Monday Oct 1 Exam

Be prepared to identify the various features of melody, rhythm, and harmony, as well as define "pop" and "funk". We will use examples from class. I will a brief selection of music and give you several possibilities that it might be an example of. You will have to explain your answer. We will have a brief review on Friday.

Wednesday Sept 26

Wednesday: Revolver. Be sure to listen to it. Listen for verse-chorus structure, variations on a melody (for instance, between the vocals and guitar), background vocals, change in time signature, etc. You will be expected to be able to identify many of the "dynamics" we have discussed over the past few weeks.

Friday: Theme & variation in Jazz. We will be listening to Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus.

Just for the Funk of It

Your Homework, due Friday: bring in the Funkiest, Fiercest, Flippinest Funk you can Find.
What is funk? Remember how we defined Pop? We're going to zero in on Funk and figure it out.

Why are we doing all this? Why Funk in a Bach Class?

Because listening is listening. We are training our ears to hear structure and training our minds to discuss music. And it is best to do that with music we are familiar with.

Monday's class will be on one of the few truly perfect records: The Beatle's Revolver.

Wednesday we will take a quick look at theme and variation in Jazz.

Friday, hopefully, we will step into music theory- the basic kind- and prepare for a good listen to the music of the Middle Ages.

Pop Songs

There will always be problems in clearly defining the arts of one's own times. What makes a pop song is no different. "Pop" is not just "popular"- as many, many songs are popular and have almost no relationship to a traditional use of the term. For our purposes we mean: compact, tuneful pieces of music with a decided emphasis on melody and "catchiness". A song of this type will have very strong vocal presence and a limited range of mood- usually joyous and often tinged with melancholy. There is often surprising variety in a very short period of time, as well as very clear verse-chorus structure.
All the music we listened to today was interesting, but only some of it was "pop" by the the terms above. Please bring in more. But choose carefully.

Friday, Sept 15

Today we will be listening to a few more contributions from your classmates and then listening carefully to Gamelan music from Bali and the fascinating music of Harry Partch.
Check out the Partch links on the right of the page.

Sept 12th Class

Today we will continue to listen to music with an ear towards harmony, melody, and rhythm.

Friday we will listen to yet more music you bring in, but will begin to survey music from other cultures, particularly Indonesia, India, and West Africa.

Review of Class: Sept. 10 Monday

Excellent participation all around- but I must admit listening to the first Velvet Underground with you all was very moving. All the music you brought in was interesting. I look forward to how much we will learn about the fundamentals of music and deepening our ability to hear it.
Please begin posting comments on the music we listen to.

Monday Sept. 10th Homework

1) Choose 4 pieces of music from CD #2 and describe each with clear, concrete, descriptive words. No opinions, please!

2) Bring in one piece of music of any type that you know well. Be prepared to describe it in terms of melody, harmony, and rhythm.

Friday Sept.

Today we will make a brief introduction to some of Bach's work. But the main task of the next few classes will be to establish that music is the Art of Time. As light is to painting, space is to sculpture, and language is to poetry, time is to music. The control of time with rhythm, harmony, and melody is the essence of composition.

We will also discuss the physics of sound and basic music theory.

Your homework will be to listen to the CD's your are given and to be prepared to discuss them. For Monday please bring in an example of music you enjoy and be prepared to discuss its use of rhythm, harmony, and melody.

Don't sweat it. You'll have plenty of help.