Music (MUSC)

Music performance ensembles offered for 1 credit.

Music performance ensembles offered for 0 credits.

As listed below.

This course continues MUSC 1041, Elements of Music, focusing on chromatic harmony, counterpoint composition, and form and analysis. Students will refine their musicianship and critical listening skills while developing a deeper understanding of the structural elements that define music in classical and popular/vernacular styles. Advanced Harmony is intended for majors, minors, and general music enthusiasts.

This course focuses on developing students' artistic ability of active critical listening, and enhancing the skills needed to apply that aural acuity in the making and modifying of evocative audio recordings of music, spoken-word and natural sound material. This course is open to music majors and minors, and to the general student body. Some knowledge of music theory fundamentals is helpful but not required. Students will learn: - basic concepts and parameters of analog and digital audio, and how they represent sound - microphone characteristics, and microphone selection and placement techniques for monaural and stereo audio capture of voices, instruments, and environmental sounds - how to evaluate and alter the stereo imaging, dynamic range, and spectral balance of recordings - how to understand and manipulate the signal flow and routing in an audio system - how to recognize and minimize unwanted distortion and background noise in recordings - the basic functions of computer digital audio workstations (DAWs) and portable audio recording devices - the aesthetics, conventions and techniques of editing for spoken word voice and music projects - several different methods for interfacing recording equipment with sound reinforcement systems to capture multitrack audio files at live performances - how to plan for the unique requirements of both simple and complex location recordings - the roles of overdubbing and mixing in studio production projects - useful skills for recording other performers as well as techniques for recording oneself. The raw materials for this study will be audio recordings captured at previous musical performances and other sources, plus current happenings on the Hilltop: GU’s Friday Music Series concerts, and other events around the campus and beyond. Some recording projects will be undertaken as a class group; others are to be conceived and completed by individual students or pairs of classmates. Students will use Avid's Pro Tools digital audio workstation software and associated hardware for recording, production, editing and mixing of audio on Mac OSX computers. These tasks will be accomplished in a recording studio and several editing stations in the Gelardin New Media Center. Pro Tools is a well-known music production platform in settings from casual hobbyist recordings to professional studios. Students will also be introduced to other hardware and software tools for working with music and spoken-word audio including portable devices and systems for recording on location.

This course builds on the skills the student has gained in the prerequisite “Recording Arts I” digital audio recording course. It is open to music majors and minors and to the general student body, provided the student has satisfactorily completed that prerequisite course. The central themes of this course are: sharpening the artistic ability of critical listening, and enhancing the skills needed to apply that aural acuity to plan and execute evocative audio recordings in more complex projects. Students will learn:

· Frequency based ear training for more detailed mixing techniques

· The creation of bus and template systems in ProTools

· The use of third-party plugins

· Working in larger multi-track sessions

· Advanced audio editing in ProTools

· A more detailed knowledge of loudness and mastering techniques

The raw materials for this study will be students’ personal music projects, as well as prepared audio recordings from previous musical performances of the instructor and other sources. This course will prepare students for internships or other professional experience that requires basic fluency in ProTools in industries such as podcasting, public radio, and recording studios. Some recording projects will be undertaken as a class group; others will be conceived and completed by individuals or pairs of students.

This is a writing-intensive course that explores all aspects of writing about music, introducing students to music journalism, script writing for radio/film documentaries, script writing for musical theater, non-fiction essays, scholarly articles, music-inspired fiction and the basics of grant writing for non-profit performing arts groups and fellowship applications (i.e. Fulbright). It is designed specifically for students interested in pursuing future careers in music, journalism, media studies, creative writing, arts management and/or entertainment law.

Concert films, portraits of musicians, visualizations of sound, and filmed records of musical happenings all heighten our attention to the relationship between the moving image and music. This course is held at the intersection of these time-based arts, providing students with theoretical and practical approaches to the music document(ary). Key readings and screenings of essential films will provide characteristics and histories of portraying music in film. In practice, students will acquire basic filmmaking skills as they learn to document a musical event and produce their own short music-centered film. Our focused praxis and analysis also offer students an opportunity to reflect upon the broader, under-researched interactions between sound and the moving image.

This course engages students in three manners: 1) They study and experience live music, from a diverse array of traditions and cultures, performed by professionals in various modes of digital delivery, and conditions permitting, select in-person performances,. 2) They engage with material in lectures, reading assignments (generally essays) and discussions that explore the cultural context of the music. 3) They develop a broader knowledge of music in the Metro area through interaction with professional musicians who have established ways to perform their music in the context of pandemic. Each week will involve one lecture and discussion section, and one session devoted to either a live musical performance (usually via digital mode) or a live discussion with professional musicians and producers focused on different approaches to music-making during the pandemic. As a rule, Wednesday will be devoted to lecture and discussion, and Friday to live music and/or engagement with professional musicians. The music presented this semester will draw on diverse genres including Jazz, Classical, Hip Hop, Brazilian, sacred as well as others. Students will write brief response essays to each event. For the final project, students can either design a concert music series or create an annotated playlist based around a specific theme/topic. Throughout, we will remain attentive to the ways in which professional musicians have risen to the multiple challenges presented by the pandemic in order to make their music heard.

The Performing Arts Colloquium is a dynamic community-centered space for students to engage with the many voices that shape the performing arts today. Each semester offers a unique theme led by rotating faculty who invite guest artists, scholars, and practitioners. Classes can include artist talks, panel discussions, workshops, performance showcases, and behind-the-scenes explorations of artistic processes.

MUSC 114 investigates the history of Western European art music beginning with a discussion of the Baroque Era (ca. 1600) and continuing until the early twentieth century (ca. 1945). The study of contemporary European society, culture, politics, and artistic trends will serve as the context for the creation, content, and style of music examined in this course. MUSC 114 will focus on select compositions (by artists such as J.S. Bach, Corelli, Vivaldi, Pergolesi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Berlioz, Liszt, Brahms, and Stravinsky among others) to achieve a practical and historical understanding of Western Classical music styles and genres. This course requires a basic musical aptitude and knowledge with a willingness to work consistently and learn challenging material. The material will be supplemented on occasion with additional in-class readings and listening examples. Our primary objectives are to develop facility with the principal genres of music that emerged in the eras under examination and to derive an enhanced understanding of art music. We will also develop a musical vocabulary and introduce basic analytical techniques to acquire aural skills. Critical aspects of this course are to learn musical repertoire, recognize stylistic genres and trends, to attend concerts, to identify specific compositions and to associate such works with individual musicians/composers or performing ensembles. HALC: SFS/CULP Humanities X-List: Culture and Politics

This listening-intensive course looks at music as a component of cultural identities and collisions through the dual lens of ethnomusicology (anthropology of music) and “world music” (a pop-cultural/journalistic/marketing view). The syntheses that arise from the interactions of the dominant Western culture with its “others” are politically charged as much as they may be musically potent and are increasingly dependent upon globalization and technology for their creation and dissemination. Case studies will examine the dynamics of different forms of cultural interaction over the past couple of centuries, from Cold War nationalism in the Bulgarian Radio Choir to the impact of the Chernobyl meltdown on the underground rock scene of the Belarusan intelligentsia, from the meteoric rise (and fall) of Anglo-Indian pop of the 1990s to the complex multi-ethnic mix that has driven flamenco across a millennium from Moorish Andalucía to the art-school scene of Barcelona of the 2000s. Other subjects include Javanese gamelan and its confluences with Western art music, South African township jive echoing the arc of apartheid, the alliance of dance forms with nationalism in 20th century South America, the colonial and diasporic sources of the Riverdance phenomenon, a Canadian First Nations songwriter's foundational role in the genre we call "Americana," and the multiple Francophone audiences of Cajun-American rocker Zachary Richard.

Jazz is a genre broad in scope that has crossed lines of race, class, geography, politics, religion, and genre. Exploring the various facets and histories of jazz is the central goal of this course as we examine the origins of jazz from its roots in West Africa, its beginnings and development in New Orleans, its northward migration to New York and Chicago, and its steady rise as a global phenomenon. Students will read a wide array of primary and secondary sources and listen to a range of recordings to discover the various processes, meanings, functions, and experiences of jazz. As jazz was the first musical genre shaped by modern sound technology, this class strongly emphasizes developing listening skills and mining the rich jazz culture of Washington, DC, by visiting venues and experiencing live jazz performances. No previous music experience is necessary.

Rock is more than just music. Rock is a commodity, an expressive cultural medium, and a creative practice. Understanding the complexities of rock requires a critical examination of its seven-decade existence. The course begins with a look into the musical roots of rock and an interrogation of the concept of music genres. From there, we will engage various issues resulting from and influencing rock musicians, such as commodification, social critique, aesthetics, race, gender, authenticity, performance, and censorship. We will study the development of these issues in depth by connecting them to songs from the history of rock. This is a listening-intensive course. Part of the work will develop critical listening skills that will help connect musical phenomena to social and political issues.

This course functions as an introduction to analytical approaches to R&B and soul music. In recent years, popular music analysis, including hip-hop and rock, has become more popular in academic circles. However, within this ever-growing body of work, R&B and soul genres haven’t been afforded the same levels of critical inquiry. As such, most analytical studies that include the styles are largely in service of explicating the techniques of a larger corpus that is, in many cases, broadly defined as “pop” and/or “rock.” Thus, our course aims are to: survey eras of R&B and soul traditions; analyze this music with both established techniques and more informal means of discourse; recognize and critically evaluate the ways various approaches are deployed, their intersections, and be able to articulate distinctions between them; and analyze and contextualize lyrics and how they interact with other musical parameters like form, rhythm and meter, harmony, melody, etc. The readings will delve into the historical, music theoretical, cultural, and political matters to help us better understand and contextualize the music and people we cover.

Instrumental technique and musical mastery go hand-in-hand for musicians. Acquisition and automation of fine motor skills require strategic neural and behavioral conditions. We will discover how different mind-body phenomena relate to instrumental technique and musical creation, in both personal and collaborative practice settings. Your musical development becomes a class topic as we develop our individual instrumental practice, This process leads to a richer musical experience. Students are encouraged to make time for individual practice sessions during this three week module.

In this course, students will explore intersections between performance, storytelling, and go-go, DC’s own native genre of music. Go-go is characterized by elements of funk, hip hop, and reggae, with emphasis on percussive instruments such as congas, timbales, and rata toms. The music elicits active audience participation in the form of call-and-response. Georgetown students will collaborate with four young artists-in-residence, all DC residents on their journey to becoming go-go musicians, devising an original performance together. The course is team-led by Natsu Onoda Power (TPST faculty; director/ designer) and Charles “Shorty Corleone” Harris (Go-go musician/ producer/ educator), along with other DPA faculty and guest artists. Performers will be admitted by auditions during the first two weeks of the semester. Students interested in non-performing roles (design/ technical/ dramaturgy/ community engagement, etc.) should contact the instructor for permission.

This workshop is a practical performance course designed for musicians and instrumentalists of all levels, helping students develop personalized practice techniques and performance strategies to enhance their musical skills and stage presence. The primary goals of this course are to enhance musical intent and performance through innovative physical and mental techniques, create personalized practice techniques and performance strategies, and integrate practice with existing performance programs or classes. Throughout the course, students participate in weekly class discussions and interviews with special guest speakers. Performance workshops and masterclasses will showcase an array of techniques, while readings, reflective writing exercises, and forum discussions will complement playing. World music techniques are part of the curriculum, as are biomechanics and proprioception. By the end of the course, students will have developed a comprehensive toolkit of personalized practice techniques and performance strategies, refined their techniques using easy performance material, and showcased their skills in both class and public performance settings. The course offers a comprehensive learning experience for musicians and instrumentalists seeking to unlock their musical potential through deliberate and meaningful practice.

Improvisation, an expressive art form, involves creating music without relying on written notation. Rooted in diverse musical traditions in America and globally, this course delves into the nuances of improvisation within genres such as jazz, rock, pop, country, church music, Latin American music, and classical music. A fundamental skill for any improviser is listening and actively feeling out the musical context. This course emphasizes enhancing these skills through focused activities like listening sessions, analytical exercises, and musical exploration. Participants will study music through the lens of improvisation, engaging with principles developed in class. The curriculum encourages students to listen, play, and write about improvisational music. While proficiency in playing an instrument is not required, a basic musical background is recommended.

Across musical genres and research paradigms, musical improvisation has been studied and practiced as a laboratory for social change. Beyond music, human improvisation is a highly complex activity that, when undertaken in a group setting, changes social dynamics. In North American music, movements for social justice have often been at the center of this work. Musicians, activists, and intellectuals who identify as Black, Brown, Queer, and/or Indigenous have often been at the center of such activity, even if they haven’t always been narrated as such. Faith-based and spiritual musical genres and philosophies from Gospel to Afrofuturism have played a central role as well. At the same time, contemporary multi-racial movements for economic justice continue to employ strategies gleaned from musical improvisation. In this research and practice-oriented course, you will undertake in-class improvisation exercises (including a series of improvised recording sessions in the Georgetown recording studio) where you will gain hands-on knowledge of recording technology. You will learn to compose text scores designed to include all levels of musical experience and ability as a way to workshop the various improvisation techniques drawn from our readings and listening. You will also learn about music, activism, and scholarship that consciously seeks to harness the power of improvisation to change harmful social norms. Central to the course will be the following questions: What is the difference between a live improvised musical experience and the production and/or consumption of improvised music recordings? What can that difference tell us about the potential for certain modes of improvisation to co-create meaningful social change beyond what Bell Hooks has called “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy”? You will walk away from the course with a research-creation project that integrates critical inquiry, activism, and artistic practice. This might include a research paper, a series of recordings of improvised music, a performance, a sound installation, or any combination.

Introduction to Vocal Arranging is a course designed for students with limited to no prior knowledge of music theory who are interested in developing practical skills in arranging music in two- and three-part vocal harmony. The curriculum begins with foundational music theory concepts, including notation, key signatures, scales, intervals, and basic chords. Students will apply this knowledge to create two- and three-part vocal arrangements for both accompanied and unaccompanied selections. Emphasis will be placed on exploring fundamental arranging principles within popular and jazz vocal styles to gain an understanding of how to craft harmonically and melodically engaging vocal textures.

This class will examine the work of songwriters - as well as other artists combining music, sound and verse such as poets, composers and hip hop artists - whose output seeks to critique and/or change the political, economic, and cultural norms of contemporary society. Through close listening, lyrical and musical analysis, artist interviews, music criticism and secondary scholarship, we will study the following topics through song; the labor movement, abolitionism, religiosity as critique, feminism, the climate crisis, and anti-fascism. Artist repertoires will include selections from the work of Odetta, Woody Guthrie, Gil Scott Heron, Fugazi, Nikki Giovanni, Joni Mitchell, Michael Hurley and Kae Tempest among others. Class projects can include: a research paper on an artist or series of artists connecting their work to a particular social movement, OR, recordings of original songs accompanied by a “liner notes” document that expands upon the relationship between the songs and the mode(s) of social critique/change they seek to enact. Those students who wish to record original songs will gain access to the Georgetown Recording Studio and will be matched with a student producer/audio engineer from Recording Arts II.

This class is open to all levels of singers and will focus on healthy vocal technique through understanding the breath mechanism, phonation, resonance, articulation, and posture. Using a differentiated format, students will work on assigned classroom song literature and their individually chosen repertoire to study performance practice and strengthen their overall musicality. The final exam will be a combined vocal recital with two selections that have been refined over the semester.

Liturgical Direction and Performance Practices is intended for students who are interested in the modern role of sacred music through its artistic heritage, liturgical applications, and pastoral perspectives. Through an interdisciplinary study of music and liturgical theology, students will pair theoretical classroom discussions with practical on-site visits to a diverse collection of Washington, D.C. religious institutions. The outcome will assist students in building their understanding of the importance and function of music in a variety of Christian cultures. Students of all disciplinary backgrounds are welcome.

Introduction to Vocal Arranging is a course designed for students with limited to no prior knowledge of music theory who are interested in developing practical skills in arranging music in two- and three-part vocal harmony. The curriculum begins with foundational music theory concepts, including notation, key signatures, scales, intervals, and basic chords. Students will apply this knowledge to create two- and three-part vocal arrangements for both accompanied and unaccompanied selections. Emphasis will be placed on exploring fundamental arranging principles within popular and jazz vocal styles to gain an understanding of how to craft harmonically and melodically engaging vocal textures.

This course focuses on the lively, sprawling genre of the American musical, a theatrical and cinematic form that has been considered particularly American while becoming a global phenomenon. The course repertoire was chosen to strike a balance between musicals that are historically significant and ones that highlight particularly important issues about transformation between stage and screen, large and small. Students will: - engage in the debate about what constitutes “a musical.” - develop a historical sense of the major stylistic trends in music, narrative, and performance style in the genre. - be able to articulate the ways in which film, theatre, and television differ and the effect of each on a musical text. - be able to place this knowledge within larger trends of American culture.

The Composition Seminar (MUSC 243) combines lectures, presentations, and workshops to provide a supportive environment for fostering creative musical growth. Participants will engage foremost in making music in whatever style and genre they choose. Participants will also learn practical analysis and develop the ability to speak about their own music and their creative processes. The pacing and content of this course will be determined in part by the compositional experience, technical abilities, and interests of enrolled participants. No prior experience in composition necessary.

When American and European scholars began studying music outside of Europe, they found that the task required such new tools for thinking about music’s relation to global cultures—so much so that a new discipline was established. As ethnomusicology developed, a more geographically diverse group of scholars began to question just what “culture” means in relation to music. Ethnomusicology now is an international study of global musical practices. This course introduces students to the history of the field, beginning with its association with anthropological theory and culminating in a present day perspectives on how music is entangled with critical issues in our world. We will read the influential texts that have shaped ways that ethnomusicologists think about music—all while learning to listen critically to the rich musical traditions of the world. Students will conduct fieldwork and analysis on a topic of his or her choice as a way of learning how ethnomusicologists do research.

This course traces the history and development of chamber music, or music for small ensembles, generally consisting of one player per part. Beginning with a discussion detailing the origins of chamber music from the Renaissance until the classical era, we will primarily focus on classical, romantic, and modern chamber music compositions. We will examine the cultural, geographical, social, and political circumstances of the most influential composers and events of chamber music history. We will focus on specific compositions and discuss them in terms of basic musical form and analysis to uncover how composers applied their compositional craftwork to their chamber music output. We will seek to develop a larger view and understanding of the range and scope of the entire chamber music repertoire while choosing to focus on specific types of chamber music for assignments. Today, chamber music performances and recordings exist in many venues—concert halls, schools and universities, spiritual spaces and houses of worship, private homes, outdoor natural spaces, stadiums and gardens, museums, and just about anywhere one can imagine.

History of the Symphony offers a broad overview of the development of the topic within classical music traditions. We will explore the history and evolution of traditional, modern, and American symphonic music with specific focus on performance practices to gain a deeper understanding of these genres. Symphonic music can be defined along historical practices, and can extend to include music with voice, electronics, dance, non-western instruments, and theatrical concepts. This course focuses on the Western, specifically European traditions and repertoire of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries with select references to American music, early music, contemporary music, and jazz. A primary objective is to trace musical developments in differently defined time periods and geographical regions, while also examining artistic conditions from different human perspectives (funding, the emergence of orchestral performing arts centers and departments, and other social conditions, etc.). A specific goal is to engage with modern and contemporary American symphonic music and artistic environments as part of Georgetown’s American Musical Cultures curriculum.

An introduction to the history and methods of music and film, concentrating on the sound film era. A roughly chronological approach sketches the main technological innovations and industrial history, while weekly topics focus on such issues as emotion, narrative, genre, choreography (including that of the camera), television scoring, sound boundaries, and intertextuality. X-List: Film Studies, American Studies. Fulfills the HALC requirement.

In the mid-14th century, a group of ten young storytellers climbed the hills of Fiesole. They were seven women and three men, all trying to escape the pandemic ravaging their home city, Florence. Living in quarantine just steps from where our classes will meet, they took turns telling stories. Boccaccio set down their tales in The Decameron. In “Audio Decameron,” we’ll explore Florence and Fiesole through a series of storytelling challenges rooted in the sonic environments of this place. How might the sounds of the streets, markets, gardens and chapels have reverberated in the minds of artists through the centuries? Like Boccaccio’s storytellers, students will be challenged throughout the semester to rely upon their wit, and their ears, as they work together to create a growing series of short, vivid, sound-rich stories. These stories will be delivered live in class over soundscapes that students find and record locally. Required weekly readings include selections from Boccaccio (1353), The Decameron Project: 29 New Stories from the Pandemic (2020), and writers who worked here in the intervening centuries. This course is taught by the Fall 2024 faculty in residence.

This course explores one of the most vital periods of music and dance in America through a combination of sociohistorical context and musico-choreographic analysis. Ballet, modern dance, theatrical dance, dance in the movies, and social dance were all undergoing great change as well as burgeoning popularity; and there was significant overlap between types that are today considered quite distinct. Ballet pioneer George Balanchine and modern dance choreographer Agnes de Mille not only innovated within "serious" theatrical dance but also made dances for Broadway and the movies; Fred Astaire brought social dance to a highly polished theatrical level with both his sister Adele and Ginger Rogers; football and hockey player Gene Kelly turned down a position with the Ballets Russes and went on to revolutionize dance on film; tap dance was, like rock and roll, an product of American racial interaction. Evolving conceptions of identity, including gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality, were reflected through movement in ways that words and still image could not express. This was also a period in which social dancing was a major shaping force of popular culture, from the swing of the 1930s through the jive of the 1940s and a string of Latin dance crazes, culminating in perhaps the greatest dance revolution of the century, the Twist. Other key figures include Martha Graham, Bill Robinson, Shirley Temple, Sonja Henie, the Nicholas Brothers, Eleanor Powell, Alvin Ailey, Bob Fosse, Carol Haney, and composers Aaron Copland, Richard Rodgers, and Elliott Carter.

Documentary films about music now comprise a vast and established category of filmmaking, but they are rarely considered as a coherent genre. Concert films, portraits of musicians, visualizations of sound, and documents of musical happenings all heighten our attention to sound and offer us an ideal space to reflect on the relationship between sound and image in film. How does sound alter our visual perception of the moving image? How does the image make us listen differently? What is the historical trajectory of presenting sound in documentaries, and what does that tell us about potential future approaches? This course aims to identify characteristics, themes, representations, histories, and narratives of the music documentary. The classes are split between a film studies seminar on musicological perspectives, including critical viewings of seminal films, and a workshop in which we produce our own short films about music. Readings will help to connect the films and filmmakers to critical issues in music and film to develop an understanding of distinct filmmaking philosophies. We will study practical filmmaking techniques, and screenings of our works-in-progress will develop a collaborative community through productive critique.

In this class, you will develop fluency in sound design, music production and audio storytelling through the foundational skills of listening, recording, editing and mixing. You will also work toward developing your own aesthetic philosophy as an experimental audio producer by learning about the practice of musicians, sound artists and scholars whose work stages experiments that challenge dominant social structures. These artist/scholars – including George Lewis, Milford Graves, Pauline Oliveros, Molly Joyce, Hildegard Westerkamp, Annea Lockwood, Ernst Karel and others - work at the nexus of musical practices such as Improvisation and Experimental Composition and fields of inquiry such as Feminism, Disability Studies, African American Studies and Anthropology. Drawing from work by poets and fiction writers that produce podcasts, and/or audio fiction, you will also learn about recent theoretical and practical applications for disrupting the conventional audio storytelling narrative structure. Through this combination of technical training and aesthetic inquiry, you will gain a framework for creating your own experimental audio production workflow. You will walk away from the course with a series of episodic or site-specific content such as: a podcast series, a site-specific sound installation event or proposal, a series of scored film clips, a series of songs, or a series of spatial audio pieces.

Given the exceptional historical moment, the fall 2020 online version of Sound in Social Life will have a special emphasis on the relationship between sound, racial justice, and health. The goal of this interdisciplinary course is to provide students with a set of tools to think critically about the sonic dimensions of social life. Towards this end, students will produce both academic writing and recorded sound. Skills gained include an introductory reading and writing fluency in a set of academic disciplines including cultural anthropology, ethnomusicology, sound studies, and social history. Students will also gain listening and production skills in various domains of the creative arts such as audio documentary, podcasting, sound art installations, sound design (including for film), noise, ambient and Electronic music. In addition to reading, writing, listening, and audio production assignments; as well as synchronous and asynchronous seminar discussions; the online version of this course will incorporate off-screen activities such as sound walks and maintaining a hand written listening journal.

In the course Music & the Brain, we will explore the field of music neuroscience from various scientific perspectives, including evolutionary, developmental, neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and therapeutic fields. We will address major thematic questions, such as, Why did humans evolve to be musical? How do musical skills develop in infancy? What factors influence music perception and performance? Where in the brain do we process music? How does music improve attention, self-control, and even empathy? What can go wrong in the musical brain? And why does music heal? Students will read and critique scientific articles and work in groups to present a science-art project they choose. At the end of the course, students will be able to explain what it means to take a scientific approach to studying the musical brain and how that approach can inform and support the performing arts, music education, and music arts in therapeutic settings.

This course is cross-listed with HIST 2815: Jazz and Civil Rights

Social media platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter/X, and others) have become primary sites for discovering, circulating, and interacting with music. This course examines how platform affordances, algorithms, fan practices, creator labor, and industrial actors shape what music people hear, how they share it, and the cultural meanings that emerge around songs and artists. We'll combine social theory, platform studies, music industry perspectives, and hands-on analysis of viral music moments.

Social media platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter/X, and others) have become primary sites for discovering, circulating, and interacting with music. This course examines how platform affordances, algorithms, artificial intelligence, fan practices, creator labor, industrial actors, and digital policies shape what music people hear, how they share it, and the cultural meanings that emerge around songs and artists. We'll combine social theory, platform studies, music industry perspectives, policy analysis, and hands-on analysis of viral music moments.

Music Composition Tutorial. Must be an AMMC Major.

This course explores a broad range of conceptual frameworks, historical scenes, and methodological approaches to the relationship between music and law. While commonly assumed to be separate domains that only collide in matters of copyright, the relationship between music, sound, and law is a complex and multivalent one. In this course we will develop a critical vocabulary for understanding key debates in both music/sound studies and critical legal studies. We then apply these concepts to a wide range of case studies in which “law,” broadly conceived, interacts with music and sound in some way. Key areas of inquiry will include: copyright law, noise ordinances, urban space, Indigenous epistemologies of law, surveillance/privacy law, and musicians’ labor struggles.

This course considers the complex and contradictory ways that capitalism has impacted (or failed to impact) music making over the past five centuries. We will investigate the relationship between music and political economy from a range of different vantage points: first, from a historical perspective, examining how the development of the capitalist world system changed how music was thought about, made, circulated, bought and sold, and how historical developments in global economy have impacted subsequent modes of musical life. We will then take a critical perspective, engaging with 20th- and 21st-century critical theory on music and art in capitalist society. Finally, we will engage in a close analysis of some of the major contemporary institutional and infrastructural forces that shape how music is made, consumed, and circulated today (e.g., Spotify and other DSPs, record labels, digital audio software, concert halls, and more).

In 1934, the singer Lead Belly left prison and became a famous recording artist, often performing dressed in his prison stripes. What was it about the association between music and prison that drew listeners? Today, many inmates participate in music programs and practice countless hours in the hopes of becoming successful musicians themselves. Does music change when associated with the prison experience? This course presents a wide history of music in American prisons from the early 1900s to today. We will explore the subject from many perspectives: the prisoner's, the folk music scholar’s, the politician’s, the activist’s, and even the Hollywood film producer’s, analyzing within the cultural and political context of their time. This is accomplished through discussions of critical readings and primary sources. In the end, we will come to a deeper understanding of what music can do and mean in prison.

This course will examine history of American Music on Stage and Screen (be completed later)

Throughout each era of Western music history, composers have created music meant to accompany and/or depict the soul's journey into eternal life. In this course, we will review several musical settings of the Requiem Mass from medieval to modern times. Beginning with an examination of the proper texts of the Requiem Mass set during the early centuries of the Catholic Church, students will understand the liturgical basis for the Requiem and how its components were expressed through Gregorian Chant and complex polyphonic Renaissance works. Later, students will explore the evolution of the Requiem from the church to the concert hall. Emphasis will be directed towards understanding how composers set distinctive texts of the Requiem to music in relation to their personal view of religion. The course will end with a survey of modern expressionistic and reactionary liturgical and concert settings of the Requiem. Students will leave the course with a firm grasp on the progression of Requiem works and how the genre's evolution accompanied contemporary attitudes and theologies of death.

Like our other upper level seminars, it satisfies major/minor. Whatever is on the old 328 section can apply to this. Course Description: This seminar on the work of lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim will examine a range of his musical plays, particularly in relation to other theatrical traditions (New Comedy, revue, burlesque, Grand Guignol, Kabuki theatre) and other media, such as film and television. We will also place Sondheim's work alongside his younger contemporary Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Wicked), whose career and compositional processes demonstrate considerable parallels with Sondheim's as well as some illustrative counterpoints.

This seminar delves into the intersection of music and politics, exploring how songs have been used as powerful tools within political movements and campaigns in the United States of America. From anthems that rally supporters to protest songs that challenge authority, music has significantly shaped political discourse and mobilized political movements. Students will explore the evolution of music’s role in American politics by analyzing musical materials and performative elements, textual and lyrical content, and socio-cultural impact. As a listening-intensive course, students will develop critical listening skills to engage in class discussions and written responses. By the end of the course, students will gain insights into the role of music in shaping political identities, ideologies, and narratives.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping our understanding of music and human creativity. This seminar explores this dynamic intersection through critical analysis, practical engagement, and theoretical inquiry. Students will immerse themselves in AI's influence on music creation and its broader implications on the concept of artistry. Students will explore how AI-generated music impacts industry standards, challenges existing regulations, and influences cultural perceptions of what is considered “authentic" music. By engaging with AI as both a tool and a collaborator, students will investigate how AI challenges traditional notions of musical creativity and human agency. Additionally, we will explore how music—both created by and about AI—serves as a tool for understanding and experiencing our evolving relationship with technology. We will explore the aesthetics of AI-generated music, examining how it provides new emotional insights and redefines our interaction with technology. Through analyzing contemporary art and popular music using advanced tools, students will gain a nuanced perspective on AI’s role in shaping music, its impact on intellectual property, and its broader effects on the music industry and cultural values.

How are gender dynamics woven into, contested, or reinforced within the music-making and consumption practices of societies and/or communities around the globe? This inquiry has been a subject of analysis in music and performance studies since the 1980s, marked by the infiltration of gender and queer theory into these fields. Scholars have delved into examining gender power dynamics in the consumption and production of music across cultures, musical genres, and aesthetic frameworks. Their exploration has intersected with studies of gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, age, religion, and disability. Focusing on recent scholarship that tackles the ongoing social transformations of how gender is performed and experienced, globally, we will ask: In what ways has this transformation influenced the emergence of novel global musical genres and scenes? What role do artists and creators play in contributing to these transformative changes? With these questions in mind, this course will explore the historical and contemporary approaches to studying gender and music, focusing on literature in ethnomusicology and popular music studies. It will engage artists, musical traditions, genres, institutions, and audiences that inform local and global gender politics with a special emphasis on women's roles.

This course places emphasis on an historical understanding of opera, a specific repertoire of works (primarily from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries) and representative genres of the tradition. We will emphasize critical listening and interpretative skills, focusing on specific acts and scenes (not complete works) to demonstrate characteristic musical (solo soliloquies and ensembles), dramatic (character development and theatrical topoi) and sociological aspects (specific sources, etc.) of the operas under examination. Contextual issues such as operatic production, the role of singers, the dissemination of compositions, and the relationship between composer and playwright/librettist will also be areas of discussion. X-List: Journalism, Comparative Literature, Theater and Performance Studies.

Music in the Classical Period focuses on European music and culture of the long eighteenth century (1690–1810). It takes the shape of a broad study covering musicians (some known, many not), politics, society, and significant cultural issues such as revolution, colonization, the global economy, enslavement, and literary traditions. The course is designed to help students develop critical listening skills of eighteenth-century music, the ability to write about the repertoire and to evaluate historical sources and narratives. Orchestral, chamber, and vocal genres (opera, the symphony, string quartet, concerto, and sonata, among others) will be studied and form the basis for discussion and analytical investigation. The course also examines diverse perspectives on music and music-making as expressions of socio-cultural and political contexts within the musical capitals of Western Europe. Representative musicians include J.C. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Johann Stamitz, Ignatius Sancho, Joseph Bologne, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.

This course focuses on the Romantic Period spanning the "long" nineteenth-century in European music, culture, and society. The content will investigate representative composers and their principal compositions including Beethoven, Berlioz, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Verdi and Wagner among others. We will also examine characteristic musical genres such as the symphony, string quartet, sonata, lied, tone poem, opera, and concerto. Varied sources including scholarly essays, historical readings and music will be incorporated in the course outline.

Music and Modernism offers a broad overview of artistic traditions that emerged during the European fin-de-siecle (especially in the capitals of Vienna and Paris) and continuing throughout the 20th century. Music is studied as the central discipline of a far-reaching modern aesthetic, while also focusing on its broader connections to the visual arts, literature, poetry, dance, technology, mixed media and even contemporary sciences (psychology in particular). Students explore how diverse cultures interpreted modernism and engage with a broad range of ideas, philosophies, and materials for creation and experience of modern music. A central goal of the course is to develop engaged listeners and critical thinkers about unfamiliar, often challenging music and related trends in the humanities.

As an introduction to the history of film music, this course will explore the diverse relationships between image, sound, and music in film and examine the craft of soundtrack design, particularly in the interactions between music, sound effects, and dialogue. This class will also study the historical reasons why composers have used different styles of music in their film scores.

This experiential course investigates the interconnections between sound ecology, environmental field recording, and experimental music practice. Students will explore how acoustic ecosystems shape our understanding of place while developing creative approaches to sound documentation and composition. The course combines historical study of experimental music - from musique concrète through John Cage, David Tudor, and contemporary sound artists - with an introduction to the emerging field of sound ecology. Students will engage with R. Murray Schafer's foundational work on acoustic environments while examining current research in sound preservation and acoustic habitat protection.Through hands-on workshops, students will master field recording techniques, sound manipulation methods, and composition approaches. Regular recording expeditions and listening sessions will develop critical awareness of both natural and human-made soundscapes. Technical sessions will cover professional recording equipment, acoustic measurement tools, and both analog and digital sound processing. The course culminates in a final sound piece demonstrating engagement with sound ecological principles while exploring experimental music approaches. This work will be accompanied by documentation of recording sites, methodology, and creative process. No prior musical training is required, though students should be prepared to engage with both technical and conceptual aspects of sound ecology and experimental practice.

The guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments, adaptable to a wide range of styles and filling a variety of roles. A few composers have recognized this flexibility and have created large guitar orchestra or chamber works with not only different types of guitars, but also with a variety of players, and bringing rock, jazz and folk techniques into art music. This seminar/workshop will examine a range of art music works for guitars by learning to play existing ensemble works and by writing new music for the class ensemble that expands or challenges these works. Compositions may involve improvisation, prepared guitar, or new playing techniques. Through composition, you will develop a working music theory for the instrument. While the class will help develop reading skills on the instrument, some degree of reading standard notation and/or tablature is required.

This is an advanced music course designed for students interested in orchestral conducting. Our focus rests on a practical study of the analytical techniques and skills involved in the conducting of select instrumental scores, representing diverse styles, compositional methods, and composers. Students will develop a critical methodological approach (based on the teaching of Sergiu Celibidache) involving analysis, research, interpretation, and performance.

In this dynamic seminar, you’ll discover the variety of America’s musical landscapes by exploring music and culture, immersing yourself in ethnographies, uncovering untold stories, and creating your own sonic narrative. We will engage how music relates to broader social, political, and cultural issues through careful reading and critical discussion of book-length ethnography. We will examine how ethnographers study American musical cultures by evaluating each book’s questions, methods, theories, and technical elements, such as prose style and organization. The subjects of these books range from art to folk to popular to underground music. An emphasis on recently published works will introduce current issues and topics in the field. Students will work on their own ethnographic projects throughout the semester, conducting interviews, making field recordings, attending performances, and possibly even learning musical traditions.

This class will explore the intersections between music, journalism, and the connectivity of the two fields of study.

Igor Stravinsky was one of the most successful and influential composers of the 20th century and the most significant part of his output was in music for dance. His involvement with the Ballets Russes in Paris from 1909 to 1929 and his nearly fifty years of collaboration with the choreographer George Balanchine put him at the center of the dance world in an era where dance was the center of the art world, involving most of the great visual, theatrical, and musical artists of the century. This course will examine key works from The Firebird (1910), his inaugural work for the Ballets Russes, to Violin Concerto, choreographed by George Balanchine for the New York City Ballet’s massive Stravinsky Festival of 1972 in memory of the composer, and will include multiple versions of ballets like The Rite of Spring, Les Noces, and Pulcinella. We will approach each work as a collaboration, involving music, choreography, design, performance, and cultural history. Readings will complement listening, viewing, and discussion, and will include philosophy, art history, and anthropology as well as music and dance. Students will design their own projects throughout the course, building a portfolio suited to their interests but also stretching their boundaries (for instance, music students will have to come to grips with visual sources, and students without musical training will explore other ways of dealing with sound structures.). Pre-requisites: MUSC-114 or MUSC-141 or permission of instructor.

This course offers an interdisciplinary exploration of how music functions as a dynamic cultural force. It integrates insights from ethnomusicology, cultural studies, urban planning, public policy, and community development to examine how music shapes everyday life, contributes to social and cultural networks, and responds to various policy and advocacy efforts. Students will explore the effects of zoning laws, noise ordinances, and arts funding on the sustainability of musical cultures and the pivotal role of community music programs in fostering cultural equity and social cohesion. The course takes advantage of Georgetown's strategic location in Washington, DC, offering students direct engagement with local music scenes, policymakers, and cultural institutions. Key topics include music's role in urban community building and its impact on cultural and social identities, strategies for using music for advocacy, social change, and community development, and ethical considerations in cultural representation and the deployment of music in public policy initiatives. Through lectures, guest speakers, case studies, and field experiences, students will gain an understanding of the intersections between music, culture, and policy.

Music is rarely encountered as a “pure” event, apart from other stimuli: the simple act of listening to a recording is situated in a physical and social space, even if it’s “just” your car or bedroom. This course will be an introduction to techniques for the studying of music as a recorded event, with other aural media (radio, podcasting, audiobook), with a visual component (concert performance), or as part of a multimedia event (theatre, dance, film, television, advertisement, music video, video game).

Prerequisite: MUSC 1041 or permission from the instructor.

It’s no secret that for musicians, the world is moving faster than ever. Revenue streams continue to shift as new distribution platforms grow in popularity. Laws concerning copyright and public policy are in flux, and through it all, questions about AI and sustainability of our live music ecosystem persist. It’s never been more important for the music community to get engaged.That’s what this course is all about. Designed as a hands-on seminar for students either thinking about careers in the Music Industry or just interested in learning more about how the industry works, MUSC 461 uses the concept of music ecosystems to explore artist compensation, the role of music businesses and nonprofits, the impact of policy and public funding, and how we can best engage music fans to build a thriving future industry. This student-centered seminar utilizes lectures, guest speakers, readings, small group work, and student-led presentations to develop a full understanding of how the industry works. We lean in on each student's personal interests as a music fan and a scholar to model the interdisciplinary nature of the industry. Optional field trips provide direct access to area artists and venues. Students will leave the semester with a full understanding of how today's industry operates, their potential place in that industry, opportunities to build a more equitable and artist-centric music community, and how all of us can engage in that ongoing evolution.

Directed study on an individual research project in music history.

This course must be arranged in advance with instructor's approval or the director of the music program. Requires prerequisites appropriate to the course. See website for more explicit information. MUSC-460 can be taken only once.