Undergraduate Academics
Music
Music courses may be taken in one of two ways:
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As a program, or “Third,” where Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499) is taken as a yearlong course for a total of 10 credits. MUSC 4499 may also be taken on a semester basis for five credits and registered appropriately for only one semester. In some cases, with permission of the program director, students may take Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498) as a yearlong course for 20 credits.
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As individual credit, where Music Study (MUSC 4400) is taken as a semester or yearlong course for one, two, or three credits.
Each of the above options—MUSC 4499 (or MUSC 4498) or MUSC 4400—requires a certain set of component courses at the 5000 level, as outlined in corresponding course descriptions.
The 5000-level component courses carry academic credit only when registered either under MUSC 4499 (or MUSC 4498) or MUSC 4400. STUDENTS MUST REGISTER FOR BOTH THE MUSC 4499 (OR MUSC 4498) OR MUSC 4400 COURSE AND THE 5000-LEVEL COMPONENT COURSES.
Registering for music courses is a two-step process, both of which must occur in this order:
- Complete Online Course Selection (OCS) for MUSC 4499, MUSC 4498, or MUSC 4400 before component course registration with the music department. OCS initial registration determines eligibility for component (5000 level) course registration.
- Meet with the music program director to register for component (5000 level) courses.
Students must interview with the music program director and are responsible for reviewing course registrations on MySLC. Students are responsible for ensuring that their registrations are complete and accurate. Questions about registrations should be directed to the Registrar’s Office, the student‘s don, and/or the music program director during the registration period. No adjustments can be made after the Add/Drop Period. Academic credit is awarded only with proper course registration of each course.
A maximum total of 50 credits is permitted in music.
Music 2026-2027 Courses
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Open, Program—Year | 6 credits
MUSC 4400
Note: Open to students who do not wish to take an entire Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499).
This credit-bearing course will consist of a combination of various individual components. Students may take an Individual Instruction lesson, a Performance Ensemble or World Music Ensemble, and a component in Theory and Composition, Technology, or History.
Faculty
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Open, Program—Year | 4 credits
MUSC 4400
Note: Open to students who do not wish to take an entire Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499).
This credit-bearing course will consist of a combination of various individual components. Students may take an Individual Instruction lesson and either a Performance Ensemble or World Music Ensemble, or take a component in Theory and Composition, Technology, or History.
Faculty
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Open, Program—Year | 2 credits
MUSC 4400
Note: Open to students who do not wish to take an entire Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499).
This credit-bearing course will consist of an individual component. Components may include an Individual Instruction lesson or a Performance Ensemble or a World Music Ensemble.
Faculty
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Open, Program—Year | 10 credits
MUSC 4499
Note: Music Study (MUSC 4400) or Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499) is required for individual component registration.
This credit-bearing course will consist of a combination of various individual components that together constitute a Music Third. For the 10-credit option, components include an Individual Instruction lesson or Beginning Lesson for Music Thirds, a component in Theory and Composition, a Performance Ensemble or World Music Ensemble, and required concert attendance through the Music Tuesdays (MUSC 5398) component.
If desired, but not required, other components—such as in technology or history—may be added with permission of the program director. In certain cases, substitutions may be made with permission of the program director.
Faculty
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Sophomore and Above, Program—Year | 20 credits
MUSC 4498
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor required
Note: Music Study (MUSC 4400), Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499), or Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498) is required for individual component registration.
This credit-bearing course will consist of a combination of various individual components that together constitute a Music Two Thirds. For the 20-credit option, students will complete two Individual Instruction lessons; two components in Theory and Composition, Technology, or History; two Performance Ensembles or World Music Ensembles; and attend required concerts through the Music Tuesdays (MUSC 5398) component.
Faculty
Beginning Lessons for Music Thirds
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5335
This is a beginning course in basic vocal technique. Each student’s vocal needs are met within the structure and content of the class.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5335
This is a beginning course in basic vocal technique. Each student’s vocal needs are met within the structure and content of the class.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5335
This is a beginning course in basic vocal technique. Each student’s vocal needs are met within the structure and content of the class.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5335
This is a beginning course in basic vocal technique. Each student’s vocal needs are met within the structure and content of the class.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5375
This course will be for beginning students in either acoustic or electric guitar.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5382
This course is designed to accommodate beginning piano students who take this course as the core of their music program. Instruction will take place in a group setting, with individual keyboard stations and one master station. Students will be introduced to elementary keyboard technique and simple piano pieces.
Faculty
History
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Open, Component—Fall
MUSC 5254
Note: May be counted as humanities credit as MUHS 3164 or music component as MUSC 5254. Available as part of Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499), with permission of the program director, or Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498).
The impact of The Beatles has been immeasurable. In their seven years as an international touring and recording band, they explored and enlarged every aspect of songwriting technique, producing musical milestones with almost every album. This course will trace the development of The Beatles chronologically and will focus on the ways The Beatles used harmony, phrase structure, rhythm, structural ambiguity, sonority, and production techniques in continuously innovative and beautiful ways. The background to this course will be the political events and social transformations of the 1960s, as well as the musical styles and cultural phenomena that The Beatles assimilated and transformed. No previous musical training or experience is required.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Fall
MUSC 5274
Note: May be counted for either humanities or social science credit as MUHS 2035 or music component as MUSC 5274. Available as part of Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499), with permission of the program director, or Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498). May also be taken within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 2), or within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 3), with additional components.
How do we listen to unfamiliar music? What ideas, principles, and ideologies influence how we hear? What do the sounds of music tell us about society? This course will explore the practice of music theory and the search for musical meaning, with examples from around the world. We will describe unfamiliar music and then understand it using various approaches to translate its meaning. Course themes will include musical and cultural differences, the relativism of musical perception, structuralist approaches to music theory, the politics of representation, decolonizing music history, and others. Course units will draw from varied ethnographic case studies from ethnomusicology and anthropology and may include examples from India, Indonesia, China, East Africa, West Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. Participation in the Balinese Gamelan Angklung Chandra Buana, an Indonesian tonal percussion ensemble, is strongly encouraged. No prior experience in music is necessary.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Fall
MUSC 5276
Note: May be counted as humanities credit as MUHS 2040 or music component as MUSC 5276. Available as part of Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499), with permission of the program director, or Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498). May also be taken within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 2), or within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 3), with additional components.
A while ago, I went to a visual arts museum, and they had their collection displayed in an unusual fashion. Instead of grouping art in rooms according to genre, chronology, nationality or particular artists, the art was arranged by intriguing concepts. A room might contain an O’Keeffe painting, a centuries-old indigenous piece from Australia, a Rodin sculpture, and a poem that were, in some way, connected by a fascinating idea. I want to recapitulate something like this experience. Every class session will begin with some concept from mathematics, poetry, philosophy, astronomy, and more; then we will gradually explore different music that engages with that concept in some way. The musical examples every week will span centuries and cultures—one week might have an avant-garde piano sonata by Boulez, a 1980's art-rock song by Laurie Anderson, and a Kendrick Lamar album; the next week might have an ancient Sumerian song, a piece by Debussy, and a work from the Indian Carnatic tradition. Gradually, more and more connections between the seemingly disparate topics will be revealed. So, okay, it isn’t everything exactly—and it’s more like “across the course of a semester” rather than “all at once”—but, by the end, you will know a whole lot more across a wide range of disciplines. And, most importantly, we will listen to a metric ton of fantastic music.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Fall
MUSC 5238
Note: May be counted for either humanities credit as MUHS 3206 or music component as MUSC 5238. Available as part of Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499), with permission of the program director, or Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498).
In this course, we will study in detail many of the extraordinary and extraordinarily beautiful creations and innovations of the music of the 19th century. We will begin with Beethoven, who at the beginning of the century inspired a new kind of musical experience and listening, and then look at the composers who followed in his footsteps and ask ourselves: What does romanticism mean to them? We will study many different genres, from symphonies to operas, art songs, piano pieces, and chamber music. This is not a survey class but rather one in which we will take selected seminal works and use the study of those to understand topics such as how music and literature inspire each other in the songs of Schubert and Schumann, how the persona of the composer becomes part of musical discourse in Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, the role and rhetoric of nationalism in piano works of Chopin and Liszt, how narrative becomes a crucial ingredient in Mahler’s symphony, how exoticism is a key ingredient in Bizet’s opera Carmen, and how Wagner and Mussorgsky created all-encompassing world visions in their musical dramas. This course has no conferences, but will feature some group activities in addition to the class meetings and assignments. No prior music study is required.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Year
MUSC 5207
Note: May be counted for either humanities credit as MUHS 3207 or music component as MUSC 5207. Available as part of Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499), with permission of the program director, or Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498). Closed to students who have taken Jazz History (MUSC 5250).
Jazz music of all styles and periods will be listened to, analyzed, and discussed. The course will begin with a study in the history of slavery that began in 1619 in the United States. Time will be spent on understanding what led to two unique American art forms of music, blues and jazz, that are related but early on take separate and very different paths. Skills in listening to and enjoying some of the finer points of the music will be enhanced by the study of elements such as rhythm, form, melody, timbre, phrasing, instrumentation, instrumental technique, style, and one of the most important and defining elements of the music, improvisation. We will initially discover and listen to music in a chronological order so as to clearly understand the developments of the music through time. Once the foundational elements of this music have been studied and established, special emphasis will be placed on the development of modern jazz and its relationship to older styles. Some topics to be studied: Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, roots and development of the Big Band Sound, Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, lineage of pianists, horn players, evolution of the rhythm section, Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, bebop, cool jazz, jazz of the 1960s and 1970s, fusion and jazz-rock, jazz of the 1980s, and modern trends. The crossover of jazz into other styles of modern music, such as rock and R&B, will be discussed, as will the influence that modern concert music and world music has had on jazz styles creating third stream music and more. In the second semester, we will look at the clear and direct influence that jazz had on rock ’n’ roll and groups like The Allman Brothers Band, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and on and on.
Faculty
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Intermediate, Component—Year
MUSC 5210
Prerequisite: Theory I: Materials of Music (MUSC 5105) or equivalent
Note: Required corequisite for students taking Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (MUSC 5110). If not concurrently enrolled in MUSC 5110, students need an appropriate theory background to engage in the score work necessary for this course. Available as part of Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499), with permission of the program director, or Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498). May also be taken within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 2), or within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 3), with additional components.
In this course, we will study in depth the development of musical genres and styles from antiquity to the late 20th century. We will place the numerous works on our listening list in larger historical contexts to understand how their musical structures and functions are related to the societal structures and dynamics in which they were created. In our class work, we will go back and forth between learning about their historic background and using score analysis and attentive listening to discern the particular structures and styles of each composition.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Spring
MUSC 5161
Note: May be counted for either humanities credits as MUHS 2161 or music component as MUSC 5161. Available as part of Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499), with permission of the program director, or Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498). May also be taken within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 2), or within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 3), with additional components.
This course will study David Bowie’s music styles and cultural influences over a career that spanned almost fifty years. The focus will be on how he conveyed through music and lyrics ideas about alienation, isolation, madness, dystopia, gender ambiguity and identity, glamour, role-playing and self-realization, among other things. We will trace how he conveyed those ideas by using elements of German Expressionism, Weimar cabaret, Asian culture, dadaism, surrealism, European art films (by Buñuel, Dalí, Fellini, Dreyer, Bergman, and others), the cut-up technique made popular by William S. Burroughs, commedia dell'arte, English music hall, the Broadway musical, mime, French chanson, blues, soul, Krautrock, minimalism, science fiction, and other things. We will attempt to understand what was more interesting to him than conventional pop stardom, and why he sought an exit from that whenever he achieved it. Singer and songwriter Siouxsie Sioux said that Bowie was an unusual pop star in that he comes with a reading list; we will try to find out what might be on that list and how it might illuminate his career.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Spring
MUSC 5277
Note: May be counted for either humanities or social science credit as MUHS 3070 or music component as MUSC 5277. Available as part of Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499), with permission of the program director, or Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498). May also be taken within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 2), or within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 3), with additional components.
How do human voices express our basic, most fundamental needs and desires? How do our voices also provoke immediate feelings and responses? And how do voices become ideologies—such as having or silencing a voice—that then shape the meanings of our voices? In this seminar, we will use these questions to forge a path towards better understanding the role of the human voice in climate justice. We will begin the course with canonical sources that link music with social justice. Then, we will engage recent research from sound studies, voice studies, media studies, vocal anthropology, ecomusicology, and ethnomusicology that reorients the voice and its sonic elements as a dynamically agentive and transformative force intertwined with history and culture. We will then apply our new understanding of the voice to better describe, analyze, and interpret vocal art that enables us to hear a new relationship with our environment. Throughout the semester, we will index a range of approaches, themes, and persuasive strategies of these activist, vocal interventions addressing climate change in order to articulate and clarify the role of music and sound in climate justice. Class topics and themes may include the speech-song continuum, phonetic variation and prosody, Bollywood playback singing, indigeneity and vocality, vocal mimesis, Tuvan throat singing, multivocality, vocal constructions of place and the environment, and others. No prior experience in music is necessary.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Spring
MUSC 5223
Note: May be counted as humanities credit as MUHS 2159 or music component as MUSC 5223. Available as part of Music Program/Third (MUSC 4499), with permission of the program director, or Music Intensive Program/Two Thirds (MUSC 4498). May also be taken within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 2), or within Music Study (MUSC 4400 P 3), with additional components.
We will begin in Babel itself, the ancient site of Babylon, where archaeologists have discovered many tablets about music. Nearby sites have the earliest examples of musical notation, some dating as far back as 1400 BCE. We will learn some aspects of how their music worked and begin building a vocabulary for talking about and notating music in general. Across the course of the semester, we will learn many different musical languages, such as the music of Ancient Greece, the old court music of Japan, drum ensembles of central Africa, and the world of European classical music. We will also delve into many different modern musics, including the rise of sampling and turntablism in hip-hop, the theory of so-called “atonal” music, and the development of electronic sound. In short, the course will be devoted to learning a sampling of crucial aspects of the multitudinous vocabularies and grammars that pervade music across the world and across time. No prior study of nor the ability to read music is required. By the end of the semester, students will be able to read basic musical ideas in a few different notation systems and will have some understanding of important aspects of not only standard European music theories but also many others that are too-often learned only by specialists.
Faculty
Individual Instruction: Lessons
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5002
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5002
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5010
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5013
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5013
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5013
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5019
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5020
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5020
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5020
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5020
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5030
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5034
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5035
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5039
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5040
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5041
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5044
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5050
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5050
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5052
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5055
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5057
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5071
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5072
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5072
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5073
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5075
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5078
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
Faculty
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Performance Ensembles
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By Audition, Component—Fall
MUSC 5381
For singers and/or guitarists, this ensemble will take on any Beatles song that works with the acoustic guitar. Singers and guitarists at any level are welcome, as are singers who play some guitar and guitarists who sing.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Year
MUSC 5305
Note: Pass/Fail.
This course is open to any student who has a passion for ensemble singing. No audition is required. Emphasis will be placed on intonation, blend, and techniques of good vocal production necessary to produce a resonant and warm sound. Repertoire covered is from the baroque to the contemporary period, especially newly composed works. Performances are both a cappella and accompanied.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5370
Note: Ensembles will be coached by various members of the affiliate and music faculty. Concurrent enrollment in Rock Band (MUSC 5365) or Chamber Music (MUSC 5370) is a required corequisite for students taking Theory I: Materials of Music (MUSC 5105).
Various chamber groups—from quartets or quintets to violin and piano duos—are formed each year, depending on the number and variety of qualified instrumentalists who apply. Groups will have an opportunity to perform in a chamber music concert at the end of each semester.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5310
These performance ensembles are geared toward learning and performing various traditional, as well as hybrid, styles of blues and rock music. The blues, like jazz, is a purely American art form, and all styles of rock & roll originate out of the blues. The ensembles are open to investigating Delta blues, performing songs by artists such as Robert Johnson, Son House, Charlie Patton, Skip James, and others; Texas blues; and Chicago electric blues that might open the doors to Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Buddy Guy. The course is open for students to discover the likes of Albert King, B. B. King, and Freddie King, alongside modern blues artists such as Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa, and pioneer rockers Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Peter Green, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. It is always suggested that students discover and pick songs that have a close or discernible relationship to the blues; however, the ensemble is open to include most styles and genres of rock & roll.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5310
These performance ensembles are geared toward learning and performing various traditional, as well as hybrid, styles of blues and rock music. The blues, like jazz, is a purely American art form, and all styles of rock & roll originate out of the blues. The ensembles are open to investigating Delta blues, performing songs by artists such as Robert Johnson, Son House, Charlie Patton, Skip James, and others; Texas blues; and Chicago electric blues that might open the doors to Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Buddy Guy. The course is open for students to discover the likes of Albert King, B. B. King, and Freddie King, alongside modern blues artists such as Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa, and pioneer rockers Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Peter Green, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. It is always suggested that students discover and pick songs that have a close or discernible relationship to the blues; however, the ensemble is open to include most styles and genres of rock & roll.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5315
No longer do vocalists need to share valuable time with those wanting to focus primarily on instrumental jazz and vice versa. This ensemble will be dedicated to providing a performance-oriented environment for the aspiring jazz vocalist. We will mostly concentrate on picking material from the standard jazz repertoire. Vocalists will get an opportunity to work on arrangements, interpretation, delivery, phrasing, and intonation in a realistic situation with a live rhythm section and soloists. Vocalists will learn how to work with, give direction to, and get what they need from the rhythm section. The course will provide an environment for vocalists to learn to hear forms and changes and also to work on vocal improvisation, if they so choose. This will not only give students an opportunity to work on singing solo or lead vocals but also to work with other vocalists in singing backup or harmony vocals for and with each other. And the course will serve as a great opportunity for instrumentalists to learn the true art of accompanying the jazz vocalist, which will prove to be a valuable experience in preparing for a career as a professional musician.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5315
No longer do vocalists need to share valuable time with those wanting to focus primarily on instrumental jazz and vice versa. This ensemble will be dedicated to providing a performance-oriented environment for the aspiring jazz vocalist. We will mostly concentrate on picking material from the standard jazz repertoire. Vocalists will get an opportunity to work on arrangements, interpretation, delivery, phrasing, and intonation in a realistic situation with a live rhythm section and soloists. Vocalists will learn how to work with, give direction to, and get what they need from the rhythm section. The course will provide an environment for vocalists to learn to hear forms and changes and also to work on vocal improvisation, if they so choose. This will not only give students an opportunity to work on singing solo or lead vocals but also to work with other vocalists in singing backup or harmony vocals for and with each other. And the course will serve as a great opportunity for instrumentalists to learn the true art of accompanying the jazz vocalist, which will prove to be a valuable experience in preparing for a career as a professional musician.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5313
This ensemble will meet weekly to rehearse and perform a wide variety of modern jazz music and other related styles. Repertoire in the past has included works by composers Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock, as well as some rock, Motown, and blues. All instruments are welcome.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Year
MUSC 5365
Note: Concurrent enrollment in Rock Band (MUSC 5365) or Chamber Music (MUSC 5370) is a required corequisite for students taking Theory I: Materials of Music (MUSC 5105).
This performance ensemble will be an opportunity for students, regardless of the degree of previous experience on an instrument or voice, to explore a wide range of genres and styles and to prepare for a concert at the end of the semester. The goal of this course is to apply the musical terms as they are encountered in Theory I: Materials of Music (MUSC 5105) to an active musical context. Students wishing to explore songwriting on their own will have an opportunity to do so in spring.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5369
This is an experimental performing ensemble that explores a variety of musical styles and techniques, including free improvisation, improvisational conducting, and various other chance-based methods. The ensemble is open to all instruments (acoustic and electric), voice, electronic synthesizers, and laptop computers, as well as performing artists of mixed media (e.g., Soundscapes, video, film and graphic projection). Students must be able to demonstrate a level of proficiency on their chosen instrument. Composer-performers, dancers, and actors are also welcome. Performance opportunities will include concerts and collaboration with other programs, such as dance, theatre, film, and performance art, as well as community outreach.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5321
Prerequisite: Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (MUSC 5110) or permission of the instructor
This course is designed to enable students who have never conducted before to rehearse and perform a piece with a chamber orchestra at the end of the spring semester. The fall semester will begin with score-reading techniques such as reading C-clefs; understanding transposing instruments; mastering beat-patterns; conveying articulation and dynamics; cueing; and will also focus on instrumental techniques and orchestration. Students will hone their interpretive skills by comparing different recordings of pieces, and will apply those skills by leading rehearsals of pieces for piano and small combinations of instruments. A small portion of each class will be devoted to the analysis of conducting styles on video. In the spring semester, students will choose a piece to work on with the Westchester Chamber Soloists for performance.
Faculty
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Intermediate/Advanced, Component—Year
MUSC 5361
Prerequisite: Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (MUSC 5110) or permission of the instructor and Conducting I (MUSC 5321) or prior conducting experience
This component is for students who have completed Conducting I (MUSC 5321) or who have significant prior experience conducting. We will review the skills and techniques learned in Conducting I: reading C-clefs; understanding transposing instruments; mastering beat-patterns; conveying articulation and dynamics and cueing. We will also continue to study instrumental techniques and orchestration and continue to refine interpretive skills by comparing different recordings of pieces. Students will then apply those skills by leading rehearsals of pieces for piano and small combinations of instruments. In the spring semester the students will conduct the Westchester Chamber Soloists in concert.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Spring
MUSC 5368
This ensemble will cover the American folk-rock music movement from Guthrie through the hippies, including union songs and protest songs. Singers and guitarists at any level are welcome, as are singers who play some guitar and guitarists who sing.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Spring
MUSC 5367
We will focus on the performance of instrumental and vocal repertoire from c. 1600-1750. Weekly coachings will be supplemented by sessions that introduce students to some basic principles of Baroque performance practices. The work of this course will culminate in a concert at the end of the semester.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Spring
MUSC 5390
Note: Pass/Fail.
This component will offer students the opportunity to share with the larger College community the results of their sustained work in performance study. During the semester of their recital, students will receive additional coachings by their principal teachers (instructor varies by instrument).
Faculty
Required Concert Attendance
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Open, Component—Year
MUSC 5398
Note: The schedule will be announced each semester. Required for Music Program/Third students.
The music faculty wants students to have access to a variety of musical experiences; therefore, Music Thirds are required to attend all Music Tuesday and three music department-sponsored concerts on campus per semester, including concerts presented by music faculty and outside professionals that are part of the Concert Series. (The required number of concerts varies from semester to semester.) Music Tuesdays consist of various programs, including student/faculty town meetings, concert presentations, guest-artist lectures and performances, master classes, and collaborations with other departments and performing-arts programs.
Faculty
Technology
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Open, Component—Year
MUSC 5174
The Sarah Lawrence Electronic Music Studio is a state-of-the art facility dedicated to the instruction and development of electronic music composition. The studio contains the latest in digital audio hardware and software for synthesis, recording, and signal processing, along with a full complement of vintage analog synthesizers and tape machines. Beginning students will start with an introduction to the equipment, basic acoustics, and principles of studio recording; signal processing; and a historical overview of the medium. Once students have acquired a certain level of proficiency with the equipment and material—usually by the second semester—the focus will be on preparing compositions that will be heard in concerts of electronic music, student composers’ concerts, music workshops, and open concerts.
Faculty
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Intermediate, Component—Year
MUSC 5181
Prerequisite: EMS I: Introduction to Electronic Music (MUSC 5174) or equivalent
This course will focus on creating electronic music, primarily using software-based digital audio workstations. Materials covered will include MIDI, Pro Tools, Digital Performer, Logic, Reason, Ableton Live, Max/MSP, Tracktion, and elements of Sibelius and Finale (as connected to media scoring). Assignments will focus on composing individual works and/or creating music and designing sound for various media, such as film, dance, and interactive performance art. Students may also choose to evolve collaborative projects with students from those other areas. Projects will be presented in class for discussion and critique.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Year
MUSC 5343
Note: A basic knowledge of music theory is expected. Open to intermediate and advanced students.
This component is designed as a workshop for songwriters of all genres—including pop, rock, jazz, classical, and experimental. Students will have an opportunity to explore their musical ideas in an environment that fosters the development of imagination, skill, and craft. Each student will work on their chosen style or genre of music and keep a journal of their progress through each segment of the class—inception (often referred to as the “brainstorming” process), sketches, development and arrangements (realization), presentation (the performance), and production (recording, mastering, and releasing on streaming services and/or physical product such as CD or Vinyl).
Faculty
Theory and Composition
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Open, Component—Year
MUSC 5105
Note: This course is a prerequisite for Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (MUSC 5110) and the Advanced Theory sequence. Concurrent enrollment in Rock Band (MUSC 5365) or Chamber Music (MUSC 5370) is a required corequisite for students taking Theory I: Materials of Music (MUSC 5105).
In this course, we will study elements of music such as pitch, rhythm, intensity, and timbre. We will see how they combine in various musical structures and how those structures communicate. Studies will include notation and ear training, as well as theoretical exercises, rudimentary analyses, and the study of repertoire from various eras of Western music.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Year
MUSC 5105
Note: This course is a prerequisite for Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (MUSC 5110) and the Advanced Theory sequence. Concurrent enrollment in Rock Band (MUSC 5365) or Chamber Music (MUSC 5370) is a required corequisite for students taking Theory I: Materials of Music (MUSC 5105).
In this course, we will study elements of music such as pitch, rhythm, intensity, and timbre. We will see how they combine in various musical structures and how those structures communicate. Studies will include notation and ear training, as well as theoretical exercises, rudimentary analyses, and the study of repertoire from various eras of Western music.
Faculty
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Intermediate, Component—Year
MUSC 5110
Prerequisite: Theory I: Materials of Music (MUSC 5105) or equivalent
Note: This course is a prerequisite for any Advanced Theory course. Concurrent enrollment in Survey of Western Music (MUSC 5210) is a required corequisite for students taking Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (MUSC 5110).
As a skill-building course in the language of tonal music, this course will cover diatonic harmony and voice leading, elementary counterpoint, and simple forms. Students will develop an understanding through part writing, analysis, composition, and aural skills.
Faculty
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Advanced, Component—Year
MUSC 5125
Prerequisite: Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (MUSC 5110) or equivalent
Students in this course will study the building blocks and concepts of jazz theory, harmony, and rhythm. Topics will include the study of the standard modes and scales, as well as the use of melodic and harmonic minor scales and their respective modals systems. The course will include the study and application of diminished and augmented scales and their role in harmonic progression, particularly the diminished chord as a parental structure. In-depth study will be given to harmony and harmonic progression through analysis and memorization of triads, extensions, and alterations, as well as substitute chords, reharmonization, and back cycling. We will look at polytonality and the superposition of various hybrid chords over different bass tones and other harmonic structures. We will study and apply all of the above to their characteristic and stylistic genres, including bebop, modal, free, and progressive jazz. The study of rhythm, which is possibly the single most-important aspect of jazz, will be a primary focus, as well. We will also use composition as a way to absorb and truly understand the concepts discussed.
Faculty
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Advanced, Component—Year
MUSC 5130
Prerequisite: Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (MUSC 5110) or equivalent
This course will be an examination of various theoretical approaches to music of the 20th century, including post-tonal, serial, textural, minimalist, and pop/rock music. Our primary text will be Joseph Straus’s Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory, but we will also explore other relevant texts—including scores and recordings of the works themselves. This course will include study of the music of Schoenberg, Webern, Pink Floyd, Ligeti, Bartók, Reich, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Corigliano, and Del Tredici, among others.
Faculty
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Advanced, Component—Year
MUSC 5183
Prerequisite: Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (MUSC 5110) or equivalent
This course will be an introduction to a wide array of compositional languages, primarily within a notated context. We will talk about a wide variety of harmonic palettes, including some examples of microtonality à la Ben Johnston and Alois Hába. We will explore various serial procedures, such as the “classical” serialism of Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern and the rotational ideas of Ruth Crawford Seeger and Igor Stravinsky. We will discuss various methods for guiding improvisation, including the “diamond clef” compositions of Anthony Braxton. Rhythmic and metric ideas will be introduced, including asymmetric time signatures, metric modulation as pioneered by Elliott Carter, and rhythmic serialism as in the work of Milton Babbitt and Olivier Messiaen. We will discuss the potential uses of rhythmic and harmonic symmetry as, for example, in the chord progressions of John Coltrane’s Giant Steps. Students will learn about these topics through score study and through their own small compositional projects. As we jump from topic to topic, the instructor will also have students practice increasingly complex notational mini-projects and will introduce students to the rudiments of orchestration for keyboards, strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. At the end of the course, students will have gained a broad range of musical languages with which to express their own personal voice and will have had considerable practice in communicating those ideas effectively.
Faculty
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Advanced, Component—Year
MUSC 5134
Prerequisite: Theory II: Basic Tonal Theory and Composition (MUSC 5110) or equivalent
This analysis course will help students to develop sophisticated understandings of works ranging from Bach keyboard suites to symphonies by Brahms and Mahler. A particular focus will be on chromatic harmony and how its details and manifestations relate to creating large scale structures, especially in the romantic era. The repertoire we will study can be tailored to the particular interests of the students, including works they are also performing.
Faculty
World Music Ensembles
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Open, Component—Fall
MUSC 5350
A gamelan angklung is a bronze orchestra that includes four-toned metallophones, gongs, drums, and flutes. Rhythmic patterns played upon the instruments interlock and combine to form large structures of great complexity and beauty. The gamelan angklung that we will play was specially handcrafted in Bali for the College and was named Chandra Buana, or “Moon Earth,” at its dedication on April 16, 2000, in Reisinger Concert Hall. Any interested student may join; no previous experience with music is necessary.
Faculty
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By Audition, Component—Fall
MUSC 5359
From highlife and Afrobeat in West Africa to reggae, samba, funk, and contemporary Afro-pop across the African diaspora, the 20th century witnessed an extraordinary expansion of African musical ideas on a global scale. Drawing on deep-rooted rhythmic traditions, musicians in Africa and beyond blended local aesthetics with European, Caribbean, and American influences, creating powerful new genres that continue to shape music worldwide.
This performance course will explore a wide range of African and African diasporic musical styles that emerged during this period and continue to evolve today. The ensemble will focus on playing that emphasizes feel, interaction, and cohesive group coordination, with students learning rhythms, songs, and forms rooted in African traditions and exploring how these elements appear in global styles.
The group will perform clearly structured arrangements drawn from a broad repertoire, with opportunities for genre-appropriate improvisation, soloing, and creative adaptation. A wide range of instruments are welcome, including strings, horns, guitars, keyboards, vocals, drum set, and percussion. Basic facility on one’s instrument is expected, but prior experience with African or world music is not required.
Faculty
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Open, Component—Spring
MUSC 5351
Faso Foli, the name of Sarah Lawrence's West African performance ensemble, is a Malinke phrase that translates loosely as “playing to my father’s home.” In this course, we will develop the ability to play expressive melodies and intricate polyrhythms in a group context, as we recreate the celebrated musical legacy of the West African Mandé Empire. These traditions have been kept alive and vital through creative interpretation and innovation in Africa, the United States, and other parts of the world. Correspondingly, our repertoire will reflect a wide range of expressive practices, both ancient in origin and dynamic in contemporary performance. The instruments we play—balafons, dun dun drums, and djembe hand drums—were constructed for the College in 2006, handcrafted by master builders in Guinea. Relevant instrumental techniques will be taught in the class, and no previous experience with African musical practice is assumed. Any interested student may join.
Faculty