Music (MU)
An introduction to concepts of musical style and structure in compositions representative of different historical periods with an aim to deepen the musical listening experience. Examination of the relationship of music to the humanities.
Major symphonic works from Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven to Brahms, Mahler, and composers of the twentieth century.
A course focused on the music of one or two great composers. Recent offerings have included Mozart, Bach, Debussy and Ravel, and Schubert. This course may be repeated for credit at the discretion of the department.
Development of ear-training skills by means of exercises in singing (prepared and at sight) and aural analysis (including dictation). Will require extensive practice outside of class and performance in class.
An interdisciplinary study of hip hop. Students will identify current and historic elements of hip hop culture inside and outside of the United States. Hip hop culture may be understood as a youth arts movement and is therefore often misrepresented or portrayed negatively in the media or by outsiders. Students will develop the skills necessary to critically analyze hip hop culture through multimedia analysis, critical reading and listening, and discussion. Students will examine case studies in global hip hop from the five regional sites of Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East, and South America and develop a community showcase at the end of the semester to share their learning with the Skidmore and Saratoga community.
A comprehensive and immersive introduction to fundamental skills and concepts in music, with an emphasis on active listening and creation. Through rudimentary theoretical training, targeted listening activities, and embodied approaches to pitch and rhythm, students will develop a sense of beat, meter, and tonality, applicable not only to Western classical styles, but non-Western, jazz, and popular genres as well. Students will be guided through aural techniques to distinguish elements of repetition, contour, texture, and timbre, and will learn to recognize and perform basic rhythmic and tonal patterns. By the end of this course, students will have gained the requisite skills to progress on to and be successful in MU 241. Meets three times a week, with an accompanying lab.
An introduction to humanistic inquiry in music. Students will learn to think about music through a critical engagement with classical, traditional, and popular music of various times and places.
(This course may be repeated for credit at the discretion of the department.)
An inter cultural introduction to music as culture. Topics include voice types, instrument categorizations, pitch and time systems, musical structure, transcription/notation, and ethnography.
An introduction to Asian music cultures, including the music of India, China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Students will listen to, read about, and discuss musical examples from these regions, acquiring a set of region-specific terminology for each cultural area. Themes such as national and local identity, caste and social status, cosmology, gender, and transnational interchange in Asia will be explored through the study of music.
An introduction to the musicians and musical styles of British rock and roll and pop music in the 1960s. Subjects will include the antecedents of British rock, the social contexts in which it flourished, and the evolution of the musical styles and forms in this milieu.
Some of the most familiar composers of music for the piano (including Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Schumann) would not recognize the instrument we play their music on today. The modern piano is just a little over a century old; its antecedent was the fortepiano. Students will learn about the mechanics of fortepianos, period performance practice (technique and style), and the social history of the instruments (who played them, when, and why). Texts will include 18th- and 19th-century primary sources as well as present-day scholarship, videos, and recordings. Every student will gain hands-on experience tuning and playing Skidmore's two fortepianos.
A writing-enhanced add-on to MU 241. Students will tackle the craft of writing, as well as the specific challenges of writing about music.
A writing-enhanced add-on to MU 242. Students will tackle the craft of writing, as well as the specific challenges of writing about music.
A writing-enhanced add-on to MU 243. Students will tackle the craft of writing, as well as the specific challenges of writing about music.
Following a brief review of the rudiments of pitch, rhythm, and meter, students will study the principles of species counterpoint and then proceed to write and analyze diatonic tonal harmony, with reference to musical literature, style, form, and compositional process. Diatonic tonal syntax is the foundation of Western art music from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, as well as some jazz and popular music up to the present time. Examples will be chosen from a wide range of historical periods, musical styles, and traditions.
The second semester of theory will continue with the addition of chromatic harmony and the literature, style, forms, and compositional procedures associated with these expanded harmonic techniques, which appear in Western art music from the 18th to at least the early 20th centuries, and jazz. Topics will include chromatic chords, the resurgence of linear contrapuntal processes, modulation, and techniques that pushed to and beyond the limits of tonal harmony, such as expanded tertian chords, linear chromaticism, and finally the symmetrical scales and interval patterns associated with the dissolution of functional tonality.
Advanced study in theory and analysis, with repertoire and theoretical framework varying by instructor and by semester.
Introduction to basic music technology, electronic music, and professional recording studio techniques and equipment. Study of elementary acoustics, MIDI, synthesizers, microphones, analog and digital multitrack recording, sound mixing, and processing. Introduction to works in various styles by established electronic composers.
Internship opportunity for students whose curricular foundations and cocurricular experience have prepared them for professional work related to the major field. With faculty sponsorship and department approval, students may extend their educational experience into such areas as arts administration, recording, and archival work.
A survey of American music from its beginnings to its contemporary developments; includes study of the influence of folk music, jazz, and rock upon the mainstream of American musical life.
An exploration of the ways Asian (formerly known as "Oriental") cultures, commodities, bodies, and sounds have been represented in American popular culture from the 19th century to the present. We will focus on a range of musical case studies to examine institutionalized and systematized projects of Othering and mis-representation and Asian subjectivities, voices of dissent, and aspects of self-Orientalism. Students will consider how sonic sterotypes have generated and maintained discourses of Orientalism in the U.S.; how the markers of "Asianness" (including "Chineseness," "Japaneseness," “Koreanness," "Vietnameseness," etc.) have changed over time in American society; and who has the authority to represent whom. Students will work in small groups to research a musical case study of their choosing and create a short documentary video discussing issues of representation and the implications of those representations for Asian communities in the United States.
A study of the evolution of jazz in America from its roots in various types of black folk music to its eventual emergence as an eclectic, contemporary art form. Special emphasis will be placed on the sociological implications of jazz as a genre of serious black music. Some consideration may be given to gospel, soul, and rock music, all of which are close relatives of jazz.
An introduction to interdisciplinary approaches to the study of music including the sociology, anthropology, and psychology of music. These approaches will be applied in selected areas such as education, religion, non-Western music, and popular music.
An examination of the major musical phenomena of the Indian subcontinent and their historical and cultural background. Topics include Hindustani and Karnatak classical musical styles, religious music, popular music, and selected regional genres.
An examination of music and culture in East Asia, focusing on three geographic regions: China/Taiwan/Hong Kong; Japan; and Korea. Students will study the areas' leading musical traditions, including main instruments, ensembles, and musical genres, and will investigate case studies from the 20th and 21st centuries. Particular attention will be given to music within significant social, political, and historical contexts.
Music In The Middle Ages and Renaissance - Major compositional genres and stylistic trends in Western music from its beginnings through the sixteenth century.
Music In The Baroque and Pre-Classical Eras - A survey of major compositional genres and stylistic trends in Western music from about 1600 to 1750.
Music in the Classical and Romantic Eras - A survey of the major compositional genres and stylistic trends in Western music from 1750 to 1900.
Music in the Twentieth Century - Beginning with the major composers of the turn of the century, such as Debussy, Mahler, and Ives, the course examines the important trends before 1950: impressionism, neoclassicism, and twelve-tone technique; also more recent developments in electronic, serial and "theater" music.
Selected topics and issues in musicology, to be announced when offered.
A selective survey and analysis of the musical forms, styles, and figures associated with rock and roll in the 1950s and 1960s. Included is a discussion of the musical antetypes of rock and the impact and import of sociocultural and technological change on the popular music of this era. Class involves extensive listening assignments, musical analyses, and essays.
An interdisciplinary exploration of the postwar jazz avant-garde, focusing on the intersection of aesthetic issues with questions of politics, gender, class, and religion.
Specialized studies in topics to be announced each semester. Primarily for juniors and qualified sophomores.
Specialized studies in topics to be announced each semester. Primarily for juniors and qualified sophomores.
Music composition and audio production techniques for film, television and documentaries. Students will learn to compose and record original compositions using either computer virtual synthesizers or a music notation program to accompany and enhance video sequences from short films/videos, feature film excerpts and television and documentary films and videos. From romantic background music to exciting action sequences, students will learn the most effective ways of creating original music that enhances the images on the screen. Commercial shorts, feature films and documentaries will be studied and analyzed for musical content and production techniques which may be applicable to student projects in this course.
Development of original compositions using advanced studio techniques. Areas of study include advanced MIDI projects, computer algorithms for composition and sound synthesis, synthesizer programming, audio (SMPTE) and video (VITC) time code synchronization, digital sampling, digital multitrack recording, automated digital mixing, digital mastering for compact disk, and audio for video. Study of works in various styles by established electronic composers.
Development of analytical techniques relevant to music of the tonal era.
Study of the capabilities of orchestral instruments and ways they may be combined using state of the art digital music notation and digital sound synthesis software and hardware. Final project is writing for full orchestra and is played and recorded by the college's semi-professional orchestra.
Study of the contrapuntal style of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. Analysis and writing of inventions, chorale preludes, and fugues.
Writing in smaller forms for various media.
Writing in smaller forms for various media.
The study and practical application of advanced music technology topics chosen at the discretion of the instructor. Topics may include advanced MIDI applications; recording engineering, production, and marketing; digital synthesis, recording, and editing; intelligent synchronization; programming languages for synthesis and studies in psychoacoustics.
Surveys major theoretical models in jazz theory since the field emerged in the 1950s. Students will learn the terms and concepts used in jazz theory, become acquainted with the academic literature on jazz theory, and analyze musical recordings and transcriptions through both oral presentations and written assignments.
A culminating group experience in which Majors reflect on, and synthesize, aspects of their education through guided reading and discussion, optionally while undertaking separate, independent music-related projects of their own design.
An opportunity for qualified students to pursue independent study, under the supervision of a member of the department, in any field of music.
Independent study and research culminating in an extensive paper and an oral symposium presentation. Thesis proposal must be submitted for departmental approval by November 15 of the senior year.
Independent creative project culminating in one or more compositions and an oral symposium presentation (with performance, if possible). Project proposal must be submitted for departmental approval by November 15 of the senior year.
Independent project culminating in a substantial product in an appropriate medium and format, and an oral symposium presentation. Project proposal must be submitted to the chair for departmental approval by November 15 of the senior year.
Basic techniques of orchestral and choral conducting, score study and analysis.
Professional experience at an advanced level for juniors and seniors with substantial academic and cocurricular experience in the major field. With faculty sponsorship and department approval, students may extend their educational experience into such areas as arts administration, recording, and archival work.