CLASSES OFFERED IN 2009-2010

101. MATERIALS OF MUSIC

An introductory course in the techniques of music for the student who has little or no previous musical training. Topics will include notation, modes, intervals, melody, harmony, rhythm, and structural elements of music. Core requirement met: Fine Arts

Profs. Jennifer Logan, Andre Myers

102. MUSIC OF LATIN AMERICA

This course will examine the diverse forms and social contexts of Latin American and Caribbean music, while exploring the ways that musical performance has been used to negotiate power relations in the social, political, and economic spheres since the Conquest. Focusing on musical genres and movements from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Peru, and Trinidad, students will learn to recognize the techniques and instruments used in a wide array of traditional and contemporary styles, particularly those which have grown out of the hybridization of African, Middle Eastern, European, Asian, and Native American performance strategies. While knowledge of music theory and performance skills are not necessary, it is essential that students be prepared for intensive music listening in and out of class. Core requirements met: Group 4, Fine Arts

Prof. Shanna Lorenz

104. MUSIC OF AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

This course surveys the musical styles and genres of the African continent and the Middle Eastern world. Within an ethno-historical framework established at the beginning of the course, emphasis is placed on 1) the region’s important musical genres, their social function and musical characteristics, and 2) the instruments used in performing these musical genres. While knowledge of music theory and performance skills are not necessary, it is essential that students be prepared for intensive music listening in and out of class. Core requirements met: Group 1, Fine Arts

Prof. Simeon Pillich

105. MUSIC OF EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA

This course will address the development of music in Europe and North America. Among the topics covered in the area of Europe will be: the music of the Balkans, the Baltic States, the Celtic region, the Iberian Peninsula, France, and England. The North American area will focus on the music of the Native Americans (including Inuit), French-Canadian and French-American styles, Anglo-American and African-American secular and sacred music, and music for theatre. While knowledge of music theory and performance skills are not necessary, it is essential that students be prepared for intensive music listening in and out of class. Core requirements met: Group 6, Fine Arts

Staff

111. TOPICS IN JAZZ

A nontechnical survey of jazz from its origins to the present, with special emphasis on informed listening. Extensive listening assignments will supplement readings. Core requirements met: Group 5, Fine Arts

Prof. Simeon Pillich

117. TOPICS IN MUSIC FOR FILM AND OTHER MEDIA

This course will survey film music from its silent film era origins to the present, focusing on its many functions through in-class viewing, analysis, and critique of film clips. The works of many prominent film composers as well as some lesser-known figures will be examined in terms of style and approach, as well as their own views on the film-scoring process. Fundamental information on music, film, and psychology of music will be introduced, and the role of music in other media (such as TV and experimental video) will be explored. Core requirements met: Group 6, Fine Arts

Prof. Bruno Louchouarn

119. WHY MUSIC MATTERS

This course provides a general introduction to the elements and history of Western music over the last three centuries. Students will focus on learning how to listen to music, with an emphasis of identifying musical forms, genres, and styles. This focus will serve the larger goal of the course, which is to show how understanding music can not only lead to our greater enjoyment of it but also help us to better understand history and culture. Students with no musical experience are especially welcome. Core requirement met: Fine Arts

Prof. David Kasunic

151. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC I

Studies in the integration of the basic materials of music: scales, intervals, chords; exercises in four-part harmony; simple compositional exercises; species counterpoint; listening assignments. Prerequisite: placement exam and ability to read traditional music notation, or Music 101. Requires concurrent enrollment in Music 151A. Core requirement met: Fine Arts

Prof. Andre Myers

151A. MUSICIANSHIP I

Training in tonal sight singing and listening; major and minor keys, triads, chord progressions and rhythmic studies. Prerequisite: requires concurrent enrollment in Music 151 or permission of instructor, as well as an ability to read music. Includes two 1-hour musicianship laboratories per week.

Prof. Jennifer Logan

153. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC II

Further studies in harmony and composition; introduction to counterpoint; principles of form. Prerequisite: Music 151 or permission of instructor. Requires concurrent enrollment in Music 153A. Students will be assigned to the appropriate laboratory session during the first week of the semester. 

Prof. Irene Girton

153A. MUSICIANSHIP II

Continued training in tonal sight singing and listening: introduction to chromaticism, related key modulations, modes, seventh chords; continued study of chord progressions and rhythmic studies. Prerequisite: requires concurrent enrollment in Music 153 or permission of instructor. Includes two 1-hour musicianship laboratories per week.

Prof. Jennifer Logan

230. ADVANCED STUDIES IN ELECTRONIC MUSIC (2 units)

Continued study of theoretical, historical and aesthetic principles underlying computer/electronic music. Study of software applications (Logic, MaxMSP, Digital Performer, ProTools, Cloud Generator, MetaSynth) towards the creation of electronic, electro-acoustic, and/or interactive, multi-media composition. 2 units. Prerequisite: Music 130.

Prof. Jennifer Logan

232. PIANO PROFICIENCY (1 unit)
Prepares music majors to demonstrate competence in a broad range of keyboard skills: basic keyboard technique, sight reading, elementary repertoire, harmonization of melodies, transposition, and accompaniment. A grade of C or better is required to satisfy the Music major piano proficiency requirement. 1 unit. Prerequisite: Music 132, or permission of the instructor. Core requirement partial: Fine Arts

Ms. Dina Ormenyi

251. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC III

Further studies in chromatic harmony. Development of 18th-century forms and their extension and elaboration in the 19th century; analysis of contrapuntal idioms: canon, invention, and fugue. Prerequisite: requires concurrent enrollment in Music 251A. Includes two 1-hour musicianship laboratories per week.

Prof. Irene Girton

251A. MUSICIANSHIP III

Advanced training in tonal sight singing and listening; modulation to distant keys, introduction to 20th century idioms, extended chordal dissonance and rhythm. Prerequisite: requires concurrent enrollment in Music 251. Includes two 1-hour musicianship laboratories per week.

Prof. Jennifer Logan

257. COMPOSITION AND ORCHESTRATION

Writing exercises to develop technical facility; study of characteristics of instruments; exercises in scoring for various vocal and instrumental combinations. Prerequisite: Music 151 or permission of the instructor.

Prof. Andre Myers

260. HISTORY OF WESTERN MUSIC I: The Middle Ages to the Baroque

Offers an intensive survey of the Western art music tradition during the period ca. 800-1750. Prerequisite: Music 151 or permission of instructor. Core requirements met: Group 3, pre-1800, Fine Arts

Prof. David Kasunic

270.  HISTORY OF WESTERN MUSIC II: The late 18th century to the present

Offers an intensive survey of the Western art music tradition from ca. 1750 to the present. Prerequisite: Music 151 and Music 260 (or equivalent), or permission of instructor. Core requirements met: Group 3, Fine Arts

Prof. David Kasunic

272. CONDUCTING AND SCORE–READING

Prof. Desiree LaVertu

280. INTRODUCTION TO ETHNOMUSICOLOGY

Offers an introduction to the principal concepts and methodologies of the field of ethnomusicology as well as the style and practices of selected world musical traditions. Prerequisite: Music 101, or permission of the instructor. Core requirement met: Group 6, Fine Arts

Prof. Shanna Lorenz

295. CHOPIN'S PARIS

This deeply interdisciplinary course will examine Paris of the 1830s and '40s through the ears and eyes of the Polish pianist-composer Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849), in exile there for his entire adult life. As arguably the cultural and artistic capital of Europe, Chopin's Paris was the destination for political and cultural exiles. To understand Chopin's music one must understand Paris, its art, literature, history, music, theater, science, politics, and medicine, and one must understand what it means to be in exile. In that spirit, students will study these diverse aspects of Paris in order to bring Chopin's music into more complexly variegated focus. The course will feature guest lecturers from other disciplines as well as visits to local cultural institutions. The course will culminate with students interviewing Angelenos from various world immigrant communities for whom Chopin's music still bears the resonance of art created in exile. Core requirements met: Group 3, Fine Arts

Prof. David Kasunic

357. COMPOSITION II

Study of the compositional techniques and resources of the 20th and 21st centuries. Refinement of the composer’s stylistic originality, through repertoire study and short compositional exercises. Composition of a substantial original piece for chamber ensemble, working with performers towards a final recital performance. Prerequisite: Music 255, 257, 258,  or permission of the instructor.

Prof. Andre Myers

390.  JUNIOR SEMINAR
The Junior Seminar is a small, discussion-oriented seminar required of all music majors, emphasizing advanced analytic and critical approaches to a musical topic. For 2009-10: The Evolution of the Sonata Form. This course examines the development of the sonata form since the Baroque era showing how different generations of composers have over the course of time embraced and personalized it. We will analyze and discuss various incarnations of sonata forms through solo, chamber, and orchestral works by Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Bartók, Hindemith, and Boulez. Readings include Rosen's Sonata Forms, The Classical Style and The Romantic Generation, as well as writings by Newman, Ratner, and Reti. Topics for papers and presentations will be developed with attention to seminar participants' particular interests. A course grade of B- or better, and satisfactory completion of a minimum of 15 pages of written work will satisfy the College's third-year writing requirement.
Prerequisite: Music 251.

Prof. Jennifer Logan

490. SENIOR SEMINAR
Topics in music history, music theory, music literature, or performance. For 2009-10: Popular Music and Censorship. Under what conditions is music deemed so threatening and/or powerful that it must be silenced? In this course students will become familiar with debates surrounding the censorship, regulation, and repression of popular music since the 1940s. Examining direct and indirect acts of censorship by governments, religious and cultural groups, and media conglomerates, we will explore issues of content, access, use, and ownership in a variety of national, local, and virtual (internet) contexts. What are the political and financial mechanisms that are used to censor music producers around the globe? How do musicians resist censorship and repression? Focusing on case studies from South Africa, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Cuba, Brazil, Indonesia, Great Britain and the United States, we will locate acts of musical censorship within their larger social, economic, and political contexts. Course texts will include Popular Music and Censorship in Africa (2006), Shoot the Singer!: Music Censorship Today (2004), Policing Pop (2002), Banned!: Censorship of Popular Music in Britain, 1967-92 (1996), Bleem! Censoring Rock ‘ n’ Rap Music (2002) and Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America (2001).Prerequisite: Music 251.