MUSIC STRUCTURE & STYLE
MU6006
sample syllabus

Summer, 2003: M-F 4:00-5:20, Fletcher 200
Ed Jacobs; Fletcher 302; 328-4280 JacobsE@ecu.edu

overview    course requirements    grades    office hours
homework assignments     schedule of classes     writing guidelines

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This class is a seminar in which selected historical and contemporary works will be studied in depth using a variety of analytical approaches.  The seminar’s principal objectives are to establish an awareness and understanding of appropriate analytical techniques, and to develop facility in critical and analytical thought.
    You have chosen to take this course in its most condensed format.  In doing so, please be forewarned that the amount and nature of the materials to be studied will create very substantial demands on your time.  A great deal of music, and writing about music, will be covered, and it is expected that you will do whatever work is necessary—given your own background, training, strengths and weaknesses—to attain a broad and a deep understanding of these varied materials.  It is expected that—depending on your degree of preparation for graduate study—you will dedicate between 2-5 hours of reading, listening, thinking and writing for each class meeting.  If meeting such an expectation is not possible for you at this time, then it is suggested that you consider registering for a less condensed version of this class.

FOCAL WORKS
Palestrina, Pope Marcellus Mass; J.S. Bach, St. Matthew Passion; Mozart, Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”); Brahms, Symphony No. 3, Op. 73; Schönberg, Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23.  Other works will also be studied.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

You are expected to attend class meetings, prepare for and participate in class discussions, and complete all assignments.  In addition to periodic exams, exercises, and a comprehensive final examination, you will produce a graduate level written analytical essay together with an oral presentation to the class on a specifically assigned topic.

GRADES

Your grade will be based on many components, roughly weighted as follows:

• Presentations on Readings: 17%

• “Questioning”: 15%

• Exams/Quizzes: 17%

• Analysis/Oral Presentation: 17%

• Analysis Paper: 17%

• Final Exam: 17%

Grading is on a standard scale

> 90% = A
> 80% = B
> 70% = C
> 60% = D
< 60% = F

HOW TO GET HELP, OR OFFICE HOURS

M-Th 12-1p.m., by appointment, or whenever the office door is open: 302 Fletcher Music Center; 328-4280; E-mail address is JacobsE@ecu.edu. If you need help and want to reach me, don't ever be shy, that's why I'm here.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

Burkhart, Anthology for Musical Analysis;  Score of Mozart, Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”); Brahms, Symphony No. 3, op 90; Palestrina, Pope Marcellus Mass; Readings from reference and reserve materials located in the Music Library.

ASSIGNMENTS

For every class, you will be assigned readings, music, and corresponding scores, to be studied.  Again, this class is extremely compressed in nature, so keeping up with assignments is imperative.

OUTLINES OF READINGS

For each class you will be assigned some reading, as well as listening/score analysis.  For each of these readings, one student will be assigned to “present” the reading.
    The role of each “presenter” is to summarize the main points from the assigned reading and to articulate them clearly in class.  The presenter is expected to create a written outline of the assigned reading, and to distribute copies of that outline to each member of the class.
    After distributing the outline, the presenter will offer an organized, coherent, and articulate summary/ explanation of the assigned reading, using the outline as a guide.  Presentations should include musical examples (either from the reading itself or created by applying the concepts in the reading to the focal works we are discussing in class) in order to demonstrate how the concepts you’ve read about are applied to music.  When incorporating musical examples, bring both a recording and score(s) for the class.  Any materials used in presenting background information and/or examples (musical or otherwise) must be accompanied by appropriate source citations (see Documentation Procedures).
    The presentation should last approximately twenty minutes, after which you should be prepared to lead  the class in discussion with your own ideas and questions (prepared in advance) and/or answer questions from the class.
    In addition to the outline and musical examples  shared in class, you are to prepare a written (prose) summary of the reading (2-3 pages typed) to be submitted on the day of your presentation.
    Please be aware that the “Questioning” portion of your grade is based, in large part, on your qualitative engagement with the readings presented by others, as evidenced by your own comments, critiques, and questions about the material being presented—not the presentation, but the materials being presented.

ANALYSIS:  ORAL PRESENTATIONS AND WRITTEN ESSAYS

    Each of you will, at some point in the last weeks of this semester, lead the class via an oral presentation on a selected topic/piece of music.  After analysis of primary sources, and research and analysis of secondary sources, each student will use their oral presentation to offer a summary of relevant materials on the assigned topic, as well as their own theories about a work based on a synthesis of both primary and secondary sources.
    The class preceding your oral presentation, you will distribute a reading and listening assignment for the members of the class.  This assignment, the completion of which is expected of all students, should comprise the materials upon which the salient points of your presentation are based.
    On the second class meeting following your oral presentation, you will submit an essay, complete with musical examples, footnotes and bibliography, of seven-ten (7-10) pages.  This essay should, in addition to presenting in clear, concise, well-organized and well-written fashion the substance of your oral presentation, respond to relevant inquiries and/or suggestions that emerged during your presentation.
    All written work—must be typed, and in the following format; double spaced, one-inch margins on top, bottom, left and right; name in the top left corner.  Your paper must be stapled; do not include a cover page. Carelessness in typping, speling, and grammar ain't acceptable in ‘college level’ writing assignments (it distracts the reader from the content of the writing, doesn't it?).  Please proof-read your writing.  Do not guess how to spell words with which you are just becoming familiar; consult a reference source. I will read as many drafts of your paper as you care to submit, but a paper submitted at the deadline may not be rewritten, and will be graded as submitted.  If you submit shoddy work, it will be given the grade it deserves, without further comment.  Needless to say, if you feel that you are not able to write at a graduate level, you should seek assistance either through the writing center, private tutors, or through other appropriate means.
    Also, you are urged to make a duplicate copy of all written work (a good practice for any class), so that if your dog, or mine, eats your paper, you can readily provide another copy.
    Finally, you are expected to properly footnote any primary or secondary resource material consulted [see Documentation Procedures.]  Plagiarism is a serious and difficult issue,  but is easily avoided if you simply do your own thinking and writing.  Questions about what plagiarism is and how to avoid it are always welcome.

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COURSE OUTLINE AND PROVISIONAL SCHEDULE: to be adapted as necessary

MU 6006, Section 1; M-F, 9:40-11:10, Rm. 216

Suggested Readings for those needing some review in Theory and/or History (on reserve):
Cooper, Paul.  Perspective in Music Theory
Crocker, Richard L.  A History of Musical Style
Spencer, Peter.  The Practice of Harmony

Texts used in our Undergraduate Theory Sequence:
Gauldin, Robert.  Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music
Lester, Joel.  Analytical Approaches to 20^th-century Music