-
Applied Music Program: Instruction in Vocal or Instrumental Music - Voice
Half credit each semester. Restricted to skilled musicians. Openings are limited. Enrollment and re-enrollment is by audition and jury. Lessons are given by consultants to the Applied Music Program. A fee is charged for enrollment. Copies of the Applied Music Program Guidelines giving detailed information are available online at www.brown.edu/music. May be repeated up to four times for credit.
- Primary Instructor
- Jodry
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Finkel
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Plouffe
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Reddy
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Dolan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
-
Applied Music Program: Instruction in Vocal or Instrumental Music - Voice
Half credit each semester. Restricted to skilled musicians. Restricted to skilled musicians demonstrating mastery of an advanced repertory in their fields. Openings are limited. Enrollment and re-enrollment is by audition and jury. Lessons are given by consultants to the Applied Music Program. MUSC 0830, 0840 is prerequisite to this course. A fee is charged for enrollment. Copies of the Applied Music Program Guidelines giving detailed information are available online at www.brown.edu/music. Prerequisite: MUSC 0400, or MUSC 0550, MUSC 0560. Written permission required. May be repeated up to four times for credit.
- Primary Instructor
- Jodry
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Finkel
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Plouffe
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Reddy
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Dolan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
-
Individual Independent Study
Directed undergraduate research for advanced students. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Section numbers vary by instructor. Please check Banner for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course.
- Primary Instructor
- Warren
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Cheung
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Cole
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Obeng
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Perlman
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Seto
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Rovan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Nathan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Dolan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Winkler
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Moses
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Miller
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Tucker
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Steinbach
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Jodry
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Osborn
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Gooley
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Wang
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
-
Reading and Research
Directed graduate research. Section numbers vary by instructor. Please check Banner for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course.
- Primary Instructor
- Nathan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Wang
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Cole
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Osborn
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Obeng
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Perlman
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Greenlee
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Rovan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Warren
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Nathan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Dolan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Winkler
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Moses
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Miller
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Tucker
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Jodry
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Primary Instructor
- Gooley
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
-
Preliminary Examination Preparation
For graduate students who have met the tuition requirement and are paying the registration fee to continue active enrollment while preparing for a preliminary examination.
- Schedule Code
- E: Graduate Thesis Prep
-
Thesis Preparation
For graduate students who have met the residency requirement and are continuing research on a full time basis.
- Schedule Code
- E: Graduate Thesis Prep
-
Introduction to Composition
Composition students begin by using technical resources developed in their previous theoretical studies. Analysis and discussion of contemporary music provides examples of alternatives to traditional compositional strategies, which students integrate into later assignments. A study of contemporary notational practices and computer-based manuscripting and sequencing is also included. Prerequisite: MUSC 0560 or MUSC 0570 or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 20 students.
-
Theory of Tonal Music I
Intensive study of the building blocks of tonal music traditions including western and popular music with focus on melody, harmony, counterpoint, keyboard skills, ear training, sight-singing from musical notation, and composition. Prior keyboard experience helpful but not required. A required placement exam is administered at first class meeting. Students who do not have experience reading music notation should take MUSC 0400 prior to MUSC 0550. MUSC 0550 is a prerequisite to many music courses and is a requirement for the music concentration.
A required placement exam is administered at first class meeting only.
- Primary Instructor
- Steinbach
-
Composing and Improvising with Real-time Systems
This seminar will explore the use and creation of interactive computer music systems from the point of view of the performer/programmer. Using improvisation as a starting point, we will explore the aesthetics and philosophy of performance, designing real-time systems in MaxMSP that enhance the relation between action and event using network strategies.
-
Stephen Sondheim and the American Musical
This seminar considers the theater shows of Stephen Sondheim in relation to the history of the American musical. Through close study of selected scenes and shows, we examine how and why Sondheim and his collaborators “reinvented” the genre. Special emphasis will be given to Sondheim's critical skepticism concerning the myths, characters, and ethos of social optimism that have been central to the Broadway tradition. We examine links between the shows and post-WWII historical contexts, and consider the political implications of the circumscribed social universe—predominantly white, urban, and affluent—within which most of his shows take place.
-
Musical Performance: Theatricality, Body, and Spectacle
Explores the visual and theatrical dimensions of music performance--both recent and historical--through the analysis of live performances, video clips, and historical documents. Using the critical methods of performance studies, we seek to uncover those aspects of musical experience that have become transparent or normalized by their familiarity, and which are eluded by a traditional focus on music as "sound alone." We concentrate on five genres--rock, classical, pop, jazz, and experimental--and consider figures such as Arturo Toscanini, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Pauline Oliveros, John Zorn, Diamanda Galás, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Enrollment limited to 24. First year students require instructor permission.
-
Seminar in Ethnomusicology: Historiography of Music and the Performing Arts
This course introduces some of the most important directions, trends, and methodologies in current musicological scholarship. Most-- but not all-- readings are drawn from the last ten years. Weekly topics include: bodies and voices, disciplinarily, text and event, sound studies, materiality and technology, race and identity, mediation and networks. The workload is focused on weekly reading and small writing assignments. This course is open to undergraduates with permission.
-
Rap as Storytelling
This is a weekly production seminar in which students will explore various aspects of hip hop songwriting from the perspective that rap verses can constitute compelling stories. Over the course of the semester we will examine several different storytelling approaches, song structures, and techniques through deep listening sessions, class discussions, and lectures from a range of invited guests. Students will be expected to record verses or parts of verses as part of their weekly writing assignments as well as perform prepared material for their classmates at three points during the semester.
- Primary Instructor
- Lumumba-Kasongo
-
Digital Performance
A production seminar examining the artistic impact and creative potential of digital media in the context of live performance. Readings and analysis of work examine innovations in performance practice from dance, theatre, performance art and music. Collaborative assignments investigate video projection, sound design and interactive sensor technology, culminating in a final large-scale performance. Permission will be granted based upon a questionnaire given in the first class.
Preference given to seniors and graduate students. Admission to the class will be based on a questionnaire handed out during the first class.
- Primary Instructor
- Winkler
-
Computers and Music
Examine the history, literature, production and theory of music technology. Track development of musical inventions and their impact on musical thought, production and culture. Develop theoretical and practical knowledge of computer music based on first-hand experience in the Multimedia Lab, using computer music software and hardware to complete creative assignments. Gain an appreciation for the pioneering work done in previous decades, both in research and composition. Become familiar with the literature of electronic music and learn about the impact of technology on popular and experimental genres. Permission granted based on questionnaire given in first class. Preference given to lower-level students.
Please note that the primary course section will be remote, but the labs will be held in person on campus.
- Primary Instructor
- Winkler
- Primary Instructor
- Jones
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
- Primary Instructor
- Jones
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
- Primary Instructor
- Jones
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
- Primary Instructor
- Krishnaswami
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
- Primary Instructor
- Krishnaswami
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
- Primary Instructor
- Krishnaswami
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
-
Score Reading and Conducting
The art of reading, analyzing, and conducting a musical score. Studies in clef reading, transposition, ear-training, and structural analysis to develop the skills needed for full comprehension of an orchestral score. Introduces the theory and technique of conducting with practice in the art of physical gesture. Selected repertoire from the Baroque through contemporary periods are studied and conducted in class. Prerequisite: MUSC 0550 or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit.
Permission will be granted based on survey administered in the first meeting.
- Primary Instructor
- Seto
-
Orchestra
Half credit each semester. A practical study of the orchestra repertory from Bach to the present, offered through coaching, rehearsals, and performances. Enrollment is by audition. Students will be notified of audition results within the first seven days of the semester. Restricted to skilled instrumentalists. May be repeated for credit.
-
Jazz Band
Half credit each semester. A practical study of jazz from the 1920s to the present through coaching, rehearsals, and performance. Seminars on arranging, ear training, and improvisation are conducted for interested students but the focus is on performance. Enrollment is by audition. Restricted to skilled instrumentalists and vocalists. Instructor permission required.
Auditions for new students will be held at the beginning of the semester. Dates will be added and advertised in August.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
Auditions for new students will be held at the beginning of the semester. Dates will be added and advertised in August.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
Auditions for new students will be held at the beginning of the semester. Dates will be added and advertised in August.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
Auditions for new students will be held at the beginning of the semester. Dates will be added and advertised in August.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
Auditions for new students will be held at the beginning of the semester. Dates will be added and advertised in August.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
Auditions for new students will be held at the beginning of the semester. Dates will be added and advertised in August.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
Auditions for new students will be held at the beginning of the semester. Dates will be added and advertised in August.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
-
Asian Musical Modernisms
This course examines the currents and currency of modernist musical movements – with their networks of composers, performers, producers, scholars, and audiences – as circulated between primarily western concert music and various Asian artistic and spiritual traditions. We will look at encounters in the west such as Debussy and gamelan and America’s “experimental music” tradition (e.g. Cage and Zen, minimalism and Indian classical music), as well as Asian musicians across diverse regions and backgrounds who have adapted modernist aesthetics, often doubly reflected through their own cultural identities. Throughout, we will ask what has modernism’s project meant in the wake of globalism, interculturality, and postcolonialism, and has it allowed for transnational, hybrid identities?
Interested undergraduates should contact Professor Cheung for an override.
- Primary Instructor
- Cheung
-
Introduction to Music Theory
An introduction to musical terms, elements, and techniques. Topics include notation, rhythm and meter, intervals, scales, chords, melody writing, harmonization, and form. Students will develop their musicianship skills, including sight-singing and keyboard, in labs which meet twice weekly. No prior musical experience is necessary. MUSC 0400A or 0400B may fulfill part of the theory requirement for the music concentration. Enrollment limited to 40. Permission granted based on questionnaire given in first class. Preference given to lower-level students.
-
Ghanaian Drumming and Dancing Ensemble
A dynamic introductory course on drumming, dancing, and singing of Ghana and the diaspora. Students learn to perform diverse types of African music, including Ewe, Akan, Ga, and Dagomba pieces on drums, bells, and shakers. No prerequisites. May be repeated for credit. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission required.
Beginners welcome. Come to first day of class, where more instructions will be given.
- Primary Instructor
- Obeng
- Primary Instructor
- Obeng
- Schedule Code
- C: Discussion Section/Conference
-
World Music Ensemble
This ensemble focuses on global percussive and song traditions, especially those of the African diaspora (based on instructor's vast musical experiences). Here western instrumentalists fuse with traditional musicians from every culture: bongo, gyil, ukulele, tabla, etc. Students will grow and develop their musical skills by learning new techniques on their own instrument, exploring a range of repertoire representing genres such as highlife, reggae, salsa, afrobeat, Afro-jazz, and global fusions. There will be unique opportunities to work on improvisation taking influence from Steve Reich, Tito Puente, Randy Weston, Hugh Masekela, Paul Simon, Miriam Makeba, Ghanaba, and Milton Nasimiento.
- Primary Instructor
- Obeng
- Schedule Code
- C: Discussion Section/Conference
-
Advanced Ghanaian Drumming and Dancing Ensemble
Students with experience in African and related musical traditions perform drumming, dancing, and singing of Ghana and the diaspora. Focus on a more challenging repertoire with emphasis on multi-part, lead, and improvisational playing. Prerequisite: audition. May be repeatable for credit. Instructor permission required. Enrollment limited to 15 students.
- Primary Instructor
- Obeng
- Schedule Code
- C: Discussion Section/Conference
-
Medieval and Renaissance Music
Western Music 1000-1700
Topics addressed - among many others!
How was music notated before the staff was invented? What repertoire developed when Notre Dame was built- 1099? What did the Crusaders sing? What is Polyphony? What was sung for the dedication of the Florence Duomo in 1440? How did the rise of printing change music? What music drove the Pilgrims to distraction? What did Bach hear as a child? Why did Opera develop, and what sort of music was written for its first 100 years? A few of the composers studied: Hildegard, Machaut, Dufay, Josquin, Palestrina, Byrd, Gesualdo, Schütz, Purcell, and Monteverdi.
-
Popular Music and Society in Latin America
This course examines how Latin American musics shape, and are shaped by, their social environment and the political histories of their homelands. Focusing especially on Cuban and Andean styles, it explores the way that sounds connect with the lived experiences of local audiences, the artistic and political goals that have motivated key performers, and the effect of their actions on broader social debates. Issues covered include the relationship between music, race, and national identity; sound as a medium for social politics; the roles of industrialization, migration, urbanization, and media dissemination in driving musical change. Enrollment limited to 19 first year students.
-
Sound Design - Synthesis and Spatialization
Sound synthesis and spatialization techniques are fundamental to the history and contemporary practice of electronic and computer music. Music 1255 will examine synthesis techniques from the discipline’s analog history through the latest software innovations. Through focused study of synthesis and spatialization technologies, MUSC1255 will explore sonic timbre and space as compositional materials. Students will gain fundamental understanding needed to successfully design original sounds in the many variations of software and hardware interfaces that exist. Spatialization techniques for working on a variety of systems - from binaural processing on headphones to concepts for working on multichannel systems - will be studied and explored for their musical and compositional value.
Class size is limited. Preference will be given to students who have successfully completed other advanced electronic/computer music and music production courses.
-
Chorus
Half credit each semester. A practical study of choral literature, techniques, and performance practice from Gregorian chant to the present, offered through rehearsals, sectionals, and performance. Enrollment is by audition, based on voice quality, experience, and music-reading ability. Instructor permission required.
-
Music and Identity
From 19th-century European nationalism to 20th-century American multiculturalism, people have used music to affirm their identities. Drawing on anthropological and sociological theory, we examine the variety of connections between music and identity in several case studies. We consider the possible contributions of music to cross- cultural understanding, and discuss the ethics of musical border- crossing.
- Primary Instructor
- Perlman
-
Old-Time String Band
Half course each semester. Instruction and ensemble playing. Music taught by ear. American (southern Appalachian Mountain) traditional music on violin (fiddle), 5-string banjo, mandolin, and guitar. Enrollment limited to 20 students.
Instructors will hold 15 minute individual Zoom meetings the first week of classes to explain the class to new students. When you send the request for the override, you'll get an email about this.
- Primary Instructor
- Astrausky
-
Introduction to Popular Music Theory and Songwriting
An introduction to musical terms, elements, and techniques, with an emphasis on how they apply to Western popular music. Topics include notation, rhythm and meter, intervals, scales, chords, melody writing, harmonization, and form. Students will develop their musicianship skills, including sight-singing and keyboard, in labs which meet twice weekly. No prior musical experience is necessary. MUSC 0400A or MUSC 0400B may fulfill part of the theory requirement for the music concentration. Enrollment limited to 40. Permission granted based on questionnaire given in first class. Preference given to lower-level students.
Enrollment limited to 40. Permission granted based on questionnaire given in first class. Preference given to lower-level students.
- Primary Instructor
- Tan
- Primary Instructor
- Tan
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
- Primary Instructor
- Tan
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
- Primary Instructor
- Tan
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
-
Advanced Musicianship I
Training in advanced musicianship skills relevant to Western art music from the sixteenth Century to the present, including sight singing, ear training, score reading, keyboard harmony, improvisation, and musical transcription. Prerequisite: MUSC 0560 or MUSC 0570, or permission of the instructor.
-
Wind Symphony
Half credit each semester. A practical study of the wind band repertory from Mozart to the present, offered through coaching, rehearsals, and performances. Enrollment is by audition. Restricted to skilled instrumentalists. Instructor permission required.
- Primary Instructor
- Plouffe
-
Gospel Music from the Church to the Streets
Black gospel music has informed popular music artists including Beyoncé, Elvis, and Chance the Rapper. This course surveys African American gospel music as it is implemented for worship, evangelism, and popular consumption. Beyond analysis of key musical and lyrical characteristics of gospel, this class gives attention to the religious and sociocultural contexts that inform gospel composition and performance. Gospel music is integrally connected to the worship traditions of black American Pentecostals, Baptists, and Methodists. Consequently, this course is also a musical introduction to African American Christianity. Classes include interactive demonstrations in addition to discussion of audio/video recordings and required texts.
-
Critiquing the Canon: A De-Westernized History of Western Classical Music
What if a course on Western music history didn’t center a canon of mostly white, European men and their music? What if, instead, it asked hard questions about Western Europe’s artistic and cultural relationship to the rest of the globe? What sort of history might be told, for example, if one were to consider classical music in relation to over 500 years of imperialism and settler colonialism? In this seminar, students will broaden their knowledge of Western classical music history through a simultaneous examination of the “official” histories of Western classical music-- those which appear in university courses and textbooks throughout the United States-- and “unofficial” ones which offer a range of reclaimed, global, and decolonizing perspectives.
The seminar is designed for, but not exclusive to, upper-level (juniors and seniors) students with backgrounds in music, history, and/or performance. As such, prior knowledge of Western European classical music, theory, and history is welcomed, but not required.
- Primary Instructor
- Chapin
-
Four on the Floor: EDM in Practice and Culture
In this production-based course we will cover the histories, compositional techniques, and production styles of electronic dance music from the beginnings of Chicago house and NY garage in the early 1980s to the rise of dubstep during the late 1990s/early 2000s. Along the way we will explore later styles of house music such deep house and acid house, Detroit techno and its derivates – including minimal techno, dub techno and tech house – and breakbeat-based styles such as jungle, drum’n’bass, UK garage and 2-step. Students will learn the basics of producing in Ableton Live along the way, including recording audio and MIDI, sampling, creating and customizing software instruments, implementing filters and compressors, mixing, parameter automation, and using time-based effects such as reverb and delay. Classwork will be a mix of production-based and listening/reading/viewing assignments, leading up to a final production-based project.
-
Chamber Music Performance
Half credit each semester. The practical study of the literature of chamber music through participation in a small ensemble. Regular rehearsals, coaching by department staff, and performances are required. Enrollment is by audition. Students will be notified of audition results within the first ten days of the semester. Restricted to skilled instrumentalists. May be repeated for credit.
