Courses by semester
Courses for Spring 20
Complete Cornell University course descriptions and section times are in the Class Roster.
| Course ID | Title | Offered |
|---|---|---|
| MUSIC 1100 |
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 (weeks 2-5 and 8-11). |
| MUSIC 1105 |
Introduction to Western Music Theory
A self-contained introduction to theories of notated Western concert ("classical") music and related ideas found in jazz, rock, film, other popular forms, and traditional folk genres. Fundamentals of pitch (melody, harmony, counterpoint, tuning), time (rhythm and form), and other parameters (including timbre and instrumentation). Application of music notation, and implications on analysis. The history and science of music theory. "Western" music theory in context, and contemporary approaches. Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS) Full details for MUSIC 1105 - Introduction to Western Music Theory |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 1212 |
Music on the Brain
This course is for anyone who listens to music or plays music and wonders what's going on in your brain that makes you feel the way you do. Starting with the music each of you knows and loves—the soundtrack to your life—we will explore what's going on in your brain when you play or just listen. We will tackle questions like: What is the relationship between language and music? Do animals have music? How does the brain process rhythm & tempo, melody, harmony, and pattern in music? How and why does your music work for you? Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 1312 |
History of Rock Music
This course examines the development and cultural significance of rock music from its origins in blues, gospel, and Tin Pan Alley up to alternative rock and hip hop. The course concludes with the year 2000. Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 1350 |
Music of the Arab World
This course offers a survey of musical performance practices of the Arab world and its diasporas from the early twentieth century to the present. It investigates the sociopolitical conditions and entanglements of music (and, in a few instances, dance) across a range of localities and periods. Themes considered include colonialism and orientalism, nationalism and populism, minorities and indigeneity, gender, religion, revolution and political change, war and US imperialism, regional histories of enslavement. Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 1466 |
Physics of Musical Sound
Explores musical sound from a physics point of view. Topics include how various musical instruments work; pitch, timbre, scales, intervals, and tunings; hearing; human voice and room acoustics. This course is a Writing In The Majors Course: both science writing and physics problem-solving skills are developed through weekly assignments. Student activities include hands-on investigations of musical instruments and field trips. Students write a term paper investigating a topic of their choice. At the level of The Science of Sound by Rossing, Moore, and Wheeler. Catalog Distribution: (PBS-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 1501 | This Week in Pop Music: LWYL |
|
| MUSIC 1701 |
FWS: Sound, Sense and Ideas
This First-Year Writing seminar provides the opportunity to write extensively about music's place in our world. Topics vary by section. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 2102 |
Theory, Materials and Techniques II
Theory, Materials, and Techniques II surveys tonal music as conceived and practiced throughout late-eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe. The course combines modern pedagogical methods with the study of relevant historical sources and incorporates active learning at the keyboard. Topics to be covered include the analysis of form and genre; advanced techniques of modulation; transformational theory and other approaches to the configuration of diatonicism and chromaticism; and the relationship of words and music in nineteenth-century song. During section meetings, the concepts and skills introduced in lecture will be practiced at the keyboard as well as vocally. Other topics to be covered in sections include advanced aural skills; sight singing; score reading; and the improvisation of preludes. Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS) Full details for MUSIC 2102 - Theory, Materials and Techniques II |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 2111 |
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. Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 2201 |
Introduction to Music Studies
This course introduces students to the study of music as an expression of history and culture by examining the ways in which music creates meaning, knowledge, archives, and identities. Musical examples will be drawn from a broad range of styles, chronological periods, and geographical locations; and students will engage with live performance as well as various forms of recorded music and mediated performance. Along with considering music as sound, the course will examine different modalities of writing about music—journalistic, academic, and creative—and we will think about how these musical texts, and those that the students produce, function to situate music as discourse. The course will develop critical thinking, writing, and presentation skills. Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 2207 |
History of Western Music I
A survey of Western music and its social contexts from the beginning of notation (circa 900) to 1700. Topics include sacred chant, secular song, polyphony, madrigals, early opera, and the development of independent instrumental music. The course emphasizes listening and comprehension of genres and styles, and is intended for music majors and qualified nonmajors. Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 2244 |
The Music, Art, and Technology of the Organ
The organ is an interdisciplinary wonder where mechanics, architecture, acoustics, religion, philosophy, literature, as well as the musical arts and sciences meet. This course uses the organ to explore music's relation to technology, history and culture, and in turn traces the technical and mechanical mysteries, and expressive possibilities, of the 'King of Instruments' across its long history. Students will gain 1) an understanding of some key aspects of musical history and repertoire; 2) a sense for the historical relation between music and technology; 3) a new knowledge of (and enthusiasm for!) the organ; and 4) an insight into the ways in which musical instruments and the musical practice associated with them are cross-cultural and interdisciplinary. With a key focus on the music of J. S. Bach, as well as on the reception of Bach's music in the 19th and 20th centuries, topics include the mechanics of organ construction, the North German organ art and the toccata, virtuosity and the use of the feet, the symphonic organ in the 19th century, 20th-century experimentation with organ sound, the organ and film. The course combines lectures with practical studio-style sessions at Cornell's four superb organs, and unprecedented access to those instruments. No prior musical experience necessary, although those interested (and with some keyboard skills) will have the opportunity to learn to play – with both hands and feet. Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS) Full details for MUSIC 2244 - The Music, Art, and Technology of the Organ |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 2330 |
Music in and of East Asia
This course explores the breadth of music found in present day China, Japan, and Korea--from indigenous musical traditions, through adaptations of Western art music, up to the latest popular styles--as well as the presence of traditional East Asian musics outside East Asia, including right here at Cornell. In both cases, music offers a lens for examining the myriad social and cultural forces that shape it, and that are shaped by it. The course's academic focus on critical reading and listening, written assignments, and discussion is complemented by opportunities to engage directly with music, whether attending conferences or participating in workshops with student-led ensembles. Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 2703 |
Thinking Media
From hieroglyphs to HTML, ancient poetry to audiotape, and Plato's cave to virtual reality, "Thinking Media" offers a multidisciplinary introduction to the most influential media formats of the last three millennia. Featuring an array of guests from across Cornell, including faculty from Communication, Comparative Literature, English, German Studies, Information Science, Music, and Performing & Media Arts, the course will present diverse perspectives on how to think with, against, and about media in relation to the public sphere and private life, archaeology and science fiction, ethics and aesthetics, identity and difference, labor and play, knowledge and power, expression and surveillance, and the generation and analysis of data. Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 3122 |
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. Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 3211 |
Seminar in Advanced Music Studies
This course explores historical, critical, and aesthetic writings on music extending from Ancient Greece to contemporary America. We will engage with significant ways of thinking about music from the Western classical tradition and beyond it, building our skills as writers and speakers about the sonic arts in a range of cultural contexts. Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS) Full details for MUSIC 3211 - Seminar in Advanced Music Studies |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 3314 |
Resistance, Reform, and Revolt: Sound and Music in Early Modern England
Imagine waking to the sound of bells, getting the latest news and gossip via song, singing bawdy rounds at the tavern, or gathering in a secret location to hear forbidden music. This course examines the profound cultural changes taking place in seventeenth- century England and how music reflected and even helped create these transformations. We'll consider religious extremism, colonialism, political and scientific revolutions and connect these topics to our own political and cultural conflicts. We'll read primary accounts of music both heard and made and explore sounds from the sublime music of William Byrd to the noises of everyday life, learning to listen to the contexts that invisibly surround them. No prior musical knowledge or experience needed. Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 3431 |
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. Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS) |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 3511 |
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. |
| MUSIC 3512 |
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. |
| MUSIC 3513 |
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. |
| MUSIC 3514 |
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. |
| MUSIC 3602 |
Chorus
A nationally renowned treble-voice chorus specializing in music for sopranos and altos. Tours and records annually. The Chorus frequently combines with the Glee Club to work on mixed-voice repertoire and major works. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 3603 |
Glee Club
A nationally renowned male-voice chorus specializing in music for men's voices. Tours and records annually. The Glee Club frequently combines with the Chorus to work on mixed-voice repertoire and major works. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 3604 |
Chorale
A course for singers wishing to develop their musicianship, sight-reading, and vocal technique. The Chorale may occasionally perform publicly but is more focused on the development of essential skills to a high level, preparing students for further singing in a cappella groups, the Chorus, the Glee Club, or the Chamber Singers. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 3609 |
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. |
| MUSIC 3610 |
Cornell Gamelan Ensemble
Study and performance mostly of traditional Javanese gamelan music. Group rehearsal once a week in preparation for one concert. Individual instruction is offered as necessary; those wishing to learn advanced techniques should also enroll in MUSIC 4641. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 3612 |
Pan-African Drum and Dance Ensemble
Pan-African Drum and Dance Ensemble is an introductory performance course where students learn performance traditions from across West Africa. No prior experience is necessary. Students may choose to focus on drumming or dancing. Full details for MUSIC 3612 - Pan-African Drum and Dance Ensemble |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 3613 |
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. |
| MUSIC 3615 |
Jazz Repertory Ensemble
Study and performance of classic and contemporary big band literature. Rehearsal once a week with one to two performances a semester. |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 3616 |
Cornell Hip-Hop Collective
This course is open to experienced rappers and beatmakers interested in improving their craft and forging collaborative relationships with other students. Weekly meetings will entail workshopping lyrics and beats, composing collaborative tracks, improvising/freestyling, and developing performance skills. |
Fall, spring. |
| MUSIC 3621 |
Cornell Symphony Orchestra
Study and performance of a broad repertoire of orchestral works from Beethoven to the present. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 3631 |
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. Through annual off-campus experiences we also explore music as a vehicle for cross-cultural exchange and collaboration, and in doing so support Cornell's core values of public engagement and global awareness. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 3634 |
Cornell Percussion Group
The Cornell Percussion Group explores and performs un-conducted chamber music of the rapidly expanding percussion repertoire. The Group takes advantage of the stylistic and sonic breadth that the relatively young medium of percussion chamber music engenders, performing music that ranges from classics of the percussive canon from composers such as John Cage and Iannis Xenakis, to collaborations with composers on new repertoire. Members of CPG will develop their percussive technique and collaborative musical skills through the study of a diverse array of un-conducted percussion chamber works and mixed chamber ensemble pieces. Prior experience with percussion instruments is required, and participants must meet with the instructor for a short audition before enrolling. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 3660 |
Music Improvisation Ensemble
The Music Improvisation Ensemble provides students with the opportunity to explore the elements of music from an improviser's perspective. Each session will focus on a different area of improvisation, including noise, graphic scores, conducted improvisation, free music, small and large group improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaboration with dance and film. 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. |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 3701 |
Performing Chamber Wind Music
This coached chamber music course emphasizes rehearsal skills, leadership, and collaborative methods; familiarization with the repertory; musical analysis through performance; and developing a historically informed, musically unified, interpretation. Students participate in masterclasses with guest artists and/or Music Department faculty. These classes will present general topics, concepts specific to performance practice, and traditional performance-based instruction. The course includes two recitals featuring music prepared throughout the semester. Students are strongly encouraged to supplement the course with individual instruction on their instrument. For additional information contact jms862@cornell.edu. |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 3703 |
Engaged Performance
This community-engaged seminar gives students the opportunity to combine the study of arts education with community engagement projects. A key component is the design and implementation of a music-centered arts program in tandem with community partners in Ithaca. In consultation with instructors who have expertise in arts education and the leaders of local community groups, students will each design and teach a music lesson in an after-school music program. Students will learn about the challenges involved in running a community arts program and explore the ways that musical performance can be a community building activity. In seminars and discussions, they will learn about the civic engagements and ethical practices involved in the design, operation, and administration of community arts programs. |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 3901 |
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. |
| MUSIC 4103 | Topics in Post-Tonal Theory |
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| MUSIC 4332 | Jazz and the Long Sixties |
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| MUSIC 4345 |
Sound, Silence, and the Sacred
From the ringing of Tibetan singing bowls to the quiet of desert monasticism, religious imagination and ritual is replete with sound and silence. Cityscapes resound with church bells and calls from the minarets. Music, chanting, recitations, incantations, mantras, gongs—the world of religion is intimately tied to ritualistic uses of sound. But sound goes even beyond ritual to the realm of the imaginary, which frequently contrasts the music of the gods with the noise of the demons. Sound and silence in such contexts are inherently tied to desire, temptation, and even salvation. In addition, environmental sounds—the sounds of thunder, water, wind, animals, and so forth—are important for religious history and literature and contemporary practices. This course will draw upon a wide array of sources—from texts to recordings, videos, and performances—to address the function and meaning of sound (and silence) within diverse religious traditions. Our goal will be to read selections from the field of sound studies, listen and read closely in texts and music coming from diverse religious traditions, and to make some of our own recordings for a Cornell (and beyond) religious soundscape. Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS) Full details for MUSIC 4345 - Sound, Silence, and the Sacred |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 4410 |
Bending Instruments
What is a sounding object or musical instrument and how does human culture shape these unique human-made material sources of sound? How can instruments and sound objects be modified or "bent" to produce yet more sounds? In a workshop environment participants will treat these topics through practical exploration as well as reading the history and culture of instruments/sound objects or devices. By using ideas from the new interdisciplinary field of sound studies, and inspired by visiting instrument makers, we will explore what instruments are and could be. Students, working alone or in collaboration, will design and build (could include a conceptual reworking) their own instrument or sounding object that they will learn to operate and modify to make new sounds. Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 4454 |
Writing on Tape in the 1970s
This course examines the way audiotape both corrupted and enabled the aesthetic and political culture of the 1970s. The possibilities of editing (via the cut, the loop, the overdub, the mixtape) on one hand, and the seeming capacity for indiscriminate recording of sound on the other, revealed tape to be a medium with claims both for authentic documentation (and also surveillance), and wide aesthetic reference (but also mass deception). With one ear to the state and another to the music industry, this class will focus on the way politics and the arts responded to and incorporated the new technology. Artists include Andy Warhol, Steve Reich, Samuel Beckett, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Laurie Anderson, The Firesign Theatre, Dr. Dre, Marley Marl. Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS) |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 4501 |
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. |
| MUSIC 4601 |
Chamber Singers
A mixed-voice chamber choir for students with outstanding sight-reading skills and considerable choral experience. Aims to rehearse at a professional level. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 4615 |
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. |
| MUSIC 4616 |
Jazz Combos
Study and performance of classic and contemporary small-group jazz. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 4621 |
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. |
| MUSIC 4631 |
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. |
| MUSIC 4641 |
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. |
| MUSIC 4651 |
Chamber Music Ensemble
Study and performance of chamber music works from duos to octets, for pianists, string, and wind players. |
Fall, Spring. |
| MUSIC 4901 |
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. |
| MUSIC 4912 |
Honors in Music
Second 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. |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 6410 |
Bending Instruments
What is a sounding object or musical instrument and how does human culture shape these unique human-made material sources of sound? How can instruments and sound objects be modified or "bent" to produce yet more sounds? In a workshop environment participants will treat these topics through practical exploration as well as reading the history and culture of instruments/sound objects or devices. By using ideas from the new interdisciplinary field of sound studies, and inspired by visiting instrument makers, we will explore what instruments are and could be. Students, working alone or in collaboration, will design and build (could include a conceptual reworking) their own instrument or sounding object that they will learn to operate and modify to make new sounds. |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 6421 |
Electroacoustic Composition
Intended principally for doctoral students in music composition but open to others by permission. Depending on students' backgrounds and interests, the course may include an introduction to electroacoustic composing, an emphasis on aesthetic issues associated with the field, interactivity and real-time performance, software instrument design, performance controllers, or other topics. |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 7111 |
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. |
| MUSIC 7204 |
Seminar in Eighteenth Century Music
Graduate Seminar covering a topic in 18th century music. Full details for MUSIC 7204 - Seminar in Eighteenth Century Music |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 7332 |
Jazz and the Long Sixties
The "long" Sixties decade saw major shifts in jazz: challenges to its musical identity as cohesive, changes in production and public presentation, and concern over its place in culture nationally and internationally. For many historians the period from the mid-Fifties through the early Seventies brought an explosion of sub-genre trends – cool jazz, hard bop, Latin jazz, bossa nova, free jazz, modalism, and fusion among them – that tended to factionalize jazz style, hastening its commercial decline even as its cultural capital rose under the ambivalent banner of "America's classical music." This seminar will focus on contemporaneous and retrospective attempts to explain Jazz in the Sixties, and the musical and historiographical challenges they present. |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 7501 |
Historical Performance Practice
Hands-on study of 18th- and 19th-century pedagogical materials relating to keyboard improvisation, from textless and unfigured Neapolitan partimenti to quasi-literary manuals aimed at amateurs. Keyboard ability (and willingness to improvise collaboratively) desirable but not essential. Full details for MUSIC 7501 - Historical Performance Practice |
Spring. |
| MUSIC 7901 |
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. |
| MUSIC 9901 | Thesis Research |
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