Exploration and coaching of varied repertory for duos and small ensembles. May be repeated for credit. Open to instrumental students. Instructor permission required.

Offered as MUS 258 and ANT 258. This course analyzes cultural performances as sites for the expression and formation of social identity. Students study various performance genres such as rituals, festivals, parades, cultural shows, music, dance and theater. Topics include expressive culture as resistance; debates around authenticity and heritage; the performance of race, class and ethnic identities; the construction of national identity; and the effects of globalization on indigenous performances. Enrollment limited to 30.

In the last five decades, hip hop has become a dominant force in American and global popular music. Originating in the street culture of the Bronx in the 1970s, hip hop is a multifaceted cultural movement that has influenced almost all aspects of American culture. This course explores the musical expressions of hip hop, especially rap, within their cultural and historical contexts. Taking a largely chronological approach, this course focuses on the development and major trends in rap as they intersect with social and political movements at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Basic techniques of composition, including melody, simple two-part writing and instrumentation. Analysis of representative literature. No previous composition experience required. Prerequisite: MUS 110 or equivalent.

Offered as MUS 231 and THE 231. Music and theatre are both time-based arts that typically involve bodies in motion in front of an audience. Though they may be considered separate disciplines, the full extent of what they share often makes them wonderfully indistinguishable. This course probes the intersections of music and theatre through a historical survey of genres, works, artists, and practitioners.

In this course, students evaluate the assumptions and foundations of Western music theory, primarily under the critical guidance of feminist theory. Tonal theory is often a routine part of undergraduate music study. What are the goals and criteria of this kind of analysis? While critically examining Western music theory’s intellectual values, students develop approaches to analysis that are responsive, in a variety of ways, to queer, feminist and antiracist thought.

This course focuses on connecting music theory concepts to musical experience. Ever wondered why certain harmonies seem to grab you by the ears? How do chord progressions work? This course provides an introduction to diatonic harmony in a range of tonal styles, including classical music and popular music. Students learn to apply technical theory knowledge flexibly and creatively to analysis, composition, and performance. Discussions include harmonic function, voicing and voice leading, dissonance treatment, non-chord tones, texture, cadences, and phrase structure.

This course focuses on connecting music theory concepts to musical experience. Ever wondered why certain harmonies seem to grab you by the ears? How do chord progressions work? This course provides an introduction to diatonic harmony in a range of tonal styles, including classical music and popular music. Students learn to apply technical theory knowledge flexibly and creatively to analysis, composition, and performance. Discussions include harmonic function, voicing and voice leading, dissonance treatment, non-chord tones, texture, cadences, and phrase structure.

This course focuses on connecting music theory concepts to musical experience. Ever wondered why certain harmonies seem to grab you by the ears? How do chord progressions work? This course provides an introduction to diatonic harmony in a range of tonal styles, including classical music and popular music. Students learn to apply technical theory knowledge flexibly and creatively to analysis, composition, and performance. Discussions include harmonic function, voicing and voice leading, dissonance treatment, non-chord tones, texture, cadences, and phrase structure.