Music and Technology, Contemporary (First Year)

A weekly one-hour private instrumental or vocal lesson is provided for all first year students. Instruction is available on keyboard, woodwinds, saxophone, percussion, guitar, electric and acoustic, bass, and voice. Lessons are designed to increase students’ technical and musical abilities.

A required course for all students except Keyboard majors. This course is designed to provide practical hands-on knowledge of the keyboard in today's music industry. Students will gain an understanding of chording (in nearest inversion) and will be required to create musical excerpts using upper structure triads.

Ensembles, required of all students, are the focal point of the Music program. All students are placed by audition in one or more ensembles. Students must participate in a minimum of four ensembles to graduate. Types of ensembles offered will focus on contemporary music including rock, funk, fusion, jazz and vocal, with the goal of developing both the student's repertoire and improvisational abilities. Students are encouraged to participate in as many different types of ensembles as possible. A graduation showcasel will be required from all students majoring in Music Performance.

This course is an introduction to music technology and the application of musical skills to recording music on to a computer. Topics include: MIDI sequencing, notation, and synthesis techniques. Fundamentals of mixing board theory are applied to routing audio. The course uses Pro Tools LE software, the N5, and other relevant applications.

This course is designed to help students develop instrumental skills. Grouped by instrument, students learn the fundamentals of reading, articulation, balance, dynamics, styles and technique as related to their particular instrument. This course is taught "instrument-in-hand” and also uses audio and visual aids to explore different techniques and styles. A requirement in all majors, students have weekly assignments.

A survey of the music of the jazz idiom from its origins to the present. Included is a chronological study of important soloists, bands, vocalists, and composers. Classes will be partly lecture aided by video clips and partly analysis with intensive listening.

An introductory course in commercial arranging dealing primarily with the rhythm section. Specific topics will include ranges of instruments, arranging from lead sheets, planning an arrangement; as well as detailed analysis of the function and common practice notational systems for the electric bass, guitar, piano and drums. All assignments will be scored and copied by the student and played by either a project ensemble or the arranging class itself.

This course covers basic harmonic theory and common musical notation used in the music industry today. Topics include clefs, note recognition, key signatures, scales, intervals, triad and seventh chord construction, available tensions and basic harmonic functions. Upon successful completion of the course students will have a comprehensive and literate vocabulary of basic musical terms and symbols, and a working knowledge of basic harmonic functions.

This course is the first of a four level program focusing on aural recognition of intervals, triads, seventh chords, rhythms, melodies, diatonic chord progressions and diatonic relative pitch. Students begin to learn the language of solfege and sight singing. This ear training class provides aural perception of the theory learned in MUSC 174 which is taught concurrently. Recorded examples as well as live playing is used for developing dictation skills.

Music Forum is a course designed to provide an opportunity for all music students and faculty to share in a weekly educational experience. Each forum will have a different musical focus. Students will have opportunities to perform, witness performances by faculty and guest artists, as well as gain insights into the industry from guest lecturers and music professionals. Forum will also provide an opportunity for the presentation of collaborative audio-visual projects between departments.

Prerequisites:

None. Attendance is mandatory for all music students.

A weekly one-hour private instrumental or vocal lesson is provided for all first year music students. Instruction is available on keyboard, woodwinds, saxophone, percussion, guitar, electric and acoustic, bass, and voice. Lessons are designed to increase students’ technical and musical abilities.

Prerequisites:

MUSC 150.

A required course for all students except Keyboard majors. This course continues to expand on chords and keyboard techniques. This term also focuses on musical grooves of various styles requiring more challenging coordination and technical skills.

Prerequisites:

MUSC 154.

Ensembles, required of all students, are the focal point of the Music program. All students are placed by audition in one or more ensembles. Students must participate in a minimum of four ensembles to graduate. Types of ensembles offered will focus on contemporary music including rock, funk, fusion, jazz and vocal, with the goal of developing both the student’s repertoire and improvisational abilities. Students are encouraged to participate in as many different types of ensembles as possible. A graduation showcase will be required from all students majoring in Music Performance.

Prerequisites:

MUSC 158.

A continuation of the material covered in term 1 with special emphasis on MIDI Compositional Techniques as well as mixing, effects, system exclusive, notation and synchronization.

Prerequisites:

MUSC 160.

This course is designed to help students develop their instrumental skills. Grouped by instrument, students learn the fundamentals of reading, articulation, balance, dynamics, styles and technique as related to their particular instrument. This course is taught “instrument-in-hand” and also uses audio and visual aids to explore different techniques and styles. A requirement in all majors, students have weekly assignments.

Prerequisites:

MUSC 162.

A study of the evolution of rock music from its origins to the present. Classes will focus on musical characteristics of the different styles within the genre. Sociological, geographical, literary and other cultural aspects will be discussed. Both audio and video clips will be presented for in-class analysis.

Expanding on the concepts presented in the introductory level, this course deals with writing for horns and a rhythm section. Techniques include soli voicings, quartal voicings, and upper structure triads.

Prerequisites:

MUSC 170.

This course covers harmonic functions currently in use in all styles of popular music. Extensive use of recorded and written examples are used to show the harmony/melody relationships. Basic harmonic analysis as a tool is presented with an introduction to diatonic, extended diatonic, and basic minor key and Blues concepts. Students are required to demonstrate, through written projects, the current uses of these basic contemporary harmonic techniques.

Prerequisites:

MUSC 174.

A continuation of the skills learned in MUSC 180. The focus is on harmonically based melodies with larger intervallic skips. Rhythms are explored primarily through syncopated eighth notes, triplets and sixteenth notes. This ear training class provides an aural perception of MUSC 175, which is taught concurrently.

Prerequisites:

MUSC 180.

Music Forum is a course designed to provide an opportunity for all music students and faculty to share in a weekly educational experience. Each forum will have a different musical focus. Students will have opportunities to perform, witness performances by faculty and guest artists, as well as gain insights into the industry from guest lecturers and music professionals. Forum will also provide an opportunity for the presentation of collaborative audio-visual projects between departments.

Prerequisites:

None. Attendance is mandatory for all music students.