MUS - Music
This course is designed for the beginning musician, non-music readers and individuals lacking a fundamental understanding of rhythm, notation, clefs, time signatures, key signatures and practical musicianship skills necessary for the study of both instrumental performance and the study of music theory and composition.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Identify and read pitch in G and F clefs.
Discriminate among various rhythmic patterns and notations.
Perform ear training and rhythmic exercises.
Demonstrate basic sight singing skills.
Identify all intervals from seconds to octaves by ear (Major, Minor, Perfect and Tritone).
3 Credits
Music for Children offers all students an opportunity to explore and experiment with music rudiments, psychology, philosophy, performance and pedagogy. This is a course for students who wish to share their own music experiences with others.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Recognize the role music plays in our culture and in the child's educational development.
Identify and relate educational significance to various music activities.
Apply music rudiments to facilitate educational music activities.
Play an autoharp accompaniment while singing.
Select appropriate materials and models of instruction to support educational plans and objectives.
Coordinate several of the above competencies in a single instructional presentation.
Prerequisites: (ENG 050 and REA 050) or ENG 099 or REA 075. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
3 Credits
This course explores the fundamental concepts of music theory including scales, intervals, chords, melody and harmony. Classes will include lectures, exercises and ear-training to provide students the skills to understand and analyze musical structures in a variety of genres. Students will have opportunities to apply these concepts to practical applications including composition, arranging and improvisation. NOTE: Prerequisites: MUS 101 or appropriate placement test score may be accepted.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Identify and construct major, minor, chromatic and pentatonic scales.
Identify and construct major, minor, diminished and augmented intervals and triads.
Identify and construct major, minor, dominant and diminished seventh chords.
Compose harmonic progressions that include the use of cadences.
Utilize basic music theory concepts to analyze music compositions in a variety of genres.
Perform fundamental ear-training skills with exercises in interval identification, chord identification and melodic dictation.
Implement theoretical concepts to create original compositions, arrangements and improvisations.
Prerequisites: MUS 101. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
3 Credits
As a selective survey of music, this course is designed to teach students about both traditional and contemporary music from various parts of the world, including Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, central Asia, and the Far East.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Demonstrate active listening to various styles of non-western music.
Define the characteristics that are unique to each type of music, including instrumentation.
Appreciate the diversity of musical expression in world cultures and how music is experienced within individual cultures.
Understand music making and music appreciation as part of the human experience.
Prerequisites: (ENG 050 and REA 050) or ENG 099 or REA 075. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
3 Credits
This course is for humanities electives credits. Emphasis is placed on listening, music techniques and design, historic and geographic relationships, and noted personalities.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Characterize general style and techniques expressed through the various stages and periods from 600 AD to the present.
Relate music phases to the attributing aspects of other periods and to the cultural-social attitude and practice of each particular era.
Identify the evolutionary influence of the format and latter 20th-century music styles and techniques found in the American and European cultures.
Prerequisites: (ENG 050 and REA 050) or ENG 099 or REA 075. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
3 Credits
A survey of the evolution of music in the United States from the period of colonization to the present. Themes include European classical influences on the cultural melting pot, and the genre, form and style of concert, folk, pop, jazz and commercial music.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Identify the evolutionary phases of American music as influenced by other cultures and as developed from the 17th century to the present.
Relate the various techniques and styles of American music to the multifaceted characteristics of the social, religious, political, scientific and cultural aspirations of a particular time and a specific American population.
Discriminate among five main evolutionary stages, and identify contributors of each stage.
Recognize the difference among genre, form and style and use each music characteristic in identifying 10 major composers.
Interrelate all past considerations in the evolution and forecasting of current trends of American music and interpret their relationships to the contemporary cultural/social environment.
Prerequisites: (ENG 050 and REA 050) or ENG 099 or REA 075. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
3 Credits
This course is designed for the non-music reader and individuals lacking a comprehensive understanding of rhythm, notation, clefs, time signatures and key signatures.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Identify and write in G and F clefs.
Discriminate among various rhythmic patterns and notations.
Develop melodic patterns.
Analyze major and minor modes.
Synthesize and analyze basic triad structures.
Perform in music dictation and ear training.
Prerequisites: MAT 050 or MAT 060. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
3 Credits
A survey course with emphasis on the various phases and styles of American jazz. Discussions and listenings will include cultural, socio-economic relationships and the evolution of technique and instrumentation.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Discriminate among seven specific styles of jazz.
Identify the technical variations of jazz artists and styles.
Describe the contributions of at least 10 noted jazz performers.
Recognize the influences upon and of jazz.
Compare the evolution and role of jazz to other styles of music, both American and worldwide.
Recognize the styles and techniques as they may relate to the cultural aspirations of a people and to the American culture as a whole.
Prerequisites: (ENG 050 and REA 050) or ENG 099 or REA 075. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
3 Credits
Piano Class I is an introductory course in piano-playing techniques. The course is applied and provides facilities for class participation and out-of-class practice. Scales, music reading and the playing of simple folk songs and piano works will be included.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Identify all keys on the piano and all symbols applicable to basic piano music.
Control various hand positions with left- and right-hand independence.
Perform simple rhythmic designs using upper- and lower-arm coordination and independent finger dexterity.
Demonstrate major and minor scales with appropriate fingering, both hands and parallel motion.
Apply basic harmony as an accompaniment to simple melodies.
Play solo songs and simple piano works.
Sight read simple polyphonic, two-hand piano music.
Perform in an in-class recital.
3 Credits
A continuation of Piano Class I. Emphasis is placed on solo and duo playing with appropriately advanced materials and techniques. NOTE: Prerequisites: MUS 125 or permission of instructor.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Apply advanced independent control of both hands including alberti bass, broken chords and arpeggiated chords.
Control a wider range of keyboard use with rapid changes of hand positions.
Play music with chromatic modifications.
Perform complex rhythmic patterns with symmetric and asymmetric accents.
Sight read music applicable to individual skills.
Play solo and duo piano works, including some standard repertoire of Bach, Mozart and others.
Perform in an in-class recital.
Prerequisites: MUS 125.
3 Credits
In this humanities elective, students study the evolution of musical theater through opera, operetta, minstrel shows and follies to the present. Emphasis is on the interrelationship of both theater and music techniques and styles.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Discriminate among several specific phases of musical drama.
Identify the differences between opera and American musicals.
Describe the contributions of at least 10 noted composers and 10 librettists.
Compare the evolutionary stages and roles of the various phases of music drama with the culture, society, economics and politics of each period.
Acknowledge the contributions of noted performers of American musical theater.
Interrelate all past considerations in the evolution of the musical as they may relate to current and future trends in the genre.
Prerequisites: (ENG 050 and REA 050) or ENG 099 or REA 075. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
3 Credits
This course teaches the basic skills of guitar playing, including music theory, technique exercises, chord forms and rhythms. Level 1 reading etudes and songs will be assigned for classroom performance. This class is intended for students with little or no previous guitar background.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Apply the fundamentals of guitar technique to the electric or acoustic guitar.
Read music appropriate for the guitar.
Perform technical exercises for left and right hand development.
Apply the concepts of music notation and theory, including chromatic scale, triad and seventh chord formulas, major scale formulas, and triad and seventh chord spellings.
Chart the parameters of musical form as applied to songs.
Play rhythmic accompaniments of traditional and popular songs in diverse styles.
3 Credits
This course will survey the different genres of popular music in the United States through the Twentieth Century using an historical approach. Lectures will include listening to and analyzing music examples in relation to the social, technical and historical trends. NOTE: Recommended (ENG 050 and REA 050) or ENG 099 or REA 075. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Demonstrate knowledge of the chronological development of Rock and Roll, its styles, and cultural significance.
Critique musical performances and recordings in various rock styles.
Identify and discuss the role of rock music within its aesthetic, historical and cultural contexts.
3 Credits
Introduction to Music Technology is an introductory course exploring the basic concepts for music creation and production in a digital platform. While the market is filled with a multitude of computer programs and equipment, it is all built on the same basic concepts and functions which will be covered in this course. Students will learn the historical context and technical basics for Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), Waveform editing, Virtual Instruments (VSTs) and Plug-ins, Song Structure, and creative workflow within a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). The course will culminate in the creation of an original piece of electronic music utilizing the skills gained over the course of the semester.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Demonstrate competency in the use and function of a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
Create, edit, and arrange waveform audio data for use in music projects.
Evaluate the aesthetics of song structure from various approaches.
Communicate an artistic statement by composing an original composition.
Analyze the historical context and evolution of the use of computer technology in music.
Prerequisites: ((ENG 050 and REA 050) or ENG 099 or REA 075) and (MAT 060 or MAT 050). Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted.
3 Credits
Introduction to Music Business will survey the current music industry focusing on the areas where music and business overlap. The course will focus on developing an understanding of the structure of the music industry and gaining the understanding of how to successfully maneuver within the business. Lecture topics will include marketing, publicity, advertising, promotion, distribution, touring, and licensing.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Define the terminology and language of modern music business.
Describe key stakeholders in music business and their roles in the music industry.
Explain the fundamental principles of copyright and licensing and intellectual property rights.
Describe the role of A&R in scouting, developing artists and supporting career success.
Recognize the the role of music publishing and the fundamentals of negotiating publishing deals and royalty rates.
Explain the role of marketing, social media, press releases and promotional strategies in the success of established music artists.
Prerequisites: (ENG 050 and REA 050) or ENG 099* or REA 075. Appropriate placement test scores may be accepted. *Courses marked with a star may be taken concurrently.
3 Credits
This course is designed to move students into the next stage of utilizing music technology after successfully completing MUS 141 (Introduction to Music Technology). In this course students will learn studio production, advanced mixing techniques, signal processing, studio workflow and the fundamentals of mastering. NOTE: Prerequisite: MUS 141 with grade of C or better.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Select and position microphones in accordance with the sonic characteristics of a specific sound source at both close and distant configurations.
Describe the technical requirements needed to prepare recording tracks for mixing.
Apply editing tools needed to improve recorded musical performances.
Describe and use digital processors necessary to the mixing process.
Analyze and evaluate their own mixes and others.
Evaluate and apply mastering techniques for commercial release.
Prerequisites: MUS 141.
3 Credits