Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0198 - Round, Chase, and Catch: The Art and Fun of Performing and Writing Canons

"Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream." - the song that begins with this phrase is one of the most famous songs enjoyed by many as a canon. Canon involves multiple voices (instrumentalists as well as singers) that chase after each other and together weave out a harmony and a musical texture called polyphony. It is a fun communal music-making process with a wide variety of styles (and different names, e.g., round, catch, chase), and a long profound history. This class is designed to introduce the fascinating history and stories of various canons, from the very old to the very new, and the art (and fun!) of polyphonic music-making to anyone who is interested in communal music-making with little experience. Students read a wide variety of literature, listen to assigned musical examples, and participate in the analysis of each canon they learn to sing. They also learn some simple techniques to write their own canons. Musicians of ALL levels are welcome. Keywords: music, performance, community, singing

Students in this course should expect to spend 8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.