University of Sydney Handbooks - 2014 Archive

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Music

Music

Music

MUSC1501 Extended Fundamentals of Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Matthew Hindson Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1hr lecture and 2 x 1hr tutorials (aural & written)/wk Assumed knowledge: Material covered in MUSC1503 and MUSC1504, or advanced music theory qualifications, such as Music 2 for the NSW HSC, High Level Music for the IB (or equivalent). Students will take a diagnostic in Week 1 of semester to ensure they have the required level of music theory and aural skills. Assessment: Written and online music theory assessment (70%), aural assessment (30%).
Through an integrated and research-based approach to music composition and analysis, student's knowledge of music theory and compositional techniques is extended. Skills in this area cover a range of Western and Non-Western musical styles, from classical music to film music to noise.
MUSC1503 Fundamentals of Music 1

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Matthew Hindson, Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1hr lecture and 2x 1hr tutorials (aural and written)/wk Prohibitions: MUSC1501, MCGY1008 Assessment: Written and online music theory assessment (60%), aural assessment (30%), attendance and participation (10%).
An introduction to basic music literacy skills, including learning to read and write music, and an understanding of fundamental aspects of its structure and composition. The material covered in this unit of study concentrates upon the basics of music theory and listening to ensure that participants have a solid grounding for a firm understanding of music notation and organisation.
MUSC1504 Fundamentals of Music 2

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Matthew Hindson, Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1hr lecture and 2 x 1hr tutorials (aural & written)/wk Prohibitions: MUSC1501 Assumed knowledge: Material covered in MUSC1503. Students interested in taking this unit who have not completed MUSC1503 are advised to see the co-ordinator beforehand to ascertain that they have the required knowledge. Assessment: Written and online music theory assessment including final exam (60%), aural assessment (30%), attendance and participation (10%).
A more advanced exploration of music literacy skills. The material covered in this course ranges from the broad to the specific: from an examination of musical elements and the way they are used in a variety of musical genres through to specific compositional aspects such as four-part writing or analysis of melodic writing across musical cultures. Listening skills are developed in this unit of study.
MUSC1506 Music in Western Culture

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Anne Boyd Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2hr lecture and 1 hr tut/wk Assumed knowledge: The ability to follow a musical score while listening to the music and some prior knowledge of elementary music theory. Assessment: Tutorial work including a Listening Journal (40%), 2000 word essay (30%), 60 minute listening exam (30%)
This unit will study a range of today's popular classics with a view to understanding how musical meaning is constructed in relation to the development of tonality and other European stylistic conventions from the Ancient Greeks to the present day. It will consider questions about how the Western art music tradition has been constructed through history. What are the social factors at work? How does music reflect the minds of its creators and create meaning?
MUSC1507 Sounds, Screens, Speakers: Music & Media

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2hr lecture and 1 tut/wk Assessment: Article summary, 1000 words (25%); Critical analysis, 1000 words (25%); Tutorial test, 500 words (10%); Final Project, 2,000 words(30%), attendance and participation (10%).
Music has been dramatically shaped and reshaped by every major change in communications technology in the 20th century from vinyl discs to MP3s. In this unit of study we will analyse such issues as the ways in which the early recording industry transformed jazz, the blues and country music, how the presentation of music on radio and television changed how the music industry created new musical celebrities, and the challenges the music industry faces as digital technology transforms the creation, distribution and consumption of music.
MUSC2612 Music Performance

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 1 Classes: 3 contact hours/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points, AND audition Assessment: 50 minutes of performance throughout semester (50%); participation and peer contribution (10%); weekly performance journal (15%); researched programme notes (1200 words) (15%); knowledge test (10%).
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: Audition (held in O-Week and Week 1 of semester) : 2 contrasting pieces (or excerpts) totalling 6 minutes and a brief interview. For information please go to http://music.sydney.edu.au/study/areas-of-study/arts-music/ or contact the Arts Music Unit on 9351 2923.
This unit of study is an integrated approach to live music performance that includes practical and research components. Students participate in solo and ensemble situations in weekly lunchtime concerts. Constructive feedback by peers is a significant part of this course and participants trace their own development in weekly reflective journals. Music of all genres (including classical, experimental, popular, jazz and world music), instruments and voice types are accepted, and collaboration across musical traditions is strongly encouraged. A number of seminars dealing with specific key issues are interspersed throughout this unit of study, including performance stress, technical and psychological preparation, ensemble communication and audience perception. Auditions are held during 'O Week' and Week 1 of semester. Please contact the Arts Music Unit Student Administration office on 9351 2923 for further information.
MUSC2614 Composition Workshop

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Anne Boyd Session: Semester 1 Classes: 3 hour workshop/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: Contribution in classes and concerts (30%), composition portfolio and process diary (60%), aural and/or written presentations (10%).
An opportunity to create a new composition in a supported environment. Students will hear their works rehearsed and performed, usually by other participating students. The outcome is a performance in a public concert at the end of the Semester. The workshops may be themed around particular genres and musical techniques such as music theatre, drone-based composition, song-writing, sound and rhythm, creating a sound space and media composition.
MUSC2616 Aural Cultures

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 2hr lecture and 1 hr tut/wk Assessment: Tutorial participation (15%), brief reports on assigned readings (15%), two 'aural diaries' (2x20%), final paper (30%)
This unit focuses on music, 'noise' and sounds both natural and man-made. By means of in-class experiments, field trips and 'audio diaries', students will explore the nature of sound; by means of lectures, readings and discussion, they will examine the many ways in which human beings engage - negatively as well as positively - with the sonic world around them.
MUSC2622 Music in the Sixties

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hrs/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Prohibitions: MUSC2106 Assessment: Two critical analyses 1,000 words each (20% each); four online quizzes 1000 words (20%); major essay 3,000 words (30%); class participation (10%).
The very term 'The Sixties' has lived on in myth as signifying a radical break with the past in the arts, literature and music. While these years saw a great change and social upheaval, this subject will seek link to the music of the era to much longer trajectories of social, political and aesthetic change. We will examine a wide range of music drawn from popular traditions, jazz and the avant garde. No formal music training is necessary.
MUSC2631 Music and Everyday Life

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hour lecture/week Prerequisites: 12 junior music credit points Assessment: Fieldwork project paper 3000 words (40%); ethnographic description of a musical event 1000 words (20%); two critical response paper (1000 words each) ( 30%), class presentations and participation (10%).
What can we learn from non-textual approaches to understanding music? The primary goal of this unit of study is to study music not as a composer, producer, performer, listener or audience member, but as an ethnographer. That is, analysing music through an observational, experiential and intellectual understanding of how people make and take meaning from music. This unit is a prerequisite for MUSC4011 Music Honours A (for BA Hons in Music).
MUSC2653 Introduction to Digital Music Techniques

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Matthew Hindson Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hr lecture/demonstration/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: Sound recording and editing assignment (40%); creative assignments (40%); class presentation, online assessments, attendance and participation (20%).
Note: An ability to read music at a basic level and an understanding of fundamental musical terminology is an advantage in this unit of study.
This unit is an introduction to the use of digital sound and music in creative and multimedia contexts. It is a practical course in which students are introduced to tools of sound creation and manipulation. Students will undertake creative projects as a means to learning. In addition, participants will be exposed to a number of approaches to electroacoustic music across the 20th and 21st centuries.
MUSC2654 Popular Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 hrs/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: Two critical analyses 1,000 words each (20% each); tutorial test 1000 words (20%); major essay 3,000 words (30%); class participation (10%).
How did early American blues and country music develop in tandem? How was punk different in the US, the UK and Australia? What are the origins of the DJ culture? This unit of study presents a thematic overview of a wide variety of styles, movements and spectacles. It examines major genres of popular music, their stylistic features and historical antecedents as well as modes of reception and the role of popular music in everyday life. No formal music training is necessary.
MUSC2667 Shakespeare as Opera

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Michael Halliwell Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 2 hour seminar/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points. Assessment: 1500 word mid-semester assignment (25%), 4,500 word essay (75%).
This course will study the literary and musical strategies employed by composers and librettists in the adaption of the plays of Shakespeare into opera. Operas to be examined are taken from nearly 400 years of operatic repertoire including the classical, romantic, modernist and postmodernist periods. Recent CD and DVD recordings of both the plays and operas will be used, and current adaption theory as applicable to opera will be investigated.
MUSC2670 Music Festivals & Arts Events Management

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Matthew Hindson Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 hour seminar + 1 hr tut/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: Participation and involvement including small written tasks as appropriate (e.g. preparation of a sample budget) (50%) equivalent to 3000 words of assessment. 1500 word groupwork written submission (50%).
This unit of study includes a practical component in which participants will be actively involved in the administration and management of music and arts events. They will learn the procedures and protocols necessary for a smooth behind-the-scenes operation of music event presentation through their own involvement as well as examination of best practice event management nationally and internationally.
MUSC2679 Music and Spirituality

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Anne Boyd Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2hr/wk Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: Listening/short answer test (1500 words) (30%) ; Seminar Presentation (20%);Individual Project as extended essay, or composition or performance accompanied by a shorter reflective essay (4500 words ) (50%).
This 'survey' unit of study presents a diverse range of music, written and performed as a response to spiritual traditions, using the methods of depth psychology. The survey will include examples of music created in response to Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam, as well as Earth-based religions such as Australian Indigenous traditions. The focus will be upon the music rather than religion. Listening will provide the main framework for study.
MUSC2693 Fundamentals of Music 3

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Matthew Hindson, Dr. Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1hr lecture and 2 x 1hr tutorials (aural & written)/wk Prerequisites: MUSC1504 Assessment: Written and online music theory assessment (70%), aural assessment (30%).
Through an integrated and research-based approach to music composition and analysis, student's knowledge of music theory and compositional techniques is extended. Skills in this area cover a range of Western and Non-Western musical styles, from classical music to film music to noise.
MUSC3606 Musical Australia and Asia

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Anne Boyd Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2hr lecture and 1 hr tut/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assumed knowledge: An ability to read music at a basic level and an understanding of fundamental musical terminology would be an advantage but not essential. Assessment: One 3,000 word essay, or individual creative project (such as composition) (60%) accompanied by a short reflective essay; a listening test (20%); contribution to online discussion (20%).
An examination of Australian Music reflecting an engagement with the traditional music of Asia. Both the specific tradition as well as its musical influence will be studied with special emphasis upon China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and India. Wherever possible workshops upon a specific tradition (such as gamelan performance) will be included.
MUSC3609 Musicology

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hr seminar/wk Prerequisites: 12 junior credit points in music, or by arrangement with the coordinator Assessment: Written assessments (50%), weekly summaries of readings (30%), participation (20%)
Note: This unit is a requirement for Honours.
What do we study when we study music? What kinds of stories do we tell about the history of music? What are the central issues, questions, and concerns that drive the study of music? This unit of study will begin to answer these questions and provide an overview of historical musicology as an academic discipline. In addition, students will also learn and practice the research skills necessary to find and evaluate sources, and to define and develop an area of interest. These skills will provide a solid foundation for the independent research work necessary in the Honours year.
MUSC3699 Understanding Music: Modes of Hearing

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hr lecture, 1 hr tut/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: Analyses eq. 1,500 words (30%), final paper 3,000 words (50%), tutorial participation (20%)
This unit of study deals with the different ways in which we comprehend music and with the different ways in which that comprehension might be explained. It deals with modes of hearing and musical analysis for the purpose of leading students towards a deeper knowledge of how music in various genres (ranging from the classical mainstream to the twentieth-century avant-garde, from Tin Pan Alley songs to punk rock and hip-hop) is understood. A good working knowledge of musical terminology and vocabulary is required. This is the required unit of study for a music major in an Arts degree.
MUSC4011 Music Honours A

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 2 hr Dissertation Seminar/week, plus fortnightly supervision Prerequisites: Credit results in MUSC3609, and either MUSC2631 or MUSC3699, plus a Music Major with credit average results in 36 senior music credit points. Assessment: 15,000 - 20,000 word thesis which may include a creative component equivalent to 6000 words (50%); Dissertation Seminar (20%); 12 credit points in Arts or Music units of study (30%).
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
The Honours BA in Music is both a completion at a high standard of an academic education in music, and a preparation for postgraduate study in music. Intending Honours students should speak to the Honours co-ordinator before enrolling. Honours requirements are: A dissertation on a topic agreed with the course coordinator, but normally negotiated by the end of the previous year in the course of MUSC3609 Musicology. A research-based creative component (performance, composition, curation) equivalent to up to 6000 words may, with permission of the supervisor, be included as an integral part of the dissertation, and a further 12 credit points in Arts or Music (subject to approval).
MUSC4012 Music Honours B

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Corequisites: MUSC4011
Refer to MUSC4011
MUSC4013 Music Honours C

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Corequisites: MUSC4012
Refer to MUSC4011
MUSC4014 Music Honours D

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Corequisites: MUSC4013
Refer to MUSC4011