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COURSE SYLLABUS
MUSIC 145: INTRODUCTION TO JAZZ HISTORY
Instructor: Dr. Stephen R. Anderson, D.M.A. Teacher Assistants:
Office: 2119 Kenan Music Building Jamie Blake | [email protected]
Phone: (919) 843-7902 (office) Michele Segretario | [email protected]
Office Hours: By appointment Dawn Stevenson | [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
http://artiststephenanderson.com
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
Class Meeting Schedule: This course meets Tuesday and Thursday from 11am to 12:15pm
in Hanes Art Building room 121.
Course Objectives: The primary objective of this course is to study jazz history through the
context of the great jazz artists of the past 100+ years. Topics will be centered in the cultural,
historical, and theoretic developments that have shaped the evolution of jazz from its origin
to the present.
No prior knowledge of music theory or music history is expected, as the classroom subject
matter will train students in the rudimentary theoretical and historical concepts that will
facilitate a greater understanding of the relevance and importance of the musical
developments throughout jazz history.
Required Text: Jazz: Essential Listening, by Scott Deveaux and Gary Giddins. The text is
available at the campus bookstore or may be purchased online. Only the textbook is required
and no additional CDs need be purchased, as all listening will be done online through our
course website. A copy of the textbook is also on Reserve at the Music Library (first floor
Wilson Library). Students may opt to seek further understanding of the text by visiting the
publisher’s e-Media website, (http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/jazz-essentials/), though our
exam questions will NOT be generated from or directly related to the information and
practice quizzes provided on the site.
Grading: The final grade will be determined according to the following plan.
Exam 1 15 points
Exam 2 20 points
Exam 3 20 points
Exam 4 (final comprehensive) 20 points
Essay/Musical Analysis 10 points
4 Concert Attendance Journal Entries 8 points
Classroom Citizenship 7 points
When the grades are tallied at the close of the semester, percentages that are at or above .5%
will round up, while percentages that are at or below .4% will round down. For example, an
85.5% rounds up to 86%, while 85.4% rounds down to 85%. The grades may be viewed by
students throughout the semester at sakai.unc.edu. I will not/cannot modify grades (i.e., add
points) at the close of the semester despite student pleadings to do so.
Grade Scale
A+ = 97-100 C+ = 77-79 F = 0-59
A = 94-96 C = 74-76
A- = 90-93 C- = 70-73
B+ = 87-89 D+ = 67-69
B = 84-86 D = 64-66
B- = 80-83 D- = 60-63
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Written Exams: The exams are based primarily on classroom subject matter, in addition to
the readings in the text. Each exam will contain two components:
1. Listening portion – listening identification based on the audio tracks found on the
course listening website found through Sakai. I will play approximately 30 seconds of
the selected recordings—often playing a portion of the main melody though not
always from the beginning, and students will identify both the tune title and the artist.
It is not required to memorize all of the sidemen; just the main artist (listed in bold)
and a few particular sidemen (as indicated in class).
2. Multiple choice questions and matching – covering various materials discussed in
class and the readings.
The exams are multiple choice and answers will be recorded on the blue bubble sheets that
are purchased from the campus bookstore. PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR
OWN BUBBLE SHEETS TO THE EXAM. I will provide periodic, unannounced exam
reviews prior to each exam that will highlight and clarify the content of upcoming exams.
Exams will be taken in class on the days indicated on the Course Schedule and the grades
will be posted within 48 hours after each exam.
Final Exam: The written portion of the final exam will be comprehensive and will
cover the final unit, as well as select topics from previous exams, however the listening
identification will cover only the audio from the final unit.
Essay/Musical Analysis: Write an essay—a total of 9 pages including a Title Page, Outline,
Schematic, 5 pages of discussion in prose (double-spaced, no larger than 12 point font), and
Works Cited—analyzing at least one audio track and its relation to the significance of a jazz
artist’s style and place in jazz history. You may choose to broaden your paper by focusing on
an entire CD, but you should at least analyze one of the tracks and relate it to the artist’s work
and style.
The essay may incorporate some brief supportive biographical material, BUT SHOULD
NOT BE, in essence, A SIX-PAGE BIOGRAPHY. Rather, if biographical information is
used, it should be supportive of the musical analysis and should be interwoven into the
discussion of the artist’s relevance to jazz history. For example, a paper is much weaker
when it simply lists a paragraph or page of biography, followed by the analysis, followed by
some other information etc. Conversely, a cohesive paper draws upon various reliable and
accredited sources and tightly organizes the information into a singular discussion. Any
biographical or other information is integrated into the main topic of the paper. I have posted
a few sample papers on our Sakai site from former MUSC 145 students who wrote excellent
papers in previous semesters.
Choosing an artist: It is important to first select an artist that is respected within
the field of jazz, and not to choose an artist who is only loosely associated with the
art form. I recommend looking through the following resources to help you find a
suitable choice. See the “Selected Musicians on Primary Jazz Instruments” list found on pp. A1-A7 in
the Deveaux/Giddins text.
Browse the list of jazz artists at the All Music Guide.
Browse the list of artists at the Music Library’s, Jazz Music Library.
Commercial listing of 150 greatest jazz musicians.
Amazon’s list of 100 greatest jazz albums.
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Students should not select audio files for the schematic/analysis that are on the
listening list for the exams in order to avoid restating the points that we will have
already discussed in class. The purpose of the paper is to engage in research that
extends beyond the basic principles and analyses that we will cover in class.
Paper Layout Summary:
1. Title page (one page)
2. Outline – (one page detailing the content or scope of the paper)
3. Schematic (a one-page diagram providing a time-scale related to musical events)
4. Body of the paper – (five pages of discussion in prose relating the details of the
schematic/your analysis to the artist’s style and historical significance.
5. Works Cited (one page)
Outline and Schematic: As indicated above, after the title page, the second page
should be an outline that details the main points of the paper. The next page should
be a schematic (or a flow chart) which provides an analysis of a particular
recording. We recognize that the majority of the students in the class will not have
training in musical history or theory prior to taking MUSC 145, and consequently,
creating a schematic will be a new experience for many of you. For all students in
the class, it will likely require that you do some research to find out the form and
other details of the tune being performed.
The schematic should also provide a time-scale that measures the elapsed time of
each section of the performance, together with an explanation of the musical detail
within each section as seen below:
You may also wish to note if the band trades 4s, 8s, or choruses with the drums.
You could try to determine the tempo, or write about the dynamics (how loud or
soft), soloists’ style or sound, and note whether the band plays with a two-beat,
swing feel, or other groove etc.). Don’t worry! We’ll train you.
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Paper style: Students may choose how to format their papers in terms of style
(e.g., MLA or Chicago). Footnotes or endnotes may be used, though the style
should remain consistent throughout body of the paper. Learn more about these
styles by visiting:
1. Modern Language Association – https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
2. The Chicago Manual of Style – a. http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb8193329 (you must first access the link
through the Library catalog portal in order to see the full resource, including
examples of music citations, but this is the link)
b. http://pages.towson.edu/lwoznick/docs/music/CMS_music_citations.pdf
3. An article about how to write about music - http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/music/
Works Cited: The Works Cited should document at least three sources from the
UNC Music Library that have been studied and utilized in the process of writing the
paper. At least one of them must be a hard copy of a book or a periodical. Books
may be checked out. Periodicals are not checked out but may be photocopied or
scanned as needed. The other sources may be electronic resources that are accessed
through the UNC Music Library website (http://www.lib.unc.edu/music/). While
information found from “Googling” various websites may prove beneficial, often
the content comes from questionable, non-accredited or non-scholarly sources,
though the “authors” may assume an authoritative stance on a given topic. In
contrast, the electronic sources from the Music Library, such as the Oxford Music
Online or the Jazz Music Library (streaming audio), are effective and reliable
resources that are easy to access. In all cases, students should be judicious and seek
to draw information from the most credible sources.
Submitting papers and the grading process: The Essays and Concert Attendance
Journal Entries must be submitted electronically for grading through the “Submit
Papers” folder on our Sakai site, and they will be similarly returned through the
same folder once graded. Given the daunting task of only having 3 Teaching
Assistants to grade nearly 300 essays and 1,200 journal entries, it may take up to
three or more weeks to grade and return each paper. We appreciate your patience
with the process. In order to help ensure that your essays and journal entries
are not lost, please use the following format when submitting papers.
[yourname]essay.doc (may also use docx or PDF)
[yourname]journal1.doc
[yourname]journal2.doc (etc.)
*PLAGIARISM*: Sadly, each semester, students are caught engaging in
plagiarism in their papers. Please remember that while you are permitted to find
information on internet sites, all information must be reworked in your own words.
SIMPLY COPYING AND PASTING FROM THE INTERNET IS PLAGIARISM
and will not be accepted! Even when paraphrasing the words of another person,
you must cite your sources and use footnotes or endnotes to document your sources.
Any student caught plagiarizing will receive a failing grade on the paper and will be
reported to Honor Code office (http://honor.unc.edu).
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Concert Attendance Journal Entries: Students are required to attend four jazz
concerts/events and to write a detailed one-page (double-spaced) assessment for each concert.
YOU MUST ATTEND EACH CONCERT FOR AT LEAST ONE HOUR. The point of the
concert attendance requirement is to help the student to “experience” jazz in a live setting and
to become cultured in the art form. Becoming a musically cultivated person does not take
place by briefly clicking on a video link to “check out” music, or by going to a concert, only
to get up and leave after the first two or three tunes. Attending a concert and leaving after the
first few tunes is disruptive and will be considered cheating. Students caught cheating will
receive 0% for the associated journal entry and will be sent to UNC Honor Court.
There are various options to complete this assignment. At least two of the concerts must be
on-campus UNC events. You may also opt to attend up to two jazz events that are off-
campus. These could be concerts at another university (no high school concerts please)
or you may opt to attend a local jazz gig or jam session where professionals are playing,
though in all cases, the events should be “real jazz” (i.e., traditional jazz)—not rock blues
(i.e., Stevie Ray Vaughan), smooth jazz (Kenny G pop type), or other styles remotely
affiliated with jazz. The journal entries should take into account the topics and techniques
discussed in class and relate them to what is being performed on stage. For example, do the
musicians seem to be playing in a particular style of jazz that we’ve studied in class? What
repertoire is being performed; old standards or newly composed originals? Is the
improvisation collaborative, or are the soloists taking turns? Can you recognize the form?
What is the bassist, drummer, guitarist, or horn player doing? What type of groove are they
playing? Speak objectively about the music for the bulk of your journal entry, though you
may close by expressing personal opinions (e.g., “I liked the concert because…,” or “the
music made me feel…” etc.). You may also describe the general setting of the concert and
how the players interacted on stage. The writing style for the journal entries may be informal
and utilize first-person, but again, they should largely be objective and should assess the
musical content of each event. Each journal entry must be submitted through the
“Submit Papers” folder on our Sakai site within one week of the attended event and
should include some form of documentation that the student attended the event—i.e., a
concert program, ticket, or even a “selfie” (taken just before or after the
concert…JUST NOT DURING A CONCERT).
Places to Hear Jazz: There are a number of good venues to hear jazz in the area. If you go
out to a club to hear jazz, it is protocol that you at least order a soft drink so as not to occupy
a seat without paying that another paying customer might want. It is encouraged to clap after
each tune and after solos. When attending concerts, please turn off your cell phone.
SEE THE UNC JAZZ CONCERT SCHEDULE ON THE CLASS SAKAI SITE *http://www.durhamjazzworkshop.org/ (Durham – one of the best venues to hear jazz)*
*http://beyucaffe.com/jazz-club/ (Durham restaurant – one of the best venues to hear jazz)*
http://www.irregardless.com/music/ (Raleigh restaurant – jazz Friday and Saturday nights)
http://www.shedjazz.com/ (Durham club – not all jazz…check with me if you have questions)
http://www.cgracebar.com/ (Raleigh jazz bar – must be 21 or older…be responsible/careful!)
http://brasasteakhouse.com/ (Raleigh expensive restaurant – Latin Jazz Friday/Saturday)
http://www.wncu.org/calendar/ (jazz calendar at jazz radio station at NCCU)
http://theartofcoolproject.com/ (hip organization that sponsors various artists though is not all
jazz…check with me if you have questions)
http://performingarts.uncg.edu/events/calendar (UNC-Greensboro concert calendar - must search
for jazz events)
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Extra Credit (worth up to 1 percentage point for each additional report):
After completing the four required Concert Attendance Journal entries, students may opt
to attend and write up to three additional concert reports for extra credit. Extra credit
journal entries should be one page in length. Unlike the regular concert reports, the
EXTRA CREDIT JOURNAL ENTRIES SHOULD BE PRINTED ON PAPER AND
SUBMITTED DIRECTLY TO DR. ANDERSON FOR GRADING. No binders please.
Extra credit points will be added manually (i.e., not through Sakai) by Dr. Anderson
when the final grades are submitted to the university at the close of the semester.
Course Websites: There are two websites provided for the class. Students will need to
access the sites frequently throughout the semester.
1. Sakai site (sakai.unc.edu) – containing documents such as course syllabi, course
schedule, grades, and additional handouts.
2. *Accessing the listening site from on- or off-campus* – the following link allows
you to access the listening site from either on- or off-campus. When off-campus
you will first be required to enter your personal ONYEN and password, and then
you enter our class login and password to access the streaming audio. http://www.unc.edu.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/music/courses/music145-anderson/
class login: music145
class password: coltrane (note: all lower case)
In order for the streaming audio to function properly, your computer must be equipped with
an updated browser (such as Firefox or Google Chrome) and the audio MUST BE PLAYED
THROUGH THE FREEWARE, “REALPLAYER,” IF USING A PC, or VLC, IF USING A
MACINTOSH COMPUTER. For technical assistance, students may visit
http://help.unc.edu/6550 or contact the UNC helpline at (919) 962-HELP.
Citizenship, Attendance, and Participation: Attendance is expected at each class meeting
unless the student has a good reason for not attending, such as (serious) illness or death in the
family. If you have an excusable absence, please bring the appropriate documentation and I
will be happy to accommodate you. The attendance policy is based, however, on the
principal of agency. Therefore, no points are deducted for absences. While your grade is not
reduced for absences, you are accountable for all of the information given in class, whether
you choose to attend or not. I will not reiterate material outside of class to students who
choose not to attend on a given day without a university approved absence.
Attendance is mandatory at all exams. Make-up tests will be given only to those students
who miss an exam because of an extreme emergency or unavoidable conflict (e.g., sudden
severe illness, accident, military obligation, etc.). In all cases, documentation must be
provided. Family vacations are not considered an excusable absence—please do not
purchase airline tickets for family travel that conflict with the class exam schedule.
Citizenship refers to exhibiting a positive attitude towards the class and being respectful to
fellow students, as well as the instructor and teacher assistants. Seven percentage points of
the final grade are allotted towards citizenship. Laptop computers may be used in class
for the purpose of taking notes, but may not be used to “surf” the web, type and send e-
mails, or play video games or videos etc. that may distract other students in the class.
Students who engage in such activity may lose citizenship points. The use of cellular phones
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is prohibited in class and phones should be turned off before class begins. The teacher
assistants will periodically monitor computer usage. Please note that soliciting notes (i.e.,
test answers etc.) to the class through our Sakai site is strictly prohibited. In all cases,
students must adhere to the principles of integrity that are outlined in the UNC Honor Code
(http://honor.unc.edu).
Disabilities: If you have a disability that inhibits your ability to perform any of the required
functions of the class such that you need special assistance, please see me and provide
documentation by end of the first week of class. I am willing to assist you in any way that
would be feasible.
