Contemporary Music Studies

Unit outlines will be available through Find a unit outline two weeks before the first day of teaching for 1000-level and 5000-level units, or one week before the first day of teaching for all other units.
 

Contemporary Music Studies

Contemporary Music Studies core requirements apply to students undertaking the following courses. Specific requirements are listed in the relevant enrolment pattern.
(a) BMusic (Contemporary Music Practice program):
(i) 6 credit points in MUSC1611 The Studio for Songwriters 1;
(ii) 18 credit points of Contemporary Music Studies electives.
(a) Diploma of Music (Contemporary Music Practice program):
(i) 6 credit points in MUSC1611 The Studio for Songwriters 1;
(ii) 18 credit points of Contemporary Music Studies electives.

Core

MUSC1611 The Studio for Songwriters 1

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Jade O'Regan Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 1 hr lecture/week and 1 x 2 hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: MUSC1401 Assumed knowledge: Students enrolling in this unit of study must have some experience with writing their own original songs in a contemporary music style Assessment: weekly tests (25%), 1 x assignment (35%), 1 x recording (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores the use of the studio from the viewpoint songwriter and is intended to prepare first year students in the Contemporary Music major for their recording projects throughout the degree. In addition, this unit will provide the fundamental critical listening skills which are built upon over the course of their studies, and into their future careers. In this unit, students will gain a thorough understanding of basic studio concepts to use when recording their creative work, with a focus entirely on contemporary music and recording techniques suited to this music. Students will work in small groups in tutorials to complete practical tasks such as file management, reverb techniques, panning, bussing, effects, EQ, microphone placement, basics of compression and limiting, grouping and mixing. However, the purpose of this course is not only to learn about recording techniques, but to understand how these techniques specifically work in support of the song.
Textbooks
Audio Production Principles by Stephane Elmosnino (2018)

Electives

CMPN1612 New Music, New Thinking

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Damien Ricketson Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture/week, 1 x 1hr tutorial/week Assessment: Three assessment items: (1) essay (50%); weekly engagement in discussion and creative exercises (30%) and; (3) portfolio of three small creative works (20%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
New Music, New Thinking is designed to challenge the way in which students understand the music of our time. Through analyses of recent music and artistic themes, discussion and creative tasks, students will be exposed to a variety of compositional techniques, concepts and aesthetics. The content and assessment of this subject will enable students to further develop critical thinking concerning their future contribution to the world of new music be it in composition, performance, musicology or education.
CMPN2510 Scoring and Arranging for the Screen

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Phillip Johnston Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 2hr lecture/week, 1 x 1hr lab/week Assessment: 4 x small tasks (20%), 1 x film score for chamber ensemble/equivalent (30%), 1 x film score for full orchestra/equivalent (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
An application of various musical skills and disciplines pertinent to today's music industry, this unit of study explores fundamental aspects of composing, arranging and orchestrating for the screen. Theoretical principles are drawn from dramaturgy and cinematography, and applied to concerns of form, aesthetics, orchestration and technology to inform the various practical processes of preparing a music score from its inception to the delivery of parts for a recording session. Scoring and Arranging for the Screen offers a pragmatic approach to negotiating the pressing demands faced by screen composers in today's film and television industry.
JAZZ1021 Jazz History 1

Credit points: 3 Teacher/Coordinator: Andrew Dickeson Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2hr lecture per week Assumed knowledge: Students enrolling in this unit are expected to have strong overall music skills including notation, reading, aural skills, music research and analysis and jazz performance (excluding non-jazz students) Assessment: In-class Presentation (30%); Transcription/Performance (30%); Listening Exam (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: Non-Jazz degree students will be considered for a place in the class based on enrolment numbers prior to the commencement of the semester.
Jazz History 1 provides the student with a practical understanding of the roots of jazz and the music developed, played and composed from the late 1800s - early 1930s and the historical context in which it was created. The classes will be structured around the use of sound recordings, archival footage, group discussion/analysis and by practical application. Students will be expected to be able to recognise, write about and discuss the major musical contributors of this period and their music, the cultural and socio-economic influences upon and of this music. Aural examinations will be of the 'Blindfold Test' variety. Students will transcribe notable performances from recordings and will direct ensemble performances of these. A listening list, reading list, video links and audio examples will be provided.
JAZZ1022 Jazz History 2

Credit points: 3 Teacher/Coordinator: Andrew Dickeson Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2hr lecture per week Prerequisites: JAZZ1021 Assessment: In-class Presentation (30%); Transcription/Performance (30%); Listening Exam (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Non-Jazz degree students will be considered for a place in the class based on enrolment numbers prior to the commencement of the semester.
Jazz History 2 provides the student with a practical understanding of the Jazz styles developed, played and composed from the early 1930s to the late 1940s and the historical context in which it was created. The classes will be structured around the use of sound recordings, archival footage with group discussion/analysis and by practical application. Students will be expected to be able to recognise, write about and discuss the major musical contributors of this period and their music, the cultural and socio-economic influences upon and of this music. Aural examinations will be of the 'Blindfold Test' variety. Students will transcribe notable performances from recordings and will direct ensemble performances of these. A listening list, reading list, video links and audio examples will be provided.
JAZZ3631 Music Business Skills

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: David Theak Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2hr lect/wk Assessment: Press Kit (35%), Tour Plan (65%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Music Business Skills is designed to prepare graduating students for the non-musical aspects of their forthcoming career. The unit is designed as an overview of the many different facets of the music industry, including setting up a small music business (including taxation overview and responsibilities), funding sources and alternatives, tour planning and budgeting, producing and designing promotional tools, dealing with record companies/music publishing, and other essential techniques and requirements of running a successful music business in today's competitive arts environment.
MUSC1300 Popular Music Ensemble

Credit points: 3 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Jade O'Regan Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 2hr workshop/week Assessment: 12 x weekly preparation and participation (40%), 1 x 1000w song analysis essay (30%), 1 x performance reflection log Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Today, the broad variety of music the professional musician is likely to encounter requires an awareness and practical familiarity with a wide range of popular music genre conventions and contemporary approaches to rhythm. This course provides students with a range of expressive tools that allow them to confidently engage with popular music genres and rhythms. In this unit students will undertake intensive rhythmic awareness training and limited group tuition on one musical instrument (student to provide). They will be guided in playing the instrument in an ensemble, and will participate in ensemble performances. Through seminar-style workshops of selected covers, they will begin to develop a broad understanding of popular music rhythms, instrumentation, ensembles, and musical structures, thus enhancing their knowledge of recorded popular music history and its extensive and diverse musical genres.
MUSC1506 Music in Western Culture

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Rachel Campbell Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2hr lecture and 1 hr tut/wk Assumed knowledge: The ability to follow a musical score while listening to the music and knowledge of elementary music theory Assessment: Tutorial work (25%), essay (40%), exam (35%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit surveys some of the major developments in the history of western classical music from the Medieval period to the present, and relates them to broader historical and artistic trends. In addition to analysing individual musical works, students will engage with historiography and the relationships between music, society, and the history of ideas.
MUSC1507 Sounds, Screens, Speakers: Music and Media

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2hr lecture and 1 tut/wk Assessment: Article summary, 1000 words (25%); Media analysis of 1000 words (20%); Tutorial tests (15%); Final Project, 2,000 words(30%), overall participation (10%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Music has been dramatically shaped and reshaped by every major change in communications technology in the 20th century from vinyl discs to spotify. In this unit of study we will analyse such issues as the ways in which the early recording industry transformed jazz, the blues and country music, how the presentation of music on radio and television changed the ways the music industry created new musical celebrities, and the challenges the music industry faces as digital technology transforms the creation, distribution and consumption of music.
MUSC1604 Music, Health and Wellbeing

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Professor Helen Mitchell Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 2hr workshop per week Assessment: overall class participation including reading portfolios (30%), 1 x written research project proposal (40%), 1 x poster presentation (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
So how do musicians achieve and maintain their health? This unit of study explores the science of music health and wellbeing through investigation of health promotion, a range of health issues (including mental health) and by giving students practical examples of how to incorporate healthy lifestyle and strategies into their everyday life. It includes a detailed exploration of age-old and millennium debates in the scholarly and practice-based fields of music and health. Topics include: mindfulness; music psychology; Alexander Technique/Yoga/Tai Chi; performance science; growth mindset programs; music therapy; mental health; work-place safety; physiotherapy.
MUSC2614 Composition Workshop

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Amanda Cole Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 hour workshop per week Prerequisites: 18 credit points of 1000-level units Assessment: Contribution in classes and concerts (20%), concert composition (60%), written assignment (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Composition Workshop is designed as an opportunity for students from all musical backgrounds to play, write and perform music together. Each student will write a new piece for an ensemble of classmates that will be performed in an end of semester concert. Set topics studied in this course include: Creative and Resourceful Instrumentation (body percussion, mobile phones as instruments, the human voice and found percussion instruments), Soundscape, Indeterminacy and Loops. The first four weeks of the course are spent exploring these topics through lectures and creative group composition exercises. Students will also look notating their music using one-page scores, graphic notation, time-space notation and text scores. From Week 5 onwards, students will workshop and rehearse their own concert piece for an ensemble of musicians from their class.
MUSC2616 Noise/Sound/Music: Engaging Sonic Worlds

This unit of study is not available in 2022

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 x hour lecture, 1 x hour tutorial per week Assessment: Participation in tutorial discussions (30%); Delivery of two written 'aural diaries' each 800 words minimum, that describe time spent in a specific sonic environment (20% each); A final paper - ca. 2,500 words, on an instructor-approved topic of the student's choice (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit focuses not just on music but also on 'noise' and sounds both natural and man-made. By means of in-class experiments, field trips and 'audio diaries', students will explore the nature of sound; by means of lectures, readings and discussion, they will examine the many ways in which human beings engage - negatively as well as positively - with the sonic world around them.
MUSC2638 Jazz Riots and Revolutions

This unit of study is not available in 2022

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Christopher Coady Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture per week; 1 x 1hr tutorial per week Assessment: Tutorial Participation/Demonstrated Knowledge of Required Reading (20%); Annotated Bibliography (30%); Research Essay Introduction (20%); Research Essay Body (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This course examines the powerful link between jazz and moments of social revolution in the United States. It illuminates the central role jazz musicians like Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus and Max Roach played in changing hearts, minds and social structures during four distinct historic periods: the Harlem Renaissance, the post-War 1940s, the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and the Black Nationalist movement of the 1960s. Its central focus is on how music can both ride and resist the political energies that charge particular historic moments.
MUSC2645 Psychology of Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Associate Professor Helen Mitchell Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture/week, 1 x 1hr tutorial/week Assessment: Readings, Summaries and Class Discussion Participation (30%); Key Question Identification and Project Design Poster Presentation (30%); Essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Psychology of Music examines music cognition and behaviour to explore the way music is created, produced and perceived. This unit will introduce recent interdisciplinary research as a way to explore music as a social activity. It will consider the methods used by sociologists and psychologists to investigate music and encourage students to think conceptually about their own musical activities.
MUSC2648 Words and Music : Song Across Cultures

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Myfany Turpin Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture/week, 1 x 1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 18 credit points of 1000-level units Assessment: reading presentation and participation (20%), song analysis assignment (30%), 1 x 3000 word essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In this unit students aquire skills in how to analyse the forms and functions of songs in diverse cultures and genres. We examine lyrics, music and the different ways they combine; and how the language we speak shapes the way words are put to music. Student learn about the different roles song plays in societies and consider why singing is a universal human activity. Students will gain experience in song analysis and have the opportunity to apply these skills to their own song writing.
MUSC2648 Words and Music : Song Across Cultures

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Myfany Turpin Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture/week, 1 x 1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 18 credit points of 1000-level units Assessment: reading presentation and participation (20%), song analysis assignment (30%), 1 x 3000 word essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In this unit students aquire skills in how to analyse the forms and functions of songs in diverse cultures and genres. We examine lyrics, music and the different ways they combine; and how the language we speak shapes the way words are put to music. Student learn about the different roles song plays in societies and consider why singing is a universal human activity. Students will gain experience in song analysis and have the opportunity to apply these skills to their own song writing.
MUSC2653 Introduction to Digital Music Techniques

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Damian Barbeler Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 hr lecture/demonstration/wk Assessment: Sound recording and editing assignment (30%); creative assignments (60%); online assessments, attendance and participation (10%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: An ability to read music at a basic level and an understanding of fundamental musical terminology is an advantage in this unit of study.
This unit is an introduction to the use of digital sound and music in creative and multimedia contexts. It is a practical course in which students are introduced to tools of sound creation and manipulation. Students will undertake creative projects as a means to learning. In addition, participants will be exposed to a number of approaches to electroacoustic music across the 20th and 21st centuries.
MUSC2654 Popular Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hrs/week Assessment: Two critical analyses 1,000 words each (20% each); tutorial test 1000 words (20%); major essay 3,000 words (30%); class participation (10%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
How did early American blues and country music develop in tandem? How was punk different in the US, the UK and Australia? What are the origins of the DJ culture? This unit of study presents a thematic overview of a wide variety of styles, movements and spectacles. It examines major genres of popular music, their stylistic features and historical antecedents as well as modes of reception and the role of popular music in everyday life. No formal music training is necessary.
MUSC2663 Survey of Film Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Phillip Johnston Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 2 hour lecture/week and 1 x 1 hour tutorial/week Assessment: Licensed music assignment 1,000 words + 3 minutes of audio (35%), final paper 2,000 words (50%), participation (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit is an introductory survey of the history and aesthetics of film music from the late 1890s to the present day. Topics for discussion will include the dramatic function of music as an element of cinematic narrative, the codification of musical iconography in cinematic genres, the symbolic use of pre-existing music, and the evolving musical styles of film composers.
MUSC2666 Global Sound: Drum and Bass, Rhythm and Soul

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Professor Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: Critical Interpretation of 1500 words (25%), Musical analysis of 1500 words (25%), Final Project of 3000 words (40%), Participation (10%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
How did the music of enslaved and marginalised people eventually become a dominant force in contemporary popular culture? This unit will examine the local reinvention of a wide variety of African American music in communities around the world. From soul and funk in West Africa to ska and reggae in the Caribbean, we will examine how music moves around the world and within local communities to make new forms of meaning.
MUSC2672 Australian Popular Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Toby Martin Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 hr lecture + 1 hr tut/week Assessment: Tutorial participation and presentations 25%. Essay 25%. Final research project 50%. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The history of Australian popular music presents us with a long and complex heritage. It reflects, in its very constitution, the lives of those who create it and is underscored by the dynamic relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. This unit of study will explore the continuing experience and influence of a wide range of music made in Australia, from songlines to bush ballads and dance anthems, Countdown and Rage. We will examine hillbilly music of the 1930s, surf rock of the 60s, pub rock of the 70s, reggae, punk and indie rock of the 80s and 90s as well as the emergence of Australian dance music, hip hop and the multiplicity of styles and expressions that mark the contemporary music scene.
MUSC2695 Popular Music Theory

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture, 1 x 1hr written tutorial, 1 x 1hr aural tutorial Prerequisites: MUSC1503 or MUSC1504 or MUSC1501 or MUSC2693 or MCGY1009 or JAZZ1621 or JAZZ1019 Assessment: Weekly assignment tasks (30%), 1 x Composition and Analysis final project (40%), weekly auralia tests (10%), 1 x mid-semester aural exam (5%), 1 x final aural exam (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The culmination of the Fundamentals of Music series, this unit of study is an exploration of musical language used in contemporary popular, film and world music repertoire from ca. 1960 to the present. The focus is on compositional techniques, analytical tools and workflow that relates to contemporary music practitioners. Lectures will examine the given topic for that week with references to examples drawn from a list of repertoire for that topic. These examples will be discussed further in the written tutorials and supported by weekly homework. An important outcome of this unit of study is the final assignment, in which students apply the knowledge accrued over the semester in an original composition, which they also analyse. Aural Tutorials will draw on these topics to develop skills relating to the student's ability to perceive and interpret musical elements and procedures.
MUSC3603 Advanced Digital Music Techniques

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Damian Barbeler Session: Semester 2 Classes: 3 hr lecture/demonstration/wk Prerequisites: MUSC2653 or CMPN1013 Assessment: Creative assignments (80%), Weekly review and presentation of work (20%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit is an advanced exploration of digital sound and music in creative and multimedia contexts. It is a subject in which students are expected to make sophisticated use of sound creation and manipulation tools in pursuit of their own musical ideas. Students will undertake creative projects as a means to learning. An ability to read music at a basic level and an understanding of fundamental musical terminology is an advantage in this unit of study.
MUSC3610 Musical Traditions and Globalization

This unit of study is not available in 2022

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 2 hour seminar per week Assessment: Academic Blog - Musical Tradition (20%); In-class Presentation (15%); Academic Blog - Musical Piece (15%); Major Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Every musical form worldwide exists within a tradition, and globalization has been crucial in shaping those traditions in the contemporary era. This course explores different ways that musical traditions and globalization intersect. It introduces key theoretical approaches to both globalization (including postcolonial perspectives) and the concept of musical tradition, and explores case studies including social media and music in the Pacific Islands, East African hip-hop, understanding globalization's influence on indigenous Australian musical traditions and historically informed Western art music performance.
MUSC3629 Music and Everyday Life

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 2hr lecture/week Assessment: 1 x 3000wd fieldwork project paper (40%), 1 x 1000wd description of a musical event (20%), 2 x 1000wd critical response papers (30%), overall class participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is a requirement for Honours in the BA.
What can we learn from non-textual approaches to understanding music? The primary goal of this unit of study is to study music not as a composer, producer, performer, listener or audience member, but as an ethnographer. That is, analysing music through an observational, experiential and intellectual understanding of how people make and take meaning from music.
MUSC3630 Popular Music and the Moving Image

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1 x 1000wd musical analysis (20%), 1 x 1000wd industrial critique (20%), 1 x listening and viewing test (20%), 1 x 3000wd final project (30%), overall participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The range of media channels through which we experience, popular music has prolifereated in recent years. The emotive power of music is used to tell stories, sell products and connect people to one another. This unit will analyse the use of popular music in a broad range of multimedia forms from film and television to video games and the use of digital media to disseminate a multitude of musical multimedia productions.
MUSC3631 Music in Public: Performance and Power

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 2hr seminar/week Assessment: 2 x 500 wd performance reports (15%), 1 x 1500wd performance genre analysis (25%), 1 x 1000wd performance analysis (20%), 1 x 3000wd essay (30%), overall seminar participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The act of performing music creates a multitude of social relationships between listeners, audiences, musicians, performers, and the industries and institutions that surround them. This subject will ask students to study acts of performance historically, theoretically, and observationally. They will examine a wide range of situations and circumstances and try to work out how the expression of music is also an expression, affirmation, and contestation of social power. This subject will appeal to those who wish to study subjects such as music, performance studies, sociology, anthropology, and gender and cultural studies. It cuts across all of these areas of inquiry in the attention that is paid to the complexity and subtlety of how music is perceived and experienced across multiple social scenes and communities. This subject is not about performance practice or assessment. Instead, it seeks to allow students to gain some insight into the experience of performance as multifaceted and perspectival.
MUSC3639 Music Journalism

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 hr lecture, 1 hr tut/week. Assessment: Exercises in music journalism and reviewing 4,000 words (50%), final paper 2,000 words (30%), participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Even as the 'Age of Newspapers' seems to be coming to an end, human beings' need for authoritative commentary on music remains as strong as ever. Along with surveying the history of music journalism from the early eighteenth century up to the present day, this unit of study offers participants the chance to try their hands at various forms of music journalism.
MUSC3640 Rhythms and Sounds of Latin America

This unit of study is not available in 2022

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x 2 hr lecture per week, 1 hr tutorial per week Assessment: Essay 2,500 words or creative composition/sound project with reflective statement (50%), 2 listening assessments (20%), Exam (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Musical knowledge may be helpful but not necessary
Latin American music has become a powerful force in today's music industry, but its rich diversity and cultural contexts are not always known or acknowledged. This unique unit of study surveys a number of Latin American popular, folk and indigenous musical traditions in terms of their cultural milieu and historical development. These include Afro-Cuban traditions, samba, salsa, tango and Andean music. Various musical, historical and cultural concerns are examined alongside a practical and creative involvement with the compositional characteristics and the repertoire pertinent to these traditions.
MUSC3699 Understanding Music: Modes of Hearing

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hr lecture, 1 hr tut/wk Assessment: Brief essays eq. 1,500 words (30%), final paper 3,000 words (50%), tutorial participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: A good working knowledge of musical terminology and vocabulary is required.
This unit of study deals with the different ways in which we comprehend music and with the different ways in which that comprehension might be explained. It deals with modes of hearing and musical analysis for the purpose of leading students towards a deeper knowledge of how music in various genres (ranging from the classical mainstream to the twentieth-century avant-garde, from Tin Pan Alley songs to punk rock and hip-hop) is understood. This is a required unit of study for a music major in an Arts degree.