2020-21 Academic Catalog

Music is about relationships. Music is literally a series of relationships between organized sounds, but beyond that it is also about relationships between people. Through music, human beings tell stories about who they are, where they come from, what they value, and what dreams they hold for the future. In this course, the concept of storytelling via organized sound provides a framework for students to understand music in the “Western” world and its relationship to people and their values at given times and places. Instead of a chronological history, this course explores a series of topics where music and narrative intersect: mythology, dance, religion, politics, instrumental music, and audiovisual genres. Students will acquire the ability to write about sound and its meaning via blog posts, interpretive listening assignments, and a final creative project that incorporates personal experience with musical description. An ability to read music not required.