Instrumental Musical Organizations
Section A: Symphonic Band
The Symphonic Band rehearses at least twice weekly and performs at least one concert per semester. The band experience includes classic and contemporary band literature and often features guest artists. Numerous ensembles are formed from among band members, providing additional instruction and performance opportunities. Students wishing to participate in Symphonic Band as a non-credited course must fulfill credited class requirements and have permission of the director.
Section B: Chamber Winds
The Chamber Winds, for the advanced instrumentalist, rehearses twice weekly and performs two concerts per semester. Participation is by audition. Music performed is advanced traditional and classic wind ensemble literature, often featuring guest artists. Membership is determined by audition. Students wishing to participate in Chamber Winds, as a non-credited course must fulfill credited class requirements and have permission of the director. Students receive one course unit of credit upon completion of four semesters of MUS 103 with a grade of C or better. For non-concentrators, this fulfills the general studies fine arts requirement. An additional four semesters may be taken for elective credit.
MUS 104
String Chamber Orchestra
The Chamber Orchestra consists of string players from the College and surrounding community. This group rehearses twice a week and performs at least once each semester. Music ranges from the Baroque era to popular contemporary. Smaller string ensembles are formed from the larger group, providing experience in chamber music performance. Students wishing to participate in orchestra as a non-credited course must fulfill credited class requirements and have permission of the director. Students receive one course unit of credit upon completion of four semesters of MUS 104 with a grade of C or better. For non-concentrators, this fulfills the general studies fine arts requirement. An additional four semesters may be taken for elective credit.
MUS 105
Choral Organizations
Section A: Concert Choir
The Concert Choir rehearses twice weekly in preparation for various on-campus programs. The choir experience includes choral literature from chant through the present, giving all members opportunity for personal vocal development through a variety of choral traditions. Membership is determined by audition. Students wishing to participate in concert choir as a non-credited course must fulfill credited class requirements and have permission of the director.
Section B: Women's Chorale
The Women's Chorale rehearses twice weekly in preparation for various on-campus programs. The chorale experience includes literature from chant through the present written specifically for women's voices, giving all members opportunity for personal vocal development through a variety of choral traditions. Membership is determined by audition. Students wishing to participate in Women's Chorale as a non-credited course must fulfill credited class requirements and have permission of the director. Students receive one course unit of credit upon completion of four semesters of MUS 105 with a grade of C or better. For non-concentrators, this fulfills the general studies fine arts requirement. An additional four semesters may be taken for elective credit.
MUS 109
Applied Music Lessons
Equivalent to one-quarter unit for a one-half hour private lesson per week per semester. This applied music credit cannot be used to satisfy the general studies requirement. The course may be repeated. Four applied music semesters will count as one elective course. Students are expected to spend three hours per week in outside preparation and to advance according to the level of their ability. Students registering for any section of MUS 109 are automatically placed with a teacher who will contact them to arrange a lesson time. Students wishing to take lessons without academic credit must fulfill credited lesson requirements. See the department chair for details. Additional music lab fee. NOTE: A student will receive one course unit of credit after successfully completing (with a grade of C or better) four semesters of MUS 109. The grade for each semester is determined by a jury performance evaluation. This course unit is for elective credit only and cannot be used to satisfy the general studies arts requirement.
MUS 113
Rags, Rock and Rap: Popular Music
and American Culture
This course explores the genesis of popular music in English-speaking North America from the colonial period to the present, with emphasis on the period beginning in the 1890s just before the breakout of jazz, to the present-day multi-billion dollar industry of rock, pop, R&B, rap/hip-hop, country, dance/electronica and the emergent world styles that also form part of the evolving contemporary American musical scene. Lectures place equal emphasis on the musical styles themselves and their social context, including the role of composers, audiences, promoters, money and music industry organizations. Lectures and discussion are enlivened by diverse music listening experiences. Films and film excerpts showing the influence of popular music in the movies will be viewed and discussed.
MUS 115
Introduction to the Music Industry
From software to sound mixer, music management to music sales, composer to copyright administrator, advertising to attorney, teacher to technician, this course examines the many different career fields that make the music industry profitable and progressive. Each week focuses on a different area of the music business that drives performing artists to stardom- or not. Class discussion includes basic information about potential earnings, education required, job potential and personal qualifications and skills required for a career in the music industry. Guest artists and visits to music retail and manufacturing outlets augment the learning experience. Elective credit only. This course does not fulfill the general studies fine
arts requirement.
MUS 120
Music Appreciation: Introduction to Western Music
This course offers an overview of Western classical musical styles, with an emphasis on the symphonic repertory and music by well-known composers such as Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky. Other genres including opera, chamber music, the art song and church music, will also be explored. The course focuses on developing basic musical vocabulary and listening skills, skills that are also applicable to listening to and thinking about popular musical styles. The connections between music and social context are also be discussed. Concert attendance and listening assignments are part of the course experience.
MUS 122
Music in World Cultures: An Introduction
A grand tour of the musical styles of the world's large culture regions: sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and the Islamic world, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, East Asia, Amerindia and the Western world. Students are introduced to basic musical concepts with emphasis on understanding musical instrument types and their characteristic sounds. Students listen to recordings of ancient and medieval folk music types of traditional rural communities (work songs, harvest songs, lullabies); the art music of the aristocratic courts (including the South Asian raga and the Western symphony); and the modern musical styles emerging in the contemporary urban and electronic age, from Chinese rock to African rap. Film viewings help students link the diverse musical sounds with social contexts. A visit from a world musician is planned each semester.
MUS 125
All That Jazz
This course covers jazz history from its obscure origins in the post-Civil War period to the present. The focus is on important instrumentalists and vocalists of the 20th century, and how they helped to create the different jazz and jazz-related styles, including: ragtime, blues, hot jazz, Dixieland, swing, bebop, cool jazz, free jazz and jazz fusion. Among the key perform ers and composers to be discussed are Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. Basic concepts of jazz performance and various jazz styles are explored through independent research, listening and discussion. When possible, field trips to live jazz performances are incorporated.
MUS 126
Music and the Cinema
An introduction to the role of music in cinema, with emphasis on North American films between the 1930s and the present. Students learn how music aids in the creation of mood, atmosphere and characterization in films. Special topics include music in the silent film era, musicals, science fiction and horror films, the role of women as subjects and creators in modern cinema, music in the avant-garde and experimental cinema, popular music, rock and rap in film soundtracks, and music in selected non-Western film industries. Films to be discussed include classics such as Star Wars, The Godfather and Casablanca, as well as popular recent releases.
MUS 135
Introduction to Music Theory
An introduction to the basic concepts and applications of music theory. Topics include pitch notation, scales, key signatures, intervals, chords and simple harmonization, and rhythmic notation. This course is designed for students with little or no musical background.
MUS 190
First-Year Honors Seminar in Music
Similar in concept to MUS 195 but with more analytically oriented topics. Especially recommended but not required for students considering the music program or concentration.
MUS 195
First-Year Seminar in Music
A discussion-based course for first-year students, designed to help students explore fundamental concepts of music and how it responds to social and cultural change. Emphasis is placed on in-class listening as well as live concert performances with reactions and observations recorded in journals.
MUS 201
Salsa, Samba and Santana: The world of Latin music
Latin music is a rapidly rising phenomenon. This course explores the roots and evolution of Latin musical styles from their origins in the Catholic cultures of southwestern Europe and its mixing with Native American and African cultures in the colonial Americas beginning in the 15th century. The focus is on the urban popular musical styles that emerged in the late 19th century, and which developed into the famous regional styles of Argentine tango, Brazilian samba, Cuban son and salsa, Dominican merengue, Mexican rancheros and baladas, and many others, over the course of the 20th century. The roles the Latin regions have had in other styles such as jazz, classical music, rock + roll, and rap are also considered. Students will assess the varying degrees of success Latin sounds are having in the major world musical markets today.
MUS 202
Music of Black Africa and the Diaspora
A survey of the music of black Africa, from its ancient origins in the songs and dances of hunter-gatherers to the emergence of contemporary styles of Afro-pop. Extensions and variations of black African musical styles carried to other parts of the world, particularly into the Americas during the period of the Atlantic slave trade are also discussed. Topics include the music of the griots (praise singers/historians), Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Caribbean styles such as samba and reggae, the modern pop sounds of soukous and mbalax, the spread of rap, and music in contemporary African cinema. Class lectures cover social-historical issues as well as guided listening and discussions of musical structure, lyrics, choreographic and scenic adjuncts, and performance contexts.
MUS 211
Theory and Aural Skills
This course focuses on developing a foundation of basic knowledge in musical theory, tonal harmony, ear training, sight-singing and dictation. Students increase their ability to read, write and understand music according to prescribed guidelines of musical structure through skills obtained by examining and practicing the musical elements of intervals, scales, chord construction, diatonic part-writing, and melodic and rhythmic sight-singing and dictation.
MUS 215
Music Business I
Music Business I provides an overview of music business, including the history of music business, business systems, career planning, professional songwriting, artist management, promotion, administration, merchandizing, copyright, licensing and publishing. Prerequisite: MUS 135 (may be exempted by placement exam)
MUS 216
Music Business II
Music Business II expands on material learned in Music Business I. Topics covered include record markets, recording contracts, record production, record promotion, distribution and retailing, studios and engineers, music in radio and television, music in advertising, film scoring and grant writing. Students complete a 12-week on-campus internship in a music business field of their choice. The final project is an approved proposal for an off-campus externship that will partially fulfill requirements for MUS 491B.
Prerequisite: MUS 215 or permission of the instructor.
MUS 241
Sonic Arts: An Introduction to
Electronic Music
This course combines a basic introduction to the history and the tools of electronic music, with an exploration of our own musical creativity. We begin with considerations of the nature of music and the types of sounds - both conventional and apparently "weird" sounds - that have been preferred for musical composition throughout history. The rise of a persistent and innovative musical avant-garde and the invention of electronic musical instruments, from the late 19th century to the present, will be the focus of subsequent lectures. Class lectures will be combined with a practical introduction to the production of electronic music, using both digital synthesis programs and MIDI compositional environments. No specialized computer programming skills are required. Emphasis is on creative musical projects using digital media tools (including a combination of MIDI, digital synthesis, sampling and live recordings). The course includes required Electronic Music Studio lab sessions of at least 50 minutes per week per student, held on Wednesdays. Enrollment is limited to 12 students.
Prerequisite: MUS 216
MUS 242
Sonic Arts/Electronic Music II
A continuation of MUS 241. This course is designed for students who have already mastered the basics of digital audio design and electronic music composition. Class time is devoted to listening to and analyzing a variety of pieces of electronic music, from diverse genres (avantgarde, hip-hop, new age, dance-electronica, and others). In required lab sessions (a minimum of two hours per week, one of which is supervised lab time), students complete a variety of creative projects, including a final project of the student's own devising.
Prerequisite: MUS 241
MUS 275
Healing Affects of Music: An Introduction
to Music Therapy
This course examines the beneficial effects of music on the human mind and body. Students who have an interest in the relationship between music and health will explore the varied uses of music therapy, both within and without mainstream medical practices, educational institutions, correctional facilities, senior centers and private practice. This will be accomplished through a combination of course materials, guest speakers, research and field observations.
MUS 310
Elements of Conducting
Students learn basic conducting patterns, control of tempo, dynamics, and attack and release, and are introduced to score reading and the difference between choral and instrumental conducting techniques.
Prerequisite: Any 200-level music course or permission of the instructor.
MUS 340
Music Marketing and Promotion
Music Marketing and Promotion is for students currently involved in, or thinking about getting involved in, selling music to the listening public. Lectures and projects analyze the steps involved in planning and carrying out a complete music marketing program, including packaging, pricing, store-based distribution, direct marketing, promotion, live performing and managing the entire process.
MUS 342
From Demo to Deal
This course is designed for aspiring musicians who want to pursue a record deal for their original music. Students learn the structure of a record company and are guided through the musical and business process of making and submitting a demo, getting a publishing and label deal, and compiling a press kit.
MUS 344
Managing Your Band
How does the manager help the artist succeed in the music business? Through contacts and an insight into the music industry; by being prepared, realistic, flexible and persistent; and by having a strategy for the artist to make his or her own opportunities. This course introduces students to the dynamic world of music management by exploring contracts, legal issues, marketing of the artist, record companies, touring, merchandising, endorsements and sponsorships. Students are expected to manage a band/artist (either their own or someone else's), submit a project management proposal, and show proof that the objectives outlined in the proposal were completed. Music business concentration credit. Does not
satisfy general studies fine arts requirement.
MUS 345
Music Law and Ethics
This course serves as a foundation for later studies in entertainment and business law. Its purpose it to help "demystify" the music business and complex body of law which shapes it. In addition, the course covers various ethical issues, such as music piracy and bootlegging, copyright infringement, breach of contract and the exploitation artists. The course suggests ways in which artists can protect themselves by arming themselves with knowledge and proper representation. The course conclude with students analyzing an exclusive recording agreement.
MUS 491
Music Business Seminar and Internship
The music business seminar is a practical, off-campus work experience that requires students to participate in daily operations of a music business career. A minimum of 11 on-site hours per week is required.
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. This course does not satisfy the general studies fine arts requirement.
