ETHN 100 - Introduction to Musics of the World

This course may also count for the major in (consult the program or department major requirements) :
LATS
Semester Offered: Second Semester
Credits (Range): 3 Hours
Attribute: CD
As musicians, we often think weknow what defines the subject of our study: “music.” Using selected case studies from around the world, this course will challenge the ways you think about music, how it is structured, and what it means to the people who make and otherwise engage with it. We will examine music in both historical and contrmporary contexts and encounter musical styles ranging from indigenous practices to classical traditions and pop genres. Through interactive performance activities, critical listening, and musical analysis, we closely examine the diverse ways people think abourt and sttructure music, building a sophisticated vocabulary of musical concepts relating to melody,rhythm, texture, timbre, and form as we go. We will also examine music as an inherently social act, illustrating how music is informed by - and conversely informs - historical, political, cultural, and economic processes, and how these processes result in the transformation of sounds and their meanings. Finally, we will explore the variety of ways people make music, taking into account not only performance context, but also who gets to make music. Enrollment Limit: 40.
Instructor: J. Fraser
Prerequisites & Notes
This course presumes considerable prior knowledge of muisic and the ability to read staff notation.
See CMUS 103 for a comparable course that does not presume this knowledge.