Listening to Music

SPRING 2011 SYLLABUS [ download PDF ]
Instructor Byron Au Yong
Email bauyong@cornish.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Listening to Music offers ways to experience and understand sound to expand the ability to listen to and think about music. During this course, you will read about, analyze and discuss musical elements; create audio recordings; research and post works and writing online; reflect on your musical background and communicate ideas about music within social contexts.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
In-depth listening and analysis provide strategies to think about music in relation to dance. Terminology about a broad range of music will be covered to enhance dancing, teaching and choreography. Readings contextualize sound to deepen awareness about music for dance.

COURSE GOALS

• Develop ways to study and speak about music.
• Document, examine and analyze music within cross-cultural contexts.
• Create audio recordings for dance that acknowledge a larger musical and social framework.

REQUIRED TEXT
Course Reader: DA 134 Listening to Music
Available at Perfect Copy & Print
Open M-F 9am-8pm, Sa-Su 11am-7pm

111 Broadway Ave E
Seattle WA 98102 [ Map ]
Phone (206) 325-4733

COURSE REQUIREMENTS, EXPECTATIONS AND ETIQUETTE
As college students and performing artists, you are already budding professionals in a career that is challenging and exhilarating. My minimum expectations are that you arrive on time fully prepared for every class with readings completed, assignments ready and your mind activated. You should show passion, discipline and mastery by participating fully during class.

Good manners and conversational skills are essential to this course. Be reflective and considerate to help colleagues find the space to speak. Disagreements are welcome and should be respected.

Let us establish and maintain an open and tolerant space together in the spirit of creative and intellectual curiosity by listening to music and each other.

GRADING CRITERIA

• Thoughtful Class Participation (40 points)
• Blog Entry #1 What I Listen For (5 points)
• Blog Entry #2 Soundscape (5 points)
• Blog Entry #3 Music Review (5 points)
• Blog Entry #4 Dance Review (5 points)
• Mid-Term Presentation (10 points)
• Written Statement (30 points)

ASSIGNMENTS

Thoughtful Class Participation (40 points)
Carefully read for, in-between, about, around and over the ideas to challenge how each author speaks about music. How does the writer’s background affect their ideas? Where is the writer coming from historically, musically, aesthetically and personally? What have you learned about music through their perspective?

Excerpts for the reader are from the following sources in order that they appear on the course schedule:

• Copland, Aaron. What to Listen for in Music. McGraw-Hill Book Company. 1957.
• Copland, Aaron. Midday Thoughts. Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. 1984.
• The Diagram Group. Musical Instruments of the World. Sterling. 2001.
• Bach, Johann Sebastian. Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello (1717-1723). International Music Company. 1972.
• Cutietta, Robert. “The Musical Elements: Who Said They’re Right?” Music Educators Journal, May 1993.
• Reck, David, Mark Slobin and Jeff Titon. Discovering and Documenting a World of Music. Schrimer Books. 1996.
• Ross, Alex. Listen to This. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2010.
• Bartók, Béla. “The Influence of Peasant Music on Modern Music.” Tempo, Winter 1949-50.
• Barber-Kersovan, Alenka. “Music as a Parallel Power Structure.” Shoot the Singer! Music Censorship Today, edited by Marie Korpe. Freemuse. 2004.
• Bartók, Béla. Fourth String Quartet. Universal Edition. 1929.
• Shelemay, Kay Kaufman. Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World. W.W. Norton & Company. 2001.
• Schafer, R. Murray. The Thinking Ear. Arcana Editions. 1986.
• Varese, Edgard. Lectures (compiled and edited by Chou Wen-Chung). 1936-1962.
• Smith, Sylvia. Scribing Sound: Music Notation Since 1952. Excelsior Music Publishing. 1988.
• Scelsi, Giacinto. Khoom. Universal Edition. 1962.
• Toop, David. Exotica: Fabricated Soundscapes in a Real World. Serpent’s Tail. 1999.
• Duckworth, William. 20/20: 20 New Sounds of the 20th Century. Schirmer Books. 1999.
• Ross, Alex. The Rest is Noise. Farrar, Straus, Giroux. 2007.
• Cage, John. Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (1946-48). Edition Peters. 1951.
• McClary, Susan. Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality. University of Minnesota Press. 1991
• Mark Morris. “Fact and Mystery.” Midwest Arts Conference. 1998.

Blog Posts (20 points)
Tips for a successful blog post:

• Make headlines snappy
• Have an opinion without passing judgment
• Use humor without being witty or spiteful
• Be clear and to-the-point
• Include bullet points
• Link to the source
• Edit your post

Posts should be no longer than three paragraphs and will be graded on clarity, content and thoughtfulness. Those who comment on other posts will receive extra credit.

Blog #1 What I listen for in music – post by January 20, 2011
Blog #2 Soundscape – post by February 17, 2011
Blog #3 Thoughts about a music concert – post by April 14, 2011
Blog #4 Thoughts about a dance performance – post by April 14, 2011

(Blog Posts #3 and #4 should be about live performances and influenced by how various authors have written about music in the course reader and informed by class discussions.)

Mid-Term Remix (10 points)

• Select a composer from the list below and find recordings of their music as research for a new dance project created for the class. Composers (choose one): Anthony Davis, Morton Feldman, Osvaldo Golijov, György Ligeti, Meredith Monk, Sofia Gubaidulina, Kaija Saariaho, Toru Takemitsu, Anton Webern, Judith Weir, Julia Wolfe or Iannis Xenakis.
• Identify the musical elements used and how these elements affect your remix.
• Remix the music using an audio editing tool such as GarageBand or Audacity to create the sound for your dance. You can mix together more than one composition, but the remix should be of only one composer’s music.
• The remix should be 4 minutes or less.
• Prepare a one page handout for the class that will give us clues about your remix. Be creative.

Final Group Presentation/Written Statement (30 points total)
The Final Group Presentation and Statement provide an opportunity to delve into various musical works to discover ways to strengthen a dance work through writing about music, mixing music together, sharing your discoveries and collaborating with colleagues.

Group Presentation
(points will be part of your individual Class Participation score)

• Work in a duet, trio or quartet.
• As a group, create a work that has to do with the environment, war or love.
• For the music, select one musician from each of the three columns below.
• Remix the music using an audio editing tool such as GarageBand or Audacity.
• Present your audio mix to the class with at least one other discipline (dance, video, etc.)

Column One
Anthony Davis
Morton Feldman
Osvaldo Golijov
Gyorgy Ligeti
Meredith Monk
Sofia Gubaidulina
Toru Takemitsu
Anton Webern
Iannis Xenakis

Column Two
J.S. Bach
Béla Bartók
John Cage
Aaron Copland
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Madonna
W.A. Mozart
Giacinto Scelsi
Bob Dylan

Column Three
Musician/Band of your group’s choice

Written Statement
required from each individual, not the group (10 points)

• What have you discovered about listening to music this semester?
• Reference ideas from the group presentations, course reader and other sources.
• Length 3-4 typed pages double-spaced using a 12-point font. Due May 05, 2011.

COURSE SCHEDULE

The Musical Elements

Week One
Tuesday, January 18
What do you listen for in music? Purchase the Course Reader this week.

Thursday, January 20
Post Blog #1 about what you listen for in music. In class, we will review how to read scores notated in Western classical music notation and talk about the Mid-Term Presentation in depth.

Week Two
Tuesday, January 25
Read excerpt from Aaron Copland’s What to Listen for in Music. Come to class prepared to discuss two insights from the reading. In class, we will analyze Copland’s Midday Thoughts.

Thursday, January 27
Read about chordophones in Musical Instruments of the World. Come to class prepared to share two insights about J.S. Bach or the Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello gathered from the library or online. In class, we will analyze the “Prelude” from “Suite I” of Bach’s Cello Suites.

Week Three
Tuesday, February 01
Read Robert Cutietta “The Musical Elements: Who Said They’re Right?” Come to class prepared to share at least two ways to analyze Bach’s “Prelude” using Cutietta’s criteria.

Thursday, February 03
Choose whether you prefer Copland or Cutietta’s approach to the musical elements. Be prepared to respond to music played in class. You can discuss, sketch, write, sing or combine all of the above. How do you think about musical elements and their relation to dance, teaching and choreography? What are other musical elements that can help your work?

Music within Social Contexts

Week Four
Tuesday, February 08
Remember to schedule time to remix your Mid-Term. Read the excerpt from David Reck, Mark Slobin, and Jeff Titon’s Discovering and Documenting a World of Music and Alex Ross’ essay about Bob Dylan. Come to class prepared to discuss two insights from the reading. What is your backyard music?

Thursday, February 10
Read Béla Bartók’s “The Influence of Peasant Music on Modern Music” and Alenka Barber-Kersovan’s “Music as a Parallel Power Structure.” Come to class prepared to discuss two insights from the reading. In class, we will analyze Bartók’s 4th String Quartet. How would you choreograph to this work?

Week Five
Tuesday, February 15
Read excerpts from Kay Kaufman Shelemay’s Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World and R. Murray Schafer’s The Thinking Ear. Come to class prepared to discuss two insights from the readings. What is the soundscape of Tuesday morning Kerry Hall.

Thursday, February 17 (BFA Tech)
Post Blog #2 Soundscape Description. Read Edgard Varese’s “Lectures” and Sylvia Smith’s Scribing Sound: Music Notation Since 1952. Come to class prepared to discuss two insights from the reading. In class, we will analyze Giacinto Scelsi’s Khoom. Where is this music from?

Week Six
Tuesday, February 22 (BFA Tech)
Read excerpt from David Toop’s Exotica: Fabricated Soundscapes in a Real World. Come to class prepared to discuss two insights from the reading. In class, we will listen to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Is music a universal language?

Thursday, February 24 (BFA Tech)
Read excerpts from William Duckworth’s 20/20: 20 New Sounds of the 20^th Century and Alex Ross’ The Rest is Noise. Come to class prepared to discuss two insights from the reading. In class, we will analyze John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano.

Week Seven
Tuesday, March 01
Put the finishing touches on your Mid-Term remix and single sheet hand-out. Read excerpt from Susan McClary’s Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality. Come to class prepared to discuss two insights from the reading. In class, we will analyze Madonna’s “Live to Tell.”

Communicating about Music

Week Seven, Eight
March 03, 08 and 10
Mid-Term Presentations

Spring Break
March 14 to 18
This week is a good time to complete Blog #3 and Blog #4.

Week Nine
March 22 and 24
Discuss the Final Group Presentation/Written Statements. Assign groups members.

Weeks Ten, Eleven, Twelve
March 29 and 31, April 05, 07, 12 and 14 (CDT April 15-16)
Work in the media lab or elsewhere with your group members. Post Blog #3 and #4.

Week Thirteen
Tuesday, April 19
Check-in. Troubleshoot. Are you incorporating ideas from the course reader to consider the cultural ramifications of the remix within your creative work for the Group Presentation?

Thursday, April 21
Work in the media lab or elsewhere with your group members.

Weeks Fourteen, Fifteen
April 26 and 28, May 03 and 05 (Terpsichore’s May 01)
Final Group Presentations. Written Statement due in class on May 05, 2011.

RESOURCES

Counseling
The Counseling Offices at Cornish assist students with academic and artistic pursuits by providing supportive counseling, referrals, and outreach programs that promote students’ mental health and emotional well being. To schedule an appointment, call a Counselor at (206) 726-5027 or (206) 726-5047. If they are not available, please leave a message on their voicemail and they will return your call within 24 hours. The Counseling Offices are located in Main Campus Center Rooms 308A and 308B.

Writing Center
The Writing Center is a free resource for all Cornish students, faculty, and staff who are interested in developing their writing and reading. Located in Main Campus Center Room 311, the Writing Center is a place where students come to work on their writing and receive individual guidance at any phase of the writing process, regardless of their level of development. Drop-ins are welcome during posted hours. Contact Amanda Hill at ahill@cornish.edu or (206) 726-5166 for appointments and information.

Library
The Library has books, periodicals, and media available on site. In addition, the library website (cornish.edu/Cornish_library) has online resources that may be accessed from a computer with internet access with your last name and Cornish ID number. The library is located on the 2^nd floor of the Main Campus Center Room 205. Telephone (206) 726-5145 or e-mail libraryref@cornish.edu for information.

Disability Services
If you are a student with a documented disability and you need accommodations, make an appointment with the Student Affairs Program Coordinator at (206) 726-5098 to discuss these accommodations. The Student Affairs Program Coordinator is located in Main Campus Center Room 301. All discussions will remain confidential.

General Safety
Please inform yourself of safety procedures for this room, including emergency evacuation routes and the location of the closest first aid kits and fire extinguishers. Consult the Health & Safety Procedures booklet next to the door; detailed information is also provided in the department handbook.

Physical Respect Statement
Take care of your body and respect the bodies of your peers by treating them with care and consideration. In most studio situations, you should ask permission before touching another person and/or manipulating his/her body in any way. This includes active stretching. Considerate and thoughtful interactions will allow everyone to explore creative possibilities in an environment of physical and emotional safety.

The instructor reserves the right to make changes to the syllabus and will inform students if any changes are made.