Catalog Description

Hours: 54 lecture
Description: Introduction to folk, art, devotional, and popular music from around the world. The emphasis of the course is listening to music and understanding music within its cultural contexts. Select music traditions from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin and North America, Europe, India, and the Middle East will be studied. Using ethnomusicological perspectives, concepts of ethnicity, race, class, and gender will be analyzed in relation to music cultures. Attendance at a live concert is required. (CSU)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Identify music styles and characteristics of specific music-cultures in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
  • CSLO #2: Explain the development and evolution of music traditions within historical, cultural, and/or sociopolitical contexts using ethnomusicological frameworks and perspectives.
  • CSLO #3: Identify and discuss key musical features such as melody, rhythm, timbre, and form.

Effective Term

Fall 2024

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

 

  1. Identify and classify musical instruments according to the Sachs/Hornbostel system and discuss how particular instruments are used within their respective cultures.

  2. Identify and discuss elements of music from specific music-cultures as they are perceived in guided listening exercises.

  3. Explain both the universality and diversity of music in human life as a way to cultivate self-reflection and global citizenship.

  4. Analyze one 's own music-culture from an ethnomusicological perspective.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Fine Arts
    • AA/AS - Multicultural Studies
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSUGE - C2 Humanities
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • Cal-GETC 3A - Arts
    • Cal-GETC 3B - Humanities
  • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)

    Articulation Information

    • CSU Transferable
    • UC Transferable

    Methods of Evaluation

    • Classroom Discussions
      • Example: After completing an assigned reading about music and migration, students will participate in a class discussion about musical practice among immigrant communities, focusing on the ways that music creates social cohesion, evokes nostalgia and memory, and helps people & communities articulate identity.
    • Essay Examinations
      • Example: Musical Ethnography Essay: Read and review a book that discusses about one of the music traditions found in the course syllabus. In addition to providing a summary of the book, present a critical analysis of the work. Consider the following questions: Who is the author? How much scholarly and/or cultural authority do they have? Are they an insider or outsider to the music tradition about which they are writing? What are some of the issues/difficulties they might have encountered during fieldwork? What questions are raised by this book? How did this book broaden your perspective on the music, artists, and culture it discusses? Did you think it was well-written and well- organized?
    • Objective Examinations
      • Example: Listening Exam: Students will answer a series of multiple choice and short-answer questions based on a set of assigned musical examples. Question will address topics such as: 1) Identifying musical instrument names and place of origin; 2) Location and time period of origin for specific music genres or music traditions; 3) Understanding music traditions within their sociocultural contexts Sample exam question: The shakuhachi is associated with the idea of “suizen,” and throughout history has been played by this group of people: A. Court musicians B. Buddhist monks C. Women D. Emperors
    • Projects
      • Example: Ethnographic Concert Report: Students will write a musical ethnography of a live concert/performance of their choice. The performance must be related to genre of music discussed throughout the semester, but can take place at a variety of venues (concert hall, outdoor festival, home performance, restaurant, etc.) Students must take careful notes during the show and discuss the following aspects of the experience in the paper: 1) Where and when did the performance occur? Who were the performers? What was the audience like? 2) Describe several of the pieces, giving detailed, specific musical descriptions. Using descriptive language and musical vocabulary, discuss musical elements such as: Form, Timbre, Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Instrumentation, Tempo, Dynamics, etc. 3) Discuss your personal experience and opinion of the performance.

    Repeatable

    No

    Methods of Instruction

    • Lecture/Discussion

    Lecture:

    1. Example 1: In a lecture on the music of Nigeria, instructor will provide key information on Nigeria's colonial history, independence movement, and subsequent processes of building national identity as supported by the Nigerian government. The genres of juju and highlife will be introduced in terms of their key instruments and musical characteristics. Instructor will play specific pieces of independence-era highlife songs by key artists, and then, working in groups, students will analyze the lyrics and musical elements in order to draw connections between musical practice and national identity. Example 2: In a lecture on music in Cuba, syncopation, and polyrhythm, instructor will play examples of Cuban music featuring the clave rhythm. Students will listen and clap along with the musical example in order to understand these rhythmic concepts. Then, without musical accompaniment, students will be broken into groups to clap a steady pulse together with the syncopated clave rhythm. Finally, instructor will play examples of U.S. hip hop/popular music that include the clave rhythm and students will identify/clap along with the rhythm within the recording.

    Typical Out of Class Assignments

    Reading Assignments

    Sample Assignment: After reading the journal article "Politics and musical performance: A cross-cultural examination" by ethnomusicologist Anthony Seeger, students will write a response that addresses the following questions which are addressed in the article: -How does music become associated with a particular political position? -Why is "revival" or the re-use of pre-existing traditions so popular in socio-political movements? -Why would a group adopt a new musical form as part of a political process? -Why do candidates tend to use music as part of a campaign/political process? -Can you think of a political party/candidate that has effectively used other art forms, objects, or symbols for campaigning or spreading their values/messages? Please explain.

    Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

    Discussion Forum - Musical Subcultures: Students will participate in a Discussion Forum on the concept of the "musical subculture" based on lecture and assigned reading material. In writing, students will discuss the following questions: -What role does music play in subcultures? -Choose a subculture that exists in the US or abroad (today or historically). What roles (if any) does music play a role in that subculture? Find and share examples of songs, videos, or images to illustrate the subculture you choose to discuss. -What makes a musical subculture sustainable, and what things signal the "death" of a musical subculture? -Do you consider yourself to be part of a subculture? Or have you, in the past? How does one enter or exit a specific cultural community?

    Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

    Essay - Ethnographic Concert Report: Students will write a musical ethnography of a live concert/performance of their choice. The performance must be related to genre of music discussed throughout the semester, but can take place at a variety of venues (concert hall, outdoor festival, home performance, restaurant, etc.) Students must take careful notes during the show and discuss the following aspects of the experience in the paper: 1) Where and when did the performance occur? Who were the performers? What was the audience like? 2) Describe several of the pieces, giving detailed, specific musical descriptions. Using descriptive language and musical vocabulary, discuss musical elements such as: Form, Timbre, Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Instrumentation, Tempo, Dynamics, etc. 3) Discuss your personal experience and opinion of the performance.

    Required Materials

    • Beyond the Classroom: World Music from the Musician’s Point of View
      • Author: Howard Spring and Ryan Bruce
      • Publisher: University of Guelph
      • Publication Date: 2022
      • Text Edition: 1
      • Classic Textbook?: No
      • OER Link:
      • OER: Yes
    • Music in World Cultures
      • Author: Justin R. Hunter and Matthew Mihalka
      • Publisher: University of Arkansas
      • Publication Date: 2021
      • Text Edition: 1
      • Classic Textbook?: No
      • OER Link:
      • OER: Yes
    • Listening to the World
      • Author: Antoni Pizà
      • Publisher: PressBooks
      • Publication Date: 2023
      • Text Edition: 1
      • Classic Textbook?: No
      • OER Link:
      • OER: Yes

    Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.

    Spotify account (free or $4.99/month student account)