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Introduction to Music
Instructor: Dr.Steven Williams
Kittredge 015 Monday-Wednesday-Friday1
Email Steven
COURSE OVERVIEW:
This course is intended for students with no background in music. Often, however, there are some with various previous musical experiences. By the end of the course, students should have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of music including reading and writing music, scales, rhythms, melodies, and simple harmonic accompaniment. An introduction to various important periods of music history will be studied through various readings and recordings.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
- Understand the basic concepts of music language.
- Learn basic skills of reading and writing musical scores, both melodic and rhythmic notation, with an introduction to harmonic analysis.
- Develop skills for creating music.
- Encounter a variety of musical compositions.
- Distinguish differences and similarities among historical style periods and types of music.
- Gain an understanding of the importance of music in society -- both past and present.
LISTENING TO MUSIC:
Your study and class preparation require a good deal of time listening to music. Listening to music in this course replaces traditional reading assignments. All recordings for the course are on Reserve for use in the Music Library. Special permission is required to take reserve materials out of the Music Library. Music Library hours will be posted and additional times may be arranged depending on crew schedules.
LISTENING LOG/NOTEBOOK:
A Listening Log/Notebook is required for the course. Similar to an annotated bibliography, this notebook is where you should keep track of your listening during the course. Include your comments about the performances that will help you remember important aspects of the music. This is where you should list additional musical experiences (attending live performances, hearing/viewing additional recordings/videos) during the course. Some of the music for the course will be included on a CD that can be checked out for the semester. The purpose is to help you put the principles of listening that you are developing in class into action in other music you hear. The instructor will check the Listening Log/Notebook at various times during the term for suggestions before assigning a grade. Keep this notebook separate from other notebooks for other classes since it will be checked periodically.