Course Description
Detailed analytical exploration of texted music. The course begins with a preliminary section that reviews harmony and small form and considers analytical methods for interpreting texts. After that preparatory unit, the course progresses into an in-depth study of how composers and musicians use a text to convey an array of meanings. To facilitate delivery, the course’s contents are organized according to genre and/or conceptual area.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be tasked with more detailed analyses.
Athena Title
Analysis of Texted Music
Non-Traditional Format
Content for the course will vary depending on the instructor, and aural skills and listening strategies are part of the course’s evaluation.
Prerequisite
MUSI 2100 and MUSI 2110
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, students will demonstrate a series of tools that they can use to understand texted music. Those skills involve: (1) the ability to apply a nuanced understanding of harmony and/or formal processes to music-text relations writ large; (2) the capacity to read texts in context; and (3) the generalized facility to apply these skills to music that might exist outside of the scope of this course.
Topical Outline
Preliminaries: • Review of tonal harmony and concepts o Counterpoint and four-part harmonic reduction o Tonal diatonic harmony review o Chromatic harmony and modulation review o Review of form o Reading charts (lead-sheets, Nashville numbers, and chord boxes) • Developing strategies for analyzing text o Analysis of poetry and applications of meaning therein o Applications of narrative theory o Other strategies for reading and interpreting text A Genre-by-Genre Approach (dependent on instructor preference): • Vocal forms before the Galant era • Art songs and song cycles • Larger forms • Broadway musicals • Folk traditions (blues, jazz, bluegrass, country music, and singer-songwriter) • Popular song (classic rock, contemporary popular music, hip-hop, and rap)
Syllabus