Welcome To Music 101

Introduction to MusicBurlington County CollegeSection 800 – Spring, 2016

Monday/Wednesday 2:00 – 3:20

Jeffrey Lesser, Instructor

What is this course about?Development of music in western

civilization from its beginnings in Europe Time Frame: Middle Ages up through the

21st century in America and around the world.

Topics in this course Classical Music Film Music The American Musical Theatre Jazz World Music American Popular Music (ca. 1960-80)

More About this course We will study the periods of Western Musical History

and listen to examples of music from each period. Music of both European and American composers will

be surveyed, along with some music of non-Western traditions.

We will study the great composers from each period of music, with some of the important works they composed.

By the time the course is complete, you will know the periods of musical history in Western culture and will be able to identify musical examples from each period.

listening We will listen for the elements of music,

including rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics, timbre, texture, form and genre.

You will keep a listening log in a notebook of the musical samples that you listen to.

You will notate the composer, the complete name of the work, the time period and the genre. You can also make any notes about the the music in your listening log.

listeningWe will listen to different kinds of music.

Some of the music may be appealing to you, or even enjoyable. Some of the music we listen to may not immediately be very appealing.

You should try to listen to all of the musical samples in the course with an open mind and try to learn and absorb what you can from the experience.

listeningMost of the music that we experience in

everyday life in commercial and popular formats has durations of 3 minutes or less.

In this course, you will develop skills of attention and focus that will enable you to experience and appreciate musical works of considerably longer duration.

Keep in mindYou will learn factual information such as

periods of musical history, and names and dates of great composers

Some of what you will learn in this class is subjective, based on (informed) opinion.

Hopefully, you should find this course to be an interesting, enjoyable experience, as well as an educational one.

Or in musical termsHere is “The History of Music” as performed by String Fever.How many tunes do you recognize?Can you name the composer?Do you know the work’s title?

Please watch as I log in to MYMUSICLAB, our class online resource!

Class syllabus

I will utilize Blackboard as an instruction, activity and

assessment resource for this course. Please watch as I login to Blackboard and

navigate to the syllabus!

BREAK!

Stand and stretch!

Introduction: the elements of music Melody: A single line of notes heard in

succession as a coherent unit.

Rhythm: The ordering of music through time.

Harmony: The sound created by multiple voices playing or singing together.

Texture: The number and relationship of musical lines or voices.

Introduction: the elements of music Timbre: The character of a sound.

Dynamics: The degree of volume (soft to loud).

Form: The structure of the music.

Word-Music Relationships: How the meaning of the lyrics or general text affects the music.

Before next class Set up your Pearson Account and try the

MyMusicLab readiness activities. The quiz does not count!

Read pages 1-8 Review the Elements Tutorials for Melody,

Harmony, and Rhythm Find the Study Guide in the Elements Folder on

Blackboard

Have a great week!