MUSI 1111 Sense of Music

Abstract

GOALS and OBJECTIVES: This course is an attempt to develop your ability to focus on and listen closely to music, specifically Western concert music. Together, we will develop some of the tools necessary for intelligent and critical listening, enabling you to perceive the musical ideas, events and internal relationships in many musical works. The only way to achieve this goal is through the practice of active and conscious listening.No assumption of musical literacy is made, however, enough of the mechanics of music notation will be taught during the semester so that you will be able to roughly follow a notated melody. We will build a vocabulary of musical terms as we proceed. All terminology and its appropriate application will be presented, defined and discussed in class. Included in this syllabus is a list of basic terms. You are expected to use your growing musical vocabulary in our class discussions. In addition to careful and attentive listening then next most important activity is asking questions. NEVER HESITATEto request clarification about something that you don’t understand because if you don’t get it several of your classmates will also be confused. So ask the question. We will study representative works of Western art music drawn largely from the Classical period. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the elements of musical organization, on gaining some experience with compositional procedures and formal designs, and on a determination of æsthetic criteria. These pieces are our primary texts. There is no book for this course. Mindful, critical listening is essential in order to understand them. Rather than being a series of lectures, the course is conducted more as a lab or workshop. Thus attendance and participation are essential. Both of these will be taken into account when determining grades. In addition to the class work there are assignments that you must do on your own. These will be discussed below.