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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
- Primary Instructor
- Cole
- 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
- Rovan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
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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
- Primary Instructor
- Cole
- 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
- Rovan
- Schedule Code
- I: Independent Study/Research
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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
- 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
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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
- 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
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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
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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
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Orchestra
See Orchestra (MUSC 0610) for course description.
In order to comply with Brown’s guidelines on in-person gatherings, this semester Orchestra will be split into two chamber orchestra cohorts (19 students maximum per group, strings and percussion only). Each cohort will have one 80-minute in-person rehearsal per week, and additional repertoire study will take place online. Auditions will be held remotely during the first week of the semester; please prepare a 2-minute selection of your choice and the orchestral excerpt(s) for your instrument (to be distributed in early January). Harpists and percussionists who are interested in participating must contact Mark Seto (
[email protected]) by December 11, 2020, so that repertoire can be chosen accordingly.
- Primary Instructor
- Seto
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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.
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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.
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Old-Time String Band
See Old-Time String Band (MUSC 0670) for course description. Enrollment limited to 20 students.
- Primary Instructor
- Astrausky
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Chamber Music Performance
See Chamber Music Performance (MUSC 0680) for course description.
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Seminar in Electronic Music: Real-Time Systems
Seminar in Electronic Music is a study of music employing electronic media, including real-time digital signal processing, multimedia, and live performance. Technical aspects of the course focus on programming using Max/MSP to create interactive projects and algorithmic compositions. Permission of instructor required. Interested students must come to the first class. Preference will be given to students who have completed MUSC 0200.
Use the link below for the required entrance form questionnaire.
http://www.soundidea.org/music1210/MUSC1210-questionnaire.docx
- Primary Instructor
- Rovan
- Primary Instructor
- Rovan
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
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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
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Music and Mind
Explores music perception in terms of auditory and cognitive processes such as auditory perception, memory, and learning. Lectures, discussions, and demonstrations review and analyze a body of scientific research on the psychology of music. Problem sets and a collaborative laboratory project. Prerequisites: PY 1 (PSYC0010) and MU 1 (MUSC 0010) or permission of the instructor.
- Primary Instructor
- Perlman
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Seminar in Composition
This is a seminar-based course with a creative component focusing on specific compositional techniques such as writing transitions and motivic development, and writing for specific kinds of ensembles. These techniques are applicable to all kinds of music, from concert music to popular genres. The course will also address aesthetic issues, trends and influences and how they affect living composers’ individual voices. Besides studying notated repertoire from the concert tradition, we will also examine approaches to film scoring, improvisation, and environmental sound worlds outside of the traditional concert hall.
MUSC 0570 will count as a possible prerequisite that be used in place of MUSC 0560. If you're interested in this course and have taken MUSC 0570, please contact the instructor for an override code. If you have not taken the prerequisites, you can email the instructor for an
override code to see if this course is appropriate for you. It may be taken concurrently with MUSC 0560 or MUSC 0570.
- Primary Instructor
- Nathan
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Messiaen
Oliver Messiaen is one of the most influential and eclectic musicians of the 20th century, yet he remains a highly enigmatic figure. This seminar explores Messiaen’s life, theoretical writings, and above all his music. Critical listening and analysis will focus on Messiaen’s idiosyncratic harmonic and rhythmic language as well as performance practice issues. We will investigate Messiaen’s use of color, plainsong, “modes of limited transposition,” birdsong, serialism, and rhythm via representative works. We will also examine Messiaen’s formation and his legacy as teacher/composer/performer. Prerequisite MUSC 0560.
- Primary Instructor
- Steinbach
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Theory of Tonal Music II
See Theory Of Tonal Music (MUSC 0550) for course description. Prerequisite: MUSC 0550 or permission of the instructor.
- Primary Instructor
- Steinbach
- Primary Instructor
- Cole
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
- Primary Instructor
- Cole
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
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Jazz and Pop Harmony
For students with knowledge of rudiments of music, including scales, intervals, key signatures, rhythm and meter. Keyboard skills strongly recommended. Intensive study of chord scales, chord progressions, modulation, voice leading, melody writing, harmonization, reharmonization, chord symbols, and lead sheet construction. Lab sessions will focus on ear training, keyboard exercises, and sight singing. Emphasis will be on the vocabulary of jazz theory and the repertoire will be American popular song.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
- Primary Instructor
- Sanfilippo
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
- Primary Instructor
- Sanfilippo
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
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Advanced Musicianship II
Continuation of MUSC 1010. Prerequisite: MUSC 1010 or permission of the instructor.
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Seminar in Electronic Music: Recording Studio as Compositional Tool
A study of advanced studio techniques taught in parallel with topics in psychoacoustics. Students will create original studio work while developing listening and technical skills for audio production. Technical topics include recording, signal processing and mixing software, microphone technique, and live sound engineering. Class size is limited. Preference will be given to students who have completed MUSC 0200. Students will be evaluated for potential future work in the MEME program (Multimedia and Electronic Music Experiments) and past participation in MEME. Admission is determined by an entrance questionnaire completed at the first class meeting. Prerequisite: MUSC 0200
Application questionnaire can be filled out ahead of the first class at this link:
https://forms.gle/BQCcLkFoYXhb8GyZ6
- Primary Instructor
- Moses
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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.
Permission granted based on questionnaire given in first class. Preference given to lower-level students.
- Primary Instructor
- Seto
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Theory and Method in Ethnomusicology
This core seminar offers a graduate-level survey of the discipline of ethnomusicology and its history, building on previous coursework in ethnographic methods and the history of anthropological theory. Students will complete independent research projects as well as shorter assignments geared to professional development (e.g., exam field proposal, scholarly book review, historical investigation of the Society for Ethnomusicology). Prerequisites: MUSC 1900 and ANTH 2000 or instructor permission.
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Key Concepts in Sociocultural Theory
Ethnomusicology has always been interdisciplinary, and is becoming more so. The student today may encounter concepts from semiotics, linguistics, cultural studies, literary theory, political economy, sociology, cognitive psychology, media studies, sound studies, science and technology studies, organizational studies, and material culture studies, and other disciplines as well. We will examine some of the key concepts of these fields and consider their possible uses in the study of the performing arts. From ‘affordances’ to the ‘type/token distinction,’ from ‘actor-network theory’ to the ‘third-person effect,’ we will learn to apply (and criticize) concepts presupposed by much current socio-cultural theorizing.
- Primary Instructor
- Perlman
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Designing Large-Scale Projects
A production seminar designed for students to create a single, large project in Multimedia, Video, Performance and/or Electronic Music. The course covers planning and implementation strategies, including brainstorming sessions, visual storytelling, and sketching. Each project receives group feedback at several points in the process, such as initial proposals, prototype presentations and work-in-progress. The proposal includes an annotated bibliography of research materials that students present on in class. The course culminates a public presentation of the projects. The class is open to graduate students and seniors working on a capstone or thesis project. Permission will be granted after the first class.
Please contact the instructor before the first class begins to get a course override.
- Primary Instructor
- Winkler
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Tonal Counterpoint
The contrapuntal techniques of the 18th century with emphasis on music of Bach. Written exercises in and analysis of several genres including fugue. Prerequisite: MUSC 0560 or permission of instructor.
If you have not taken MUSC 0560 but still wish to be enrolled in this class, please reach out to the instructor.
- Primary Instructor
- Cheung
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Analog Practice
Analog sound is uniquely tactile, expressive, and flexible. Through a series of solo, collaborative, recorded, and live-performed projects, this class explores the practice of creating analog sound. We will use a wide array of modular and semi-modular analog synthesizers, including the rare ARP 2500. Beginning with broad concepts of voltage flow and modulation, we will expand into considering the unique affordances of various synths, addressing questions such as tone color, ease of sound production and variation, and conduciveness to combination with other sound sources. Interested students strongly recommended to attend first day; final class list determined by questionnaire.
This course will be taught Hybrid if possible, but depending on COVID status, the course may in fact be converted to fully Online. In either case but especially if fully online, support will be provided for remote gear/software/ recording work. Email
[email protected] with any questions.
- Primary Instructor
- Warren
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Studies in Electroacoustic Improvisation
According to Pauline Oliveros, “[i]n improvisation you can’t change your mind […] in composition you can.” This class integrates critical and creative approaches in order to develop individual and collective improvisation, a practice which values presence and listening over traditional accuracy. We will consider scholarship by prominent improvisers and undertake a variety of exercises to practice and improve at improvisation. As a class we will give several performances at Brown and in Providence over the course of the semester. Instrumental and/or music software experience preferred. Interested students strongly recommended to attend first day; final class list determined by questionnaire.
This course will be taught Hybrid if possible, but depending on COVID status, the course may in fact be converted to fully Online. In either case but especially if fully online, support will be provided for remote gear/software/recording work. Email
[email protected] with any questions.
- Primary Instructor
- Warren
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Seminar In Sonic Practice
This studio and seminar course provides an exploration of contemporary sonic practice, facilitates the development of sound-based creative work, and encourages a critical approach to producing work in the field. Through discussion, reading, listening exercises, independent research, creative production and critiques, we will examine a number of intersecting areas of sonic practice including sound as a cultural, environmental, and artistic medium, phonography, sound installation, mobile audio, noise as strategy and material, linguistic and other sonic narrative structures. Students will develop sound-based pieces individually and in groups which function as creative research into the subjects areas of the course.
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Music in China Since 1900
From the early 20th century until now, war, political movements, ideological and cultural shifts, and later economic booms have dramatically impacted music and musical life in China. This course examines various genres of music in China, both native and imported, including traditional instrumental music, propaganda songs, opera, ballet, standard and contemporary classical music, pop music, and communal activities like amateur choruses and calisthenics. This course will exercise critical listening and thinking and comparative analysis skills, with a mix of source readings, recordings, and historical background. No background in music or Chinese history is required.
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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.
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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 placement exam will be given during the first class meeting of MUSC 0550. This exam will only be offered during the first class meeting. To place into MUSC 0550, you need to know key signatures, scales, intervals, and triads. Students taking this course are required to register for one of the MUSC 0550 labs.
- Primary Instructor
- Tan
- Primary Instructor
- Jiorle-Nagy
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
- Primary Instructor
- Jiorle-Nagy
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
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Black Protest Music (AFRI 1230)
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Jazz Band
See Jazz Band (MUSC 0630) for course description.
In Spring 2021, Jazz Band will not meet as a group because of health and safety protocols. Students enrolling in this course will be coached in small group jazz combos. Only non-wind and non-voice students can participate in in-person ensembles. It is also possible to do remote jazz combos.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
In Spring 2021, Jazz Band will not meet as a group because of health and safety protocols. Students enrolling in this course will be coached in small group jazz combos. Only non-wind and non-voice students can participate in in-person ensembles. It is also possible to do remote jazz combos.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
In Spring 2021, Jazz Band will not meet as a group because of health and safety protocols. Students enrolling in this course will be coached in small group jazz combos. Only non-wind and non-voice students can participate in in-person ensembles. It is also possible to do remote jazz combos.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
In Spring 2021, Jazz Band will not meet as a group because of health and safety protocols. Students enrolling in this course will be coached in small group jazz combos. Only non-wind and non-voice students can participate in in-person ensembles. It is also possible to do remote jazz combos.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
In Spring 2021, Jazz Band will not meet as a group because of health and safety protocols. Students enrolling in this course will be coached in small group jazz combos. Only non-wind and non-voice students can participate in in-person ensembles. It is also possible to do remote jazz combos.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
In Spring 2021, Jazz Band will not meet as a group because of health and safety protocols. Students enrolling in this course will be coached in small group jazz combos. Only non-wind and non-voice students can participate in in-person ensembles. It is also possible to do remote jazz combos.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
In Spring 2021, Jazz Band will not meet as a group because of health and safety protocols. Students enrolling in this course will be coached in small group jazz combos. Only non-wind and non-voice students can participate in in-person ensembles. It is also possible to do remote jazz combos.
- Primary Instructor
- Tomassi
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Enlightenment Utopias
This course delves into three musical works: Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, Haydn’s oratorio The Creation and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. In getting to know these works, we become familiar with late Enlightenment and early Romantic musical styles, genres, and aesthetics. Along the way, we will explore the emergence of the idea of art music and the birth of modern conceptions of musical “genius.” Also embedded in these works are late Enlightenment attitudes and ideas about race, equality, and inclusion, and so we will use these works to think about whom and what the canon of art music includes and excludes. Readings will include Schiller’s Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man, the musical criticism and the fiction of E. T. A. Hoffmann, and contemporary scholarship in music studies.
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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.
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Baroque and Classic Music
A history of music of the Baroque Era in European society from Monteverdi's opera to Bach and Handel studied through texts, scores, CDs, DVDs, and YouTube. We'll spend most of our time on these composers: Bach, Handel, Purcell, Monteverdi and Lully. Prerequisite: MUSC0550 or equivalent.
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On Songs and Songwriting
A study of the art and craft of song from the perspective of the listener, writer, and performer. Students will examine a large range of music, from the middle ages to the present. Topics include: song and memory; declamation and delivery; melody and harmony; rhyme and rhythm; phrasing and form. Emphasis will be on both creation and interpretation as students develop their personal approach to songwriting. Some prior knowledge of music desirable. Course will culminate in a presentation of original songs by students enrolled in the class. Enrollment by application and limited to 19. Application form link: http://www.soundidea.org/mu450/Music450-questionnaire.pdf
Application form link: http://www.soundidea.org/mu450/Music450-questionnaire.pdf
- Primary Instructor
- Rovan
- Primary Instructor
- Rovan
- Schedule Code
- L: Lab
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Music and Sports in Americas (LACA 1503S)
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Musical Youth Cultures (AMST 0170D)
