in audio engineering and provides hands-on training in professional audio engineering for studio sessions and live events. Students receive classroom instruction as well as onsite training at Lamont School of Music performances. This is the fourth sequence in the audio production concentration.

MUAC 3092 The Business Side of Music (4 Credits)

A personal and clinical approach to developing music business skills and strategies.

MUAC 3106 The Dynamic Body: Foundations in Movement Methods and Body Awareness Principles (2 Credits)

An introduction to fundamental body awareness principles in relationship to physical performance skills for vocal performance majors. Methods for heightening kinesthetic awareness will be learned in the form of movement explorations, improvisations, structures, and learned phrases to gain somatic insight into the performer's sense of verticality in all places and dimensions of space. The concepts of the body in motion will be a primary context and focus for the progression of studies or 'etudes,' and for the reflective and analytical processes that include observation, journaling, discussion and peer commentary. Studio activities in solo, partnering, and group work will further the student's knowledge of how to become more responsive, expressive, and communicative when interacting with the surrounding environment and with others. Integrated with the body-mind practice and theoretical study, students will be encouraged to inquire, examine and articulate possible philosophies regarding why the mastery of the performer's physical body requires an essential sense of discipline that is cultivated in the performing arts, and how the somatic practices being investigated can serve his/her performance presence and support one's vocal training and health for the long-term.

MUAC 3124 Composition Seminar (1 Credit)

Composition Seminar focuses on the reading and performance of modern scores by Lamont and recognized composers. Any student composing music or wishing to perform new compositions at Lamont may register and participate. Requirements for composers include the completion, rehearsal and performance of a piece of music at the New Music Ensemble concert each quarter. Non-composers are required to rehearse and perform at the New Music Ensemble concert. Composers enrolled in the ensemble may be required to play compositions submitted as well.

MUAC 3161 Topics in Modern Opera (4 Credits)

This course involves the close study of selected twentieth- and twenty-first-century operas, their respective musical styles and their videotaped performances. This study will include such issues as opera and film, opera libretto criticism, and the personal and public politics of the opera.

MUAC 3165 Music Theater Survey (2 Credits)

A historical overview of the American Broadway musical, performance technique, audition preparation and repertoire. Must be prepared to sing and perform.

MUAC 3166 Music Theater Survey II (2 Credits)

Fundamentals of music theater performance will be addressed through readings of the text, "Acting in Music Theater" by Joe Dee and Rocco dal Vera. Application of these techniques through performance of musical theater literature will be incorporated during the last number of weeks. Additionally, we will highlight prominent composers and their works throughout the quarter.

MUAC 3212 Digital Music Creation (4 Credits)

In this course, students will create, produce, and present their own digital music. Using one of the industry’s leading digital music creation platforms (such as Ableton Live), students will learn the history of electronic music creation, create their own digital music portfolios, become familiar with relevant copyright issues, and oversee public performances of their music.

MUAC 3240 Vocal Pedagogy I (1 Credit)

Psychological and physical aspects of teaching of singing.

MUAC 3241 Vocal Pedagogy II (1 Credit)

Psychological and physical aspects of teaching of singing.

MUAC 3243 Recitative in Opera (2 Credits)

Working as a professional singer your proficiency with recitative should be high. Though a major part of many operas recitative is still often overlooked as a skill set. Through this course we will explore several different approaches to recitative from various compositional styles and time periods.

MUAC 3282 Suzuki Violin Seminar II (2 Credits)

MUAC 3283 Suzuki Violin Seminar II (2 Credits)

MUAC 3284 Suzuki Violin Seminar II (2 Credits)

MUAC 3439 Teaching Note Reading (2 Credits)

MUAC 3460 Suzuki Cello Practicum (1 Credit)

The Suzuki Cello Practicum is designed to give the students enrolled in the Suzuki Seminar classes a forum to practice teaching using the pedagogical points and philosophy covered in the seminar classes. The course will also include some lecture and discussion on developing teaching strategies for effective technical development and communication in lessons.

MUAC 3463 Suzuki Cello Seminar I (2 Credits)

MUAC 3464 Suzuki Cello Seminar I (2 Credits)

MUAC 3465 Suzuki Cello Seminar I (2 Credits)

MUAC 3466 Suzuki Cello Seminar II (2 Credits)

MUAC 3467 Suzuki Cello Seminar II (2 Credits)

MUAC 3468 Suzuki Cello Seminar II (2 Credits)

MUAC 3470 Suzuki Violin Seminar I (2 Credits)

Comprehensive study of Suzuki philosophy, repertoire and teaching techniques for violin. Offered fall, winter, and spring quarters. May be repeated for credit.

MUAC 3471 Suzuki Violin Seminar I (2 Credits)

Comprehensive study of Suzuki philosophy, repertoire and teaching techniques for violin. Offered fall, winter, and spring quarters. May be repeated for credit.

MUAC 3472 Suzuki Violin Seminar I (2 Credits)

Comprehensive study of Suzuki philosophy, repertoire and teaching techniques for violin. Offered fall, winter, and spring quarters. May be repeated for credit.

MUAC 3477 Suzuki Violin Practicum (1 Credit)

The Suzuki Violin Practicum is designed to give the students enrolled in the Suzuki Seminar classes a forum to practice teaching using the pedagogical points and teaching philosophy covered in the seminar classes. The course will include some lecture focusing on teaching strategies for effective technical development and effective communication in the lessons. Prerequisite: MUAC 3470.

MUAC 3492 History of Opera: From Monteverdi to Minimalism and Beyond (4 Credits)

This seminar course surveys the history of opera from the invention of the genre c. 1600 to the present day. In addition to assigned excerpts, students view three complete operas during the quarter. Primary and secondary source readings supplement the required text and class lectures. Students write a research paper that may examine some aspect of a particular opera or that may compare a particular aspect found in several operas. With the prior consent of the instructor, students may submit an alternative final project, one that combines performance with some form of written work.

MUAC 3493 Approaches to American Popular Music (4 Credits)

We explore a number of topics involved in the study of popular music, including tensions between analytical and cultural approaches; issues of race, class, and gender; and constructions of authenticity and personae. Listening and reading are wide-ranging, encompassing diverse styles. The course concludes with individual research projects and presentations on topics students choose and develop.

MUAC 3494 Music and Belief in World Cultures (4 Credits)

How does music affect religious experience and how does religion shape musical practice? Why is music vital in some religious rituals and expressly banned in others? If humans use music to create, reflect, and comment upon the worlds they experience and imagine, then the use of music in religious practice is among its most powerful and ephemeral. Students are introduced to a wide range of musical traditions and their relationship to many of the world's religions, including Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Native American belief and the religious practices of Africa and its diaspora. Readings, lectures and discussions are supplemented by guest lecture demonstrations, film/video screenings and hands-on workshops. Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing required; sophomores allowed with instructor approval.

MUAC 3497 Studying Music in the Field: Theory and Method in Ethnomusicology (4 Credits)

This course introduces issues that motivate ethnomusicological research and techniques for carrying out fieldwork, the ethnographic method which has largely come to define the discipline. Our primary texts include Bruno Nettl's classic text, The Study of Ethnomusicology, and Shadows in the Field, a seminal volume of essays discussing ethnomusicological fieldwork. This course also involves hands-on experience in some of the major fieldwork techniques, including field observation and writing fieldnotes, musical transcription and interviewing. This course culminates in a field research project in a Denver musical community determined in consultation with the professor. Note: this course is not open to freshman; sophomores with permission of instructor.

MUAC 3498 Music, Dance, and Everyday Life in South Asia (4 Credits)

This course serves as an introduction to a diverse array of performance traditions from the South Asian subcontinent. We examine the significance of music and dance in everyday life, the influence of media technology, and the relationship of performance to issues such as caste, gender, nationalism and globalization. Class discussions are supplemented by guest lectures, hands-on workshops and film screenings. Our study of music outweighs that of dance, and a music background is strongly encouraged. This course is not open to first-year students. Sophomores allowed with instructor approval.

MUAC 3499 Topics in Musicology (4 Credits)

This course focuses on particular musicology topics determined by the instructor. Course materials may include primary and secondary source readings, theoretical writings from other disciplines, a variety of listening assignments, film/video screenings, guest lecture demonstrations, and hands-on workshops. Students are expected to participate in class discussions and may be asked to write short response papers and/or to give short oral presentations. The course concludes with individual research projects, presented orally and in written form, on topics chosen and developed in consultation with the instructor. Expectations for graduate students enrolled in the course are commensurate with their training and background as compared to undergraduates enrolled in the course. In some cases, with the prior consent of the instructor, students may choose to combine performance with the final research project. Prerequisite: Junior standing.

MUAC 3502 Gender & Genre in World Music (4 Credits)

How are concepts of "maleness," "femaleness" and other gendered categories constructed, maintained, and contested through musical performance? This course examines the issues explored and debated in recent studies of gender relation to music of various cultures including Western art music, popular music, and other world genres. We focus on reading and discussion of ethno-musicological and anthropological ethnographies, musicological studies focusing on gender and theoretical writings from gender and women's studies. Lectures and discussions are supplemented by guest lecture-demonstrations, film/video screenings and hands-on workshops. This course is not open to freshman. Sophomores can register with instructor approval.

MUAC 3511 Mahler and Musical Culture (4 Credits)

We explore Gustav Mahler's life, historical context, and music, all in relation to one another. The focus is on recent and important scholarly approaches to this conductor and composer. The course concludes with individual research projects and presentations on topics students choose and develop.

MUAC 3512 Stories of Music History (4 Credits)

MUAC 3513 Wagner and the Ideology of the Artwork (4 Credits)

We explore Richard Wagner's music dramas, particularly the Ring operas, as well as theories and ideologies surrounding them. The focus is on recent and important scholarly approaches. The course concludes with individual research projects and presentations on topics students choose and develop.

MUAC 3515 Introduction to Baroque Performance Practice (2 Credits)

This class serves to familiarize musicians with the stylistic parameters, aesthetic principles, and performing techniques common in Western art music of the Baroque era (ca. 1600–1750), as well as the historical and cultural context of the period. Students will learn how to apply these performance guidelines to their own interpretation of Baroque music.

MUAC 3520 Topics in Baroque Music (4 Credits)

Through the study of selected Baroque instrumental, vocal and operatic works, this seminar course considers various approaches to performance practice issues such as "authenticity," the "historically informed" performance, period instruments, ornamentation, continuo realization, and editing. Facsimile editions and primary and secondary source readings serve as the texts for the course. Students write a research paper that examines some aspect of Baroque music with an emphasis on performance practice. With the prior consent of the instructor, students may submit an alternative final project, one that combines performance with some form of written work.

MUAC 3521 Topics in World Music (4 Credits)

MUAC 3536 Topics in Hindustani Music (4 Credits)

This course explores the melodic system (raga) and rhythmic system (tala) of Hindustani music, the classical music of North India. These conceptual frameworks act both as sound structures to be realized in improvised performance and as aesthetic entities manifested in the related traditions of dance, iconography, and film. A major emphasis of this course is developing an understanding of raga and tala as musical structures through intensive listening as well as practical instruction. Accordingly, each class incorporates hands-on music-making through singing, rhythmic exercises, and/or dance. By the end of the term, students will become familiar with several ragas and talas and the stages by which they are developed in performance. A second, equally important objective is to learn to appreciate ragas as aesthetic entities. We analyze their musical characteristics as well as the "extra-musical" characteristics of sentiment (rasa), performance time and/or season and iconographic associations (ragamala painting). Must be at least junior standing or obtain instructor approval.

MUAC 3537 Crouch, Hawkins, and Smallwood: Three Pioneers in Contemporary Gospel Music (4 Credits)

Andraé Crouch, Walter Hawkins, and Richard Smallwood have each influenced the course of black gospel music for the last 50 years. Through listening to recordings, watching video performances, score analysis, readings, performance, and improvisation, this course will examine the music of these unique composer/performers and how their contributions have impacted black gospel music. Rather than simply read about and analyze the music, students will play the music of these composers and literally have hands-on experience with the colors and textures of the music that has shaped church music and the gospel music industry for the last five decades.

MUAC 3545 The Making of Romantic Music: Paris and Leipzig in the 1830s (4 Credits)

With a view to identifying the various interdisciplinary factors that led to the making of romantic music, this seminar course focuses on musical life in Paris and Leipzig in the 1830s. Specific attention is paid to the music of Chopin, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, and Robert and Clara Schumann and the personal and musical connections between these composers. Primary and secondary source readings serve as the texts for the course. Students write a research paper that examines some aspect of music and/or musical life in the 1830s. With the prior consent of the instructor, students may submit an alternative final project, one that combines performance with some form of written work.

MUAC 3578 Advanced Composition (4 Credits)

Advanced composition with students composing works of large scope and using a variety of advanced techniques consistent with interests and abilities; emphasis on imagination and originality of personal expression.

MUAC 3590 Guitar History (4 Credits)

MUAC 3630 Basic Jazz Arranging (2 Credits)

A study and practical analysis of the foundational techniques involved with composing and orchestrating for small group jazz ensembles. This course will cover the basics of form, notation, and orchestration in the small group jazz idiom, consisting of one to four horns and/or vocals, guitar, piano, bass, and drums.

MUAC 3650 Orchestral Excerpts-Cello (4 Credits)

This course will explore excerpts from the standard orchestral literature, highlighting favorite audition materials of the major symphony orchestras. Students will be given a list of excerpts and coached on how to prepare them. They will participate in mock auditions and receive feedback. This course will also address the mental aspects involved in taking successful auditions and the expectations demanded of them in the professional world of orchestras.

MUAC 3655 Orchestral Excerpts-Bass (4 Credits)

This course will explore excerpts from the standard orchestral literature, highlighting favorite audition materials of the major symphony orchestras. Students will be given a list of excerpts and coached on how to prepare them. They will participate in mock audition and receive feedback. This course will also address the mental aspects involved in taking successful auditions and the expectations demanded of them in the professional world of orchestras.

MUAC 3660 Orchestral Excerpts-Violin (4 Credits)

This course will explore excerpts from the standard orchestral literature, highlighting favorite audition materials of the major symphony orchestras. Students will be given a list of excerpts and coached on how to prepare them. They will participate in mock auditions and receive feedback. This course will also address the mental aspects involved in taking successful auditions and the expectations demanded of them in the professional world of orchestras.

MUAC 3661 Orchestral Excerpts Viola (4 Credits)

This course explores excerpts from the standard orchestral literature, highlighting favorite audition materials of the major symphony orchestras. Students are given a list of excerpts and coached on how to prepare them. They participate in mock auditions and receive feedback. This course also addresses the mental aspects involved in taking successful auditions and the expectations demanded of them in the professional world of orchestras.

MUAC 3662 Orchestral Studies for Brass (2 Credits)

Study of orchestral literature brass players are likely to be asked to play at auditions for professional orchestras. Undergraduate participants should have passed their Sophomore Proficiency jury with distinction.

MUAC 3663 Orchestral Excerpts, Viola II (4 Credits)

Companion course to Orchestral Excerpts Viola I, this section expands the repertoire list beyond the standard works used for auditions today. In addition to further honing basic requisite material from section I, students study and prepare less frequently required works and principle viola solo repertoire. There is more extensive discussion of the audition process and mock auditions as a part of the course. While it is advised and preferable that students complete the first section of this course it is possible to take the course with the approval of the instructor.

MUAC 3677 Bow Art Ensemble (0-1 Credits)

The Bow Art Ensemble explores the study and rehearsal of traditional and contemporary chamber orchestra repertoire, history, and culture, to be led in conjunction with Lamont performance faculty and guest artists. Students will receive instruction on proper techniques, musical styles, study of traditional and contemporary collaborative leadership and democratic approaches to performing in a conductor-less ensemble.

MUAC 3682 Topics-Orchestral Repertoire (4 Credits)

We explore the history of the orchestra and orchestral literature from the baroque through modern eras, and examine a number of test cases in which conventional understanding has been challenged in recent years. The course concludes with individual research projects and presentations on topics students choose and develop.

MUAC 3684 Choral Literature I (2 Credits)

This course is an analysis of the development of choral repertoire from the Middle Ages through the Baroque era.

MUAC 3686 Choral Pedagogy I (2 Credits)

The Choral Pedagogy course focuses on effective choral methods and techniques indigenous to primary schools of thought that have risen to prominence or have proven successful in practice and performance throughout the last 50 years in the academic and professional choral idiom. Through study and analysis of selected works by various composers, effective teaching techniques are explored in performance practice and style interpretation.

MUAC 3688 Choral Pedagogy II (2 Credits)

The Choral Pedagogy course focuses on effective choral methods and techniques indigenous to primary schools of thought that have risen to prominence or have proven successful in practice and performance throughout the last 50 years in the academic and professional choral idiom. Through study and analysis of selected works by various composers, effective teaching techniques are explored in performance practice and style interpretation.

MUAC 3689 Choral Literature II (2 Credits)

This course is an analysis of the development of choral repertoire from the Classical period until the present day. This course is meant to be taken in sequence after Choral Literature I.

MUAC 3698 Carillon History and Mechanics (4 Credits)

A survey of the evolution of signal bells into the musical instrument known as the carillon. This subject is often called "campanology." The history will be traced from the 16th century in the Low Countries through modern times in Europe, North America, Australia/New Zealand and Japan. Topics will include bell foundries, bell casting and tuning, bell chambers, playing actions, carillonneurs, carillon schools, carillon organizations, the use of the carillon in its various regions and basic carillon maintenance.

MUAC 3700 Carillon Repertoire (4 Credits)

A survey of the music expressly produced for carillon from the earliest times through the present. Categories include automatic music (e.g., De Sany, Wyckaert, Eggert), the earliest compositions for manual play (Van den Gheyn and the Louvain manuscripts of the 18th century), and the 20th-century categories: Flemish, Dutch, French and North American. Mainstream publishers as well as incidental publications will be covered. The labs will focus on analysis through recordings and live performances by participants.

MUAC 3706 Pedagogy & Repertoire Tuba (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the tuba.

MUAC 3708 Pedagogy & Repertoire Horn (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the horn.

MUAC 3710 Carillon Pedagogy I (2 Credits)

An exploration of the physical and psychological elements that can lead to effective carillon teaching: technique, handling/pedaling ("fingering" on the piano), and developing an attitude that fosters successful performance.

MUAC 3712 Pedagogy & Repertoire Trombone (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the trombone.

MUAC 3717 Pedagogy & Repertoire Percussion (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for percussion.

MUAC 3718 Pedagogy & Repertoire Percussion (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for percussion.

MUAC 3719 Pedagogy & Repertoire Percussion (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for percussion.

MUAC 3724 Pedagogy & Repertoire Guitar (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the guitar.

MUAC 3726 Pedagogy & Repertoire Viola (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the viola.

MUAC 3727 Pedagogy & Repertoire Viola (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the viola.

MUAC 3730 Pedagogy & Repertoire Cello (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the cello.

MUAC 3733 Pedagogy & Rep Double Bass (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the double bass.

MUAC 3736 Pedagogy & Repertoire Harp (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the harp.

MUAC 3737 Pedagogy & Repertoire Harp (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the harp.

MUAC 3738 Pedagogy & Repertoire Organ (2 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the organ.

MUAC 3739 Pedagogy & Repertoire Organ (2 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the organ.

MUAC 3740 Pedagogy & Repertoire Organ (2 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the organ.

MUAC 3742 Pedagogy & Repertoire Trumpet (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the trumpet.

MUAC 3747 Pedagogy & Repertoire Flute (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the flute.

MUAC 3748 Pedagogy & Repertoire Flute (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the flute.

MUAC 3749 Pedagogy & Repertoire Flute (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the flute.

MUAC 3751 Pedagogy & Repertoire Clarinet (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the clarinet.

MUAC 3752 Pedagogy & Repertoire Clarinet (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the clarinet.

MUAC 3753 Pedagogy & Repertoire Saxophone (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the saxophone.

MUAC 3754 Pedagogy & Repertoire Saxophone (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the saxophone.

MUAC 3755 Pedagogy & Repertoire Saxophone (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the saxophone.

MUAC 3757 Pedagogy & Repertoire Oboe (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the oboe.

MUAC 3758 Pedagogy & Repertoire Oboe (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the oboe.

MUAC 3761 Pedagogy & Repertoire Bassoon (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the bassoon.

MUAC 3762 Pedagogy & Repertoire Bassoon (4 Credits)

Teaching techniques and survey of literature and teaching materials for the bassoon.

MUAC 3765 Professional Brass Techniques (4 Credits)

This 4-hour per week course will be divided into a lecture/seminar for two hours and performance practicum for two hours. Topics discussed and performed include orchestral playing, sight reading, practice, solo performance, jazz survival, ornamentation, transposition, and warm-up/maintenance routine.

MUAC 3801 Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis (4 Credits)

MUAC 3804 Topics in Music (1-5 Credits)

MUAC 3810 Voice Repertoire (2 Credits)

Styles, periods and traditions of vocal repertoire from earliest music to contemporary compositions.

MUAC 3811 Voice Repertoire (2 Credits)

Styles, periods and traditions of vocal repertoire from earliest music to contemporary compositions.

MUAC 3812 Voice Repertoire (2 Credits)

Styles, periods and traditions of vocal repertoire from earliest music to contemporary compositions.

MUAC 3822 Piano Repertoire I (2 Credits)

Performance and analysis.

MUAC 3823 Piano Repertoire II (3 Credits)

Performance and analysis.

MUAC 3824 Piano Repertoire III (3 Credits)

Performance and analysis.

MUAC 3830 Advanced Jazz Arranging I (2 Credits)

A study and practical analysis of small to medium jazz ensemble writing with extended instrumentation. Consisting of nonette-style orchestration including orchestral instruments such as horn, tuba, woodwinds, and voice along with extended electronic textures, this course will cover the basics of from, notation and orchestration in the 21st Century hybrid small to medium size jazz ensemble idiom.

MUAC 3831 Advanced Jazz Arranging II (2 Credits)

A study and practical analysis of large “studio orchestra” type jazz writing with extended instrumentation. Consisting of medium to full orchestral string section, woodwinds, harp, percussion, brass plus jazz rhythm section, voices, and soloists. Exemplified by such modern ensembles as Snarky Puppy with the Metropole Orchestra, this will be a full studio orchestra with modern 21st Century jazz, rock, and pop sensibilities. String bowings and aspects of dynamic ensemble balances in the studio orchestra will be studied, as well as writing for the harp.

MUAC 3832 Arranging for Computer-Based Media (2 Credits)

This course will be an introduction to techniques of composition and arranging music for media, with an emphasis on practical assignments that the student will encounter in the professional world of media composition. Students will learn how to work in collaboration with filmmakers, master techniques of timing and synchronization, use traditional techniques of composition/arranging/orchestration to serve dramatic needs, and work efficiently in the recording studio under time and budget restraints.

MUAC 3844 21st Century Artistry I (2 Credits)

21st Century Artistry I is a course of study that examines the full spectrum of attributes and skills necessary for a student to “survive and thrive” in the every-changing landscape of the 21st Century. With a two-fold approach of examining effective strategies for a "modern artistry mindset" along with extensive case studies of successful 21st Century professionals, this course will offer the student a wide array of important recourses to guide their career. The case study aspect of 21st Century Artistry I will be based on multiple evaluations of successful artists in the 21st Century in partnership with local presenters.

MUAC 3845 Writing for The Modern Large Jazz Ensemble I (2 Credits)

A study and practical analysis of the major methods for writing for the modern large jazz ensemble (big band) as exemplified by Frank Foster, Sammy Nestico, Slide Hampton, Bob Brookmeyer and other modern practitioners. Application of analysis will be in the form of a complete arrangment or original composition for modern big band.

MUAC 3846 Writing for the Modern Large Jazz Ensemble II (2 Credits)

A study and practical analysis of the major methods for writing for the modern large jazz ensemble (big band) as exemplified by Bob Brookmeyer, Maria Schneider, Gil Evans, Darcy James Argue, and others. A special emphasis will be placed on creating full works for the large jazz ensemble that uses textures and modern extended form approaches indicative of these artists. Application of analysis will be in the form of a complete arrangement or original composition for modern big band.

MUAC 3847 Hip-Hop: Theory and Practice (4 Credits)

Students in this class will examine the socio-cultural, economic, and political significance of hip-hop as a medium of expression for youth around the world. Through analysis of poplar writing and media, as well as academic texts, we critically explore issues of race, social justice, masculinity, misogyny, censorship, technology, and intellectual property, as they relate to mainstream and underground hip-hip in America. Having discussed hip-hop's roots in the U.S., the remainder of the quarter will be devoted to tracing hip-hop's global routes.

MUAC 3860 Basic Jazz Improvisation (4 Credits)

The study of jazz improvisation techniques and forms. Open to music majors or by instructor permission.

MUAC 3870 Jazz Improvisation & Composition (4 Credits)

Improvisational styles of major jazz soloists studied through transcription and analysis of selected recorded jazz solos; scales and modes; rhythmic styles and devices; practice and development of individual student's improvisational technique. Prerequisites: MUAC 1011, MUAC 1012, MUAC 3830.

MUAC 3910 Orchestration (4 Credits)

Techniques of instrumental scoring.

MUAC 3933 Graduate Music History Review (0 Credits)

MUAC 3935 Graduate Music Theory Review (0 Credits)

This course provides an accelerated review of materials from the undergraduate theory core, including analysis and written exercises in diatonic and chromatic harmony, counterpoint, tonal forms, and an introduction to 20th-Century theory.

MUAC 3959 Movement and Expression for Conductors (4 Credits)

Conductors use their whole body to communicate and elicit successful performances from their ensemble. If you have unnecessary tension or lack of ease in your body, this is communicated unconsciously to your ensemble, hindering quality of performance. Additionally, physical tension can prevent your ability to communicate and think clearly under pressure. This course is an exploration of freedom of movement and the physicality of musical expression. Classes will include group activities in free-movement, dance, acting, keeping your cool, poise, balance, tension release, as well as hands-on instruction applying Alexander technique to your conducting.

MUAC 3960 Advanced Orchestral Conducting (2 Credits)

Discussions of and exercises in score study, interpretation, and techniques associated with orchestral conducting. Includes practical experience conducting orchestral repertoire. Required of MM Conducting students with Choral or wind concentrations. Open to other students with permission of instructor. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor (not needed for MM Conducting students with Choral or Wind concentration). Fall quarter only.

MUAC 3961 Advanced Choral Conducting (2 Credits)

Conducting complex choral works, including those with instrumental accompaniment; phrasing, interpretation and score reading. Prerequisite: MUAC 2940. Fall quarter only.

MUAC 3962 Advanced Wind Conducting (2 Credits)

Conducting complex wind compositions; phrasing interpretation and score reading. Prerequisite: MUAC 2970. Spring quarter only.

MUAC 3973 Advanced Wind Literature I (2 Credits)

This course is an overview of wind literature appropriate for junior high school, high school, college and professional programs including strategies in effective programming and creation of appropriate program notes.

MUAC 3974 Advanced Wind Literature II (2 Credits)

An in-depth study of successful compositional techniques by prominent composers of wind literature. Prerequisite: MUAC 3973.

MUAC 3980 Advanced Jazz Improvisation and Composition (4 Credits)

A three term sequence continuing the in-depth study of the theory, performance practices, style, and history of jazz improvisation and composition. Prerequisite: satisfactory completion of the three terms of Jazz Improvisation and Composition or consent of the instructor.

MUAC 3990 Internship in Music (0-8 Credits)

Internship in Music will offer opportunities for music majors to experience actual music related careers within a sponsoring music organization chosen by the student and accepted by the supervising faculty of the School of Music.

MUAC 3991 Independent Study (1-10 Credits)

MUAC 4000 Introduction to Graduate Study (2 Credits)

Problems of research in various chronological epochs of Western musical culture; research techniques and sources used in research; formal writing style.

MUAC 4002 Form and Analysis (4 Credits)

Analysis of structural elements and stylistic features in solo, chamber and orchestral literature from 1600 to present. Prerequisite: MUAC 2006.

MUAC 4006 Post-Tonal Theory: Mode/Rhythm (4 Credits)

Works of Stravinsky, Bartok, Satie, Debussy, and others are studied, employing various transformational theories, diatonic set theory, and 20th-century metric theories. Prerequisite: completion of Music Theory I and Music Theory II sequences.

MUAC 4007 Post-Tonal Theory and Analysis: Set-Theory and Serialism (4 Credits)

This course has two components: (1) A study of selected analytical techniques for post-tonal music, primarily pitch-class set theory and twelve-tone (serial) theory; (2) Analysis of representative works from the twentieth century, focusing on the music from the first half of the century (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Stravinsky, and Bartok). Six credits of Theory 2 or permission of instructor required.

MUAC 4008 Modal Counterpoint, Renaissance Vocal Style (4 Credits)

This course teaches students to compose vocal music in the Renaissance style. After surveying species counterpoint, students learn imitative techniques en route to composing three- and four-voice texted pieces.

MUAC 4009 Tonal Counterpoint (4 Credits)

Eighteenth-century counterpoint using J.S. Bach as a model, with two- and three-part fugue writing.

MUAC 4010 Pedagogy of Music Theory (4 Credits)

Materials, devices, techniques of teaching theory. Students must have succesfully completed undergraduate music theory or passed graduate review theory.

MUAC 4014 Music-Theoretical Approaches to Popular Music (4 Credits)

This course is an environment for engaging with generating music-theory scholarship on popular music. “Popular music” in this context refers to commercially successful music (e.g., hip-hop, rock, pop, country, etc.) as well as the predecessors of those genres (e.g., bluegrass, funk, soul, etc.). The course surveys a scholarly ecosystem that includes both analytical methods designed for older repertoires as well as newer methods that engage popular music’s current particularities. These methods explore form, rhythm and meter, timbre, modality, harmony, race & ethnicity, gender & sexuality, interaction & improvisation, music instrument studies, text expression, multimedia, music & technology, philosophical concerns of ontology and groove, and more. The structure of the course is not set by the instructor in advance. Rather, the instructor and individual students will devise a grading contract in the first week that guides the topics in which the students will complete their work. The aim of the work is the further students’ scholarly agendas and improve their capacity to read and present secondary scholarship, write and present their own scholarship, transcribe music, and provide feedback to their peers. Cross Listed with MUAC 3014.

MUAC 4020 Introduction to Research in Piano Pedagogy (2 Credits)

This course is designed to support the research requirements for the lecture-recital and/or the independent graduate-level pedagogical project which meet the standard competencies of the piano pedagogy program.

MUAC 4050 Major Adv Repertoire Guitar (2 Credits)

Bibliographical survey of materials related to particular repertoire chosen by student for MA recital in preparation for major written project at end of year.

MUAC 4051 Major Adv Repertoire Guitar (2 Credits)

Bibliographical survey of materials related to particular repertoire chosen by student for MA recital in preparation for major written project at end of year.

MUAC 4052 Major Adv Repertoire Guitar (2 Credits)

Bibliographical survey of materials related to particular repertoire chosen by student for MA recital in preparation for major written project at end of year.

MUAC 4090 Model Composition (4 Credits)

Students in this course deepen their understanding of musical styles and techniques by composing works that imitate major composers before 1900. Music by each student is performed in a final recital. Prerequisite: Tonal Counterpoint, equivalent coursework from another institution, or permission of instructor.

MUAC 4121 Seminar in Music Theory (4 Credits)

Seminar in Music Theory focuses on special topics chosen by faculty members. Students should expect rigorous course work and a final project or paper.

MUAC 4160 Issues in Opera History and Adaptation (4 Credits)

This course addresses cultural, historical, analytical, aesthetic, and scholarly issues relevant to the history of opera. Students will consider the various ways in which composers, librettists, singers, patrons, conductors, listeners, and scholars have adapted to changes in social and cultural practices surrounding and subsuming opera as a social phenomenon, as well as to changes in the art form itself. We will study representative works and productions from the earliest music dramas of the Baroque period through to contemporary operas and reflect on the challenges posed in staging these works for today’s audiences. Assignments may include weekly reflection papers, oral or virtual presentations, and a research project developed in consultation with the instructor.

MUAC 4161 Topics in Modern Opera (4 Credits)

This course involves the close study of selected twentieth- and twenty-first-century operas, their respective musical styles and their videotaped performances. This study will include such issues as opera and film, opera libretto criticism, and the personal and public politics of the opera.

MUAC 4189 Jazz Performance Techniques (2 Credits)

Individual study of jazz performance techniques in a directed study environment.

MUAC 4196 Graduate Composition Tutorial (2 Credits)

MUAC 4200 Diction-Graduate Voice Majors (2 Credits)

This course is designed to help refine the diction skills of graduate students in voice, with an emphasis on Italian, French and German. Native speakers will be presented, and the student will learn some basic vocabulary and syntactical aspects of the language.

MUAC 4300 Topics in Jazz History (4 Credits)

A seminar focusing on a major figure of jazz history. Detailed examination of a single artist, their life, music and influences.

MUAC 4305 Advanced Bebop Concepts (2 Credits)

An in-depth study of the language of bebop jazz improvisation. The course will combine listening, composing and performing skills with theoretical knowledge of the great improvisers of the 1940s and 50s.

MUAC 4350 Talam: Rhythmic Form and Process in South Indian Music (4 Credits)

This course explores the rhythmic system (talam) of Carnatic music, the classical music of Southern India. We begin the quarter with a general introduction to Carnatic music performance, examining its relationship to religious identity, histories of colonialism and nationalism, and social practices of class, caste, and gender. Having contextualized South Indian classical music socio-historically, the remainder of the quarter will focus on theoretical and practical issues in Carnatic talam. Readings and discussions will examine Indian conceptions of time (musical, cosmological, and cultural), the setting of song-texts, the art of improvisation and accompaniment, as well as the relationship between music, dance, and the body. We will also discuss and analyze cross-cultural applications of Carnatic rhythm in the compositions and pedagogies of several rock, jazz, and classical musicians. Weekly modules in solkattu, a system of spoken syllables and patterned hand gestures, will help students build and sharpen rhythmic skills and develop an analytical understanding for the intricacies of Carnatic meter and rhythmic design. Over the quarter, students will learn increasingly challenging exercises and rhythmic compositions in a variety of tala cycles (3, 5, 7, 8, and 9 beats in length). Some class time will be devoted to hands-on instruction in Carnatic percussion, including the mrdangam, the principle drum of South Indian classical music, as well as other hand drums including the khanjira frame drum.

MUAC 4450 Suzuki Group Lesson Practicum (1 Credit)

The Suzuki Group Lesson Teaching Practicum provides an opportunity for Suzuki Pedagogy master's students and Suzuki Teaching Certificate students to receive feedback on their own group lesson teaching skills from the professor. Prerequisites: MUAC 3477 or MUAC 3461.

MUAC 4492 History of Opera: From Monteverdi to Minimalism and Beyond (4 Credits)

This seminar course surveys the history of opera from the invention of the genre c. 1600 to the present day. In addition to assigned excerpts, students view three complete operas during the quarter. Primary and secondary source readings supplement the required text and class lectures. Students write a research paper that may examine some aspect of a particular opera or that may compare a particular aspect found in several operas. With the prior consent of the instructor, students may submit an alternative final project, one that combines performance with some form of written work.

MUAC 4493 Approaches to American Popular Music (4 Credits)

We explore a number of topics involved in the study of popular music, including tensions between analytical and cultural approaches; issues of race, class, and gender; and constructions of authenticity and personae. Listening and reading are wide-ranging, encompassing diverse styles. The course concludes with individual research projects and presentations on topics students choose and develop.

MUAC 4494 Music and Belief in World Cultures (4 Credits)

How does music affect religious experience and how does religion shape musical practice? Why is music vital in some religious rituals and expressly banned in others? If humans use music to create, reflect, and comment upon the worlds they experience and imagine, then the use of music in religious practice is among its most powerful and ephemeral. Students are introduced to a wide range of musical traditions and their relationship to many of the world's religions, including Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Native American belief and the religious practices of Africa and its diaspora. Readings, lectures and discussions are supplemented by guest lecture demonstrations, film/video screenings and hands-on workshops.

MUAC 4498 Music, Dance, and Everyday Life in South Asia (4 Credits)

This course serves as an introduction to a diverse array of performance traditions from the South Asian subcontinent. We examine the significance of music and dance in everyday life, the influence of media technology, and the relationship of performance to issues such as caste, gender, nationalism and globalization. Class discussions are supplemented by guest lectures, hands-on workshops and film screenings. Our study of music outweighs that of dance, and a music background is strongly encouraged.

MUAC 4499 Topics in Musicology (4 Credits)

This course focuses on particular musicology topics determined by the instructor. Course materials may include primary and secondary source readings, theoretical writings from other disciplines, a variety of listening assignments, film/video screenings, guest lecture demonstrations, and hands-on workshops. Students are expected to participate in class discussions and may be asked to write short response papers and/or to give short oral presentations. The course concludes with individual research projects, presented orally and in written form, on topics chosen and developed in consultation with the instructor. Expectations for graduate students enrolled in the course are commensurate with their training and background as compared to undergraduates enrolled in the course. In some cases, with the prior consent of the instructor, students may choose to combine performance with the final research project.

MUAC 4511 Mahler and Musical Culture (4 Credits)

We explore Gustav Mahler's life, historical context, and music, all in relation to one another. The focus is on recent and important scholarly approaches to this conductor and composer. The course concludes with individual research projects and presentations on topics students choose and develop.

MUAC 4512 Stories of Music History (4 Credits)

We explore a number of case studies in which "conventional wisdom" about a composer, repertory, or a period of time turns out to be not universally "true," but instead contingent on cultural context and changing ideologies about music. The course concludes with individual research projects and presentations on topics students choose and develop.

MUAC 4513 Wagner and the Ideology of the Artwork (4 Credits)

We explore Richard Wagner's music dramas, particularly the Ring operas, as well as theories and ideologies surrounding them. The focus is on recent and important scholarly approaches. The course concludes with individual research projects and presentations on topics students choose and develop.

MUAC 4518 Musical Theft: Music Appropriation and Appreciation from Ariana Grande to Paul Simon (4 Credits)

This course asks, what happens when people engage with music that is not their own? How do we determine who owns music? A piece? A tradition? What is the difference between theft, appropriation, and appreciation? We will explore these questions through diverse case studies examining popular, classical, and traditional musics from around the world. We will examine Paul Simon’s engagement with South African musicians during apartheid, rap’s overwhelming popularity among young white men in the United States, and Central African musicians’ embrace of Cuban music in the 1960s and ‘70s. We will parse out what kinds of cross-cultural musical engagements occur, their impacts, and the responsibilities of individuals, governments, and international organizations in different contexts.

MUAC 4519 Social Justice and Community Music Making (4 Credits)

What is community music? How do community arts programs function? How do they integrate social justice and music? This interdisciplinary community engaged learning course examines these questions both inside and outside of the classroom. Students will analyze how music programs are built and run by applying ideas from in-class readings and discussions to collaborative projects with local social justice arts-based organizations (e.g., a social justice songwriting project with local teens, a storytelling performance project with a community choir). By working with local community arts and social justice program professionals, students will critically analyze best practices as they learn how organizations are constructed, get funding, demonstrate impact, and pursue their social justice and educational missions. Drawing on scholarship from community arts, social work, ethnomusicology, cultural policy, and music education, this course provides an interdisciplinary foundation for students to engage with (and even create) impactful arts- and social justice-focused programs in their communities.

MUAC 4520 Topics in Hindustani Music (4 Credits)

This course explores the melodic system (raga) and rhythmic system (tala) of Hindustani music, the classical music of North India. These conceptual frameworks act both as sound structures to be realized in improvised performance and as aesthetic entities manifested in the related traditions of dance, iconography, and film. A major emphasis of this course will be developing an understanding of raga and tala as musical structures through intensive listening as well as practical instruction. Accordingly, one class each week is designed to incorporate hands-on music-making through singing, rhythmic exercises, and dance. By the end of the quarter, students will become familiar with several ragas and talas and the stages by which they are developed in performance. A second, equally important objective is to learn to appreciate ragas as aesthetic entities. We will analyze their musical characteristics as well as the "extra-musical" characteristics of sentiment (rasa), performance time and/or season and iconographic associations (ragamala painting).

MUAC 4521 Topics in Baroque Music (4 Credits)

Through the study of selected Baroque instrumental, vocal and operatic works, this seminar course considers various approaches to performance practice issues such as "authenticity," the "historically informed" performance, period instruments, ornamentation, continuo realization, and editing. Facsimile editions and primary and secondary source readings serve as the texts for the course. Students write a research paper that examines some aspect of Baroque music with an emphasis on performance practice. With the prior consent of the instructor, students may submit an alternative final project, one that combines performance with some form of written work.

MUAC 4535 Baroque Opera on Stage (4 Credits)

This course will explore aspects of Baroque opera not immediately conveyed by a score - including staging, gesture, scenic design, machinery, theater space, performers response - as they inform our understanding of specific Baroque operas and the cultural context within which they were performed. We will focus on operas by Monteverdi, Cavalli, Purcell, Handel, Lully, Campra and Rameau, among others. Students should expect to participate in class discussions, to write short response papers, to give short oral presentations, and to write a 12 to 15 page paper that examines a Baroque opera or operas in the light of one or more performance considerations. With the prior consent of the instructor, students may submit an alternative final project, one which combines performance with some form of written work.

MUAC 4536 Musics of the African Diaspora (4 Credits)

How have African music-cultures changed in their transitions to new lands? What performative Africanisms have been retained, reconstructed and/or highlighted in the aftermath of legal slavery? And within newer Afro-diasporic communities? What role does musical transmission play in cultural retention and survival? This course will explore the connections and differences in musical practice and worldview throughout the African diaspora. We focus primarily on music-cultures of North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean, examining traditional forms of music and dance associated with religion and ritual such as Afro-Cuban bata drumming, practices which fuse music and movement such as Afro-Brazilian capoeira, jazz, and popular music such as rap. Lectures and class discussions are supplemented by guest lecture-demonstrations, film/video screenings and hands-on workshops.

MUAC 4537 Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs: The Music of the African American Worship (4 Credits)

This course is an experiential exploration of the spirituality of African-American sacred song. Participants will sing, consider the history of the music and explore their own connection to the songs, as well as the inspiration and challenge these songs may offer to present and future communities.

MUAC 4538 Cultural and Psychological History of the African American Spiritual (4 Credits)

In this graduate academic music course, we trace the cultural and psychological history of African American spirituals, which are the sacred folk songs that were created and first sung in the 18th and 19th centuries by African women and men enslaved in North America. We explore the cultural and psychological functions of the music during slavery and the different functions of choral and art song spirituals that evolved after slavery, peaking in their cultural impact during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 30s. We also examine the cultural relationship of the spirituals to gospel music, and the influence of the spirituals tradition on the emergence of the freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. Throughout the course, we reflect on the relationship of the spirituals to larger issues of racial identity and social justice. Finally, we examine the cultural and psychological meanings of the spirituals tradition in contemporary twenty-first century America.

MUAC 4539 Music, Politics, and Policy (4 Credits)

This course examines the ways in which policies and politics engage with popular, jazz, folk, and classical musics around the world. Students will explore contemporary and historical cases in which governments and NGOs foster, transform, reject, and otherwise use musics to promote their own ideas about local economies, national cultures, diplomacy, democracy, innovation, cultural diversity, and even criminal law. We ask, can music promote peace? Democracy? How? How do governments create local and national music scenes? Which local and national cultures do they promote and protect? To what end? We look at how the Cuban government has embraced rap music as emblematic of the nation’s revolutionary ethos; how the United States government used jazz as a diplomatic tool during the Cold War; how NGOs in Israel and Palestine used popular and classical musics to promote peace and understanding; how American courts have used rap music as evidence in criminal cases; and how funding and intellectual property laws impact musical ownership, tradition, innovation, and creativity.

MUAC 4540 Music and Activism (4 Credits)

In many times and places, people around the world sing, chant, and drum in the streets. Their lived experiences don't line up with the equality and opportunity their governments claim to champion. Music is an integral part of their advocacy work. They play and sing as they draw attention to injustices, foster cohesion and community, communicate messages (both covertly and forcefully), express pain, joy and pride, energize and sustain themselves, as well as (de)humanize themselves and others. This course explores the special place music has in activism around the world. We examine protest movements such as the South African anti-apartheid movement, the American Abolitionist and Civil Rights movements, American/European White Nationalist movements, the Arab Spring, and the worldwide Black Lives Matter movements. We will explore community music projects with social justice agendas such as Youth on Record, The Spirituals Project, and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. We ask, why is music a particularly important part of activist work? What special place does it have? How is it used for both good and bad? For community mobilization, peace, and violence? Drawing on the fields of ethnomusicology, musicology, and cultural policy, we explore music, not just as a means to achieve certain ends, but as integral to the way humans position themselves in the world and advocate for themselves and others.

MUAC 4545 The Making of Romantic Music: Paris and Leipzig in the 1830s (4 Credits)

With a view to identifying the various interdisciplinary factors that led to the making of romantic music, this seminar course focuses on musical life in Paris and Leipzig in the 1830s. Specific attention is paid to the music of Chopin, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, and Robert and Clara Schumann and the personal and musical connections between these composers. Primary and secondary source readings serve as the texts for the course. Students write a research paper that examines some aspect of music and/or musical life in the 1830s. With the prior consent of the instructor, students may submit an alternative final project, one that combines performance with some form of written work.

MUAC 4547 Topics in Advanced Keyboard Repertoire (4 Credits)

Topics in Advanced Keyboard Repertoire focuses on special topics chosen by faculty members. Students should expect rigorous course work and a final project or paper.

MUAC 4600 Extra-Musical Roles of the Music Director (0-2 Credits)

Under the supervision and guidance of conducting faculty, students will gain hands-on, actual experience with many of the non-musical tasks that conductors face. Students will learn about and gain hands-on, actual experience with many of the non-musical tasks with which conductors are faced. These experiences will include managing ensemble personnel, librarian activities, running auditions, and recruiting.

MUAC 4601 Soundpainting: The Study of the Live Composing Sign Language for the Performing and Visual Arts (2 Credits)

In this course, students will study the soundpainting gestural language, a universal live composing sign language for the performing and visual arts.

MUAC 4602 Free Improvisation Techniques (2 Credits)

Free Improvisation Techniques will explore exercises in Tom Hall’s book Free Improvisation: A Practical Guide. We will also explore how those exercises relate to the broader concepts of improvising as discussed in Stephen Nachmanovich’s landmark book Free Play. This class is best suited for all musicians, especially those who are seeking to expand the way they relate to performing and how performing relates to other aspects of their life.

MUAC 4801 Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis (4 Credits)

MUAC 4831 Current Trends in Piano Pedagogy (2 Credits)

This course will explore current trends including some of the following topics: technology, professionalism, the history of piano pedagogy, employment opportunities and creative projects.

MUAC 4837 Pedagogy and Repertoire Organ (2 Credits)

Study of teaching techniques, survey of literature and teaching materials from the 20th and 21st centuries. Prerequisite: MUAC 3740.

MUAC 4840 Piano Teaching Practicum (0-2 Credits)

MUAC 4840 is a course designed to provide guided observations, lesson planning, and practice teaching students of various developmental age groups using foundations and principles developed in Piano Pedagogy.

MUAC 4850 Elementary Piano Pedagogy I (2 Credits)

An in-depth study of methods and curriculum for teaching piano at the beginner and elementary level. Focus on philosophical, psychological, and physiological bases of piano study. Study and evaluation of current educational materials.

MUAC 4851 Elementary Piano Pedagogy II (2 Credits)

This course is designed in a sequence with Elementary Piano Pedagogy I. An in-depth study of methods and curriculum for teaching piano at the late elementary to early intermediate levels. Focus on philosophical, psychological, and physiological bases of piano study. Study and evaluation of current educational materials. Prerequisite: MUAC 4850.

MUAC 4852 Group Piano Teaching Techniques (2 Credits)

An in-depth study of methods and curriculum for group study and the teaching of adults and children. Focus on philosophical, psychological, and physiological bases for teaching the piano in groups of all ages. Study and evaluation of current resources.

MUAC 4853 Intermediate Piano Pedagogy I (2 Credits)

Course content will emphasize teaching methods, materials, and curriculum content at the intermediate level of piano study. Reading and discussions will explore practical issues encountered by the contemporary piano teacher.

MUAC 4854 Intermediate Piano Pedagogy II (2 Credits)

This course is designed in a sequence with Intermediate Piano Pedagogy I. Course content will emphasize teaching methods, materials, and curriculum content at the intermediate to early advanced levels of piano study. Reading and discussions will explore practical issues encountered by the contemporary piano teacher.

MUAC 4991 Independent Study (1-10 Credits)

MUAC 4993 Independent Study (1-10 Credits)

MUAC 4995 Independent Research (1-10 Credits)

MUAC 5991 Graduate Thesis (1-10 Credits)

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