It is possible for LS&A students to elect a concentration program in music, and this program is described in the LS&A Bulletin. In addition, music courses are frequently elected by LS&A students not concentrating in Music. Courses in Music History/Musicology, Composition, and Music Theory are elected for LS&A credit. Some of these courses can be used in an area distribution plan. LS&A students may elect music PERFORMANCE courses for degree credit, but this credit counts toward the maximum twelve non-LS&A credit hours that can be applied toward an AB/BS degree or twenty non-LS&A credit hours that can be applied toward a BGS degree.
Courses in Courses in Music History/Musicology, Composition, Music Theory, and Performing Arts Technology are listed in the Time Schedule under the School of Music.
The following courses count as LS&A courses for LS&A degree credit.
140. History of Western Art Music: Music of the U.S. and Euro-American Music Since World War I. Limited to students enrolled in the School of Music unless admission is granted by the concentration advisor. (2). (HU).
Music of the United States and American and European music
since World War I. Includes both vernacular and art-music traditions.
Cost:1 WL:1
,4 (R.Crawford)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
240. History of Western Art Music: Classic Era Through World War I. Limited to students enrolled in the School of Music unless admission is granted by the concentration advisor. (2). (HU).
History of music from the Preclassic era to World War I. Cost:1 WL:1
,4 (Wiley)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
306. Special Course. Non-music
only. (3). (Excl).
Section 001 – Music, Politics and Popular Culture in the U.S.
This discussion based class will require participants to examine the role music plays in our own lives and that of the world around
us – to approach contemporary culture as critics, rather than
consumers. Starting from the premise that music can influence
our perception of the world, we will interrogate the potent social
messages which composers have encoded in a wide range of musical
works, including but not limited to hip hop, jazz, classical music.
A primary task of the course will be to develop a critical vocabulary
based upon writers in sociology, literary theory, women's studies, and contemporary music criticism. Students will be asked to prepare
for discussions by keeping a listening journal and by writing
several brief two-page papers. Grading will be based upon the
quality and presentation of ideas in the writing assignments described
above as well as two exams, class participation, and a group project.
No previous experience in music or music history is necessary.
Cost:1 WL:1
,4 (Clague)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
341. Introduction to the Art of Music. For non-School of Music students only. (3). (HU).
The course is designed for those who wish to sharpen their
appreciation of music, whether they have any musical background
or not. It begins with the fundamentals of melody, rhythm, harmony, and texture, then surveys the heritage of Western art music, from the Baroque era to the present. We examine representative examples
of opera and concerto, symphony and song, solo and chamber music, popular song and rock; but the listening skills developed in class
are meant to be applied to virtually any kind of music. Such skills
involve understanding conventions of musical expression and form, so that students learn to listen with appropriate expectations.
Students attend three lectures and one discussion section per
week. Tapes of assigned works are available for private study.
Grades are based upon examinations, concert and listening reports, and participation in discussion sections. This is the first course
suggested for the LS&A concentration in music. Cost:1
WL:1 ,4 (Rabin)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
346. The History of Music. For non-School of Music students only. (3). (HU).
This course deals with European and American music, its performance
and reception, from 1750 to the present. Although most pieces
studied are from art traditions, samples from popular music and jazz are also included. Music is discussed as samples of compositional
styles, but also as representatives of broader cultural and historical
frameworks. Lectures are supplemented by recorded listening assignments
(cassettes available at the language lab listening facilities)
and readings from a textbook. Students should have some familiarity
with rudiments of music. Grades will be determined by performance
on exams. A short, extra-credit paper will be optional. Cost:2
WL:1 ,4 (André)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
347. Opera of the Past and Present. For non-School of Music students only. (3). (HU).
This is a lecture survey dealing with selected operas from
1600 to the present. The case studies discussed will be representative
of works frequently performed today. Normally we discuss several
opera composers each week, students being asked to see videos
of selected scenes, to hear audio cassettes, and to do selected
readings from periodical literature. Readings and discussions
will take varied approaches, considering operas as music compositions, as show pieces for voices, as samples of literature, and as cultural
icons. Translations are provided for any works in foreign languages.
Students will also be urged to attend an opera performance and to write a paper describing the experience as a personal experience
reflecting social cultural, and aesthetic issues. Grades will
be determined by two hour exams and a final exam. No musical background
necessary. WL:1 ,4
(D.Crawford)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
405. Special Course. (2-4).
(Excl). May be repeated for credit.
Section 001 – Making Rock: A History of the Techniques and Aesthetics
of Rock Record Production. (3 credits). This course will
chart the development of rock record production over the course
of the past fifty years. Through readings and critical listening, we will examine various aspects of record production as they relate
to compositional process and the formation of musical style. These
include, among other things, recording and mixing techniques, the roles of the various participants in the collaborative process, aesthetic stances and beliefs, and the ways in which rock recording
constitutes a field of rhetorical expression. Source readings
will include interviews with producers, engineers, songwriters, musicians, and arrangers. Musical examples will be drawn from
a broad range of rock styles and genres. Cost:1
WL:1 ,4 (Zak)
Section 002 – Music in Medieval Culture. (3 credits).
What music did people listen to in the Middle Ages? What may it
have meant to them? These are the key questions to be addressed
in this course on music in medieval culture. Following a brief
overview of the music history (ca. 600-1450) students will explore
a series of topics in lecture, required reading and listening
assignments: the spirit of Gregorian Chant; women's music-making;
music and the art of love; music and the Gothic cathedral; the
hidden world of medieval popular music. The musical repertories
examined will be plainchant, secular song, and polyphony (part
music). Authors whose works we will read include Boethius, Martianus
Capella, Hildegard of Bingen, Andreas Capellanus, and Boccaccio
(all in translation and excerpted in the course-pack). Grading
will be based on midterm and final examinations, an oral presentation, and a term paper. Some background in music is helpful, but the
instructor welcomes undergraduate and graduate students with interests
in medieval history and culture or European languages, including
Latin. Cost:1
WL:1 ,4 (Borders)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
406. Special Course. (2-4).
(Excl). May be repeated for credit.
Section 001 – Music of Asian Americans. (3 credits). This
course examines musics of Asian Americans as a means to understand processes of musical, personal, and communal identities in multiethnic, multiracial, and transnational contexts in the U.S. The lectures
will discuss a diversity of musics, ranging from Cantonese operas
in Chinatowns and Taiko drum music in Japantowns to Philipino-American
rap and avant-garde works by "assimilated" Asian Americans.
Discussions will emphasize the musics as products and processes
of being "ethnic" in American and transnational locales.
Students will be encouraged to do "hands on" and/or
reflexive projects for their term papers. They can, for example, report on the use of traditional Asian musics in their hometowns, or analyze the fusion of Asian and American elements in the music that they regularly consume. Specific listening and reading assignments
will be coordinated with individual lectures – the listening tapes
will be put on reserve in the Music Listening Lab, the Language
Resource Center, and the MLB; the readings will be available as
course packs. Student evaluation will be based on participation
in class discussions, quality of two short term-papers, and performance
in midterm and final examinations. Cost:1
WL:1 ,4 (Lam)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
407. Special Course. (2-3). (Excl). May be repeated for credit.
Section 001 – Music and Narrativity. (3 credits). Reviewing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in 1810, E.T.A. Hoffmann argued that instrumental music was superior to vocal because it transcended verbally definable content. And yet people who listen to wordless music commonly find themselves imagining stories. This common experience of plotting to music, long denigrated by formalist aestheticians as unsophisticated and misguided, now seems to be gaining academic respectability, as the recent rehabilitation of so-called musical hermeneutics and (especially) the emergence of a new splinter discipline, musical narratology, bear witness. Can narrative theory enhance our understanding musical form? (How is a symphony like a novel, if at all? If there is a story, who is telling it?) Does it contribute to, or only further confuse, longstanding debates about "absolute" vs. "program" music, or about form vs. expression as sources of aesthetic value? Or, for that matter, can knowledge of musical form enhance our understanding of certain narrative texts (for example, Thomas Mann's Tristan or Richard Powers' The Gold Bug Variations)? Or are we ultimately talking about a few flimsy analogies, with no decisive aesthetic relevance to either music or literature? The class will survey relevant critical writings, examine the musical evidence adduced therein, and attempt its own theoretical applications (or deconstructions) in individual reports. Lectures will be fashioned so as to include both students of music and music-loving students of literature or philosophy. Limited to 22 students. Cost:1 WL:1,4 (Whiting)
Section 002 – Urban Ethnography. (3 credits). This
course is a survey of issues pertaining to ethnomusicological
fieldwork. Early readings will focus on the development of ethnographic
methods in anthropological and ethnomusicological research and changing definitions of the "field." As the semester
progresses, our readings will focus more specifically on designing
a research project, writing proposals for funding, taking fieldnotes, conducting interviews, analyzing and "writing up" data
gathered in the field, and negotiating ethical issues. In a series
of short assignments, students will be expected to apply specific
methodologies discussed in class to a field project of their own
design. Each assignment will be distributed to all members of the seminar in order to facilitate discussion of the process of
and problems involved in conducting fieldwork. Each student will
be required to submit an ethnographic paper at the end of the
term, drawing on field research and class readings. Students will
be evaluated on the basis of their short assignments, final paper, and contributions to the seminar. Cost:1
WL:1,4 (Jackson)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
408. Special Course. (2-3).
(Excl). May be repeated for credit.
Section 001 – Music of Mozart. (3 credits). The principal
aim of this course is to expose students to a representative sample
of the works of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart, and to the issues
surrounding his career and the contemporary reception of his music.
But the course also has the wider goal of providing some idea
of the music (and its social contexts) of other eighteenth-century
composers, using Mozart's life and achievements as a framework.
Grades will be based upon examinations and short writing projects.
Cost:1 WL:1
,4 (Rabin)
Section 002 – Electro-Acoustic Music: Repertory, Techniques, and Cultural Influences. (3 credits). The ability to capture
and manipulate sound has had a profound influence on the development
of musical culture in the twentieth century. In this course, we
will examine the nature of this influence, drawing examples from
a broad range of musical styles and idioms where the interface
between technology and music resulted in both practical and conceptual
expansions of musical expression. Such expansions include the
use of sound recording by avant garde artists (of all sorts) in the early years of the twentieth century, new approaches to the
interpretation of the existing classical music repertory specifically
aimed at recorded or broadcast representation, the implications
and opportunities for popular music, new avenues of musical composition
resulting in new types of musical works, changes in the modes
of distribution and reception of music, and changes in aesthetics
and general discourse about music. Cost:1
WL:1 ,4 (Zak)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
457/CAAS 400. The Music of Black Americans. Non-music concentrators must have permission of instructor. Musical background preferred. Undergraduates only. (3). (HU).
This course is a survey of the varied musics made by African
Americans from slavery to the present. Particular attention will
be devoted to the relation of musical style and performance to
changing historical, social, philosophical, technological and cultural conditions. Students, while not required to read music, will be expected to develop listening skills in order to distinguish
genres, performance styles, and recording techniques. Students
will be evaluated on the basis of two non-cumulative examinations, listening assignments coordinated with class readings, concert
reports and a research paper. Cost:1
WL:1 ,4 (Jackson)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
464/CAAS 464. Music of the Caribbean. (3). (HU).
See Afroamerican and African
Studies 464. (de Jong)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
478. Renaissance Music. (3).
(Excl).
This is a lecture survey of music history from about 1400 to
about 1600. Assignments consist of readings (mostly periodical
literature) and listening assignments. Discussions will focus
on changing compositions devices and also on cultural contexts
for music performance. Grades will be determined by two hour exams
and a final. Some musical background is required. Cost:1
WL:1 ,4 (D.Crawford)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
221. Introduction to Elementary Composition. For non-School of Music students only. (3). (CE).
Designed for students with some musical background who wish
to gain an understanding of the creative process and acquire a
greater appreciation for contemporary music by composing. The
course investigates traditional compositional crafts, as well
as more current or experimental tendencies, including pop, ethnic, and jazz idioms. Directed student creative projects receive individual
attention. The prerequisite is the ability to read music. (Santos)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
222. Composition. For non-School of Music students only. Music Composition 221. (3). (CE).
Composition 221 and 222 are taught in the same classroom; 222
is a more advanced continuation of 221. (Santos)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
421. Creative Composition. Non-School of Music students must have completed Music Composition 222 or Music Theory 238. (3). (Excl).
An introduction to composition for students interested in concentrating
on original creative work in contemporary idiom. Student creative
projects for which individual instruction is provided, are complemented
by bi-weekly lectures, investigating appropriate aspects of musical
language and compositional craft. (Daugherty)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
422. Creative Composition. Music Composition 421. (3). (Excl).
Composition 421 and 422 are taught in the same classroom; 422
is a more advanced continuation of 421. Cost:1
(Daugherty)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
423. Advanced Composition. Music Composition 422. (2,4). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT).
For students capable of original creative work. Instead of
classwork as in 421-422, individual instruction with course instructor
is provided. Participation in a weekly seminar (Music Composition
450) devoted to the examination of a broad range of Twentieth
Century literature is required. Cost:1
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
424. Advanced Composition. Music Composition 423. (2,4). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT).
See description for Composition 423.
Cost:1
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
425. Advanced Composition. Comp. 424. (2,4). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT).
Stresses the shaping and instrumentation problems involved
in composing for the mixed consort and examines differing approaches
to musical notation. Weekly seminar participation (Music Composition
450) is required.
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
426. Advanced Composition. Comp. 425. (2,4). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT).
See description for Composition 425.
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
139. Basic Musicianship: Aural Skills I. Music Theory 129 or placement by Theory Evaluation Survey Test. Limited to students enrolled in the School of Music unless admission is granted by the Chairman of the Department of Music Theory. (1). (Excl).
Sight-singing, vocal chord arpeggiation, keyboard and dictation
exercises, major and minor keys including diatonic sequences, most frequent patterns of modulation and special techniques associated
with 5-3 and 6-3 chords. WL:4
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
140. Basic Musicianship: Aural Skills II. Music Theory 139. (1) . (Excl).
A continuation of Music Theory 139. WL:4
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
150. Basic Musicianship: Writing Skills II. Music Theory 149. (2). (Excl).
A continuation of Music Theory 149. Review of rudiments; introduction
to harmony and voice-leading involving triads, seventh chords, figured bass and procedures for four-voice writing; writing activities
with diatonic harmony including cadential 6-4, analyses of harmony, phase-structure, texture and elements of configuration in shorter
pieces. WL:4 (Dapogny)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
238. Introduction to Musical Analysis. Music Theory 137. (3). (HU).
The course is a continuation of Music Theory 137 and thus assumes
a basic understanding of scales, chords, and tonal harmony. In
Music Theory 238 an emphasis is placed on elements of chromaticism, larger forms and 20th-century techniques. Laboratory sessions
supplement lectures and provide opportunities for discussion and practical application of musical materials. One term-long analysis
project and weekly homework assignments. WL:4 (Petty)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
239. Basic Musicianship: Aural Skills III. Music Theory 140 and 150, and concurrent enrollment in Music Theory 249. (1). (Excl).
Deals with chords to areas other then V; modulation to wider
ranges of keys, harmony involving mixture, tonicization in major
and minor and Neapolitan and augmented sixth chords. WL:4
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
240. Basic Musicianship: Aural Skills IV. Music Theory 239 and concurrent enrollment in Music Theory 250. (1). (Excl).
A continuation of Music Theory 239. The last half of this course
introduces 20th-century materials. WL:4
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
250. Basic Musicianship: Written Skills IV. Music Theory 249 and concurrent enrollment in Music Theory 240. (2). (Excl).
A continuation of Music Theory 249. Writing activities involving
melodic and rhythmic figuration, leading-tone seventh chords, diatonic modulation and chromatic voice-leading techniques; analysis
of period structure, binary form, ternary forms. The last half
of this course introduces 20th-century materials such as atonality, exotic scales, pitch-class sets, and 12-tone serialism. WL:4
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
351. Analysis of Tonal Music. Music Theory 238, 240, 334. (2). (Excl).
In-depth analysis emphasizing elements of structures evident
in various important examples, offering a variety of analytical
problems; readings on tonal forms. WL:4 (Petty)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
430. Analysis of Twentieth-Century Music. Music Theory 351. (2). (Excl).
Primary emphasis is on the development of analytical and aural
skills in significant 20th-century music using varied repertoire, varied aural and analytical approaches. WL:4 (Hubbs)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
201. Microcomputers and Music. Permission of instructor. (3). (Excl).
Students receive basic instruction in the use of microcomputers, synthesizers, and computer music software for composition and recording. Requires the ability to read music and some musical
keyboard proficiency. (Bloom, Polot)
Check
Times, Location, and Availability
University of Michigan | College of LS&A | Student Academic Affairs | LS&A Bulletin Index
This page maintained by LS&A Academic Information and Publications, 1228 Angell Hall
The Regents
of the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA +1 734 764-1817
Trademarks of the University of Michigan may not be electronically or otherwise altered or separated from this document or used for any non-University purpose.