Courses by semester
Courses for Fall 2022
Complete Cornell University course descriptions are in the Courses of Study .
| Course ID | Title | Offered |
|---|---|---|
| MUSIC1100 | Elements of Musical Notation This four-week course fulfills the requirement of basic pitch, rhythm, and score-reading skills needed for some introductory courses and 2000-level courses with prerequisites. | Fall. |
| MUSIC1101 | Elements of Music Have you ever wondered: is there music in outer space? what is music's "deep history"? how do we know music when we hear it? why does it make us want to dance? does it also make us "civilized"? and how do cultural, technological, and economic forces shape why we listen, when we listen, and what we listen to? Elements of Music offers the opportunity to think about all these questions (and more) through a wide variety of hands-on musical activities: experimenting with instruments, recording and manipulating sounds from the world around us, examining medieval musical books, dancing the Twist, sweatin' to the Oldies, playing samba, improvising, singing, and above all, listening to music from around the world. | Fall. |
| MUSIC1205 |
Introduction to Western Art Music
Full details for MUSIC 1205 - Introduction to Western Art Music |
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| MUSIC1340 | Soundscapes of Social Protest The proliferation of protest movements following the death of George Floyd in May 2020 has fostered a renewed interest in the connection between sounds and public expression of grievances. Globally, protesters have used horn honking, music, drumming, poetry, chanting among other sonic elements to confront power establishments and demand profound sociopolitical changes. Using examples and case studies from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, North and South America, this course examines the use of sounds as a weapon of mass action during social movement protest. In addition to exploring recent scholarship on social movements and sound studies, students will be familiarized with digital humanities and will work on an interactive protest map that includes a sound collage and a podcast. | Fall. |
| MUSIC1421 |
Introduction to Computer Music
A composition-based introduction to computer hardware and software for digital sound and media. Fundamentals of audio, synthesis, sequencing, and other techniques for electronic music production. Each student creates several short compositions.
Full details for MUSIC 1421 - Introduction to Computer Music |
Fall. |
| MUSIC2101 |
Theory, Materials and Techniques I
Study of the foundations of tonal music as manifested primarily in the Western literate tradition, also incorporating examples from various vernacular idioms. The course combines modern pedagogical methods with the study of historical sources and focuses on active learning at the keyboard. Topics to be covered include rudiments such as scales and triads; melodic and harmonic principles; voice-leading strategies and schemata; species counterpoint; improvisation, including techniques of embellishment; rhythm, meter, and gesture. During sections, the concepts and skills introduced in lecture will be practiced at the keyboard as well as vocally. Other section activities include elements of musicianship (aural skills, intervallic production and identification, rhythmic accuracy and fluency, etc.); transcription; sight singing; and score reading.
Full details for MUSIC 2101 - Theory, Materials and Techniques I |
Fall. |
| MUSIC2111 | Songwriting Songwriting introduces students to the practice of songwriting through workshop-formatted classes. We will explore the ingredients of song (lyrics, melody, delivery, harmony, rhythm, form, texture, timbre, and arrangement) through analysis, composition, recording technologies, performance, and concert reports. Proficiency on one or more musical instruments is required. Songwriting can be taken as a stand-alone course or as part of the Songwriting sequence with Collaborative Songwriting. | Fall. |
| MUSIC2241 |
Music as Drama: An Introduction to Opera
Opera has been enthralling audiences for 400 years; this course explores the multiple facets of its appeal. Using seven operas as the focus-chosen from different periods, national traditions, and styles-the class will examine the texts that have been turned into operas, the musical conventions that have guided composers (or against which they have worked), and the decisions directors make when they put operas on stage. Each work will be seen as well as heard-either in a special screening or, at least once in the semester, in a live performance. Students who have a strong background in music may wish to also enroll in MUSIC 3901, which involves an extra class-period per week where the music is discussed in greater detail. Permission of the instructor is required for this one-credit addition.
Full details for MUSIC 2241 - Music as Drama: An Introduction to Opera |
Fall. |
| MUSIC2290 |
You Have Terrible Taste in Music
What does it mean to have "good taste" in music? Where does the idea come from, and how has it changed historically? Who has the power to decide which music is good and which is terrible? What makes an expert? Does expertise mean anything in assessing the "value" of different musics? And how does aesthetic expertise interact with other systems of power and identity? Why do people love some genres and hate others? Why does a "guilty pleasure" involve guilt at all? How do we explain our most basic aesthetic attachments? We will examine these questions by reading and discussing texts by philosophers, historians, journalists, musicologists, and sociologists on taste and cultural authority.
Full details for MUSIC 2290 - You Have Terrible Taste in Music |
Fall. |
| MUSIC2341 |
Gamelan in Indonesian History and Cultures
This course combines hands-on instruction in gamelan, Indonesia's most prominent form of traditional music, and the academic study of the broader range of music found in contemporary Indonesia, including Western-oriented and hybrid popular forms. Students thus engage with music directly, and use it as a lens to examine the myriad social and cultural forces that shape it, and that are shaped by it.
Full details for MUSIC 2341 - Gamelan in Indonesian History and Cultures |
Fall. |
| MUSIC3111 |
Jazz Improvisation and Theory I
An introduction to fundamental jazz theory, technique, and applied skills.
Full details for MUSIC 3111 - Jazz Improvisation and Theory I |
Fall. |
| MUSIC3122 | Conducting This course introduces fundamentals of conducting including: gesture and movement; score reading, analysis, and interpretation; rehearsal procedures; and historical practices. Students will explore these topics in both instrumental and choral contexts. | Fall. |
| MUSIC3424 | Considered Listening: Sound, Ears, and Loudspeakers in Creative Practice | |
| MUSIC3431 | Sound Design Covering the basics of digital audio, bioacoustics, psychoacoustics and sound design, as they apply to theatre, film and music production. Students create soundscapes for text and moving image using ProTools software. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3511 | Individual Instruction Individual instruction in voice, organ, harpsichord, piano and fortepiano, violin, viola, cello, percussion, and some brass and woodwind instruments to those students advanced enough to do college-level work in these instruments. For more information about individual instruction, see the section titled Musical Instruction. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3512 | Individual Instruction Individual instruction in voice, organ, harpsichord, piano and fortepiano, violin, viola, cello, percussion, and some brass and woodwind instruments to those students advanced enough to do college-level work in these instruments. For more information about individual instruction, see the section titled Musical Instruction. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3513 | Individual Instruction Individual instruction in voice, organ, harpsichord, piano and fortepiano, violin, viola, cello, percussion, and some brass and woodwind instruments to those students advanced enough to do college-level work in these instruments. For more information about individual instruction, see the section titled Musical Instruction. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3514 | Individual Instruction Individual instruction in voice, organ, harpsichord, piano and fortepiano, violin, viola, cello, percussion, and some brass and woodwind instruments to those students advanced enough to do college-level work in these instruments. For more information about individual instruction, see the section titled Musical Instruction. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3602 | Chorus A nationally renowned choral ensemble and vibrant student-driven organization specializing in repertoire for sopranos and altos. Collaborates frequently with the Glee Club to present mixed-voice repertoire and major works. Tours and records annually. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3603 | Glee Club A nationally renowned choral ensemble and vibrant student-driven organization specializing in repertoire for tenors and basses. Collaborates frequently with the Chorus to present mixed-voice repertoire and major works. Tours and records annually. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3604 | Chorale A course for singers wishing to develop their musicianship, sight-reading, and vocal technique. The Chorale is a performing ensemble, and is focused on the development of essential skills to a high level, preparing students with the musical foundations necessary for a life in choral music. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3609 |
Brazilian Ensemble - Deixa Sambar
Deixa Sambar performs several styles of samba, Brazil's national music. Members need not have prior background in music-making, but a good sense of rhythm is desirable. Members include students as well as Ithaca community members, brasileiros as well as newcomers to Brazilian culture. Rehearsals develop playing skills, with a deep emphasis on cultural understanding of this vital, community-based music.
Full details for MUSIC 3609 - Brazilian Ensemble - Deixa Sambar |
Spring. |
| MUSIC3610 | Cornell Gamelan Ensemble Performs the traditional repertoire of Central Javanese gamelan. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3613 | Cornell Steel Band The Cornell Steel Band explores the wide variety of music for an orchestra of instruments fashioned from 55-gallon oil drums, and an "engine room" of non-pitched percussion. Interwoven into the focus on hands-on practice is reflection on the meanings of steel band, historically and in the present, in its native Trinidad and Tobago and here in the United States. Formal musical training is not necessary, though a sense of rhythm and a good ear are helpful. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3616 | Cornell Hip-Hop Collective This course is open to experienced rappers, beatmakers, and vocalists interested forging collaborative relationships with other students. Taking as a foundation hip-hop's relationship to social justice, each semester we will work together to plan and record an EP on a theme or keyword chosen as a group. We will construct and analyze playlists of inspirational material, identifying specific hip-hop compositional strategies for creating beats and rhymes on a theme, and will use these tools to create and workshop our own collaborative tracks in weekly meetings. Please contact the instructor to audition. | Fall, spring. |
| MUSIC3621 | Cornell Symphony Orchestra This course will provide its members an engaging and vigorous orchestral experience where they will expand their knowledge and enjoyment of advanced repertoire with like-minded musicians. CSO is committed to offering rich concert programming experiences through major works of the orchestral canon as well as groundbreaking works representing music of our time. The primary objective of the course is to achieve a learning outcome that is student and ensemble driven, strengthening the confidence and artistic depth of each musician. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3631 | Cornell Wind Symphony The Cornell Wind Symphony unites student musicians in an ensemble dedicated to the study and performance of emerging and traditional wind repertoire. The Cornell Wind Symphony unites student musicians in an ensemble dedicated to the study and performance of emerging and traditional wind repertoire. In Spring 2021, the Wind Symphony will likely make music in both in-person and remote settings. Full details and audition instructions will be posted on www.cuwinds.com as they become available. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3634 | Cornell Percussion Group The Cornell Percussion Ensemble studies and performs un-conducted percussion chamber music from the rapidly expanding repertoire. Utilizing the stylistic and sonic variety that is unique to the medium, the ensemble performs music from the relatively young canon, including classics by Iannis Xenakis and Steve Reich, as well as many pieces composed within the past few years. Members of the ensemble will develop strategic listening and communication techniques through the study of percussion chamber works and mixed chamber ensemble pieces, while advancing their interpretative and technical skills. Prior experience with percussion instruments is required, and participants must meet with the instructor for a short audition before enrolling. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3660 | Music Improvisation Ensemble The Music Improvisation Ensemble provides students with the opportunity to explore the elements of music from an improviser's perspective. This ensemble is open to any level of musician. An audition is required at the beginning of the semester simply as a means of introduction. Please contact instructor Annie Lewandowski for more information: apl72@cornell.edu. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3901 | Supplemental Study in Music Intended primarily for music majors, this option allows students enrolled in an approved 1000- or 2000-level 3-credit music history course to pursue independent research and writing projects. Students will study various topics in music history at a more advanced level through supplementary reading, discussion, and writing, by arrangement with the professor. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC3902 | Choral Musicianship Co-requisite for new members of Cornell choirs, based on audition. Recommended for choral musicians at all levels. Foundational and advanced approaches to choral sight-singing, aural skills, diction, score reading, and vocal topics. | Fall. |
| MUSIC4181 | Psychology of Music Covers the major topics in the psychology of music treated from a scientific perspective. Presents recent developments in the cognitive science of music, including perception and memory for pitch and rhythm, performing music, the relationship between music and language, musical abilities in infants, emotional responses, and the cognitive neuroscience of music. | Fall. |
| MUSIC4501 | Individual Instruction Individual instruction in voice, organ, harpsichord, piano and fortepiano, violin, viola, cello, percussion, and some brass and woodwind instruments to those students advanced enough to do college-level work in these instruments. For more information about individual instruction, see the section titled Musical Instruction. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC4615 | Jazz Ensemble Study and performance of classic and contemporary big band literature. Rehearsals twice a week with two to four performances per semester. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC4616 | Jazz Combos Study and performance of classic and contemporary small-group jazz. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC4621 | Cornell Chamber Orchestra The goal of this music performance course is to provide the opportunity for you as a string performer to come together with other like-minded musicians in an ensemble setting to rehearse and perform the highest quality literature from the chamber orchestra repertoire. In this course we will focus on overall concepts of self and ensemble expression, engagement, participation, and performance. We will also address musical concepts of ensemble and individual balance, blend, intonation, phrasing, dynamics, articulation, tone, rhythmic precision, color, and ensemble clarity. We are going to listen to ourselves, to each other and to the composer's voice. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC4631 | Chamber Flute Ensemble Small ensembles meet weekly to explore diverse flute repertoire including a variety of instrumentation (piccolo, alto flute, bass flute). There will be a performance opportunity at the end of the semester on a chamber concert or in a studio class setting. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC4641 |
Advanced Instruction in Gamelan
Concentrated instruction for students in advanced techniques of performance on Indonesian gamelan instruments.
Full details for MUSIC 4641 - Advanced Instruction in Gamelan |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC4651 | Chamber Music Ensemble Study and performance of chamber music works from duos to octets, for all instruments and voice. Students will be expected to attend a one hour coaching each week and rehearse on their own as well. There will be a final performance at the end of the semester and possible additional performance opportunities. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC4901 | Independent Study in Music Independent study affords students the opportunity to pursue special interests or research not treated in regularly scheduled courses. A faculty member, who becomes the student's instructor for the independent course, must approve the proposed study and agree to provide continuing supervision of the work. Students must prepare a proposal for independent study. To apply for independent study, please complete the online form. Undergraduate student and faculty advisor to determine course of study and credit hours. | Fall or Spring. |
| MUSIC4911 | Honors in Music First semester of the two semester honors program. In conjunction with faculty, selected candidates formulate a program that allows them to demonstrate their musical and scholarly abilities, culminating in an honors thesis, composition, or recital (or some combination of these), to be presented in their senior year. | Multi-semester course: (Fall, Spring). |
| MUSIC6201 |
Research and Critical Methodologies
This course explores two necessary components for advanced study and research in the discipline of music: 1) practicalities of research, including concepts, methodologies, and tools, which introduces students to social constructions of knowledge and how it is managed by libraries and archives, as well as many types of bibliographic tools, both printed and electronic; 2) critical approaches and theories of music, sound, performance, and cultural meaning, which introduces the students to key disciplinary and interdisciplinary intellectual movements and scholarly works.
Full details for MUSIC 6201 - Research and Critical Methodologies |
Fall. |
| MUSIC7111 | Composition A course for graduate or advanced undergraduate composers (by permission with a portfolio audition) seeking individual music composition instruction, the course combines one-on-one meetings with group seminars featuring workshops, master classes, and/or visiting guests. In addition to individual and group meetings, composers may have opportunities for the reading and/or performance of their work. | Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC7205 |
Seminar in Nineteenth Century Music
This seminar will explore how the music of Franz Schubert has touched those who play, listen to, and think about it. Having framed Schubert's music from multiple historical and analytical angles, we will get to grips with its phenomenal affective force by way of activities based on its coming into audible being, involving performance in historically informed contexts. These activities will serve to make Schubert's music available for reflection on its tangible properties; they will also prompt us to consider the historical and cultural limits of its capacity to touch audiences in different times and places, and thereby to register the radically different terms in which this power has been conceived in critical, musicological, and music-theoretical discourse.
Full details for MUSIC 7205 - Seminar in Nineteenth Century Music |
Fall. |
| MUSIC7333 | Jazz, Fusions, Discourses: New Jazz Studies and “Broken Middle” Interdisciplinarity | |
| MUSIC7901 | Independent Study in Music Independent study affords students the opportunity to pursue special interests or research not treated in regularly scheduled courses. A faculty member, who becomes the student's instructor for the independent course, must approve the proposed study and agree to provide continuing supervision of the work. | Fall, Spring. |