Course Description

A foundation course for enjoyment and understanding of American Music through the use of recorded music and song literature. Elements of music and analysis of music form and design and its relation to other subjects and activities.

American Music is a basic course designed to enhance your enjoyment and understanding of music through a narrative history of all aspects in music in the history of America. Historical and cultural perspective, as well as a building of analytical and listening skills, will be stressed. No musical background is required or expected, although students with such a background may find certain material in the course to be less challenging. 

Required Materials

This course uses a W.W. Norton digital product, which contains important assignments and resources used throughout the semester. The required link below is to this course. Here is how to register:

1. Visit this link: https://digital.wwnorton.com/americasmusic3 

2. Sign in with your W.W Norton account. You can either: sign in with an existing W.W. Norton username and password OR create a new account if this is your first W.W. Norton digital product.

What you should know:

3. Bookmark https://digital.wwnorton.com/americasmusic3 ebook to easily access your materials.

Scheduled Class Time:

Professor will be available online to answer questions and guide/assist students Monday and Wednesday from 6:00pm to 7:30pm each week.  All coursework for this course is done on the students' own schedule. Each chapter will be available at 7:00am on a Monday in the week stated in the syllabus, course schedule and orientation. A course schedule is provided to give students a guideline of the pace of this course. Each chapter should be completed before a new one is posted. The students are expected to make arrangements in their personal schedule to accommodate this workload and meet the deadlines for the chapters.  Tests are taken online through Blackboard -- again, at the students' own schedule, as long as work for that chapter is done by the deadline stated in the Orientation, Coursework Schedule & Syllabus in Blackboard.

Tests

Please read the questions in the tests very carefully. There are specific instructions on how the answers should be given. Each section and chapter test will be available on certain dates and to be completed by their deadlines listed below and in the course schedule. No make up for tests will be given. Please take you time with materials for each chapter thoroughly before proceeding with the section and chapter test. All graded quizzes, exams and assignments are to be completed through Blackboard only.

Concert Report

Students are required to attend 2 concerts in person throughout the semester and submit the program along with a report between 500-1000 words.

The concerts have to relate to the materials covered in this course and is submitted through Blackboard under the concert report link in the menu tab on the left side:

Students may NOT used the same genre twice and online concerts may NOT be used as a concert report.

Name:

Concert report 1 

MUSI 1310-xxx (12345)

Here is a checklist for the concert report:

-Concert can only be from the following time periods:

-Folk/Country     -Blues

-Electronic Music   -Hip Hop

-Classical/Romantic   -Rock and Roll

-Romantic   -R & B

-Gospel   -Jazz

-Characteristics of the time period chosen:

-typical instrumentation

- the structure of the music piece

-what are some harmonic/melodic roles of the music

-what are the playing/compositional techniques of the time period

-did the piece/composer stay in the traditional style or did it deviate from it

Here is a list of suggestions for places to find concerts:

https://www.eventbrite.com/

https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/

https://www.austintexas.org/music-scene/venue-guide/

http://showlistaustin.com/

https://do512.com/events/austin-music

http://music.utexas.edu/calendar

http://austinopera.org/season-calendar/

https://balletaustin.org/calendar?section=company-performances

http://www.elephantroom.com

https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/

It is not required to spend money on these concerts and some places offer student discounts and free tickets.

*All papers will be checked for plagiarism, please make sure the paper is your own and not from somewhere else

Discussion Forums

Students are required to participate in discussion forums throughout the semester. The instructor will present a topic and the students are expected to keep up with these questions by answering them and responding to other class members.

Textbook is not required for this course, but purchasing the e-book is required.

An Introduction To America'a Music 3rd ed. (e-book) by W.W. Norton Digital Products

Required Materials

This course uses a W.W. Norton digital product, which contains important assignments and resources used throughout the semester. The required link below is to this course. Here is how to register:

1. Visit this link: https://digital.wwnorton.com/americasmusic3 

2. Sign in with your W.W Norton account. You can either: sign in with an existing W.W. Norton username and password OR create a new account if this is your first W.W. Norton digital product.

What you should know:

3. Bookmark https://digital.wwnorton.com/americasmusic3 ebook to easily access your materials.

WE WILL COVER EACH OF THESE TOPICS DURING THE SEMESTER. SOME WILL BE COVERED IN GREATER DETAIL THAN OTHERS AND WE WILL NOT NECESSARILY FOLLOW THIS ORDER.

I)America's Music

II) America's Music From Civial War Through World War I

III) America's Music From World War I Through World War II

IV) America's Music in The Post War Era

V)Americ'a Music Since 1980's

COURSE OBJECTIVE:

The primary objective of this course is to develop a fundamental working knowledge of the different styles of music throughout the history of America.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

The student will demonstrate knowledge of the different musical elements; know the different periods in the history of American music as well as certain characteristics they have; be able to listen to music discussed in class and identify which period of American music it derived from; have an understanding of musical forms, structures, as well as their influences.

Quizzes 33% There is a total of 26 quizzes which can be taken twice and the best score is kept. All 26 must be completed by the last day of class

Song submission/reaction 33% Each student will submit one 3-5 minute song. Each student has to film a reaction for everyone's song submission. There will be a celendar with the deadline for each student's submission. All reactions must be submitted by the last day of class

Final reaction 33% I will submit a song which each student will submit a video reaction to.