Introduction to Music In this course we will develop critical listening skills through guided study of selected works of Western classical, popular, and folk music, as well as a sampling of music from non-Western cultures. Students will examine how music uses basic sound materials—such as rhythm, melody, timbre, texture, and harmony—to create meaning and expression, how those uses have changed over time from the Middle Ages to the present, and how music relates to its social and historical context and to the other arts. Previous musical training is not required. 3 hrs.

American Popular Music: From the Blues to Hip-Hop (and Beyond) In this course we will use a broad historical approach to investigate the musical and cultural history of American Popular Music, from Minstrels and the Blues to the present moment, focusing on both the historical context and the social and political impacts of various musical styles, and centering on the contributions of culture and gender diversity of the artist. We will also explore how the business of the music industry and the technological developments and trends of the 20th and 21st Centuries have impacted - and been impacted by - the music itself. Class meetings will combine lectures with pointed discussion and critical listening to cover key points, and assignments will involve further listening.

Introduction to Electronic Music In this course we will unpack the fundamentals of audio recording, music production, and songwriting including analog / digital audio, signal processing, recording, producing, sequencing, automation, and MIDI. The course has two goals: 1) to build technical skills using a digital audio workstation (DAW) and 2) to apply these skills toward creative projects and exercises. Through lectures, listening sessions, readings, labs, creative projects, film screenings, and hands-on activities, we will build the necessary skills to produce a musical idea or composition in the digital domain for playback and release.

What in the World is Music? In this course we will explore global musical cultures in order to better understand both those musical cultures and our own in relation to one another. The course has two goals: to introduce students to unfamiliar ways of listening to and thinking about different elements of music (including – but not limited to – rhythm, melody, timbre, texture, harmony, and form); and to develop skills for appreciating cultural significances of these elements.  We will achieve these goals through readings, lectures, discussions, film screenings, listening sessions, workshops, concerts, and hands-on activities.

How to Improvise Have you ever watched a friend while they jam away on their guitar, awed that they can make things up on the spot?  This is called improvisation. Perhaps you would like to learn how to improvise. In this course we will learn how to best express what we hear and see in an improvised performance. We will discuss strategies for making the prospect of extemporaneous performance less daunting for a novice. Students will also learn about the foundational influence Black musicians have on the US American improvisational tradition through the study of the philosophies of such artists as Ornette Coleman, Anthony Braxton, and George Lewis.

Introduction to Jazz Methods for Beginning and Intermediate Jazz Musicians In this course we will explore several key methods used by jazz musicians to increase their mastery of the jazz language.  Classwork will focus on using the voice to unlock jazz creativity, then using such methods as transcribing, backing tracks and developing critical listening ability as well as exploring a number of theoretical approaches to improvisation, and playing in small groups.  Coursework will include transcription exercises, written analyses and recordings as well as an independent practice and rehearsal schedule.  Instrumental or vocal proficiency is required; previous jazz experience is not.  The ability to read music and basic theory knowledge are also required.  Beginning and intermediate jazz players are encouraged to enroll.

Music Theory I: Fundamentals This course is an introduction to the basic elements and theoretical concepts of Western music. We will focus on such topics as basic keyboard skills, sight singing, musical notation, rhythm, and harmony and form. Theoretical work and drills will be combined with compositional and performance projects. The goal of the course is to expand students’ musical intuition and skill and to provide the technical basis for further music study. No prior musical experience is required. (Students who wish to take upper-level composition or music theory courses must either complete this course or pass a theory and musicianship test administered by the department to demonstrate equivalent experience.) (Formerly MUSC 0109). 2.

Performance Lab Credit can be conferred for performance in faculty-supervised ensembles: (see listing of "Ensembles" in the requirements section). One unit of credit to accrue over two semesters (spring then fall only). The appropriate supervising faculty will give grades, based on attendance and quality of performance. A student should inform the ensemble director of intent to sign up for this course before starting, and should actually register for MUSC 0205 only the SECOND of the two terms by adding it as a fifth course. MUSC 0205 does not fulfill any major course requirements and may not be taken more than once.

Music I Music I focuses on the materials and grammar of music through compositional exercises. As part of these explorations, we will examine the elements of harmony (scales, triads and seventh chords), notation, rhythm, polyrhythm, binary and ternary forms, two-voice counterpoint, variation, transposition, as well as skills in conducting, analysis, ear-training, and sight-singing. Students will write short pieces for a variety of instruments and ensembles, notate their pieces, and rehearse and perform them, thereby learning about music through discovery and observation. The assignments are designed for students with or without compositional experience.

Music II This course is a continuation of MUSC 0209. While using the same format, including composing and labs, as in MUSC 0209, the course covers elements of modality (western and non-western), functional harmony, heterophony, fugal processes, strophic forms, melodic analysis, serial processes, and extensions of tonality and atonality.

Songwriting and Production Workshop In this course we will offer student singer/songwriters a workshop setting for the creation and production of original songs. The course will revolve around student projects produced in the college’s electronic music studio and campus recording studio. Student projects will explore concepts of musical form and harmony, recording and production techniques, use of Digital Audio Workstations, and the incorporation of electronic sounds in a production. Lectures and demonstrations will provide theoretical and practical background to support those projects, and a collaborative environment will also allow students to learn from each other. (MUSC 0209 or permission).

Opera and Media This course considers opera both as a medium in itself and as it has been remediated in radio, television, and film. We will examine contemporary and canonic works and ask how the multiple media forms that constitute opera, including libretti, music, stage design, architecture, and recording technologies, have shaped opera’s composition and consumption over the last four centuries. Our journey will take us from Monteverdi to Mazzoli, and will cover many of the most important Italian, German, French, Slavic, and English-language operas from the eighteenth-century to the present. Through active listening, reading and discussion, we will study how opera has been translated, exported and remade and how it has been charged with commenting on and disseminating political, cultural, and racial identities.

The Cultural Work of Country Music “I like all kinds of music...except country.”  Arguably, aversion to American country music often tracks with class- and race-based assumptions about both makers and consumers of this genre.  In this course we will challenge those views while studying the history of the form.  Balancing our consideration of the big picture with case studies of performers like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and The Chicks, we will explore what types of music the “country” tag comprises; some of the major themes and motifs associated with the form; the Black and White roots of country music; and the politicization of the music and its performers throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.  Source materials for the course will include Bill Malone’s Country Music, USA; Ken Burn’s Country Music documentary; Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity, and A Good-Natured Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry.

Performing Chamber Music In this performance-based course we will deal with practical ensemble performance challenges related to ensemble playing.  Some class time will be devoted to analysis of the works being performed and their historical perspective.  Students will be asked to do research on the biographical details of the composers and the place of the assigned works within the composer’s oeuvre. Performance techniques appropriate for each piece will be investigated. The course will culminate with a final concert (or concerts). Enrollment by audition.

Conducting In this course students will develop basic skills of conducting including movement, aural skills, creative gesture, and score study. Daily work will include preparation to conduct an ensemble of classmates. Score reading ability and proficiency on an instrument or in singing is required.

African Music and Dance Performance This course will introduce students to various techniques of performing East African (primarily Ugandan) musical and dance traditions through regular rehearsals, culminating in an end-of-semester concert. As an ensemble, we will learn and master how to play and sing/dance to bow-harps, thumb-pianos, xylophones, tube-fiddles, bowl-lyres, gourd shakers, struck gourds, reed-box rattles, ankle bells, leg rattles, and various types of drums. Some background in performing music is recommended, but prior knowledge of performing African music and dance is not required.

Collaborative Improvisation: All-Arts Ensemble In this course/ensemble we will open dialogues of performance, improvisation, and social interaction across disciplines in the arts. How do the various disciplines relate to each other in a performance environment? It may be easy to see points of commonality between music and dance or writing and theater, but what about the act of painting and the process of musical improvisation? Through the work of Ornette Coleman, Del Close, John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, and others, students will explore improvisation in music, theater, dance, and visual art. The class will culminate in a performance. All students are welcome.

A Cappella Ensemble Performance Unaccompanied vocal music is rich in cultural expression and artistic beauty. Singing in an unaccompanied vocal ensemble enhances creativity, musicianship, and communication skills. This course affords an opportunity to develop analytical and ensemble skills that contribute to creative and informed performance. Through study of scores and source readings, students will explore vocal technique, performance, and cultural context in European art music, North American folk songs, and styles of improvisation. This course will conclude with a public performance and may include additional performances off campus. Music reading is required, prior singing experience is not. A preview of the reading requirement is available at go/Ensemble246.

Performing Jazz In this course we will explore language, idiom, and improvisation in the mainstream and bop traditions of jazz.  In-class work will focus on repertoire, jazz theory, approaches to improvisation and playing in a combo.  Additional work will include written analyses, transcription exercises and self-recording, anchored by independent listening and practice.  Instrumental or vocal proficiency is required; previous jazz experience is not.  Basic theory knowledge and the ability to sight-read are advised.

Music Theory II: Diatonic Theory This course is an in-depth technical study of the materials of music, a study which expands one’s ability to analyze and create music and to understand different musical styles.  We will cover harmonic materials, introduce musical form, and work with traditional compositional skills. These techniques are applied to the analysis of classical music, jazz and popular music.

Music Theory III: Chromatic Theory This course is a continuation of MUSC 0260. Students will study more advanced harmonic devices including modulation and chromaticism, jazz harmony, and post-tonal techniques. In-depth analysis of classical music, jazz, and popular music supports a more advanced study of musical form.

The Guitar in American Culture Although it has European and African antecedents, modern acoustic and electric guitars are American inventions.  From the genteel parlor guitars of the 19th century elite to the electric weaponry of today’s rock stars, the guitar is an essential artifact of American material culture.   Drawing on histories, cultural critiques, interviews, and sound and video recordings, we will study both the evolution of the instrument and the builders and players who have helped define its role.  Examining artifacts and talking with working guitar builders will illuminate the craft of guitar making.  The culmination of the course will be a student-curated exhibition.

Advanced Composition In this course we will focus on writing for string quartet, brass quintet, a cappella singing, piano, or performance art and involve issues of technique, style, and practical considerations, as well as study of selected elements of the literature. The course will culminate with a reading of student works by a professional ensemble or solo performer. This semester we focus on composing for the string quartet. We will discuss a variety of string techniques as well as issues of form and orchestration. We will listen to important works for that medium and discuss the styles from the Classical period to this century.  (MUSC 0209 and 0210 or approval of instructor).

Music in Western Cultures In this course we will develop skills for assessing music’s social, economic, and political importance in Western societies. Through a series of units focusing on various aspects of music (such as composition, performance, dissemination, and reception) and on various eras from ancient Greece to the present, students will engage with the principal questions and methods of historical musicology. Students will learn to interpret musical works’ formal, stylistic, and performative characteristics through close engagement with scores and recordings, and draw connections between musical works and the institutions and wider socio-cultural conditions that have shaped and continue to shape music-making.

Music in World Cultures In this course students will develop skills for analyzing a wide range of music styles and appreciating their social, economic, and political importance. We will explore selected case studies through readings, lectures, discussions, film screenings, listening sessions, workshops, concerts, and hands-on activities.

Approaches to Music Inquiry  In this course we will explore various approaches to music inquiry in order to develop an in-depth understanding of diverse procedures for uncovering, applying, and producing musical knowledge. We will use a seminar format that supports a multimodal study and application of such knowledge. Course activities will include discussions, lectures, analysis, investigation, presentations, readings, writing, and creative work. The seminar will culminate in projects that advance methodologies of our senior and/or related capstone work. All music majors are required to take this course in the fall of their senior year.  3hrs. lect./disc.

The American Musical in Performance A survey of the American Musical will lay the groundwork for a fully-mounted production of a significant work.  The production, staged at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater, will be a collaboration of college faculty, student actors, musicians and designers, and area residents. The production also involves collaboration with the Department of Theater.  A theater major gets advanced credit for designing and building costumes for the show. (Approval required; please contact Doug Anderson at danders@&lt;a href="http://middlebury.edu"&gt;middlebury.edu or Carol Christensen at christen@middlebury.edu)  Douglas Anderson (director) Carol Christensen (musical director) are now entering their 13th year of creating musical theater productions with Middlebury students, from Falsettos (2006) to Les Misérables (2014), Ragtime (2015), Chicago (2016) and City of Angels (2017)./

Music, Image, and Imagination Music’s fusions with dance, visual art, theater, and film have produced some of the most iconic partnerships in our culture. From compelling artistic statements to political propaganda, music has always played a major role. This course will explore how we tell these stories through those alliances. How does it start? What comes first, music or the other medium? What makes them so powerful? Embracing European, American, and Asian traditions---from ballet, opera, and gamelan to theater, film, video, and intermedia art of the present day---students will study the many changing synergies these collaborations have accrued. Individual and collaborative exercises focused on developing relationships between music and image will extend to students creating their own fusions of music with other media.

Electronic Music: Digital Audio Synthesis & Production In this intensive course, taught exclusively in Ableton Live, we will explore the fundamentals of digital audio synthesis and electronic music production. In the context of an original project, each student will learn to design sounds, warp and process audio samples, arrange MIDI, deploy effects, automate parameters, and creatively utilize these skills in tandem. We will also delve into the basic principles of digital audio, signal flow, mix engineering, and emulation theory within software synthesizers. Final projects will be presented in a public exhibition at end of term. Students should expect a substantial amount of work outside of class time. (not open to students who have taken MUSC 0212) (Approval required; please contact Jack Tipper at atipper@middlebury.edu) Jack Tipper ’15.5 is an independent multidisciplinary artist and audio technologist. He currently develops creative tools and releases music under his professional moniker “Aotu”./

Artistic Creation Through Breath In this course we will explore what artistic creation and performance become when the artist connects their practice to their breathing. We will discuss the act of breathing, meet with artists who have centered breathing in their practices, and create work in which breathing is an integral part of the composition process. We will read James Nestor’s Breath and Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening. This discussion- and performance-based course will culminate in a performance and/or exhibition. All are welcome regardless of artistic discipline or artistic proficiency.

Live Coding - Computer Programming as Musical Performance In this course we will learn the art of live coding, an electronic music improvisation/performance practice in which the computer programmer creates music in real time. Live coding is an excellent introduction to computer programming for beginners, and also offers opportunities for more advanced programmers. Students will learn the techniques of live coding, basics of sound design and acoustics, and fundamentals of music theory. Class projects will include solo and group performances and recordings. All students will need a laptop computer (Windows or Mac) with a reasonable amount of free disc space. No previous music or coding experience required.

Visualizing Sound - Creating Animated Computer Art from Music In this course we explore the many ways that sound and music can be transformed into animated computer art using a software tool called Touch Designer. The project-driven course will offer a series of creative projects that explore various approaches to the topic. In the class, we will learn about and apply concepts of music theory, acoustics, and the psychology of music, as well as computer programming techniques used within Touch Designer. Students will need a laptop computer (Windows or Mac) with ample storage space. No previous music or coding experience required. Peter Hamlin, Christian A. Johnson Professor Emeritus of Music at Middlebury, is a Middlebury alum who has worked as a radio host/producer, TV host, composer, performer, and music professor. At Middlebury, he taught courses in music theory, composition, electronic music, and served as Music Department Chair for many years./

Music in the United States In this course we will examine folk, classical, and popular music in the United States from the 17th century to the present. We will use historical and analytical approaches to gain insight into the music, the musicians, and the social and cultural forces that have shaped them. Students will explore music’s relation to historical events, other artistic movements, technological changes, and questions of national identity and ethnicity. Topics will include music in the British colonies, minstrelsy, American opera and orchestras, jazz, popular music, and the experimentalist composers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Carol Christensen

Damascus Kafumbe

Danielle Simon

Dick Forman

Doug Anderson

Evan Bennett

Jack Tipper

Jeff Buettner

Kyle Saulnier

Larry Hamberlin

Matthew Quayle

Matthew Taylor

McLean Macionis

Peter Hamlin

Ronald Romano

Su Tan

William Nash

Read 22 reviews for Music courses at Middlebury College. Find the best Music professors and courses.  Discover your new major today!

I absolutely loved this class. It was so different than any class I’ve taken before and it was very fun to learn instruments, songs, and dance. Class attendance is crucial and participation is key. If you show up and try your best, you’ll do well in this class. 

Prof. Kafumbe is easily the most knowledgeable professor I have ever had the pleasure of learning from. Additionally, he genuinely cares about his students on both a personal and academic level. While this class is heavy on the reading and writing, he is always willing to meet with students outside of class to look at drafts and discuss class work. I felt as though I grew both as a writer and as a musician in this course. This is a fantastic course to take if you have a genuine interest in non-Western music and the time to dedicate to the readings and writings.

I took this course for the degree requirement, however it was amazing! Fantastic and inherently engaging, all of the work is participation-based, so every class you are conducting and practicing/learning new methods and receiving feedback. Very low-stakes, and Jeff is a fantastic and kind professor so he makes it fun for everyone and is very good at giving constructive feedback. Would absolutely recommend everyone take a course with him. 