MUSC 108 African American Music

Open to all interested students, this course will examine the heritage of African American music from the colonial era through the jazz age to the present. Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to identify the characteristic elements of African music, trace the development of the major idioms such as religious and ragtime music, identify important African American composers and performers, and articulate the role of African American music in ritual and ceremony, as transmitter of culture and as a social and political tool.

Credits

3

Hours Weekly

3

Course Objectives

1. 1. Recognize major works of selected African American composers.
2. 2. Identify and classify selected African instruments and their Diasporan derivatives.
3. 3. Identify and apply critical theories and concepts related to enduring and contemporary issues of aesthetics, by describing the main characteristics of African music and classifying selected African vocal devices.
4. 4. Incorporate innovation, risk-taking, and creativity into analysis and problem-solving methods by group collaboration and presentation of the contributions of Black music to the world of music, and in particular, the music of the United States.
5. 5. Pose and address questions related to how music functions in African and American Diasporan ritual and ceremonies within social and cultural contexts.
6. 6. Assess, reflect on, and critically analyze the role of African and African American musical expression in illuminating the human condition, by discussing the social, political, and religious functions of music in African and Diasporan cultures and its effects on today’s culture.
7. 7. Identify African retentions in African Latin, African Caribbean, and African American music.
8. 8. Offer an informed critique of live performances of Black music and musicians.

Course Objectives

1. 1. Recognize major works of selected African American composers.
2. 2. Identify and classify selected African instruments and their Diasporan derivatives.
3. 3. Identify and apply critical theories and concepts related to enduring and contemporary issues of aesthetics, by describing the main characteristics of African music and classifying selected African vocal devices.
4. 4. Incorporate innovation, risk-taking, and creativity into analysis and problem-solving methods by group collaboration and presentation of the contributions of Black music to the world of music, and in particular, the music of the United States.
5. 5. Pose and address questions related to how music functions in African and American Diasporan ritual and ceremonies within social and cultural contexts.
6. 6. Assess, reflect on, and critically analyze the role of African and African American musical expression in illuminating the human condition, by discussing the social, political, and religious functions of music in African and Diasporan cultures and its effects on today’s culture.
7. 7. Identify African retentions in African Latin, African Caribbean, and African American music.
8. 8. Offer an informed critique of live performances of Black music and musicians.