(Offered as THDA 354, FAMS 354 and MUSI 354) Building on the concepts learned in THDA 254/MUSI 254, this studio course further develops the student’s work in sound design through an intensive focus on hands-on practice. Students will participate as sound designers in the Amherst Theater & Dance production program, the Five-College production program, and in other collaborative sound design and compositional opportunities with filmmakers, visual artists, installation artists, game designers, and podcasters.

Members of the class will be assigned to chamber ensembles, mastering a range of repertory choices from the past and present. Ensembles will include both student and artist musicians, preparing works together for performance through class sessions and private coachings. Intensive class analysis will serve as the basis of musical expression and interpretation. This course is open to singers and instrumentalists. This course may be repeated.

Admission with consent of the instructor. Spring semester. Professor Schneider.

The writing of songs based upon a study of the works of past masters in a variety of styles, including rock, blues, American folksong, "shape note" music and more. A composition course with much individual attention. Significant class time will be spent discussing student compositions, with occasional meetings with the instructor outside of class hours. Two class meetings per week.

Requisite: Students should have some background in music performance, chords, or writing. Limited to 12 students. Spring semester. Professor Sawyer.

This course introduces students to current trends in improvisation-oriented electroacoustic performance. Using laptop computers in dynamic performance situations, we will develop techniques to generate sound and modify and enhance the sound of acoustic instruments. Hardware topics will include audio interfaces, cabling, mixing boards, MIDI controllers, microphone techniques, and networking. A wide variety of specialized software will be explored, including Max/MSP, Ableton Live, Reason, and others.

(Offered as THDA 255, ENGL 223, and MUSI 255) This studio course is designed as an interactive laboratory for dancers, composers, actors, writers/poets, vocalists, and sound artists to work together to create meaningful interactions between sound, movement, and text. Working individually and in collaborative groups, students will create original material in the various media and experiment with multiple ways to craft interesting exchanges and dialogues between word, sound, and movement or to create hybrid forms.

A continuation of MUSI 113, this course is designed to acquaint students with the theory and application of advanced techniques used in jazz improvisation. Work on a solo transcription will be a main focus throughout the semester. An end-of-semester performance of material(s) studied during the semester will be required of the class. A jazz-based ear-training section will be scheduled outside of the regular class times. Two class meetings per semester.

How does music’s harmonic language work? What principles influence harmonic choices in different styles of music, and what do Bach chorales, Adele’s music, and Broadway showtunes have in common? How do composers and musicians manage the intricate relationship between harmony and melody? In this course, we’ll develop a deeper understanding of conventions of tonal harmony in music from popular and classical traditions, among others.

(Offered as MUSI 227 and BLST 344 [US]) One of two courses that trace the development of jazz from its emergence in early 20th-century New Orleans to its profound impact on American culture. This course explores the emergence of bebop in the 1940s, the shift of jazz's relationship with American popular culture after World War II, and the dramatic pluralization of jazz practice after the 1950s. We will also look at the emergence of fusion and the jazz avant-garde of the 1960s and 1970s, and theorize the reformulation of "tradition" during the 1980s.

(Offered as MUSI 222 and EUST 222) One of three courses in which the development of Western music is studied in its cultural-historical context. Occasionally we will attend concerts in Amherst and elsewhere. Composers to be studied include Beethoven, Rossini, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi, Mussorgsky, and Brahms. Regular listening assignments will broaden the repertoire we encounter and include a wide sampling of Classical and Romantic music.