MUS 1376  •  American Popular Music

Syllabus

The Course: To gain a thorough understanding of the origins and development of popular music. Along with the study of its history, this course will also cover rudimentary aspects of the language, instruments, and artists who comprise its universal appeal. The student should develop critical listening and thinking skills as well as aural recognition of a variety of pop styles.

The course management for this class will be accomplished through our Blackboard site; all registered students are enrolled. Since this is a music course, make certain your computer can play MP3 files and you have the knowledge and technology to download music files.

Required Text:           

                        • Campbell, Michael. Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On. 3rd ed.

                        Boston, MA: Schirmer/Cengage, 2009.  ISBN: 0-495-50530-7.

            • 3-CD companion set: Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On. 3rd ed.

ISBN: 0-495-56611-X.

Minimum Competencies:  The successful student of MUS 1376 will have a greater appreciation of popular music through increased knowledge of the fundamentals of music and the instruments that perform music today. He/she will gain awareness of the different stylistic periods of music and the works of representative composers. The student should develop an appreciation for the popular music of the past as well as learn about and identify common forms of popular music. He/she will learn about historical, cultural, political, and social trends as they relate to the study of this music. Above all, the diligent student will become a discerning, perceptive listener and develop a solid context for listening to music recreationally.

Evaluation:

Proposed Schedule: Included is a proposed schedule which has proven successful in completing this course (see page 3 of this syllabus). It reflects the standard 15 weeks of academic classes. Students are required to read and listen to the material from each chapter. Deadlines for the Exams, Concert Reviews, and the Project are all given in this schedule.

Keep on top of it!

Concert Attendance Review:  Students are required to attend live performances. Submit a one-page, typed review of a performance, with its printed program, shortly following the performance. The concert review is worth a maximum of 5% of the semester grade. Submit the review within one week of the performance. The Review will be due at the end of the 11th week. Extra credit may be given for attending more than one performance. Email the completed review (cover sheet and one-page essay) in MS Word format to john.Irish@angelo.edu and title the subject line of your email document:

(your name): Concert Review #1. Blank forms (that you can print) and helpful information/sample reviews can be found in the ASSIGNMENTS tab on our Blackboard site.

Exams: Follow the schedule given at the end of this syllabus for a general time-line of when each chapter is expected to be mastered. Exams are given after each third chapter; notification of exact times will be given on our Blackboard site. Exams will be offered on an adjoining Sunday-Monday. Also required will be completion of short quizzes as well as the “tutorial quizzes” offered on the text’s companion web site. Note: Most exams are given in the Respondus Lockdown Browser; this must be installed on the computer on which you take your exams. There will be audio questions from our listening examples on the exams; your computer must have the ability to play MP3 files. Refer often to our Blackboard Announcements page for information on when these exams/quizzes will be offered.

Project: The project will be a 6-page written paper on a subject related to American popular music. Subject matter (4 pages) will include background and/or biographical information on the artist(s), song, album, or topic (see list below). For those choosing a subject dealing with a musician (left-hand column below), the paper will also focus on one song with musical analysis from elements learned in the class. Analyze the song of your choice similar to the “to Listen For” boxes found in our text; for your use, a blank “to Listen For” form (in pdf) can be found in the ASSIGNMENTS tab. No songs in the text/CD are allowed—select another song not given in the text. For those subjects covering an aspect from the music industry (right-hand column below), provide a thorough explanation of that particular aspect and how it applies to popular music today. Coordinate with me on your subject and artist/song not later than the end of the 6th week of class. To insure successful progress on your paper, I wil ask for the first page of your draft by the end of the 13th week. Please use a 12-pitch font and double-space your work.
The written project will also include a title page (1 page) and bibliography (1 page). The bibliography will include at least three citations, not all from the Internet. The paper will be due at the end of the 15^th week of class. Email the completed project paper in MS Word format to john.Irish@angelo.edu and title the subject line of your email document: (your name): Project. Helpful information can be found in the ASSIGNMENTS tab on our Blackboard site.

Subject Topics                

Recorded Lectures & Other Materials:

The course’s Blackboard site contains recorded lectures from every chapter in our text (based on the 2nd edition of our text). These can be listened to on the site itself or downloaded to your MP3 player. They will supplement your exposure to the material from each chapter and are meant to be used in conjunction with reading the text and listening to the accompanying CD-set. Further recorded materials are also found on the site and offer helpful explanations/demonstrations on how to identify certain elements of popular music. These will be found in the LECTURES tab on our Blackboard site.

“Angelo State University expects its students to maintain complete honesty and integrity in their academic pursuits. Students are responsible for understanding the Academic Honor Code, which is contained in both print and web versions of the Student Handbook.”

Cheating means getting unauthorized help on an assignment, quiz, or examination.

Plagiarism means submitting work as your own that is someone else’s.

Be certain to maintain complete honesty and integrity in all your actions and words.