MUSE 114: Introduction to American Music

Citrus College Course Outline of Record

Citrus College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Fall 2023
Credits: 3
Total Contact Hours: 54
Lecture Hours : 54
Lab Hours: 0
Hours Arranged: 0
Outside of Class Hours: 108
Strongly Recommended: ENGL 101.
District General Education: C1. Arts
Transferable to CSU: Yes
Transferable to UC: Yes - Approved
Grading Method: Standard Letter

Catalog Course Description

A survey of American music from the seventeenth century until the present. Units include the Colonial music, spirituals, and gospel music, parlor songs, the ragtime and jazz era, the rise of classical music, music for the stage and screen, the blues, folk and protest music, country and western, and the birth of rock and roll. 54 lecture hours.

Course Objectives

  • trace the history and evolution of American music
  • demonstrate an understanding of American musical genres and styles
  • describe the relationship between social movements and the arts
  • describe the relationship among folk, art music, and popular traditions
  • describe the evolution of music style and its major contributors from Colonial America to the 1960’s
  • describe the various styles of American music in a cultural and historical context
  • recognize various historical styles based on instrumentation, performance practices and cultural practices

Major Course Content

  1. Colonial Music and the Rise of the American Oral Tradition
  2. The Great Awakening: 1730-50 and Evangelical Camp-meetings
  3. The Spiritual, Gospel Music and the Blues: African Music in America
  4. American Parlor Songs 1800-1860
  5. The Rise of American Classical Music: Congregations, Choirs and Societies
  6. Songs of the Civil War Era, Minstrelsy, and the Rise of Burlesque
  7. The Gay ‘90s, Ragtime and Dixieland
  8. The Golden Age of the American March
  9. Vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley
  10. Chicago, Kansas City, New York Jazz and the Harlem Renaissance
  11. Music for Stage and Screen
  12. The Jazz Singers
  13. American Classical Composers
  14. Hillbilly, Bluegrass, and the Birth of the Country and Western Music
  15. Dust Bowl Era Balladeers, Folk Music, and Protest Music
  16. The Rise of the Pop Singer
  17. The Rise of Jump Bands and the Birth of Rhythm and Blues
  18. Music in Revolution: Be-bop, the Beats, and American Classical Experimenters
  19. The Post WWII Baby Boom and Rise of the 1960’s Counter-culture
  20. 1960’s Protest Music: From the Bay of Pigs through the Viet Nam War Era

Examples of Required Writing Assignments

Write a 3-5 page comparison/contrast essay on one of the following subjects:
Contributions of significant American composers, performers, promoters of music
The evolution of American Musical Styles
The evolution of performance practices in America
Musical instruments and their stylistic evolution

Examples of Outside Assignments

Write a comparison/contrast essays on topics such as:
Contributions of significant American composers, performers, promoters of music
The evolution of American Musical Styles
The evolution of performance practices in America
Musical instruments and their stylistic evolution

Instruction Type(s)

Lecture

IGETC Area 3: Arts and Humanities

3A. Fine Arts