MUSC 105 Introduction to Music Study of the language, power, and communicative properties of music in the Western tradition. Students will acquire basic skills in music literacy, theory, and aural comprehension. In addition, selected works, both popular and classical and ranging in time from the Middle Ages to the present, will be listened to and discussed with an emphasis on their musical style and cultural-social context. Class activities will include guest performances, concert attendance (on and off campus), and behind-the-scenes looks at what goes into making music. Students considering a major in Music should enroll in MUSC 105 in the fall or winter quarter of their first year. No prior music reading or basic theory knowledge is expected. Advanced students may request to test out of MUSC-105; please consult the Department Chair.

MUSC 120 Beginning Band Methods: Brass Basic techniques of playing orchestra and band instruments; emphasis on understanding the principles and problems of playing brass. No music reading or basic theory knowledge is required.

MUSC 121 Beginning Band Methods: Woodwinds Basic techniques of playing orchestra and band instruments; emphasis on understanding the principles and problems of playing woodwinds. No music reading or basic theory knowledge is required.

MUSC 123 Instrumental Music Methods: Strings Basic techniques of playing the four orchestral stringed instruments. No music reading or basic theory knowledge is required.

MUSC 160 Music of World Cultures Study of music of various cultures within their social contexts. The course includes folk, traditional, classical, and popular music from selected traditions in Africa, India, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. It presents music as an evolving process and the performance of music as an expression of individual and cultural identity. Using readings, discussions, guest lectures and performances, CDs, and films, the course provides a framework for comparison of musical cultures from different parts of the world. No music reading or basic theory knowledge required.

MUSC 165 Jazz Explorations This course is intended to introduce students to the cultural context, instrumentation, theory, form, and analysis of jazz from its early West African roots to contemporary times. Emphasis will be placed on listening to various artists and styles. No music reading or basic theory knowledge is required.

MUSC 205 Music Theory I: Common Practice and Popular Styles Building upon the skills acquired in MUSC 105, students use two voice counterpoint as a gateway to fluency in writing complete four-part phrases in tonal harmony. They will discover how these principles of voice-leading and harmonic grammar form the foundation of historic and contemporary musical styles. Aural comprehension skills are acquired from the concurrent lab for the course. MUSC-105 or permission

MUSC 207 Listening Across Cultures What does it mean to be a knowledgeable music listener? An expert listener? A native listener? Hip hop has its "heads," French opera had claqueurs, and Syrian tarab has the sammi'a (expert listeners), but is the act of listening the same across cultures, or is there something to the local perception of music that goes beyond style and genre? Questioning the adage that "Music is the universal language," this course will examine how people assign meaning and power to music. Analyzing music from around the world, we will attune our ears to the ways in which people across cultural borders conceptualize music, sound and the act of listening. No music reading or basic theory knowledge is required. Sophomores Only

MUSC 208 Music and Identity Music serves multiple roles: a force for social transformation, a flag of resistance, a proclamation of cultural identity, a catalyst for expressing emotion, an avenue to experiencing the sacred. Students will look at identity through the lens of contemporary and traditional American music and will consider how race, ethnicity, age, gender, national identity, and other factors express themselves in and are shaped by music. The ability to read music or understand basic music theory is not required; a love of music and an interest in American culture are essential. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar. Sophomores only

MUSC 263 The Evolution of Symphonic Music On account of its capacity to blend heterogenous yet complementary sounds, and the sheer scale and complexity of its ambition, the symphony orchestra stands as one of the great achievements of musical thought, continuously fascinating and moving listeners. We will examine a broad range of music written for this ensemble over a period of nearly 300 years, as well as the cultural contexts that shaped them: from the eponymous Symphony to collaborative contexts such as opera, ballet, and film, touching on composers from Beethoven to William Grant Still to living legend John Williams. This course, like most at the 200 level within the Music Department, anticipates that students are able to read music and know basic music theory, equivalent to MUSC 105. MUSC-105 or instructor permission

MUSC 264 History of American Music This course is a survey of the history and development of music in the United States, from precolonial musical practices through the present. The majority of the course will be devoted to trends in popular music in the U.S., though we will also devote time to sacred and concert music traditions, necessarily touching on the broader context of musical cultures in the Americas.

MUSC 2XX TBD

MUSC 305 Music Theory II: Chromaticism and Modernism Building upon the skills acquired in MUSC 130, students will study techniques of modulation, as well as expressive and coloristic devices leading to late 19th century chromaticism, leading into 20th century practices. These elements will be part of further study of popular and art song form, theme and variations, rondo and sonata. Class meetings will include both lecture and workshops. Coordinated aural comprehension skills are acquired from the concurrent lab for this course. MUSC-205 or permission

MUSC 315 Sound & Culture in the Middle East An introduction to the popular culture and cultural politics of the modern Middle East, as heard through the medium of sound. Exploring the varied soundscapes and musical cultures of the region, we will examine how sound shapes, reinforces, critiques, and transforms social life, from the local to the international level. Listening to music as both an aesthetic object and a site for the contestation of ideas, we will learn about the ways in which music is used to articulate an array of competing visions: of the nation, colony and post-colony; religion, gender, and sexuality; globalization, hybridity, and modernity. Prior experience with music notation or theory is not necessarily required for this course, but students must have taken either MUSC-105 or ANSO-103 or received instructor permission. MUSC-105 or ANSO-103 or have received instructor permission.

MUSC 376 Conducting A study of the general rudiments of ensemble conducting through an emphasis on the orchestral literature. After an introduction to critical score-reading concepts (analysis skills, transposition, special terms, historical background), the remainder of the course is dedicated to practical application, with students receiving weekly podium time in front of a small laboratory ensemble. Offered spring quarter, even years MUSC-105 or permission

MUSC 377 Music Arranging This course will provide students with knowledge necessary to create new musical arrangements from existing instrumental and choral works. Must have taken MUSC-175

MUSC 3XX TBD

MUSC 490 Arts Entrepreneurship Art Entrepreneurship will look at the business of the arts in the 21st Century. Explore themes of entrepreneurship through case studies of successful entrepreneurs and investigate the lessons learned from failed arts organizations. This course will be focused on tangible skills musicians and other artists will need to compete in the creative marketplace. Roles of nonprofit arts organizations and presenters will be investigated. Concepts studied will include but not be limited to: networking, digital media & marketing, non-profit leadership, organizational structure, non-linear career paths, project management, fundraising, budgeting, taxes & copyright, and audience engagement.

MUSC 4XX TBD

MUSC 593 Senior Integrated Project Each program or department sets its own requirements for Senior Integrated Projects done in that department, including the range of acceptable projects, the required background of students doing projects, the format of the SIP, and the expected scope and depth of projects. See the Kalamazoo Curriculum -> Senior Integrated Project section of the Academic Catalog for more details. Permission of department and SIP supervisor required.

MUSC 600 Teaching Assistantship