Mus 81 Introduction to Music
Course Schedule

Click here for the course syllabus.
Click here for the supplemental listening list.
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Adjustments may be made, depending on class progress

Part I: Fundamentals and Non-Western Music

DateTopicReading dueListening due Terms FormsComposersInstruments
Jan 18 - Feb. 1Music Fundamentals Supplemental text Parts I, VI
Kerman Chapters 1-4		 See separate handout
Feb 3Sub-Saharan Africa Supplemental Text Part IISupplemental CD 1 tr 1-5; Kerman CD 1 tr 32, 33
Polyrhythm Responsorial form
Ostinato Alternation-playing
Mbira Kora
Feb 8 India Supplemental Text Part IIISupplemental CD 1 tr 6-9; Kerman CD 3 tr 28-29
Improvisation Raga
TalaAlap
Tambura Tabla
Sitar Vina/Bin
Basri
Feb 10ChinaSupplemental Text Part IV Supplemental CD 1 tr 10
Anhemitonic pentatonic modes
Guqin Zheng/koto
Xiao/shakuhachi Pipa/biwa
Feb 15Indonesia Supplemental Text Part VSupplemental CD 1 tr 11-16
Gamelan Colotomic structure
Balungan/core melodyRhythmic density
GongGender
Saron Rebab
Feb 17Exam 1; fundamentals assignment due

Part II: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Music

DateTopicReading dueListening due TermsFormsComposersInstruments
Feb 22Medieval Kerman chapter 5Kerman CD 1 tr 1-6; Supplemental CD 2 tr 1-5
Isorhythm Organum
Chant Counterpoint
Mass Troubador/ Trouvère
Estampie Motet
Canon
Perotin Guillaume de Machaut
Shawm Trumpet
Horn Rebec
Trombone/ sackbut
Feb. 24 - Mar. 1Renaissance Kerman chapter 6Kerman CD 1 tr 7-14; Supplemental CD 2 tr 6-8
MovementCantus firmus
Soprano Mezzo-soprano
Alto (contralto) Tenor
Baritone Bass
Madrigal Fantasia/Fantasy
Variation form
Guillaume Dufay Josquin des Prez
John Dunstable Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina
William ByrdGiovanni Gabrieli
Violin Viola
Cello Bass (Double bass)
Harpsichord Recorder
Vihuela/ Guitar Lute
Mar 3 - Mar 8Baroque Kerman chapter 7-10Kerman CD 1 tr 15-27; CD 2 tr 1-14
Basso continuoFigured bass
Terraced dynamicsGround
Sequence (melodic) Subject
Trio sonataConcerto grosso
Opera Dance suite
Recitative Aria
Cantata Passacaglia/ chaconne
Chorale preludePrelude
OvertureOratorio
FugueBallet
Claudio Monteverdi Arcangelo Corelli
Henry Purcell Jean Philippe Rameau
Antonio Vivaldi Johann Sebastian Bach
George Frideric Handel
Viol family Oboe (English horn)
Flute (piccolo) Bassoon (contrabassoon)
Timpani
Mar 8First 2 concert reports due
Mar 15-17Spring break
Mar. 22Exam 2

Part III: Classical and Romantic Music

DateTopicReading dueListening due TermsFormsComposersInstruments
Mar. 24-29Classical Kerman chapter 11-13Kerman CD 2 tr 15-41
Style galant Exposition
DevelopmentRecapitulation
Coda Cadenza
Crescendo/ Decrescendo
Symphony String quartet
Sonata Rondo
Piano trioDivertimento
Sonata-Allegro form Concerto
Scherzo Minuet
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Franz Josef Haydn
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano (fortepiano) Clarinet (bass clarinet)
Valves Triangle
Snare drumBass drum
Cymbal
Mar. 31 - Apr. 7Romantic Kerman chapter 14-18Kerman CD 3 tr 6-25; CD 4 tr 1-35; CD 5 tr 1-24
Endless melodyImpressionism
ChromaticismLeitmotif
Nationalism
Character piece Etude
Tone poem Music drama
Nocturne Operetta
Lied/ Art song Song cycle
Franz Schubert Robert Schumann
Felix Mendelssohn Hector Berlioz
Frédéric Chopin Gioacchino Rossini
Franz Liszt Richard Wagner
Gustav Mahler Giuseppe Verdi
Johannes Brahms Antonin Dvorák
Piotor Ilyitch Tchaikovsky Richard Strauss
Claude Debussy
Tuba Harp
Celesta Glockenspiel
Apr 12Exam 3

Part IV: Music of Our Time

DateTopicReading dueListening due TermsFormsComposersInstruments
Apr 14 - Apr 21Modernist Kerman chapter 19-22Kerman CD 4 tr 36-37; CD 5 tr 25-43; CD 6 tr 1-29; Supplemental CD 2 tr 9-12
Twelve-tone method/ serialism Neo-classicism
ModernismChance music/aleatory
MicrotonalityExpressionism
Polytonality Atonality
Igor Stravinsky
Béla Bartók Arnold Schoenberg
Charles Ives Paul Hindemith
John Cage Pierre Boulez
Anton von Webern György Ligeti
Aaron Copland Dmitri Shostakovich
Marimba Chimes/ tubular bells
Mute
Apr 26 - Apr 28PostmodernKerman CD 6 tr 30; Supplemental CD 2 tr 13-16
Performance artMinimalism
New romanticismWorld music
Philip Glass Steve Reich
Laurie Anderson Lou Harrison
John Adams
MIDI Synthesizer
Sampler
May 2Presentation days - no class
May 5-6Senior finals - TBA
Last 2 concert reports due (seniors)
Monday May 9 2:00 PM
Final exam
Last 2 concert reports due