For more information about the Music in General Studies Program, the music minor, and the rock history certificate, visit the non-major offerings on the Jacobs website.
MUS-Z 100 THE LIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE – A. NELSON
The best music is live music. Learn how to listen to music through weekly in-class performances. Interact with instrumentalists, singers, dancers, choreographers, conductors, and composers. Classical, rock, jazz, and world music.
MUS-Z 101 MUSIC FOR THE LISTENER – COOK
Find out what performance caused a riot in 1913, the identity of a 19th century “rock star,” and the composer of the most popular piece for two hundred years! In this course, the listener is exposed to diverse types of music.
MUS-Z 103 JAZZ IMPROV/MUSIC THEORY – O. NELSON
Designed for the student who has an interest in jazz and wants to learn how jazz improvisation and theory skills can enhance their personal music expression.
MUS-Z 111 INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC THEORY – VARIOUS
Introduction to the language and notation of music: listening, reading and writing, and its use across genres and historical periods.
MUS-Z 112 INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC SKILLS – GUNTREN
Introduction to sight singing, rhythm reading, and keyboard skills for the non-music major.
MUS-Z 120 MUSIC IN MULTIMEDIA – VARIOUS
Learn to produce your own music as you explore how music interacts with other modalities in today’s ads, films, and videogames.
MUS-Z 130 MUSICAL PERFORMANCE CONTEXTS – A. NELSON
Faculty and students of the Jacobs School of Music will perform in class and talk about the music. Students will meet jazz and rock musicians, vocalists and instrumentalists, conductors, and composers. Students will go behind the scenes of an opera and a ballet, meeting leads and the director.
MUS-Z 161 STEEL DRUMMING – GALVIN
Techniques of execution and musical interpretation of music for the steel drums.
MUS-Z 165 BEGINNING UKULELE – TZVETKOV
Learn to play the Ukelele! No prior musical experience required.
MUS-Z 190 JAZZ FOR LISTENERS – O. NELSON
Learn how to listen to jazz, and how to relate jazz to the social/cultural environment in which it was created. Lectures enhanced with live performances.
MUS-Z 200 HISTORY OF THE BLUES – HOLLINDEN
Tells the story of the blues through the music of more than two hundred artists. Styles studied include Class Blues, Country Blues, Piedmont Blues, Holy Blues, White Blues, City Blues, Rhythm & Blues, Post WWII Country Blues, Chicago Blues, Urban Blues, Swamp Blues, British Blues and Blues Rock.
MUS-Z 202 HISTORY OF ROCK MUSIC II – HOLLINDEN
A history and appreciation of rock’s classic era. The course begins with the 1964 British Invasion which signaled the arrival of rock’s second generation. It then examines the major musical figures and social issues (civil rights struggle, the war in Vietnam) of the 1960s.
MUS-Z 203 HISTORY OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL III – PODGURSKY
A lecture-oriented course that covers the history of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1970s and 1980s. The post-Sgt. Pepper “splintering” of rock and ensuing style changes are highlighted.
MUS-Z 204 WOMEN MUSICIANS – WISCH
Celebrate the powerful roles women have played in classical and popular music, from Hildegard von Bingen through Beyoncé.
MUS-Z 205 HISTORY OF MUSIC PRODUCTION – MAHERN
A historical look at how recorded music and music producers have impacted and enriched our culture.
MUS-Z 208 HISTORY OF PUNK ROCK – MAHERN
An investigation of the musical and cultural impact of Punk, Garage, and Post Punk from the early 1960’s to now.
MUS-Z 211 MUSIC THEORY II – GUNTREN, LUBELL
Deepen your musical insight by learning the principles of part writing, musical form, harmonic analysis, and modulation. (Prereq: MUS-Z111)
MUS-Z 224 MUSIC AND CULTURE IN THE JAMES BOND FRANCHISE – BISHOP
A survey of music in the James Bond franchise, exploring the role of pop music in cinema, and interpreting the contribution of music to the shifting cultural identity of Bond media. This course will have significant viewing and listening components, two unit exams and a final, and an in-class presentation.
MUS-Z 250 CHORAL MASTERWORKS – MAKOBI
Introduction to the masterpieces of choral music through examination of musical, historical and cultural contexts. Study of selected oratorios, masses, requiems, passions, choral symphonies, choral music outside the Western art tradition, and music for glee clubs, show choirs, and vocal jazz groups. Class lectures/discussions enhanced with live performances.
MUS-Z 260 MUSIC IN AMERICAN SOCIETY – GRIEB
American music history and its place in society, past and present: Native American music, African-American music, music for church, concert and home, and much more.
MUS-Z 264 MUSIC AND VIDEOGAMES – OSTERGARD
This course covers the art of videogames, including music, visual art, and storytelling. No experience playing videogames required.
MUS-Z270 MUSIC OF WAR AND PEACE – COOK
This course examines the musical output of composers and performers who were (or are) committed to memorializing and protesting war and calling for peace. Importance of music on this topic throughout western history, with emphasis on the 20th and 21st centuries, including classical and popular music traditions.
MUS-Z 280 MUSIC OF THE SILK ROAD – TBD
Historical and current authentic music traditions of the Silk Road and their impact on music of today. The Silk Road was the network of trade routes that connected East Asia to the Mediterranean for almost 2000 years. It was the source of important cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
MUS-Z281 EAST-WEST ENCOUNTERS IN MUSIC – LUBELL
Examination of interaction and communication between two cultural realms conditionally defined as East (Middle East/Central Asia) and West (Europe/US). The class looks in both directions and explores hybridity of styles and genres in both domains and the impact of each area on the other.
MUS-Z 282 MUSIC OF RUSSIA – WITT, DOMICO
An introduction to Russian music. Repertoire will include examples from music by its iconic composers, as well as folk music, sacred music, rock, pop music, and jazz.
MUS-Z 283 POPULAR MUSIC OF EUROPE & ASIA – FINCHUM-SUNG
This class introduces the styles and genres of popular music in Europe and Asia and discusses the impact of American pop music on the international scene.
MUS-Z 284 MUSIC IN GLOBAL CINEMA – BISHOP, RENK
Discover film-scoring traditions from India to East Asia, Africa to Latin America, and Iran.
MUS-Z 291 PRODUCING ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC – LINDSAY
Production-centered course focused on techniques for composing, recording, and mixing electronic dance music tracks.
MUS-Z 311 MUSIC THEORY III – TBD (Prereq: MUS-Z211)
Overview of modulation and chromatic harmony.
MUS-Z 313 LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY – N. DAVIS
Learn about the legal issues affecting the music industry, including copyright, sampling, licenses, and more.
MUS-Z 315 MUSIC FOR FILM – DAVIS
A stylistic and analytic survey of music for moving pictures, concentrating on American and English narrative films.
MUS-Z 320 ADV SPEC TOPICS MUSIC/NON-MAJORS
Z320: ESSENTIALS OF SONGWRITING – GRIEB
Z320: DISCOVERING CREATIVE IMPULSE – PONELLA
MUS-Z 361 INTRODUCTION TO MIDI AND COMPUTER MUSIC – WANG, WARREN
Modest working knowledge of personal computers. Basics of the Musical Instrument Digital Interface system, its software, and the instruments commonly used with desktop MIDI workstations (synthesizers, digital samplers). MIDI sequencing, digital audio editing, and principles of digital synthesis. The course is intended for those with little prior technical training.
MUS-Z 362 COMPUTER MUSIC: DESIGN/PERFORM – WANG
Projects in fixed-media computer music composition (with and without video) and live electronic music performance. Field recording, audio editing, sampling, effects processing, mixing, mastering, video synchronization, methods of synthesis, virtual instrument design, real-time hardware control of audio, live video processing.
MUS-Z 373 THE AMERICAN MUSICAL – SLOVIN
Explore the evolution of the American musical from its roots in European operetta, vaudeville and early Black music theater to the Golden Age of musicals, all the way through genre-challenging 21st-century shows such as Hamilton and A Strange Loop. Questions to consider include how musicals reflect the attitudes and values of their times (including social change movements), and the identities of creative teams and audiences.
MUS-Z 395 CONTEMPORARY JAZZ AND SOUL MUSIC – CASWELL
A survey of contemporary jazz and soul (rhythm and blues) music and musicians in the United States beginning with the 1950s. The course includes an examination of major genres, pioneering figures, key recordings, stylistic influences, and racial ideology.
MUS-Z 404 THE MUSIC OF BOB DYLAN – LUBELL
A detailed examination of Bob Dylan’s songs and career. The course traces Dylan’s many incarnations and reinventions from his early days as a folk-protest singer and pop icon to his role as elder statesman and Poet Laureate of popular music.
MUS-Z 405 MUSIC OF THE BEACH BOYS – HOLLINDEN
A detailed examination of songs, recordings, and live performances of the Beach Boys from their first single “Surfin'” to the 2012 50th anniversary tour and album. Special attention to studio creations Pet Sounds and Smile. Also covered is the solo career of the band’s primary songwriter and producer Brian Wilson.
For more information about the Music in General Studies Program, the music minor, and the rock history certificate, see our page on the Jacobs website: https://music.indiana.edu/degrees-programs/non-majors/index.html