MUH 2019(section 0001)

“American Popular Music”(Fall 2015, Class # 81995)

Classroom Building I (CB1), Room 0121

3:00 pm-4:15 pm (Tues-Thurs)

Instructor: Scott WarfieldAssociate Professor of Music History

Office: PAC M 227

Graduate Teaching Assistant:Ms. Catheryn Van Kley

Office: PAC M 203

Syllabus(& other Important Points)

• 3 credits - may count toward GEP # 2.B.(check your catalog and speak to your advisor)

• Textbook & Other Materials

• Communication (email, web pages, etc.)

• Testing and Grading

• Class Procedures and Decorum, etc.

• Final Details (Academic Integrity, SDS, etc.)

Some Important Web Pages

• My home web page :Scott Warfield's Home page(google my name to find)

• MUH 2019 home web page :MUH 2019 - "American Popular Music..."- links to: Syllabus, Daily Assignments, Publisher’s Web Site, (my) Review Sheets, PowerPoint Slides, etc.

• “Bookmark” or add to your “Favorites”

TEXTBOOK

• REQUIRED• 4th Edition ONLY• UCF Bookstore or….?

- Buy - Rent (?)- Borrow (this edition)

• Download Access Card(for 60 audio examples)

• REQUIRED

FRIENDLY ALERT

• Thursday, 27 Auugst 2015, beginning of class

• Short “Pre-Test” (no STUDYING required)

• General background and music knowledge

• Your Score irrelevant

• Counts as “extra credit” for course (1-2 points)

• Bring “Strawberry” scantrons and #2 pencil

• Must complete to qualify for Financial Aid

“American Popular Music”

What is it?

“American”United States of America (only)

What is “Popular”?

• from The Oxford English Dictionary

• Etymology: “classical Latin populāris (adjective) of or belonging to the people as a whole, belonging to or used by ordinary people, available to the whole community, of the common people, supporting or professing to support the interests of the common people, liked or admired by many people”

OED definitions (selected)• 3a. Of, relating to, deriving from, or consisting

of ordinary people or the people as a whole; generated by the general public; democratic.

• 4. Of cultural activities or products.• 4a. Intended for or suited to the understanding

or taste of ordinary people, esp. as opposed to specialists in a field; spec. (of literature, etc.) intended for and directed at a general readership.

• 4b. Adapted to the means of ordinary people; low or moderate in price.

More OED definitions

• 7a. Liked or admired by many people, or by a particular person or group.

• 7b. Designating forms of art, music, or culture with general appeal; intended primarily to entertain, please, or amuse. Cf. sense A. 4, popular culture n.

• (Hint: “4” is best for this course)

Starr & Waterman define…

“In this book we use the term ‘popular music’ broadly to indicate music that is mass-reproduced and disseminated via the mass media, that has at various times been listened to by large numbers of Americans, and that typically draws upon a variety of preexisting musical traditions.” (textbook, p. 6)

…thus, “popular music” is:

1. mass-produced and mass-disseminated(requires some sort of technology)

2. listened to (“used” and “consumed”) by large numbers of people (in the U.S.)(now or in the past)

3. generally based on a variety of(pre-existing) musical traditions

Five “Themes”

1. Listening Critically

2. Music and Identity

3. Music and Technology

4. Music is a Business

5. Music has “Centers” and “Peripheries” (places)

Chapter 1 – “Themes and Streams”Course Goals

• Think CRITICALLY about Music(“A duck hears…people listen”)

• Learn the history and context of this music(who makes it and uses it, and why….)

• Learn many of the styles of U.S. popular music from the 1840s to the recent past

Music and Identity(Theme 2)

• What music do YOU listen to?(…and why THOSE sounds?)

• Music is a Learned Behavior (and differs by communities). (“My songs” vs. “Your songs”)

• Music identifies (among many others): ethnicity, race, gender, age, and community

Defining “Popular” music• Are these “popular” …. or something else?

- Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos (compilation of chants part 1)

(# 3 on Billboard Top 200 – 1994 “Triple Platinum”)

- Henryk Gorecki-Symphony No. 3: II. Lento E Largo - Tranquillissimo – YouTube (composed 1977)

(well over 1,000,000 copies sold since 1992)

• What about these?- The Carter Family The Church In The WildWood – YouTube

- Woody Guthrie -- This Land is Your Land – YouTube

- Peter Paul and Mary, Puff the Magic Dragon - YouTube

Friendly Alert (Again)

Thursday, 27 August 2015PRE-TEST

Bring aSTRAWBERRY scantron

& # 2 pencil