MUS5531

This class defines rock and popular music broadly, and will cover many genres and styles from the 1960s to the present. While English-language music is a primary focus, international pop is covered and the independent study thereof is encouraged. Students will refine research skills through the study of academic scholarship in music theory and fields related and essential to research in popular music (musicology, cultural studies, gender/sexuality studies, critical race theory, etc.). Most assignments and reading will involve close analysis of particular songs and artists. Students will also hone aural skills through transcription work and performance/music making opportunities. The class is not guided by chronology, but instead by musical parameters as an analytical focus (e.g. timbre, form etc.). The semester closes with a final research project on a topic of the student's choice.

010691