Music

This class introduces the history of jazz and increases one's understanding of and appreciation for jazz music. Jazz music has stylistically changed over the last 100 years; this course covers the history of jazz from the beginning of jazz to the present styles.

Those who are interested in jazz music and those learning how to play jazz will benefit from taking this course. 

The course Poetry and Pop Songs reads English and American poetry from the 20th and 21st centuries Works are unraveled from a variety of older and newer music artists, ranging for example from U2 and Coldplay to Rihanna and Pink.  Students learn how to interpret poetry and popular music in a systematic and sophisticated way, and to write an in-depth analysis of a song or poem. The focus is on the analysis of the lyrics or ‘text’ of the poems and songs by using insights and tools from literary theory to find out how (specific) poems work, which effects they evoke, and what they mean. Students also apply these tools to the analysis of song texts. The course focuses on contemporary popular music, which means including other genres than just conventional pop music, such as rap, hip-hop, and rock.

This course covers the recognition of instruments, traditional roles, ranges, and capabilities; the scoring for strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and voice; the history of the Western Orchestra; conducting and conductors; and orchestral techniques. Aspects covered include texture, intersectional blends, balance, influence of dynamics and selection of instruments. Selections covered include Baroque, classical, Romantic and 20th century models, and a critical review of ensembles of African instruments.

This course introduces students to critical scholarship in Irish popular music, drawing on writings in ethnomusicology, cultural geography, popular music studies, and Irish studies. Particular emphasis is given to histories of popular music styles and performances from 1960 to the 21st century examining key canonical figures within Irish popular music and significant recordings/events heralding new Irish identities. Topics for discussion include regional and transnational Irish music scenes; musical hybridity; gender and Irish popular music; Irish popular music and LGBT; Irish popular music in literature and visual media; and marginalized ethnic voices in Irish popular music. 

This course is a hands-on activity that teaches the skills necessary for playing Ghanaian/African drums. It also examines the uses of African drums and other percussion instruments as it relates to the life and culture of Ghanaian and African societies. The course is largely practical but also touches on the origins and roles of African drums and other percussion instruments and explores the position of drumming within the larger context of African music. Students are required to play all of the basic rhythms of a particular musical ensemble at the end of the course.

This course provides an introduction to the analysis of music composed in the Western extended common practice. It concentrates on Western tonal music from the 17th to the 20th centuries, but more broadly extends modal and post-tonal repertoires from c. 1350 to the present, and ranges from instrumental and vocal genres to music theatre and music for screen. It involves the study of musical scores alongside aural evidence obtained from listening. Students must be able to read music and a good grasp of basic theory (harmonic functions, cadences, etc.).

This course is designed to provide a basic scientific understanding of musical instruments. The first eight weeks of the course focuses on musical instruments and basic acoustics; the latter part of the course features world folk musical instruments and the professor's hand-made instruments. The course also gives the opportunity for groups of students to make their own musical instruments and demonstrate them to the class.  

This course is for beginners in music and focuses on the contents of musical notation such as notes, rests, time signatures, staff, key signatures, and temporary charts. It covers basic theory such as intervals and scales, fast words, musical symbols, notations, and classification of musical instruments. 

The course is taught in Korean; therefore, it is recommended that enrollees have the requisite Korean language proficiency (upper intermediate or higher). Exchange students majoring in music are not allowed to take the course. 

The course examines the close connection between music and science that has existed historically from Pythagoras on into modern times. The course introduces the essential physics of musical sound production and analysis in order to understand the elementary principles behind wind, string and percussion instruments and their characteristic timbre. The course examines the development of scales from fundamental principles to identify some of the subtle differences between Chinese and Western music. Contemporary music and science interactions focus on electronic music and the working principles of modern instruments such as the electric guitar. Finally the course looks at some scientific understanding of musical appreciation and the factors that make music pleasing.