Popular Music in America

MUH 3025

The Syllabus

• Syllabus• Reading• Listening• Lectures• Quizzes• Essay Discussion Responses• Expectations

• Schedule• The Industry• The History• The Present

Reading• Larson, History of Rock and Roll

• Basic grounding, names, dates, places• Heavily tilted toward rock and roll• On average, one chapter per unit• 3rd edition includes subscription to Rhapsody

• Brackett, Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader• Contemporaneous accounts• Fills out the non-rock elements• Listening lists

• Supplemental materials• On e-Learning• Often academic scholarship (ethnomusicology)• Will cover other genres (funk, reggae, salsa, etc.)

Reading

• Learning Modules (Units)• All reading, quiz, lecture, and essay assignments

are outlined in unit’s tab• Use the schedule in the “Syllabus” tab to see

which units are due each week• All work is embedded through e-Learning

• Organizational note• Ignore mentions of “weeks”• Pay close attention to due dates and the schedule

Listening• Active vs. Passive Listening

• Listening ‘critically’: finding meaning• How is the music put together?• How is it culturally significant? (What culturally

significant elements are in the music?)• Where did it come from (musically and socially)?

• “Non-musicians” can do more than play the radio...• Identifying “wrong” chords and notes, singers who are

“off key” (I know you all love the early season episodes of American Idol)

• We have learned sets of expectations after years of listening, don’t be afraid to use them! You have 20+ years of musical training!

Listening• Active listening:

• Much popular music is derided as being exclusively for passive listening, that it’s only meant to be heard

• Try to think more critically about the music we hear• Listening actively means engaging with the sounds, with

the body, and with the experience of musical consumption in an active way (even if sitting still)

• Goals of “analysis”• Our analysis will be mostly historical, but we will address

some issues of form, melody, and harmony• This will hopefully help you to expand your tastes• You will hear the roots of the music you love• You will become a more critical (and intentional)

consumer of music. This will enhance, not ruin, your enjoyment of the sounds you hear!

Lectures

• Make sure to watch them in the order assigned

• Between one and three each unit

• Longer, consider this to be equivalent to sitting in class

• Content• Audio or video version of a lecture• Includes or points to audio or video of performances• Will cover materials from class• Will make larger connections between topics

Quizzes

• Timed quizzes• You will usually have two or three quizzes each unit• Wait to complete them at the appropriate time (often after readings, lectures)• These will cover materials from the readings, including the material not covered

in the lectures! It is a way to test your comprehension (and completion) of the reading assignments.

• Listening/video quizzes• In these quizzes, you will be given a link to an audio or video source online• The questions are timed: you cannot complete them before the minimum time

limit, which is set to the length of the A/V example. So just watch it!• Most questions will require you to link information from the lectures and

readings to the example itself while some will simply test that you are watching it (“Which band member is wearing a blue shirt?”)

Essay Responses

• Discussion prompts• Listed each week in e-Learning’s “Assignments” tab• You will have one or more to choose from• Respond to one prompt in a 500-word short essay• Attach your files following the directions as an accepted file format (.DOC is safe)• See the “Essay Response Rubric” in the “Syllabus” tab for details on grading

• Schedules• Be careful to pay attention to due dates, no late work will be accepted

Expectations• Online course expectations

• This course is fully online• You must keep up with readings, lectures, and assignments• Materials will usually be available for a week or more before the deadline. (This may be

different for the first week of classes, check the schedule.)• No late materials will be accepted for reasons other than those listed.• Do work early, submit work early. Websites behave badly.

• Technology• It is up to you to confirm that your computer and browser are compatible with the

online interface and Rhapsody.• You must be able to play musical examples, answer quizzes, etc. Otherwise, you will

lose points quickly. • Take any technical support issues to the Computing Help Desk (info in the syllabus)• Technology issues are not a valid excuse for missing deadlines.• Computer lab are in the Architecture building (open 24/7) and across campus• See the syllabus for how to deal with a missed assignment due to technology

What is Pop?

• Different perspective on “popular music”• Music that is “popular” or widely known• Music that sells• Rock and roll• Young people’s music• Not “folk” or “classical”• Dance music

• What are the problems with these definitions?• The purpose of taxonomies and categories• What do sales measure? Who is buying?• What are the shared characteristics of popular music?• Is popular music of or for the people?

School of Rock chalkboard

• Studying connections in pop history• Bob Dylan linking “folk” and “folk rock”• “Hard rock” as a combination of “pop rock” and “R&B”: Think Led Zeppelin’s early career as

blues artists, they were even backed by Chicago blues bands! (Listen to “You Shook Me”)• “Funk” into “Disco” into “Hip-hop/rap” (“Good Times” into “Rapper’s Delight”)

The Industry’s Place

• Music of the people vs. music for the people• Who decides what you listen to?

• How do you decide for yourself?• Advice from friends?• The radio? MTV?• Favorite record labels?• Album art?• Internet services like YouTube, Facebook, Spotify, Last.fm, Grooveshark, Pandora,

Rhapsody, or MySpace?

• Engagement with the record industry will be one of our few “shared characteristics” of popular music• It’s still not a perfect definition, though. What is left out?

Engaging the Industry

• Mainstream: geographically or culturally “central”• Source of music, media, cultural values• Major labels, scenes (NYC, Nashville, LA), etc.

• Alternative: smaller institutions, sources• Marginalized populations (examples?)• Indy record labels• Youth! (or are they “central”?)• Geographic peripheries (rural forms, for example)• Immigrant communities• Others who are typically excluded (intentionally or unintentionally)

• The existence of “alternative” markets gives space to small labels• Yet there is still a large disparity between creative activity and profit

Unit 1• Read the syllabus, course schedule, essay response rubric!

• Use the schedule (in the “Syllabus” tab) to see which units are due each week• Go to the Unit 1 module and follow the activities in the order they are listed

• Order or buy the assigned textbooks• Thomas Larson: History of Rock and Roll (3rd edition)• David Brackett: The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader (2nd edition)

• Set up your Rhapsody account• The 3rd edition of the Larson text comes with a 4 month subscription

• Locate the external readings • Readings that are not from these books are posted to e-Learning’s “Resources” tab• This week’s readings are there, and linked to from the lesson module

• Essay responses and quizzes• Complete the assigned essay responses (there are two for unit 1) and quiz