MUH 3014: African and Eastern Music

Overview: No previous musical training is required for this course, but rather a curiosity about the varied forms and diversity of musical expression. The course will proceed in a series of units, each with specified readings, listening assignments, and class work. The class will be divided into teams for the assigned semester group research project, based upon one aspect of world music, to be agreed upon mutually. The project presentation will be based upon the documenting of a music culture and might include attendance at special concerts, field work, or creative work combined with another field. The objective of the group project is twofold: to organize and present meaningful materials on an unknown culture and to experience team work conditions. Projects will be presented during the final week of class and will include written documentation in the form of a summary report.

The assigned readings are mandatory and the examinations will be drawn from the reading material, listening, and discussion. Note that listening will be emphasized throughout the course. You will be expected to recognize and identify various excerpts from the assigned listening. Supplemental listening will be available on line on the College's Blackboard site http://blackboard.mville.edu and supplemental readings are available on reserve.

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The Four Components of a Music-Culture

I. Ideas about music

A. Music and the system of beliefs
B. Aesthetics of music
C. Contexts for music

II. Social organization of music

III. Repertories of music

A. Style
B. Genres
C. Texts
D. Composition
E. Transmission
F. Movement

IV. Material culture of music

Music is a fluid, dynamic element of a culture, and it changes to suit that culture's expressive and emotional needs. Music is an especially human adaptation to human needs. As needs change in a society, so does the society's music. Therefore no music is "better" than any other. We will study several music-cultures in order to understand better the relationship of the four components above to the sound of the music.

Required Texts:

Jeff Todd Titon, ed. (2001) Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World’s Peoples: Shorter Version (New York: Schirmer/Wadsworth) [WM] with Compact Discs to Accompany Text.

Malm, William P. (1996) Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East, and Asia. 3rd ed. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall) [MCP]

Electronic and Reserve Reading List

Malm, William. Six Hidden Views of Japanese Music. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986, pp. 151-197.

Sachs, Curt. (1940) The History of Musical Instruments. (New York: Norton)

Also on reserve, see K. Shelemay’s Garland Library of Readings in Ethnomusicology. (6 volumes in the reference section).

Links to Interesting Music Related Sites

The American Musicological Society web page contains links to many music organizations, as well the most comprehensive list of both classical and popular music on the web.

The Library of Congress often has music exhibits, currently including music at the Vatican.

The Yahoo World Music Page offers a gateway to many sources on line.

Course Outline and Reading Assignments

UNIT I: Introduction to Ethnomusicology, Study Methods, Meaning in Music

Readings:  WM: Chap.1. 
Listening: Primitive Music of the World (M1627.C65 P7 1962).

UNIT II: Music in Australia, Polynesia, and Indonesia and Terminology for Musical Analysis

Readings: WM: Chap. 7; MCP: 1-63. 
Listening: Tribal Music of Australia (M1840.T654 1953), Murat Music of North Borneo (M1824.B6 M8 1961), Maori Songs of New Zealand (M1842 .M468 1952), and Music of the Magindanao in the Philippines (M1822.M88 M4 1961).

UNIT III: The Music of Ethiopia and Northwest Africa and the Classification of Musical Instruments

Readings: MCP: 64-97; and Sachs: 454-467.
Listening: Wolof Music of Senegal and the Gambia (M1831.W5 W54 1955) and Tuareg Music of the Southern Sahara (M1831.T82 T81 1960).

First Examination

UNIT IV: Visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection of Non-Western Musical Instruments

Reading Project on 2 articles in K. Shelemay, Garland Library of Readings in Ethnomusicology. (6 volumes in reference section)

UNIT V: The Music of Black Africa and Analysis of Pitch and Rhythm

Readings: WM: Chap. 3. 
Listening: Drums of the Yoruba of Nigeria (M146.D885 1956), Music of Zaire, vol. 1 (M1838 .Z4 J4 1973 v. 1) and Music of Zaire, vol. 2 (M1838 .Z4 J4 1973 v. 2).

UNIT VI: Music in Japanese Culture and Influence on Western Music

Readings: WM: Chap. 8; and Malm, Six Hidden Views: 151-197. 
Listening: Traditional Folk Songs of Japan (M1812.H47 T7 1961), Music from the Kabuki, (in class) and Classical Japanese Koto Music (in class).

Semester Project Outline Due

UNIT VII: Music of India -- Regional Styles

Readings: WM: Chap. 6. 
Listening: Music of India - Folk - Traditional & Classical (M1808.M88 1951), Religious Music of India (M1808.R455 1952), and Music from South India Kerala (M1808.M87 L4 1961).

UNIT VIII: Music of China and the Rise of the Courtly Tradition

Readings: MCP: 167-206. 
Listening: The Ruse of the Empty City: Peking Opera (M1805.3.R88 1960) and Eleven Centuries of Chinese Classical Music (in class).

Summary and Shared Research

    Presentation of semester projects

Final Examination during Exam Week

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