Music Subjects

Prereq: none 
3-0-9 HASS-A, CI-H

Provides a broad overview of Western music from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, with emphasis on late baroque, classical, romantic, and modernist styles. Designed to enhance the musical experience by developing listening skills and an understanding of diverse forms and genres. Major composers and works placed in social and cultural contexts. Weekly lectures feature demonstrations by professional performers and introduce topics to be discussed in sections. Enrollment limited.

4-0-8 units. HASS-A; CI-H 

Provides a broad overview of Western music from the Middle Ages to the 21st century, with emphasis on late baroque, classical, romantic, and modernist styles. Designed to enhance the musical experience by developing listening skills and an understanding of diverse forms and genres. Major composers and works placed in social and cultural contexts. Weekly lectures feature demonstrations by professional performers and introduce topics to be discussed in sections. Enrollment limited.

(Same subject as 21L.013[J]) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A, CI-H

Explores the relationship between music and the supernatural, focusing on the social history and context of supernatural beliefs as reflected in key literary and musical works from 1600 to the present. Provides an understanding of the place of ambiguity and the role of interpretation in culture, science and art. Explores great works of art by Shakespeare, Verdi, Goethe (in translation), Gounod, Henry James and Benjamin Britten. Readings also include selections from the most recent scholarship on magic and the supernatural. Writing assignments range from web-based projects to analytic essays. No previous experience in music is necessary. Projected guest lectures, musical performances, field trips. Limited to 36.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A, CI-H

An introduction to diverse musical traditions of the world. Music from a wide range of geographical areas is studied in terms of structure, performance practice, social use, aesthetics, and cross-cultural contact. Includes hands-on music making, live demonstrations by guest artists, and ethnographic research projects. Enrollment limited by lottery.

Music of Bulgaria (9780195141481) and Music of Bali (9780195141498) are required for only Section 1.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A, CI-H

An introduction to diverse musical traditions of the world. Music from a wide range of geographical areas is studied in terms of structure, performance practice, social use, aesthetics, and cross-cultural contact. Includes hands-on music making, live demonstrations by guest artists, and ethnographic research projects. Enrollment limited by lottery.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A, CI-H

An introduction to diverse musical traditions of the world. Music from a wide range of geographical areas is studied in terms of structure, performance practice, social use, aesthetics, and cross-cultural contact. Includes hands-on music making, live demonstrations by guest artists, and ethnographic research projects. Enrollment limited by lottery.

3-0-9 units. HASS-A; CI-H

An introduction to diverse musical traditions of the world. Music from a wide range of geographical areas is studied in terms of structure, performance practice, social use, aesthetics, and cross-cultural contact. Includes music making, live demonstrations by guest artists, and ethnographic research projects. Enrollment limited by lottery.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-3-6, HASS-A

Introduces students to the rudiments of Western music through oral, aural, and written practice utilizing rhythm, melody, intervals, scales, chords, and musical notation. Individual skills are addressed through a variety of approaches, including keyboard practice in the required piano labs. Limited to 20 by lottery. Not open to students who have completed 21M.301 or 21M.302.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Experiential, fully-embodied exploration into the fundamentals of music through the lens of largely non-Western, aural music cultures. From Bali to Ghana, Cuba to India, Zimbabwe to Andalucía, students think about, talk about, and make music in new ways. Examines some of the basic concepts of music - structure, melody-making, meter, rhythm, movement, etc. - studying their diverse incarnations in different music cultures and encouraging a breadth of perspective and engagement. Introduces students to many different musical practices, engaging with them through active music-making, in-depth discussion, listening and analysis, and creative composition. No musical experience required. Limited to 18. 

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Experiential, fully-embodied exploration into the fundamentals of music through the lens of largely non-Western, aural music cultures. From Bali to Ghana, Cuba to India, Zimbabwe to Andalucía, students think about, talk about, and make music in new ways. Examines some of the basic concepts of music - structure, melody-making, meter, rhythm, movement, etc. - studying their diverse incarnations in different music cultures and encouraging a breadth of perspective and engagement. Introduces students to many different musical practices, engaging with them through active music-making, in-depth discussion, listening and analysis, and creative composition. No musical experience required. Limited to 18. 

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Through a progressive series of composition projects, students investigate the sonic organization of musical works and performances, focusing on fundamental questions of unity and variety. Aesthetic issues are considered in the pragmatic context of the instructions that composers provide to achieve a desired musical result, whether these instructions are notated in prose, as graphic images, or in symbolic notation. No formal training is required. Weekly listening, reading, and composition assignments draw on a broad range of musical styles and intellectual traditions, from various cultures and historical periods. Limited to 18.

Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

A study of music composition based stylistically on student interest, this course develops the skills required to create music in live performance. In Fall 2020, in the first half, students will first learn basic ideas of harmony, melody and word setting that will culminate in a song. In the second half, an exploration of more advanced techniques will lead to an instrumental work. Project based, the class consists of both lectures and workshops where students comment on each other’s work. Basic music reading skills required. Weekly listening and composition assignments. Access to midi based music software is required. Limited to 18.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9
HASS-A

Investigates how technology is used in the analysis, modeling, synthesis and composition of music, and its contribution to the artistic production practice. With an eye towards historical context as well as modern usage, topics include the physics of sound, digital representations of music, the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), analog and digital synthesis techniques, MIDI and sequencing, electronic instrument design, notation software, generative music systems, and computational analysis of music. Weekly assignments focus on both theory and practice, requiring technical proficiency, creative output, and aesthetic consideration.

First half of term 
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 2-0-4 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Surveys selected tunings of the scale, including Pythagorean, just intonation, mean-tone, and equal temperaments, as well as non-Western systems and the impact of tunings and temperaments on musical composition and performance. Projects based on live demonstration and on reading and listening assignments.

Prereq: Permission of instructor.
Units: 2-0-4
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

3 hrs/wk synchronous lecture.

Designed as an introduction to music for American and European animated films of the silent and early sound eras (ca. 1920-1960).  Closest attention first to classic Hollywood studio shorts produced by Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, and UPA, then to feature-length films, including The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Snow White, and Bambi. Leading composers considered include Stalling, Bradley, Kubik, and Disney’s roster. Study will range over technological and esthetic (interpretative) approaches, as well as cultural issues (including racial and ethnic stereotypes). Required work: brief analytic and personal reports on film and sound track segments; a team project on one feature film; and one paper (1500 words) on a topic to be determined in consultation with the instructor. Enrollment capped at 25.

Prereq: Permission of Instructor
Units: 2-0-4
1/2 HASS-A

1st Half of Term

Examines a particular moment in music history, an era, style, or even the composition of a major work through analysis and cultural context. Goes into further depth on a particular topic than would be possible in a longer survey. Periods and topics vary. Examples include minimalism, The Beatles, A Cappella, or The Lion King. May be repeated once for credit if content differs. Enrollment limited. 

Fall 2022 Topic: Music for Animated Films I

Designed as an introduction to music for American and European animated films of the silent and early sound eras (ca. 1920-1960).  Closest attention first to classic Hollywood studio shorts produced by Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, and UPA, then to feature-length films, including The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Snow White, and Bambi. Leading composers considered include Stalling, Bradley, Kubik, and Disney’s roster. Study will range over technological and esthetic (interpretative) approaches, as well as cultural issues (including racial and ethnic stereotypes). Required work: brief analytic and personal reports on film and sound track segments; a team project on one feature film; and one paper (1500 words) on a topic to be determined in consultation with the instructor. Enrollment capped at 25.

Prereq: Permission of instructor

2-0-4 units

New York, 1945: a young Juilliard student from East St. Louis, IL finds himself in the vortex of the bebop revolution, replacing Dizzy Gillespie in the Charlie Parker Quintet. Over the next 46 years, Miles Davis transformed the sound and scope of modern jazz several times over, pioneering cool jazz (Birth of the Cool), hard bop, and modal jazz (Kind of Blue) in the 1950s, plunging into electronics and inventing jazz-rock (In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew) in the 1960s and ‘70s, then re-emerging in the 1980s to embrace pop forms, all while maintaining a unique and immediately recognizable persona, both musically and personally.  This class will cover the breadth of Davis' career and influence, contextualizing his work both musically and culturally.  Coursework will include close listening to Davis and other music of the period, reading (source material and later histories and analysis), and a final project focusing on one album from Davis' vast oeuvre.

First half of semester
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 2-0-4 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Examines a particular moment in music history, an era, style, or even the composition of a major work through analysis and cultural context. Goes into further depth on a particular topic than would be possible in a longer survey. Periods and topics vary. Examples include minimalism, The Beatles, A Cappella, or The Lion King. May be repeated once for credit if content differs. Enrollment limited.

Fall 2019 1st Half of Semester Topic: The Film Music of John Williams

Prereq: Permission of instructor.
Units: 2-0-4
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

3 hrs/wk synchronous lecture.

Continuation of approaches introduced in 21M.128, but with branching out to anime along with key recent features from America, Japan, and elsewhere. Principal focus on works from Disney, Pixar, and Ghibli Studios. Leading composers to be considered include Hisaishi, Elfman, R. & T. Newman, Giacchino, and Powell. NOTE: May be taken separately from 21M.128, but if over-enrolled, preference will be given to students who took the previous class.

Prereq: Permission of Instructor
Units: 2-0-4
1/2 HASS-A

2nd Half of Term

Examines a particular moment in music history, an era, style, or even the composition of a major work through analysis and cultural context. Goes into further depth on a particular topic than would be possible in a longer survey. Periods and topics vary. Examples include minimalism, The Beatles, A Cappella, or The Lion King. May be repeated once for credit if content differs. Enrollment limited. 

Fall 2022 Topic: Music for Animated Films II

Continuation of approaches introduced in 21M.128, but with branching out to anime along with key recent features from America, Japan, and elsewhere. Principal focus on works from Disney, Pixar, and Ghibli Studios. Leading composers to be considered include Hisaishi, Elfman, R. & T. Newman, Giacchino, and Powell. Same basic types of assignments as for 21M.128.

NOTE: May be taken separately from 21M.128, but if over-enrolled, preference will be given to students who took the previous class.

Prereq: Permission of instructor

2-0-4 units

Because Bob Dylan didn’t exist, Robert Zimmerman was forced to invent himself, in the early 1960s cafés of New York’s Greenwich Village. After his early anthems (Blowin' in the Wind, Hard Rain, The Times They Are a-Changin') established him as reluctant ‘voice of his generation,’ Dylan just as quickly rejected the honor, abruptly shifting styles, refusing to be pigeonholed, and reshaping the landscape of folk and rock.  600+ songs later, with 10 Grammys, an Oscar, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Nobel Prize for Literature under his belt, he continues to write, tour, and reinvent both his own work and his legacy. His songs continue to permeate every aspect of pop culture.  In this class we examine the craft of his songwriting and the scope of his career, through close listening to Dylan, his precursors and contemporaries, reading (source material and later histories and analyses) and a final project focusing on one aspect of Dylan's variegated career and work.

First half of semester
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 2-0-4 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Practice in a particular compositional technique not normally covered in the Harmony and Counterpoint or Musical Composition sequences. Possible topics include Renaissance counterpoint, fugue, ragtime, or indeterminacy. May be repeated once for credit if content differs. Enrollment limited. 

Fall 2021 1st Half of Semester Topic: Composing Ragtime
An intensive study, and close reading of selected work from the Ragtime piano repertoire of the early 20^th century, will inform and provide a framework for the composition of a new piano Rag. Special emphasis will be placed on the beloved masterpieces of African-American composer Scott Joplin. Experience playing the piano, as well as a basic familiarity with the principles of music theory will provide the student with a secure foundation in this subject. The class will culminate with a public performance of student compositions. Enrolment limited.

First half of semester
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 2-0-4 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Practice in a particular compositional technique not normally covered in the Harmony and Counterpoint or Musical Composition sequences. Possible topics include Renaissance counterpoint, fugue, ragtime, or indeterminacy. May be repeated once for credit if content differs. Enrollment limited. 

Fall 2019 1st Half of Semester Topic: Composing Ragtime
An intensive study, and close reading of selected work from the Ragtime piano repertoire of the early 20^th century, will inform and provide a framework for the composition of a new piano Rag. Special emphasis will be placed on the beloved masterpieces of African-American composer Scott Joplin. Experience playing the piano, as well as a basic familiarity with the principles of music theory will provide the student with a secure foundation in this subject. The class will culminate with a public performance of student compositions. Enrolment limited.

First half of semester
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 2-0-4 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Practice in a particular compositional technique not normally covered in the Harmony and Counterpoint or Musical Composition sequences. Possible topics include Renaissance counterpoint, fugue, ragtime, or indeterminacy. May be repeated once for credit if content differs. Enrollment limited. 

Spring 2020 1st Half of Semester Topic: Composing Ragtime
An intensive study, and close reading of selected work from the Ragtime piano repertoire of the early 20^th century, will inform and provide a framework for the composition of a new piano Rag. Special emphasis will be placed on the beloved masterpieces of African-American composer Scott Joplin. Experience playing the piano, as well as a basic familiarity with the principles of music theory will provide the student with a secure foundation in this subject. The class will culminate with a public performance of student compositions. Enrolment limited.

Prerequisites: 21M. 051, 21M.150/151, or equivalent

2-0-4 units

Do you love listening to different covers of your favorite artists and songs? Are you intrigued by how a simple melody can be heard in a variety of colors and styles by different ensembles and instruments? The craft of arranging previously composed music, whether one’s own or another’s, is a way to express oneself musically in a variety of timbres, sounds, and textures. We will explore arranging as a bi-directional process: reducing a large score to a piano reduction and taking something as basic as a lead sheet melody with chords and expanding it to a larger vocal or instrumental piece. As a final project students will arrange a short piece of their choice for an a cappella or small instrumental ensemble.

Prerequisites: 21M. 051, 21M.150/151, or equivalent

2-0-4 units

Do you love listening to different covers of your favorite artists and songs? Are you intrigued by how a simple melody can be heard in a variety of colors and styles by different ensembles and instruments? The craft of arranging previously composed music, whether one’s own or another’s, is a way to express oneself musically in a variety of timbres, sounds, and textures. We will explore arranging as a bi-directional process: reducing a large score to a piano reduction and taking something as basic as a lead sheet melody with chords and expanding it to a larger vocal or instrumental piece. As a final project students will arrange a short piece of their choice for an a cappella or small instrumental ensemble.

Prerequisites: 21M. 051, 21M.150/151, or equivalent

2-0-4 units

Do you love listening to different covers of your favorite artists and songs? Are you intrigued by how a simple melody can be heard in a variety of colors and styles by different ensembles and instruments? The craft of arranging previously composed music, whether one’s own or another’s, is a way to express oneself musically in a variety of timbres, sounds, and textures. We will explore arranging as a bi-directional process: reducing a large score to a piano reduction and taking something as basic as a lead sheet melody with chords and expanding it to a larger vocal or instrumental piece. As a final project students will arrange a short piece of their choice for an a cappella or small instrumental ensemble.

Prerequisites: 21M. 051, 21M.150/151, or equivalent

2-0-4 units

Do you love listening to different covers of your favorite artists and songs? Are you intrigued by how a simple melody can be heard in a variety of colors and styles by different ensembles and instruments? The craft of arranging previously composed music, whether one’s own or another’s, is a way to express oneself musically in a variety of timbres, sounds, and textures. We will explore arranging as a bi-directional process: reducing a large score to a piano reduction and taking something as basic as a lead sheet melody with chords and expanding it to a larger vocal or instrumental piece. As a final project students will arrange a short piece of their choice for an a cappella or small instrumental ensemble.

Prereq: Permission of Instructor
Units: 1-1-4
1/2 HASS-A

1st Half of Term

Introduction to theoretical elements of music for students who need preparation in the fundamentals of music theory prior to taking 21M.301. Requires ability to read notation in at least one clef. Covers many of the same topics as 21M.051 but at a faster pace. Coverage includes intervals, triads, major and minor keys, basic musical analysis over a variety of idioms in Western music. Also emphasizes developing the ear, voice, and keyboard skills. Not open to students who have completed 21M.051, 21M.151, 21M.301 or 21M.302. 21M.150 is offered first half of term; 21M.151 is offered second half of term. Limited to 20 per section by lottery.

Prereq: Permission of Instructor
Units: 1-1-4
1/2 HASS-A

1st Half of Term

Accelerated half-semester study of the fundamentals of Western music. Requires ability to read Western staff notation in at least one clef. Coverage includes intervals, triads, major and minor keys, basic musical analysis over a variety of idioms in Western music. Also emphasizes developing the ear, voice, and keyboard skills. Not open to students who have completed or are enrolled in 21M.051, 21M.151, 21M.301 or 21M.302. Course content is identical to 21M.151: 21M.150 is offered first half of term; 21M.151 is offered second half of term or during IAP. Limited to 18.

Prereq: Permission of instructor
U (Fall, Spring; first half of term)
1-1-4 units
Credit cannot also be received for 21M.151

Introduction to theoretical elements of music for students who need preparation in the fundamentals of music theory prior to taking 21M.301. Requires ability to read notation in at least one clef. Covers many of the same topics as 21M.051 but at a faster pace. Coverage includes intervals, triads, major and minor keys, basic musical analysis over a variety of idioms in Western music. Also emphasizes developing the ear, voice, and keyboard skills. Not open to students who have completed 21M.051, 21M.151, 21M.301 or 21M.302. 21M.150 is offered first half of term; 21M.151 is offered second half of term. Limited to 20 per section by lottery.

Prereq: Permission of Instructor
Units: 1-1-4
1/2 HASS-A

1st Half of Term

Accelerated half-semester study of the fundamentals of Western music. Requires ability to read Western staff notation in at least one clef. Coverage includes intervals, triads, major and minor keys, basic musical analysis over a variety of idioms in Western music. Also emphasizes developing the ear, voice, and keyboard skills. Not open to students who have completed or are enrolled in 21M.051, 21M.151, 21M.301 or 21M.302. Course content is identical to 21M.151: 21M.150 is offered first half of term; 21M.151 is offered second half of term or during IAP. Limited to 18.

Prereq: Permission of Instructor
Units: 1-1-4
1/2 HASS-A

1st Half of Term

Accelerated half-semester study of the fundamentals of Western music. Requires ability to read Western staff notation in at least one clef. Coverage includes intervals, triads, major and minor keys, basic musical analysis over a variety of idioms in Western music. Also emphasizes developing the ear, voice, and keyboard skills. Not open to students who have completed or are enrolled in 21M.051, 21M.151, 21M.301 or 21M.302. Course content is identical to 21M.151: 21M.150 is offered first half of term; 21M.151 is offered second half of term or during IAP. Limited to 18.

Prereq: None
1-1-4 units

Accelerated half-semester study of the fundamentals of Western music. Requires ability to read Western staff notation in at least one clef. Coverage includes intervals, triads, major and minor keys, basic musical analysis over a variety of idioms in Western music. Also emphasizes developing the ear, voice, and keyboard skills. Not open to students who have completed or are enrolled in 21M.051, 21M.151, 21M.301, or 21M.302. Subject content is identical to 21M.151: 21M.150 is offered first half of term; 21M.151 is offered second half of term or during IAP. Limited to 18 per section.

1-1-4 units

 Accelerated half-semester study of the fundamentals of Western music. Requires ability to read Western staff notation in at least one clef. Coverage includes intervals, triads, major and minor keys, basic musical analysis over a variety of idioms in Western music. Also emphasizes developing the ear, voice, and keyboard skills. Not open to students who have completed or are enrolled in 21M.051, 21M.151, 21M.301, or 21M.302. Subject content is identical to 21M.151: 21M.150 is offered first half of term; 21M.151 is offered second half of term or during IAP. Limited to 18 per section.

Offered the 1st half of semester. 
Prereq: Permission of instructor​
1-1-4

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Introduction to theoretical elements of music for students who need preparation in the fundamentals of music theory prior to taking 21M.301. Requires ability to read notation in at least one clef. Covers many of the same topics as 21M.051 but at a faster pace. Coverage includes intervals, triads, major and minor keys, basic musical analysis over a variety of idioms in Western music. Also emphasizes developing the ear, voice, and keyboard skills. Ability to read music required. Not open to students who have completed 21M.051, 21M.301 or 21M.302. Limited to 20 per section by lottery.

Prereq: Permission of Instructor
Units: 1-1-4
1/2 HASS-A

Accelerated half-semester study of the fundamentals of Western music. Requires ability to read Western staff notation in at least one clef. Coverage includes intervals, triads, major and minor keys, basic musical analysis over a variety of idioms in Western music. Also emphasizes developing the ear, voice, and keyboard skills. Not open to students who have completed or are enrolled in 21M.051, 21M.151, 21M.301 or 21M.302. Course content is identical to 21M.150: 21M.150 is offered first half of term; 21M.151 is offered second half of term or during IAP. Limited to 18.

Prereq: 21m.301 is required.  Students who have taken 21m.302, 303, or 304 will be able to make use of additional skills in analysis and composition assignments.
Units: 2-0-4
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

3 hrs/wk synchronous lecture.

Many eighteenth-century composers were trained in the partimento tradition, in which their composition teachers set them increasingly difficult melodies to harmonize at the keyboard following a series of rules set by the teacher. This pedagogical tradition was incredibly effective: student composers were quickly able to compose and even improvise complex music following these patterns. In this subject, we will explore these patterns with a contemporary lens, analyzing the ways in which partimento patterns have become markers of the eighteenth century “galant style” but extend into many tonal traditions, creating particular expectations that composers can exploit for dramatic effect. We will analyze several works from a variety of eras and musical styles and write our own music that employs these patterns strategically. 21m.301 is a pre-requisite.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 2-0-4 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Specific musical compositions or topics in music theory will provide the basis for analysis and close reading. Topics vary. Examples include a Bach Cantana, a Beethoven Quartet, Pierrot Lunaire, or cross-cultural musical analysis. May be repeated once for credit if content differs. Enrollment limited.

Second half of semester 
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 2-0-4 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Examines a particular moment in music history, an era, style, or even the composition of a major work through analysis and cultural context. Goes into further depth on a particular topic than would be possible in a longer survey. Periods and topics vary. Examples include minimalism, The Beatles, A Cappella, or The Lion King. May be repeated once for credit if content differs. Enrollment limited.

Fall 2019 2nd Half of Semester Topic: Music for Animated Films
After a brief survey of music for American animated films going back to the classic studio shorts and scores produced by Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, and UPA, this half-term subject will focus on case studies of scores for feature-length animated films from three studios: Disney (e.g., Pinocchio, Bambi, and/or Beauty and the Beast), Ghibli (e.g., Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, or My Neighbor Totoro) and Pixar (e.g., Up, Inside Out, Wall-E, or The Incredibles). As with the prior subject, methods of analysis will be taught through samplings of many different films, before we delve into a few films and scores as wholes. The particular technical and esthetic requirements of music for animated films will be given close attention.

Students are welcome to take this subject independently of the Williams study; but those who take both will get a broader understanding of the esthetic possibilities and cultural impact of film music overall.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

A survey of the music of North and South America from the Renaissance to the present, with emphasis on the cross-fertilizations of indigenous and European traditions. Listening assignments will focus on composers as varied as Copland and Still, Revueltas and Chihara.

Prereq: None. Coreq: 21M.301
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Examines European music from the early Middle Ages until the end of the Renaissance. Includes a chronological survey and intensive study of three topics: chant and its development, music in Italy 1340-1420, and music in Elizabethan England. Focuses on methods and pitfalls in studying music of the distant past. Students' papers, problem sets, and presentations explore lives, genres, and works in depth. Works studied in facsimile of original notation, and from original manuscripts at MIT, where possible.

Prereq: None. Coreq: 21M.301
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A, CI-M

Examines European music from the early Middle Ages until the end of the Renaissance. Includes a chronological survey and intensive study of three topics: chant and its development, music in Italy 1340-1420, and music in Elizabethan England. Focuses on methods and pitfalls in studying music of the distant past. Students' papers, problem sets, and presentations explore lives, genres, and works in depth. Works studied in facsimile of original notation, and from original manuscripts at MIT, where possible.

Prereq: None. Coreq: 21M.301
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A, CI-M

Examines European music from the early Middle Ages until the end of the Renaissance. Includes a chronological survey and intensive study of three topics: chant and its development, music in Italy 1340-1420, and music in Elizabethan England. Focuses on methods and pitfalls in studying music of the distant past. Students' papers, problem sets, and presentations explore lives, genres, and works in depth. Works studied in facsimile of original notation, and from original manuscripts at MIT, where possible.

Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
HASS-A, CI-H

Examines the production, transmission, preservation and the qualities of folk music in the British Isles and North America from the 18th century to the folk revival of the 1960s and the present. Special emphasis on balladry, fiddle styles, and African-American influences. Enrollment limited.

Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-A; CI-H

Examines the production, transmission, preservation and the qualities of folk music in the British Isles and North America from the 18th century to the folk revival of the 1960s and the present. Special emphasis on balladry, fiddle styles, and African-American influences. Enrollment limited.

3-0-9 units - HASS-A - CI-H
 Examines the production, transmission, preservation and the qualities of folk music in the British Isles and North America from the 18th century to the folk revival of the 1960s and the present. Special emphasis on balladry, fiddle styles, and African-American influences. Enrollment limited.

Prereq: None
3-1-8
HASS-A, CI-H

Examines the production, transmission, preservation and the qualities of folk music in the British Isles and North America from the 18th century to the folk revival of the 1960s and the present. Special emphasis on balladry, fiddle styles, and African-American influences. Enrollment limited. 

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Historical survey from roots in African and American contexts, including spirituals, blues, and ragtime, through early jazz, Swing, bebop, and post-bop movements, with attention to recent developments. Key jazz styles, the relation of music and society, and major figures such as Armstrong, Ellington, Basie, Goodman, Parker, Monk, Mingus, Coltrane, and others are considered. Some investigation of cross-influences with popular, classical, folk, and rock musics. Enrollment may be limited.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A, CI-M

Surveys Baroque and Classical genres: opera, cantata, oratorio, sonata, concerto, quartet and symphony. Includes the composers Monteverdi, Schutz, Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart. Bases written essays, projects and oral presentations on live performances as well as listening and reading assignments. Basic music score-reading ability required.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A, CI-M

Surveys Baroque and Classical genres: opera, cantata, oratorio, sonata, concerto, quartet and symphony. Includes the composers Monteverdi, Schutz, Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart. Bases written essays, projects, and oral presentations on live performances as well as listening and reading assignments. Basic music score-reading ability required.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A, CI-M

Surveys genres from the Western tradition composed in the 17th and 18th centuries: opera, cantata, oratorio, sonata, concerto, quartet and symphony. Includes the composers Monteverdi, Purcell, Lully, Strozzi, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Bologne, and Mozart. Bases written essays, projects, and oral presentations on live performances as well as listening and reading assignments. Basic music score-reading ability required.

3-0-9 units

Seminar that develops skills needed to explore a broad range of musical questions through a diversity of music systems and cultures, research tools and approaches, and scholarly viewpoints. Engaging the ambiguity, uncertainty, and unsolved (or even unsolvable) questions in music research, students learn to think humanistically and critically about their own priorities, assumptions, and understandings of musical knowledge while gaining the tools to ask new questions and conduct independent research. Strong emphasis on discussion, interdisciplinary thinking, and practical applications of research skills. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Enrollment limited.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Surveys Romantic genres including Lied/song, choral music, opera, piano sonata/character cycle, concerto, and symphony/symphonic poem. Includes the composers Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Chopin, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler. Bases written essays and oral presentations on live performances as well as listening and reading assignments. Basic score-reading ability recommended.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A, CI-M

Surveys musical works drawn from many genres, representing stylistic movements that have transformed classical music over the past hundred years. Focal topics include musical modernism, serialism, neoclassicism, nationalism and ideology, minimalism, and aleatoric and noise composition experiments. Discusses electronic and computer music, and new media and the postmodern present. Begins with Stravinsky's early ballets and ends with music by current MIT composers and other important figures active today. Ability to read music required. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A, CI-M

Surveys musical works drawn from many genres, representing stylistic movements that have transformed classical music over the past hundred years. Focal topics include musical modernism, serialism, neoclassicism, nationalism and ideology, minimalism, and aleatoric and noise composition experiments. Discusses electronic and computer music, and new media and the postmodern present. Begins with Stravinsky's early ballets and ends with music by current MIT composers and other important figures active today. Ability to read music required. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A, CI-M

Surveys musical works drawn from many genres, representing stylistic movements that have transformed classical music over the past hundred years. Focal topics include musical modernism, serialism, neoclassicism, nationalism and ideology, minimalism, and aleatoric and noise composition experiments. Discusses electronic and computer music, and new media and the postmodern present. Begins with Stravinsky's early ballets and ends with music by current MIT composers and other important figures active today. Ability to read music required. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor
3-0-9 units. HASS-A

Surveys musical works drawn from many genres, representing stylistic movements that have transformed classical music over the past hundred years. Focal topics include musical modernism, serialism, neoclassicism, nationalism and ideology, minimalism, and aleatoric and noise composition experiments. Discusses electronic and computer music, and new media and the postmodern present. Begins with Stravinsky's early ballets and ends with music by current MIT composers and other important figures active today. Ability to read music required. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Explores particular questions or repertories in Western classical music. Requires individual participation, presentations, and writing. Topics vary each year. Examples include women in music, musical borrowing, the Ars Nova, Schumann, or music after 1990. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Explores particular questions or repertories in Western classical music. Requires individual participation, presentations, and writing. Topics vary each year. Examples include women in music, musical borrowing, the Ars Nova, Schumann, or music after 1990. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Spring 2023 Topic: J. S. Bach in His Time and Ours

Surveys the music of the Johann Sebastian Bach, including works for instrumental ensembles, cantatas, solo repertoire, and keyboard music. This class will explore selected works by Bach by applying two different perspectives concurrently. One perspective will be through the analysis Bach’s works with consideration for the circumstances surrounding the composition of each piece. Another perspective will follow ways in which Bach’s music was received in his own day and ways in which it inspires other composers and performers today.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9

Music for dance is relatively under-studied in musicological circles, but is incredibly important to our society and culture as a whole. This semester, we’ll explore a number of topics related to music for dance(rs) in a variety of genres, including: ballet, musical theater, modern/contemporary dance, and social/ballroom dance. Students may suggest questions and pieces of music/dance for us to study together. We’ll explore how composers write dance for specific choreography/choreographers, as well as the reverse: how choreographers make choices that emphasize a particular interpretation of the music. Through intensive listening, watching, and dancing ourselves, we’ll investigate questions about what music affords to dance(rs) and vice versa, and the semester will culminate with projects/presentations focused on a topic of the student’s choice.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor
3-0-9 units. HASS-A
Can be repeated for credit.

Music for Animated Films is designed as a complement to 21M.284 (Film Music), from which animation is excluded due to lack of time. The subject's primary objective is to equip students with tools and methods for analysis of this specialized branch of film music, supported by awareness of broader esthetic and historical contexts. The syllabus includes a quick survey of music for silent and early sound films, with attention to stylistic legacies of key studios (Disney, WB, MGM, UPA). Attention is given to landmark early Disney features (Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi), leading at the term's end to case studies of feature film scores produced by the Ghibli and Pixar studios (among them, Princess Mononoke and the Toy Story and Incredibles series). Throughout the term technological and economic conditions will be noted, along with esthetic and cultural issues of reception and interpretation. Required work will include personal responses and analytic reports—starting with discussion of short segments from early films and soundtracks, culminating in a comparative paper about two contrasting scores overall. During the second half of the term there will be team projects on one or two favorite films.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Explores the style, form, and history of approximately two dozen pieces of canonical symphonic repertoire. Students write short reviews of musicological articles on the rich cultural history of selected works and complete one project about the state of classical music in contemporary society. Basic score-reading ability required.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Focuses on the different styles and dramatic approaches exhibited by a range of operas. Central questions include the process of adaptation from source material, the conventions of different operatic eras, and how the works are staged in contrasting productions. Basic score-reading ability required.

Prereq: One subject in film, music, or theater or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Covers Broadway works and Hollywood films in depth. Proceeds chronologically, exploring three stage musicals and three films at a time, within four historical categories: breakthrough musicals of the 1920s and '30s; classic "book musicals" of the '40s and '50s; modernist and concept musicals of the '60s and '70s; and post modern and cutting-edge works of the '80s and '90s. Attention given to the role of music in relation to script, characterization, and dramatic structure. Final papers involve comparison of one stage and one film work, selected in consultation with the instructor. Oral presentations required and in-class performances encouraged.

(Subject meets with CMS.925) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 3-3-6, HASS-A

Surveys styles and dramatic functions of music for silent films of the 1910s-20s, and music in sound films from the 1930s to the present. Close attention given to landmark scores by American and European composers, including Korngold, Steiner, Rozsa, Prokofiev, Copland, Herrmann, Rota, Morricone, and Williams. Subsidiary topics include new trends in contemporary film-scoring, pop scores, the impact of electronics, and specialized genres (e.g., animation). Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Some background in the study of film and/or music is expected.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of intructor
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Surveys the music of the Beatles, from the band's early years as the Quarrymen (1956-1960), through the rise of "Beatlemania" in the 1960s and the break-up of the group with the turn of 1970. Listening and reading assignments focus on the construction and analysis of selected songs with the goal of mapping how the Beatles' musical style changed from skiffle and rock to studio-based experimentation and the concept album. Discussions about the cultural influences that helped shape not only music, but also the image of the Beatles and its individual members, as well as the group's influence on both popular music and culture worldwide.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of intructor
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Surveys the music of the Beatles, from the band's early years as the Quarrymen (1956-1960), through the rise of "Beatlemania" in the 1960s, and the break-up of the group with the turn of 1970. Listening and reading assignments focus on the construction and analysis of selected songs with the goal of mapping how the Beatles' musical style changed from skiffle and rock to studio-based experimentation and the concept album. Discussions include the cultural influences that helped shape not only the music, but also the image of the group and its individual members, as well as the Beatles' influence on both popular music and culture worldwide.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of the instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Explores topics concerned with specific types of classical music, such as repertories for instrumental soloists and/or small ensembles, orchestral works, solo songs, choral works, or compositions for theater, film, or new media. Topics vary and may require additional prerequisites or specialized skills such as score-reading or playing an instrument. Examples include the English madrigal, Baroque chamber music, Beethoven's symphonies, French art song, Wagner's 'Ring' cycle, American choral music, Stravinsky's theater works, and the Hollywood film score. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Focuses on Hindustani classical music of North India, and also involves learning about the ancient foundations of the rich classical traditions of music and dance of all Indian art and culture. Practice of the ragas and talas through the learning of songs, dance, and drumming compositions. Develops insights through listening, readings, and concert attendance.

Prereq: None 
Units: 2-2-8, HASS-A

Provides an introduction to the fascinating, intricate music of Indonesia with a special focus on Bali. Examines diverse traditions across the archipelago from both musical and cultural perspectives, from the gamelan percussion orchestras of Bali and Java to the indigenous folk traditions of Borneo, from the most sacred ritual music to the most modern popular music. Students analyze and discuss the cultural significance of musical examples, and engage in hands-on music making.

Prereq: None
3-0-9 units. HASS-A

Studies diverse musical practices in Bali, Indonesia. Students encounter a broad spectrum of Balinese musics — from ancient ritual and court musics to popular genres, internationally renowned gamelan traditions to radical contemporary and fusion compositions — engaging with their structures and techniques through music-making, listening analysis, music theory, composition, and dance. Explores the cultural, political, social, and historical contexts of these musics, grappling with complex questions of identity, representation, power, and belief through readings and discussion forums, creative open-ended projects, and in-depth class discussion. No musical experience required. Limited to 15.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Studies musical traditions of sub-Saharan Africa, with focus on West Africa. Explores a variety of musical practices and their cultural contexts through listening, reading and writing assignments with an emphasis on class discussion. Includes in-class instruction in drumming, song and dance of Senegal, Ghana, and South Africa, as well as live lecture-demonstrations by guest performers from throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Limited to 15; preference to majors, minors, concentrators. Admittance may be controlled by lottery.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Studies musical traditions of sub-Saharan Africa, with focus on West Africa. Explores a variety of musical practices and their cultural contexts through listening, reading and writing assignments with an emphasis on class discussion. Includes in-class instruction in drumming, song and dance of Senegal, Ghana, and South Africa, as well as live lecture-demonstrations by guest performers from throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Limited to 15; preference to majors, minors, concentrators. Admittance may be controlled by lottery.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Focuses on popular music created for and transmitted by mass media. Studies various popular music genres from around the world through listening and reading assignments, while considering issues of musical change, syncretism, Westernization, globalization, the impact of recording industries, and the post-colonial era. Case studies include bhangra, Afro-pop, reggae, and global hip-hop. Limited to 25; preference to majors, minors, concentrators. Admittance may be controlled by lottery.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Examines select popular music genres from around the world through audio-visual materials, reading assignments, and classroom discussion. Considers issues of globalization, appropriation, and the impact of social media. Case studies include bhangra, Latin pop, Afropop, reggae, Kpop, and global hip-hop.. Limited to 25; preference to majors, minors, concentrators. Admittance may be controlled by lottery.

Prereq: None
3-0-9 units. HASS-A

Examines select popular music genres from around the world through audio-visual materials, reading assignments, and classroom discussion. Considers issues of globalization, appropriation, and the impact of social media. Case studies include bhangra, Latin pop, Afropop, reggae, Kpop, and global hip-hop. Limited to 25; preference to Music majors, minors, concentrators. Admittance may be controlled by lottery.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Surveys the development of popular music in the US, and in a cross-cultural milieu, relative to the history and sociology of the last two hundred years. Examines the ethnic mixture that characterizes modern music, and how it reflects many rich traditions and styles (minstrelsy, music-hall, operetta, Tin Pan Alley, blues, rock, electronic media, etc.). Provides a background for understanding the musical vocabulary of current popular music styles. Limited to 20.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Studies of selected topics in popular music and/or jazz. Topics vary. Examples include Duke Ellington, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the 1980s. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Spring 2019 Topic: Duke Ellington

This course will explore the life and music of Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974), one of the greatest musicians of the 20^th-century. His career paralleled, influenced, and was influenced by the evolution of jazz, and he became one of the most significant exponents of that art form.  Duke Ellington composed several thousand compositions ranging from popular tunes to film and theater scores to symphonic-length works to sacred music, all while constantly touring America and the world.  With his critically-acclaimed orchestra, he performed in clubs, concert halls, cathedrals, at colleges and festivals, and for kings, queens, and Presidents.  We will discuss all of this in the context of historical and wide-ranging socio-cultural dynamics, and listen to many Ellington recordings.

Prereq: 21M.030 or permission of instructor
3-0-9
HASS-A

Studies of selected topics in popular music and/or jazz.  Topics vary.  Examples include Duke Ellington, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the 1980s.  May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Fall 2019 Topic: The Beatles
Surveys the music of the Beatles, from the band’s early years as the Quarrymen, 1956-1960, through the rise of “Beatlemania” in the 1960s, and the break-up of the group with the turn of 1970. Listening and reading assignments will focus on the context and analysis of selected songs with the goal of mapping how the Beatles's musical style changed from skiffle and rock to studio-based experimentation and the concept album. Cultural influences that helped to shape the image of the band and its individual members, as well as the group’s influence on both popular music and culture worldwide, will be a continuous theme.

Prereq: 21M.030 or permission of instructor
3-0-9
HASS-A

3 hrs/wk synchronous lecture

Studies of selected topics in popular music and/or jazz.  Topics vary.  Examples include Duke Ellington, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the 1980s.  May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Fall 2020 Topic: The Beatles
Surveys the music of the Beatles, from the band’s early years as the Quarrymen, 1956-1960, through the rise of “Beatlemania” in the 1960s, and the break-up of the group with the turn of 1970. Listening and reading assignments will focus on the construction and analysis of selected songs with the goal of mapping how the Beatle’s musical style changed from skiffle and rock to studio-based experimentation and the concept album. Cultural influences that helped to shape the music and the image of the Beatles’ as well as the group’s influence on both popular music and culture worldwide will be a continuous theme in this class.

Prereq: Prior singing experience or permission of instructor; ability to read and learn music from score  
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

This course examines various lyric theatre works - musicals, operettas, operas, etc. - through a combination of study and in-class performance. Works for the stage such as The Marriage of Figaro, Merry Widow, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Hamilton experienced astounding popularity at specific historical moments. This class will explore the contextual, historical, and stylistic factors that allowed such pieces to have outsized impact on mainstream culture both in their time and to the present day. 

Prereq: None
U (Fall, Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-A
Can be repeated for credit.

This course surveys 50 years of hip-hop, examining tradition and innovation, regional accents and core conventions in the arts of beat-making, DJing, and rapping, with reference to visual art and media, fashion, language, and related aesthetic practices.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-9
HASS-A

Taught by Prof. Ian Condry

Explores a variety of music cultures in contemporary East Asia. Emphasizes examples from Japan, but forays elsewhere, including South Korea and China. Uses writings, videos, and recordings of musical performances, events, and objects in a variety of contexts to better understand how the concept of culture gives insight into gender, class, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationhood, and individual identities. Explores ethnographic approaches to musical cultures with a focus on the last thirty years. Topics include Japanese hip-hop, K-Pop idols, Vocaloids (virtual idols), Chinese popular music and protest, street music, streaming and online distribution for global music, and experimental music. Students conduct ethnographic fieldwork and produce sonic presentations. No music experience nor technical expertise required. Taught in English.

Prereq: 21M.030 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

What can musical instruments be and do? How do we use them to make sense of our world?

This course addresses how people imagine, hear, play, construct, consume, and critique instruments and their accompanying sound (re)production technologies.

Topics span artisanship, entrepreneurship, ecology and sustainability, art history and archaeology, cultural policy, anthropology of sound, scientific instruments, and emerging technologies. No background in music is necessary. 

Prereq: 21M.030 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Fall 2017 Topic: The Beatles
Surveys the music of the Beatles, from the band’s early years as the Quarrymen, 1956-1960, through the rise of “Beatlemania” in the 1960s, and the break-up of the group with the turn of 1970. Listening and reading assignments will focus on the construction and analysis of selected songs with the goal of mapping how the Beatle’s musical style changed from skiffle and rock to studio-based experimentation and the concept album. Cultural influences that helped to shape the image of the Beatles’ and its individual members, as well as the group’s influence on both popular music and culture worldwide will be a continuous theme.

Prereq: 21M.030 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Studies of selected topics in ethnomusicology (the study of music in culture).  Topics vary.  Examples include the social lives of musical instruments, music and storytelling, fieldwork methodologies, music and politics, and rhythms of the world.  May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Fall 2018 Topic: Rhythms of the World
An introduction to the fundamentals of music through the lenses of non-Western, aural music cultures. Surveys selected traditions, from Bali to Ghana, South India to Zimbabwe, with a primary focus on oral skills, theory, and musical performance and embodiment. Instruction in diverse theories of rhythm and meter, melodic construction, and compositional aesthetic, as well as intensive hands-on music-making, builds listening, composing, and performing proficiency in multiple music practices, and strengthens overall musicality. Course requirements include individual performance exams and theory and composition assignments. No musical experience required.

Prereq: None
3-0-9
HASS-A

Studies of selected topics in ethnomusicology (the study of music in culture).  Topics vary.  Examples include the social lives of musical instruments, music and storytelling, fieldwork methodologies, music and politics, and rhythms of the world.  May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Fall 2021 Music of Brazil

Prereq: None
3-0-9
HASS-A

Studies of selected topics in ethnomusicology (the study of music in culture).  Topics vary.  Examples include the social lives of musical instruments, music and storytelling, fieldwork methodologies, music and politics, and rhythms of the world.  May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Fall 2022 Topic

Surveys folkloric musical traditions of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Introduction to a wide range of styles, including ballads, fiddling, work songs, Inuit throat singing, Mexican son, and singer-songwriters. Particular attention to the musical interactions between Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans, European colonists, immigrants from around the world, and the descendants of those groups. In addition to studying repertoire and performance practice from various traditions, we will examine folk music as a cultural practice that shapes people's ideas about their society's past, present, and future. No musical training or background is required. Following the participatory ethos of many folk music traditions, we will deepen our knowledge through close listening and, in some cases, singing (no singing experience needed).

Prereq: None
3-0-9
HASS-A

Topic Description

Studies of selected topics in ethnomusicology (the study of music in culture).  Topics vary.  Examples include the social lives of musical instruments, music and storytelling, fieldwork methodologies, music and politics, and rhythms of the world.  May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Prereq: 21M.030 or permission of instructor
3-0-9 units. HASS-A
Can be repeated for credit.

This course explores the historical and present-day music created by people of Asian descent in the United States. From Cantonese opera to Mitski, from taiko to bhangra, from classical to hip hop, from amateur community groups to pop stars, we will explore how Asian American musicians have made artistic choices, navigated questions of identity, and pursued musical innovation over the past two centuries. Readings will be drawn primarily from ethnomusicology and Asian American studies. Students will produce a final project based on either original research or creative practice.

3-0-9 units. HASS-A

From medieval troubadours to singing cowboys, kawaii heavy metal, and the City Pop revival, this course offers an expansive survey of Japanese popular music. In studying the origins of the commercial music industry, we will complicate notions of “the popular” and Japan’s relationship to Western theories, concepts, and aesthetics of musical practice in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. In taking popular music seriously as a historical object of study, this course provides students with a critical lens through which to explore broader social, cultural and economic histories of Japan’s “modernization” and the ongoing implications of its imperial shadow in East Asia. This class will meet twice a week for one lecture and one seminar centered on the discussion of assigned readings. Assignments include weekly “song hunts” and the navigation of a suite of assignments geared towards the completion of an original research essay and the presentation of a conference paper. Throughout the semester, we will be joined by guest speakers and participate in a retro Japanese roller disco. No prior experience in music or the Japanese language is necessary. 

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-3-6, HASS-A

Covers basic writing skills in music of the common-practice period (Bach to Brahms). Regular written assignments lead to the composition of short pieces. Analyzes representative works from the literature, keyboard laboratory, and sight-singing choir. Students should have experience reading music. Enrollment limited.

Music Theory Handbook (9780155026629) is required for only Section 1. 

Harmony + Voice Leading, Comp is recommended for only Section 2.

Prereq: None
3-3-6
HASS-A

Covers basic writing skills in music of the common-practice period (Bach to Brahms). Regular written assignments lead to the composition of short pieces. Classwork includes analysis of representative works from the literature. Keyboard laboratory and sight-singing choir in addition to regular class meetings. Students should have experience reading music. Limited to 20 per section. 

Music Theory Remixed (9780199330560) is required for Lecture 1 and 4 with Professor Nathan Lam. Harmony and Voice Leading (9780155062429) is only recommended for students in 21M.301 Lecture 2 with Professor Elena Ruehr. The Music Theory Handbok (9780155026629) is only recommended for students in 21M.301 Lecture 3 with Professor Benjamin Park. All students taking 21M.301 are required to have Five Centuries of Choral Music for Mixed Voices (9781423439516). 

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-2-7, HASS-A

A continuation of 21M.301, including chromatic harmony and modulation, a more extensive composition project, keyboard laboratory, and musicianship laboratory. Limited to 20 per section.

Prereq: 21M.302 
Units: 3-1-8, HASS-A

Written and analytic exercises based on 18th- and 19th-century small forms and harmonic practice found in music such as the chorale preludes of Bach; minuets and trios of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven; and the songs and character pieces of Schubert and Schumann. Musicianship laboratory is required. Limited to 20.

Prereq: 21M.302​
3-1-8
HASS-A

3 hrs/wk synchronous lecture

Written and analytic exercises based on 18th- and 19th-century small forms and harmonic practice found in music such as the chorale preludes of Bach; minuets and trios of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven; and the songs and character pieces of Schubert and Schumann. Musicianship laboratory is required. Limited to 20 per section. 

Prereq: 21M.302​
3-1-8
HASS-A

Written and analytic exercises based on 18th- and 19th-century small forms and harmonic practice found in music such as the chorale preludes of Bach; minuets and trios of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven; and the songs and character pieces of Schubert and Schumann. Musicianship laboratory is required. Limited to 20 per section. 

Prereq: 21M.303
Units: 3-1-8, HASS-A

Further written and analytic exercises in tonal music, focusing on larger or more challenging forms. For example, students might compose a sonata-form movement for piano or a two-part invention in the style of Bach. Students have opportunities to write short works that experiment with the expanded tonal techniques of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Musicianship laboratory is required. Limited to 20.

Prereq: 21M.303 
Units: 3-1-8 
HASS-A

Further written and analytic exercises in tonal music, focusing on larger or more challenging forms. For example, students might compose a sonata-form movement for piano or a two-part invention in the style of Bach. Students have opportunities to write short works that experiment with the expanded tonal techniques of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Musicianship laboratory is required. Limited to 20.

Prereq: 21M.302, 21M.260, or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Students complete written and analytical exercises based on compositional forms and practices from the first half of the 20th century. Areas covered include compositions based upon artificial scales and modes, as in Debussy, Bartok, and Stravinsky; compositions based on atonal pitch organizations, as with Schoenberg and Webern; compositions based on rhythmic process, timbral exploration, and/or non-Western influences. Basic instrumentation will be taught, and compositions will be performed in class.

Prereq: 21M.302 or Permission of instructor
3-0-9
HASS-A

Students complete written and analytical exercises based on compositional forms and practices from the first half of the 20th century. Areas covered include compositions based upon artificial scales and modes, as in Debussy, Bartok, and Stravinsky; compositions based on atonal pitch organizations, as with Schoenberg and Webern; compositions based on rhythmic process, timbral exploration, and/or non-Western influences. Basic instrumentation will be taught, and compositions will be performed in class.

Prereq: 21M.302 or Permission of instructor
3-0-9
HASS-A

Students complete written and analytical exercises based on compositional forms and practices from the first half of the 20th century. Areas covered include compositions based upon artificial scales and modes, as in Debussy, Bartok, and Stravinsky; compositions based on atonal pitch organizations, as with Schoenberg and Webern; compositions based on rhythmic process, timbral exploration, and/or non-Western influences. Basic instrumentation will be taught, and compositions will be performed in class.

Prereq: 21M.051, 21M.226, or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Basic harmony and theory of mainstream jazz and blues; includes required listening in jazz, writing and analysis work, and two full-scale arrangements. Serves as preparation for more advanced work in jazz with application to rock and pop music. Performance of student arrangements. Limited to 20.

Prereq: 21M.051 or 21M.226 or Permission of instructor
3-0-9
HASS-A

Basic harmony and theory of mainstream jazz and blues; includes required listening in jazz, writing and analysis work, and two full-scale arrangements. Serves as preparation for more advanced work in jazz with application to rock and pop music. Performance of student arrangements. Limited to 15.

Prereq: 21M.226, 21M.340, or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Jazz writing using tonal, modal, and extended compositional approaches as applied to the blues, the 32-bar song form, and post-bop structural designs. Consideration given to a variety of styles and to the ways improvisation informs the compositional process. Study of works by Ellington, Mingus, Parker, Russell, Evans, Nelson, Golson, Coleman, Coltrane, Threadgill, Hemphill, and others. Performance of student compositions. Limited to 20.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Explores composition and arrangement for the large jazz ensembles from 1920s foundations to current postmodern practice. Consideration given to a variety of styles and to the interaction of improvisation and composition. Study of works by Basie, Ellington, Evans, Gillespie, Golson, Mingus, Morris, Nelson, Williams, and others. Open rehearsals, workshops, and performances of student compositions by the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. Limited to 20.

(Subject meets with 21M.505) 
Prereq: 21M.304, 21M.310 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Directed composition of original writing involving voices and/or instruments. Includes a weekly seminar in composition for the presentation and discussion of work in progress. Students are expected to produce at least one substantive work and perform it in public by the end of the term. Contemporary compositions and major works from 20th-century music literature are studied. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments.

(Subject meets with 21M.505) 
Prereq: 21M.304, 21M.310, or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Directed composition of original writing involving voices and/or instruments. Includes a weekly seminar in composition for the presentation and discussion of work in progress. Students are expected to produce at least one substantive work and perform it in public by the end of the term. Contemporary compositions and major works from 20th-century music literature are studied. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-1-8, HASS-A

Students study concepts and practice techniques of improvisation in solo and ensemble contexts. Examines relationships between improvisation, composition, and performance based in traditional and experimental approaches. Topics, with occasional guest lectures, may include jazz, non-western music, and western concert music, as well as improvisation with film, spoken word, theater, and dance. Enrollment may be limited; open by audition to instrumental or vocal performers.

Prereq: 21M.302 or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Explores techniques associated with musical composition and/or analysis. Written exercises in the form of music (composition) and/or prose (papers) may be required, depending on the topic. Topics vary each year; examples include fugue, contemporary aesthetics of composition, orchestration, music analysis, or music and mathematics. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor. Limited to 18.

Prereq: Please see below note
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Explores techniques associated with musical composition and/or analysis. Written exercises in the form of music (composition) and/or prose (papers) may be required, depending on the topic. Topics vary each year; examples include fugue, contemporary aesthetics of composition, orchestration, music analysis, or music and mathematics. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor. Limited to 18.

Spring 2019 Topic: Sound and Music Computing
This course explores topics in computer music fundamentals, computer-assisted composition, and generative music using significant works from the computer music repertoire as models. We consider fundamentals of digital audio signal processing, musical acoustics and psychoacoustics, sound analysis and a variety of sound synthesis techniques as resources for composing music. In weekly classwork and longer midterm projects, students use creative and technical skills to build programs and use them to compose engaging sounds, musical exercises and pieces. The course utilizes the Max/MSP visual programming environment in combination with the odot scripting language.

Please note: While the subject listing page lists 21M.302 as the prerequisite for this class, the instructor is changing the prerequisite to 21M.051. So if you are interested and have taken 21M.051 or 21M.301, please sign up! 

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of insturctor 
3-0-9
HASS-A

Explores techniques associated with musical composition and/or analysis. Written exercises in the form of music (composition) and/or prose (papers) may be required, depending on the topic. Topics vary each year; examples include fugue, contemporary aesthetics of composition, orchestration, music analysis, or music and mathematics. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Fall 2019 Topic: Choral Composing and Arranging

This course is designed for student who would like to focus on the particular challenges of writing for the voice.

The following topics will be included:
Choral and solo voice types (soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, contralto, tenor, baritone, bass, lyric soprano, coloratura soprano, etc…)
Text setting - finding the natural declamation of the text
Tessitura and its affect on each voice type
Passagio and its affect on each voice type
International Phonetic Alphabet - understanding specific vowel and consonant categories
Choral voicings (SATB;  SSA; TTB; SSAATTBB; etc….)
Composing for the piano (how to write music that is idiomatic for the instrument)

Projects will include:
Arranging a folk song for unaccompanied chorus
Arranging a folk song for solo voice and piano
Composing/arranging an original song for voice and piano accompaniment
Composing an original choral work for unaccompanied chorus
Composing an original choral work for chorus and piano accompaniment
Composing for solo voice with unaccompanied choral support
Composing for chorus or solo voice with a solo instrument of the composer’s choosing
Final project - original choral or solo composition (with or without accompaniment)

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of insturctor 
3-0-9
HASS-A

Explores techniques associated with musical composition and/or analysis. Written exercises in the form of music (composition) and/or prose (papers) may be required, depending on the topic. Topics vary each year; examples include fugue, contemporary aesthetics of composition, orchestration, music analysis, or music and mathematics. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Spring 2021 Topic: Choral Composing and Arranging

This course is designed for student who would like to focus on the particular challenges of writing for the voice.

The following topics will be included:
Choral and solo voice types (soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, contralto, tenor, baritone, bass, lyric soprano, coloratura soprano, etc…)
Text setting - finding the natural declamation of the text
Tessitura and its affect on each voice type
Passagio and its affect on each voice type
International Phonetic Alphabet - understanding specific vowel and consonant categories
Choral voicings (SATB;  SSA; TTB; SSAATTBB; etc….)
Composing for the piano (how to write music that is idiomatic for the instrument)

Projects will include:
Arranging a folk song for unaccompanied chorus
Arranging a folk song for solo voice and piano
Composing/arranging an original song for voice and piano accompaniment
Composing an original choral work for unaccompanied chorus
Composing an original choral work for chorus and piano accompaniment
Composing for solo voice with unaccompanied choral support
Composing for chorus or solo voice with a solo instrument of the composer’s choosing
Final project - original choral or solo composition (with or without accompaniment)

Prereq: 21M.302 or permission of insturctor 
3-0-9
HASS-A

Explores techniques associated with musical composition and/or analysis. Written exercises in the form of music (composition) and/or prose (papers) may be required, depending on the topic. Topics vary each year; examples include fugue, contemporary aesthetics of composition, orchestration, music analysis, or music and mathematics. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Fall 2021: The Analysis of Tonal Music

Some aspects of our experience of music are beyond words. The grace or invention of a particular passage leaves us simply moved or awestruck. Some aspects, however, are due to a richness of relationship in the piece that, to a degree, can be described. These are aspects of its structure or process that we attend to when we analyze music. The more deeply we can understand music, the more sophisticated our analytical hearing, the richer our experience as performers, composers and listeners.

This class provides an introduction to the analysis of tonal music, building upon techniques and concepts learned in harmony and counterpoint classes. As we analyze pieces in class, four major areas of focus will emerge:

• Rhythmic structure
• Melodic structure
• Harmonic structure
• Motivic structure
• Form

Our work in class will focus on the analysis of whole (mostly short) pieces, as well as some theoretical works that address these topics. Both the music and the readings will be available on Canvas.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of insturctor 
3-0-9
HASS-A

Explores techniques associated with musical composition and/or analysis. Written exercises in the form of music (composition) and/or prose (papers) may be required, depending on the topic. Topics vary each year; examples include fugue, contemporary aesthetics of composition, orchestration, music analysis, or music and mathematics. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Spring 2022: Music and Mathematics

The course deals with music as understood through mathematics, rather than with mathematics demonstrated by way of music. Composers implicitly and explicitly exploit musical structures underpinned by simple and complicated, always amazing, mathematical structures, and sometimes generate new ones for particular compositions or for personal style. Tuning systems of entire regions and musical periods are made possible due to cultural considerations (e.g. religion, acoustics of houses of worship, training of choristers) within a mathematical context (e.g. just versus mean-tone intonations). Topics covered will include algebraic approaches to pitch, time, and spectrum in twentieth century music, and to harmony in the common practice; probabilistic modeling such as Markov processes; string rewriting systems and automata theory; and musical cryptography and steganography. Weekly assignments, with a final project. No exam. Proficiency in at least piano score reading and computer programming is required.

Prereq: 21M.301 or permission of insturctor 
3-0-9
HASS-A

Spring 2024 Topic: Songwriting

Songwriting is a course focused on writing music with words. Students will compose original songs through a series of prompts designed to explore form, style and genre. Basic theory knowledge and the ability to play chords on any instrument will be helpful to complete the class. The semester will end with a live performance or recording.

Explores techniques associated with musical composition and/or analysis. Written exercises in the form of music (composition) and/or prose (papers) may be required, depending on the topic. Topics vary each year; examples include fugue, contemporary aesthetics of composition, orchestration, music analysis, or music and mathematics. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Prereq: 21M.051 or permission of instructor
3-0-9 units. HASS-A

Demystifying the process and empowering student writers since 2022!  There is no “best” or “correct” way to write a song. Journey with your peers through weekly projects that explore the process from as many angles as possible and discover the ways that best resonate with you. The class will analyze music from many eras and genres, and include visits from modern artists. Each student will end the class by presenting a personal songwriting portfolio. Students enrolled in this class are expected to have a basic understanding of music theory, as we will be talking about melodic and harmonic structures, analyzing chord progressions, and writing melodies using standard music notation.

Prereq: None 
Units: 2-1-9, HASS-A

Students develop basic skills in composition through weekly assignments focusing on sampling and audio processing. Source materials include samples of urban/natural environments, electronically generated sounds, inherent studio/recording noise, and pre-existing recordings. Audio processing includes digital signal processing (DSP) and analog devices. Covers compositional techniques, including mixing, algorithms, studio improvisation, and interaction. Students critique each other's work and give informal presentations on recordings drawn from sound art, experimental electronica, conventional and non-conventional classical electronic works, and popular music. Covers technology, math, and acoustics in varying detail. Limited to 10 per section; preference to Music majors, minors, and concentrators.

Prereq: 21M.361 or permission of instructor 
Units: 2-2-8 
HASS-A

Explores sophisticated synthesis techniques, from finely tuned additive to noise filtering and distortion, granular synthesis to vintage emulation. Incorporates production techniques and use of multimedia, with guest lecturers/performers. Considers composing environments such as Max/MSP/Jitter, SPEAR, SoundHack, and Mathematica. Assignments include diverse listening sessions, followed by oral or written presentations, weekly sound studies, critiques, and modular compositions/soundscapes. Prior significant computer music experience preferred. Consult instructor for technical requirements. Limited to 10.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Limited to 16.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Spring 2018 Topic: The Mediated Voice
This course uses an exploration of technological mediations of the human voice as the context for an introduction to foundational electronic music concepts and techniques. Topics covered include psychoacoustics, recording and audio production, analog and digital synthesis techniques, feature extraction and music information retrieval, hardware and software design, and human-computer interaction. Students will also be asked to consider philosophical and societal implications of technologies related to the voice, including questions of identity, agency, embodiment, and exploitation.

Explores various technologies in relation to musical analysis, composition, performance, culture, and quantitative methods. Topics vary each term and may include development and impact on society, generative and algorithmic music, recording techniques or procedural sound design. May involve hands-on components such as laptop music ensemble, new instrument building, or comparing the theory and practice of audio recording. Limited to 16.

Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A
 
Explores various technologies in relation to musical analysis, composition, performance, culture, and quantitative methods. Topics vary each term and may include development and impact on society, generative and algorithmic music, recording techniques or procedural sound design. May involve hands-on components such as laptop music ensemble, new instrument building, or comparing the theory and practice of audio recording. Limited to 16.

Fall 2018 Topic: Performing with Computers
An investigation into musical communities and performance practices that have been made possible through incorporating computers into live performance. As in many domains, computers can support pre-existing conceptual models of musical performance, but also make possible many new and emerging practices. In this class, students will learn how musicians are employing cutting edge computer technologies to shape new visions for the future of music. Students will gain hands-on experience with computer music performance in a variety of styles, including gestural musical performance, live sampling, and live coding. Emphasis will be placed on the technical foundations which shape these performance practices, and the aesthetic norms which have arisen within their communities of practitioners.
 

Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A
 
Explores various technologies in relation to musical analysis, composition, performance, culture, and quantitative methods. Topics vary each term and may include development and impact on society, generative and algorithmic music, recording techniques or procedural sound design. May involve hands-on components such as laptop music ensemble, new instrument building, or comparing the theory and practice of audio recording. Limited to 16.

Spring 2019 Topic: Laptop Orchestras and Network Music
Examines how performers and composers utilize computers and digital networks to create new forms of ensemble performance. We will take a hybrid approach to our research, combining the study of past and present digital music ensembles with hands-on experience composing and performing music for laptops. Topics covered include: the beginnings of network music in the Bay area, the rise of the Laptop Orchestra, the laptop ensemble as research lab, interconnected musical networks, tangible controllers and digital musical instruments, live coding, and compositional and conducting strategies for laptop ensemble. The semester will conclude with a public performance of students works and repertoire drawn from existing ensembles.

Prerequisites: 21M.301 and 21M.361 or permission of the instructor
3-0-9
HASS-A

Explores various technologies in relation to musical analysis, composition, performance, culture, and quantitative methods. Topics vary each term and may include development and impact on society, generative and algorithmic music, recording techniques or procedural sound design. May involve hands-on components such as laptop music ensemble, new instrument building, or comparing the theory and practice of audio recording. Limited to 16.

Fall 2019 Topic: Composing for Solo Instrument and Live Electronics
A hands-on music technology composition seminar combining instrumental writing with real-time computer music. Students work closely with an accomplished classical instrumentalist, learning to compose for the instrument and developing computer programs that accompany the live performance with computer-generated sound. We examine significant works in this evolving canon, studying both the score and attendant computer programs as models for new compositions. Topics include: composing and programming hybrid instrumental/computer music works; the architecture of real-time computer music programs; real-time generative and algorithmic composition techniques for computer accompaniment; computer-assisted composition techniques; high-level control of digital signal processing for live sound analysis and transformation; analysis of significant solo instrument and live electronics repertoire; and extended performance techniques for solo instrument. The course utilizes the Max/MSP visual programming environment in combination with the odot scripting language.

Max/MSP: https://cycling74.com/products/max-features
odot: https://github.com/CNMAT/CNMAT-odot
 

(Same subject as 6.809[J])
Prereq: (6.01 and 21M.301) or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
http://musictech.mit.edu/ims 
HASS-A

Explores audio synthesis, musical structure, human computer interaction (HCI), and visual presentation for the creation of interactive musical experiences. Topics include audio synthesis; mixing and looping; MIDI sequencing; generative composition; motion sensors; music games; and graphics for UI, visualization, and aesthetics. Includes weekly programming assignments in python. Teams build an original, dynamic, and engaging interactive music system for their final project. Limited to 18.

(Same subject as 6.809[J])
Prereq: (6.009 and 21M.301) or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A
http://musictech.mit.edu/ims 

Explores audio synthesis, musical structure, human computer interaction (HCI), and visual presentation for the creation of interactive musical experiences. Topics include audio synthesis; mixing and looping; MIDI sequencing; generative composition; motion sensors; music games; and graphics for UI, visualization, and aesthetics. Includes weekly programming assignments in python. Teams build an original, dynamic, and engaging interactive music system for their final project. Enrollment limited. 

(Subject meets with 21M.587) 
Prereq: 6.003, 6.01, and 21M.051
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A

Analyzes recorded music in digital audio form using advanced signal processing and optimization techniques to understand higher-level musical meaning. Covers fundamental tools like windowing, feature extraction, discrete and short-time Fourier transforms, chromagrams, and onset detection. Addresses analysis methods including dynamic time warping, dynamic programming, self-similarity matrices, and matrix factorization. Explores a variety of applications, such as event classification, audio alignment, chord recognition, structural analysis, tempo and beat tracking, content-based audio retrieval, and audio decomposition. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Enrollment limited to 18.

Prereq: None
2-1-9
HASS-A

Students develop basic skills in composition through weekly assignments focusing on sampling and audio processing. Source materials include samples of urban/natural environments, electronically generated sounds, inherent studio/recording noise, and pre-existing recordings. Audio processing includes digital signal processing (DSP) and analog devices. Covers compositional techniques, including mixing, algorithms, studio improvisation, and interaction. Students critique each other's work and give informal presentations on recordings drawn from sound art, experimental electronica, conventional and non-conventional classical electronic works, and popular music. Covers technology, math, and acoustics in varying detail. Limited to 12 per section; preference to Music majors, minors, and concentrators.

Prereq: None
2-1-9
HASS-A

Schumaker — 3 hrs/wk synchronous lecture

Students develop basic skills in composition through weekly assignments focusing on sampling and audio processing. Source materials include samples of urban/natural environments, electronically generated sounds, inherent studio/recording noise, and pre-existing recordings. Audio processing includes digital signal processing (DSP) and analog devices. Covers compositional techniques, including mixing, algorithms, studio improvisation, and interaction. Students critique each other's work and give informal presentations on recordings drawn from sound art, experimental electronica, conventional and non-conventional classical electronic works, and popular music. Covers technology, math, and acoustics in varying detail. Limited to 12 per section; preference to Music majors, minors, and concentrators.

Prereq: 21M.361 or permission of instructor 
Units: 2-2-8 
HASS-A

Explores sophisticated synthesis techniques, from finely tuned additive to noise filtering and distortion, granular synthesis to vintage emulation. Incorporates production techniques and use of multimedia, with guest lecturers/performers. Considers composing environments such as Max/MSP/Jitter, SPEAR, SoundHack, and Mathematica. Assignments include diverse listening sessions, followed by oral or written presentations, weekly sound studies, critiques, and modular compositions/soundscapes. Prior significant computer music experience preferred. Consult instructor for technical requirements. Limited to 10.

(Meets with 21M.569: Graduate Level)
Prereq: Permission of Instructor
3-0-9
HASS-A

Fall 2023 Topic: Creating Musical Experiences for the Web

Musicians have embraced the musical possibilities of the internet since its inception.  Current developments in browser-based media generation and web audio promise to continue to expand these possibilities. In this course, students will explore the design and creation of browser-based musical experiences, with a focus on uncovering emerging aesthetic and technical practices. Course activities will include exploring available frameworks for working with audio in the browser, researching existing applications, and creating unique, personalized musical experiences. Prior coursework in Music Tech and experience with programming / web development encouraged but not required.

Catalog Description

Explores various technologies in relation to musical analysis, composition, performance, culture, and quantitative methods. Topics vary each term and may include development and impact on society, generative and algorithmic music, recording techniques or procedural sound design. May involve hands-on components such as laptop music ensemble, new instrument building, or comparing the theory and practice of audio recording. Limited to 16.

Prereq: Permission of instructor
3-0-9 units. HASS-A

Explores algorithms and interactions needed for designing music systems that can support human-AI partnerships in music making. Surveys techniques in generative modeling, learning from human feedback, reinforcement learning (RL), and social RL. Also looks at interactive systems and visualizations to distill abstractions that empower human-AI collaboration as well as creative team work. Experience with Python and/or Javascript and basic machine learning paradigms recommended. Culminates in a final team project.  Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Enrollment limited to 12. 

A. Huang

Covers the physics and acoustics of music and musical instruments, computational models of musical acoustics, and digital signal processing techniques for audio effects. Topics include the basics of sound propagation and auditory perception; the specific acoustical phenomena of wind, string, and percussion instruments as well as the voice; room acoustics; vibration and acoustic measurement techniques; historical contexts of instrument designs; instrument building and design; music synthesis; physical modeling synthesis including digital waveguides, modal models, and finite difference schemes; programming of digital audio effects such as equalization and filtering, delay effects, dynamic range control, reverberation, and distortion.

Emphasis will be placed on practical applications including measurements, real-time audio programming, critical listening, and physical making.  Students will work on a significant final project with topics including building an instrument, augmenting an instrument with an acoustic or digital intervention, developing a synthesis model of an instrument, or programming a real-time audio effect not covered in the class. Students taking the graduate version will complete extended assignments. 

Students should be familiar with signal processing, digital audio, and programming (Python with some C++).

3-0-9 units, HASS-A

 Explores various technologies in relation to musical analysis, composition, performance, culture, and quantitative methods. Topics vary each term and may include development and impact on society, generative and algorithmic music, recording techniques or procedural sound design. May involve hands-on components such as laptop music ensemble, new instrument building, or comparing the theory and practice of audio recording. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Limited to 16.

Subject meets with 21M.570
Prereq: None
3-6-3 units. HASS-A

Covers aesthetic and technical challenges in the creation of physical interfaces for musical performance. will engage in the design and creation of musical interfaces, and learn how to incorporate new technologies in their artistic practice. Topics covered include user experience design for artistic performance, musical human-computer interaction (HCI), hardware and software standards for digital musical systems, embedded programming and sound synthesis, analog and digital sensors, rapid prototyping and digital manufacturing, and creating performance practices around custom hardware. Students design and build their own digital musical instrument, and present a performance with the instrument as their final project. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Limited to 18.

Prereq: Permission of Instructor
3-0-9
HASS-A

Explores various technologies in relation to musical analysis, composition, performance, culture, and quantitative methods. Topics vary each term and may include development and impact on society, generative and algorithmic music, recording techniques or procedural sound design. May involve hands-on components such as laptop music ensemble, new instrument building, or comparing the theory and practice of audio recording. Limited to 16.

Fall 2022: The Sound of the Web: creating and experiencing music on the internet

Musicians have embraced the musical possibilities of the internet since its inception.  Current developments in browser-based media generation and web audio promise to continue to expand these possibilities. This course will survey how cutting edge artists use the web to create new kinds of experiences, and will explore the near future of web technology to imagine how it will shape the evolution of musical culture. Topics will include collaborative music production & performance, live coding, virtual concerts & the metaverse, the future of web audio, and the musical internet of things. 

(Same subject as 6.809[J])
Prereq: (6.009 and 21M.301) or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A
http://musictech.mit.edu/ims 

Explores audio synthesis, musical structure, human computer interaction (HCI), and visual presentation for the creation of interactive musical experiences. Topics include audio synthesis; mixing and looping; MIDI sequencing; generative composition; motion sensors; music games; and graphics for UI, visualization, and aesthetics. Includes weekly programming assignments in python. Teams build an original, dynamic, and engaging interactive music system for their final project. Enrollment limited. 

(Same subject as 6.809[J])
Prereq: (6.01 and 21M.301) or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
http://musictech.mit.edu/ims 
HASS-A

3 hrs/wk synchronous lecture

Explores audio synthesis, musical structure, human computer interaction (HCI), and visual presentation for the creation of interactive musical experiences. Topics include audio synthesis; mixing and looping; MIDI sequencing; generative composition; motion sensors; music games; and graphics for UI, visualization, and aesthetics. Includes weekly programming assignments in python and student presentations. Teams build an original, dynamic, and engaging interactive music system for their final project. Limited to 36.

Prereq: 6.003, 6.0002, and 21M.051
Units: 3-0-9 
Meets with and equivalent to: 6.S062
HASS-A
http://musictech.mit.edu/fmp

Analyzes recorded music in digital audio form using advanced signal processing and optimization techniques to understand higher-level musical meaning. Covers fundamental tools like windowing, feature extraction, discrete and short-time Fourier transforms, chromagrams, and onset detection. Addresses analysis methods including dynamic time warping, dynamic programming, self-similarity matrices, and matrix factorization. Explores a variety of applications, such as event classification, audio alignment, chord recognition, structural analysis, tempo and beat tracking, content-based audio retrieval, and audio decomposition.

(Same subject as 6.3020. Meets with 21M.587: Graduate Level)
Prereq: 6.3000 and 21M.051
Units: 3-0-9
HASS-A
http://musictech.mit.edu/fmp

Analyzes recorded music in digital audio form using advanced signal processing and optimization techniques to understand higher-level musical meaning. Covers fundamental tools like windowing, feature extraction, discrete and short-time Fourier transforms, chromagrams, and onset detection. Addresses analysis methods including dynamic time warping, dynamic programming, self-similarity matrices, and matrix factorization. Explores a variety of applications, such as event classification, audio alignment, chord recognition, structural analysis, tempo and beat tracking, content-based audio retrieval, and audio decomposition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Study of chamber music literature through analysis, rehearsal, and performance. Weekly seminars and coaching. Open to string, piano, brass, woodwind players, and singers. Admission by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2

Rehearsals and performance of primarily large-scale works for chorus, soloists, and orchestra--from the Passions and Masses of J. S. Bach to oratorios of our own time. Open to graduate and undergraduate students by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Rehearsals and performance of primarily large-scale works for chorus, soloists, and orchestra--from the Passions and Masses of J. S. Bach to oratorios of our own time. Open to graduate and undergraduate students by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Rehearsals and performance of primarily large-scale works for chorus, soloists, and orchestra--from the Passions and Masses of J. S. Bach to oratorios of our own time. Open to graduate and undergraduate students by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-3 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Rehearsal and performance of choral repertoire for small chorus, involving literature from the Renaissance to contemporary periods. Limited to 32 by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-3 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Rehearsal and performance of choral repertoire for small chorus, involving literature from the Renaissance to contemporary periods. Limited to 32 by audition.

(Subject meets with 21M.515) 
Prereq: None. Coreq: Participation in ensemble for vocalists 
Units: 3-0-3

For the singer and/or pianist interested in collaborative study of solo vocal performance. Historical study of the repertoire includes listening assignments of representative French, German, Italian, and English works as sung by noted vocal artists of the genre. Topics include diction as facilitated by the study of the International Phonetic Alphabet; performance and audition techniques; and study of body awareness and alignment through the Alexander Technique and yoga. Admission by audition; Emerson Vocal Scholars contact department.

(Subject meets with 21M.515) 
Prereq: None. Coreq: Participation in ensemble for vocalists 
Units: 3-0-3 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

For the singer and/or pianist interested in collaborative study of solo vocal performance. Historical study of the repertoire includes listening assignments of representative French, German, Italian, and English works as sung by noted vocal artists of the genre. Topics include diction as facilitated by the study of the International Phonetic Alphabet; performance and audition techniques; and study of body awareness and alignment through the Alexander Technique and yoga. Admission by audition; Emerson Vocal Scholars contact department.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2

Rehearsals prepare works for concerts and recordings. Analyses of musical style, structure, and performance practice are integrated into rehearsals as a means of enriching musical conception and the approach to performance. Likewise, additional scores of particular structural or stylistic interest are read whenever time permits. Admission by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Rehearsals prepare works for concerts and recordings. Analyses of musical style, structure, and performance practice are integrated into rehearsals as a means of enriching musical conception and the approach to performance. Likewise, additional scores of particular structural or stylistic interest are read whenever time permits. Admission by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Rehearsals prepare works for concerts and recordings. Analyses of musical style, structure, and performance practice are integrated into rehearsals as a means of enriching musical conception and the approach to performance. Likewise, additional scores of particular structural or stylistic interest are read whenever time permits. Admission by audition.

Prereq: 21M.302 or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-3

Introduces ensemble conducting as a technical and artistic discipline. Incorporates ear training, score-reading skills and analysis, rehearsal technique, and studies of various philosophies. Attendance of rehearsals and specific concerts required. Opportunities include conducting students, professional musicians, and MIT Symphony Orchestra (when possible). Instrumental proficiency required, although vocalists with keyboard abilities will be accepted. May be repeated once for credit with permission of instructor.

(Subject meets with 21M.515) 
Prereq: None. Coreq: Participation in ensemble for vocalists 
Units: 3-0-3 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

For the singer and/or pianist interested in collaborative study of solo vocal performance. Historical study of the repertoire includes listening assignments of representative French, German, Italian, and English works as sung by noted vocal artists of the genre. Topics include diction as facilitated by the study of the International Phonetic Alphabet; performance and audition techniques; and study of body awareness and alignment through the Alexander Technique and yoga. Admission by audition; Emerson Vocal Scholars contact department.

Prereq: 21M.302 or Permission from Instructor
Units: 3-0-3
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Introduces ensemble conducting as a technical and artistic discipline. Incorporates ear training, score-reading skills and analysis, rehearsal technique, and studies of various philosophies. Attendance of rehearsals and specific concerts required. Opportunities include conducting students, professional musicians, and MIT Symphony Orchestra (when possible). Instrumental proficiency required, although vocalists with keyboard abilities will be accepted. May be repeated once for credit with permission of instructor.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2 
URL: http://web.mit.edu/~mitwe/www/

Designed for advanced instrumentalists who are committed to the analysis, performance, and recording of woodwind, brass, and percussion literature from the Renaissance through the 21st century. The repertoire consists primarily of music for small and large wind ensembles. May include ensemble music from Gabrieli to Grainger, Schuller, Mozart, Dvorak, and various mixed media including strings. Performance of newly commissioned works. Opportunities for solo work and work with recognized professional artists and composers. Admission by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Designed for advanced instrumentalists who are committed to the analysis, performance, and recording of woodwind, brass, and percussion literature from the Renaissance through the 21st century. The repertoire consists primarily of music for small and large wind ensembles. May include ensemble music from Gabrieli to Grainger, Schuller, Mozart, Dvorak, and various mixed media including strings. Performance of newly commissioned works. Opportunities for solo work and work with recognized professional artists and composers. Admission by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2

Designed for instrumentalists dedicated to the analysis, performance, and recording of traditional and contemporary jazz ensemble compositions. Instrumentation includes saxophones, trumpets, trombones, piano, guitar or vibraphone, bass, percussion and occasionally french horn, double reeds, and strings. Provides opportunities to work with professional jazz artists and perform commissioned works by recognized jazz composers. Experience in improvisation preferred but not required. Admission by audition.

Pre-req: Admission by Audition

0-4-2

The MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble is an audition-based group of up to 16 singers. Students will have the opportunity to sing both with the ensemble and as a soloist at one of two or more performances each semester. MIT VJE performs both traditional and contemporary vocal jazz music, including student compositions and arrangements. The group is also invited to learn from exciting visiting jazz artists each year. Exploring improvisation, history, and style, the vocal jazz ensemble is a vital part of the MIT jazz community. 

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Study of chamber music literature through analysis, rehearsal, and performance. Weekly seminars and coaching. Open to string, piano, brass, woodwind players, and singers. Admission by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-4-2 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Study of chamber music literature through analysis, rehearsal, and performance. Weekly seminars and coaching. Open to string, piano, brass, woodwind players, and singers. Admission by audition.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 0-3-3

A performing ensemble dedicated to the traditional music of Bali. Members of the ensemble study structures and techniques used on various Balinese gamelan instruments and learn to perform gamelan pieces. No previous experience required. Limited to 25 by audition. Students must attend both the Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon classtimes. 

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 0-3-3 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

A performing ensemble dedicated to the traditional music of Bali. Members of the ensemble study structures and techniques used on various Balinese gamelan instruments and learn to perform gamelan pieces. No previous experience required. Limited to 25 by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units arranged

Open by audition to pianists who wish to explore and develop their talents as accompanists. Pianists are paired with a music scholarship recipient and attend that student's private lesson each week. Accompanists prepare independently, rehearse with the student partner, and provide accompaniment at a juried recital or masterclass each term. Under supervision for music faculty and private lesson instructors, pianists may work with one or two scholarship students each term at 3 units each or one student in 21M.480/21M.512 for 6 units. Subject satisfies the performance requirement for pianists receiving music scholarships.

Prereq: None 
Units arranged 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Open by audition to pianists who wish to explore and develop their talents as accompanists. Pianists are paired with a music scholarship recipient and attend that student's private lesson each week. Accompanists prepare independently, rehearse with the student partner, and provide accompaniment at a juried recital or masterclass each term. Under supervision for music faculty and private lesson instructors, pianists may work with one or two scholarship students each term at 3 units each or one student in 21M.480/21M.512 for 6 units. Subject satisfies the performance requirement for pianists receiving music scholarships.

(Meets with 21M.514: Graduate Level)
Prereq: None 
Units arranged 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Open by audition to pianists, instrumentalists and singers who wish to explore and develop their talents as collaborative musicians. Students are paired based on availability and receive weekly coachings by appointment. Students practice independently, rehearse with their collaborator, attend their collaborator's lessons as needed, and perform at a juried recital at the end of the term. Students may register for 3 units for a smaller-scale assignment or 6 units for a larger-scale assignment or two small assignments. May satisfy the ensemble requirement for pianists and instrumentalists in the Emerson/Harris program at the discretion of the instructor. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-3-3

A performance ensemble focusing on the sabar drumming tradition of Senegal, West Africa. Study and rehearse Senegalese drumming techniques and spoken word. Perform in conjunction with MIT Rambax drumming group. No previous experience necessary, but prior enrollment in 21M.030 or 21M.293 strongly recommended. Limited to 30 by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-3-3 
This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

3 hrs/wk synchronous rehearsal

A performance ensemble focusing on the sabar drumming tradition of Senegal, West Africa. Study and rehearse Senegalese drumming techniques and spoken word. Perform in conjunction with MIT Rambax drumming group. No previous experience necessary, but prior enrollment in 21M.030 or 21M.293 strongly recommended. Limited to 30 by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-3-3 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

The MIT Laptop Ensemble is a forum for the exploration of emerging digital musical practices, giving ensemble members hands-on experience with compositional and performance strategies based on current research. Concerts by the ensemble include repertoire drawn both from historical electronic and computer music compositions, as well as new compositions by invited composers. Also includes opportunities for ensemble members to compose for and conduct the ensemble. Weekly rehearsals focus on concepts drawn from a variety of 20th- and 21st-century practices, including experimental and improvised music, telematic performance, gestural controllers, multimedia performance, live coding, and interactive music systems. No previous experience required. Admission by audition.

Prereq: None 
Units: 0-3-3 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

The MIT Laptop Ensemble is a forum for the exploration of emerging digital musical practices, giving ensemble members hands-on experience with compositional and performance strategies based on current research. Concerts by the ensemble include repertoire drawn both from historical electronic and computer music compositions, as well as new compositions by invited composers. Also includes opportunities for ensemble members to compose for and conduct the ensemble. Weekly rehearsals focus on concepts drawn from a variety of 20th- and 21st-century practices, including experimental and improvised music, telematic performance, gestural controllers, multimedia performance, live coding, and interactive music systems. No previous experience required. Admission by audition.

(Subject meets with 21M.511) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-3 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, participate in a departmental performing group, and participate in a group recital at the end of each term. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition for Emerson/Harris Program.

(Subject meets with 21M.511) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-3 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, participate in a departmental performing group, and participate in a group recital at the end of each term. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition for Emerson/Harris Program.

(Subject meets with 21M.512) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-3

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, and participate in a departmental performing group. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition

(Subject meets with 21M.512) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-6
HASS-A

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, and participate in a departmental performing group. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition.

(Subject meets with 21M.525) 
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 1-0-5 

This class can be combined with another 6-unit Music & Theater Arts samplings or performance ensemble for HASS credit.

Solo 50-minute recital prepared with a private teacher and approved by the Emerson Private Studies Committee based on evidence of readiness shown in the Fall Term performances. See Emerson Scholars Stellar site for application deadlines and conditions. Restricted to Emerson Scholars.

(Subject meets with 21M.525) 
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 1-2-6
HASS-A

Solo 50-minute recital prepared with a private teacher and approved by the Emerson Private Studies Committee based on evidence of readiness shown in the Fall Term performances. See Music and Theater Arts website for application deadlines and conditions. Restricted to Emerson Scholars.

(Subject meets with 21M.512) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-3 

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, and participate in a departmental performing group. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition.

(Subject meets with 21M.525) 
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 1-0-5

Solo 50-minute recital prepared with a private teacher and approved by the Emerson Private Studies Committee based on evidence of readiness shown in the Fall Term performances. See Emerson Scholars Stellar site for application deadlines and conditions. Restricted to Emerson Scholars.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9, HASS-A

Seminar that develops analytic and research skills in music history/culture or theory/composition. Topics vary, but are organized around a particular methodology, musical topic, or collection of works, that allow for application to a variety of interests and genres. Strong emphasis on student presentations, discussion, and a substantial writing project. May be repeated for credit with permission from instructor.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 
HASS-A, CI-M

Seminar that develops analytic and research skills in music history/culture or theory/composition. Topics vary, but are organized around a particular methodology, musical topic, or collection of works, that allow for application to a variety of interests and genres. Strong emphasis on student presentations, discussion, and a substantial writing project. May be repeated for credit with permission from instructor.

Spring 2018 Topic: Music Institutions

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9
HASS-A, CI-M

Seminar that develops analytic and research skills in music history/culture or theory/composition. Topics vary, but are organized around a particular methodology, musical topic, or collection of works, that allow for application to a variety of interests and genres. Strong emphasis on student presentations, discussion, and a substantial writing project. May be repeated for credit with permission from instructor.

Spring 2021 Topic: Analyzing Popular Music

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9
HASS-A, CI-M

Seminar that develops analytic and research skills in music history/culture or theory/composition. Topics vary, but are organized around a particular methodology, musical topic, or collection of works, that allow for application to a variety of interests and genres. Strong emphasis on student presentations, discussion, and a substantial writing project. May be repeated for credit with permission from instructor.

Fall 2021 Topic: History of Music Theory

This year the topic will be the history of music theory. The seminar will ask questions such as: why has music theory developed in the West the way it has?  how was music conceptualized in the distant past and how has it transformed recently and how is it still changing today? how does the concept of music theory differ from the West and other parts of the world? what challenges do music compositions today and our changing relationships to music of the past hold for traditional music theory? why do we teach music theory? is it still valuable, universal, or apply across repertories?

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9
HASS-A, CI-M

Seminar that develops analytic and research skills in music history/culture or theory/composition. Topics vary, but are organized around a particular methodology, musical topic, or collection of works, that allow for application to a variety of interests and genres. Strong emphasis on student presentations, discussion, and a substantial writing project. May be repeated for credit with permission from instructor.

Fall 2022 description:

This class is designed for majors as a cap to your musical studies at MIT. You are at an advanced stage of your undergraduate career, and you share musical experiences and background with your classmates in the seminar. This seminar will afford you an opportunity to examine a few selected works in depth, one each from the the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary periods, and to explore your ideas through class discussion and intensive independent study. Your time and attention will be divided between the topics that we will examine together in class and your own research project on a subject of your choice.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9
HASS-A, CI-M

Seminar that develops analytic and research skills in music history/culture or theory/composition. Topics vary, but are organized around a particular methodology, musical topic, or collection of works, that allow for application to a variety of interests and genres. Strong emphasis on student presentations, discussion, and a substantial writing project. May be repeated for credit with permission from instructor.

Fall 2023 description:

The broad framing of “music and power” will allow us to explore the emotional, political, and social impact music has on people and understand how power dynamics shape music’s creation and reception. Weekly topics will include music’s power to “move us,” the importance of music in shaping personal and group identity, models of musical influence, the hegemonic construction of musical value, music’s role in social change, the architecture of music institutions, the relationship of music and the state (including both censorship and patronage), recent debates concerning the abuse of power and “cancel culture” (conceived as the power of the audience) and more. We will read about and discuss examples from a range of different historical periods, genres, and contemporary contexts. Invited guests will speak about recent research and conduct Q+A. Over the course of the semester, students will develop a scaffolded research project of their choice, resulting in a formal presentation and research paper.

Prereq: Permission of instructor
3-0-9 units. HASS-A
Can be repeated for credit.

Borrowings, Adaptations, and Arrangements

In this seminar, we will explore ways in which musical influences are manifested across history and cultures through borrowings, adaptations, and arrangements. Topics will range from the adaptation of spaces as concert venues to composers borrowing their own earlier compositions and/or arranging the work of another musician. An underlying theme throughout the class will be the implications of borrowings, adaptations, and arrangements as related to time and place.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.351)
Prereq: 21M.304, 21M.310, or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9

Directed composition of original writing involving voices and/or instruments. Includes a weekly seminar in composition for the presentation and discussion of work in progress. Students are expected to produce at least one substantive work and perform it in public by the end of the term. Contemporary compositions and major works from 20th-century music literature are studied. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.351) 
Prereq: 21M.304, 21M.310, or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 

Directed composition of original writing involving voices and/or instruments. Includes a weekly seminar in composition for the presentation and discussion of work in progress. Students are expected to produce at least one substantive work and perform it in public by the end of the term. Contemporary compositions and major works from 20th-century music literature are studied. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.351) 
Prereq: 21M.304, 21M.310, or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 

Directed composition of original writing involving voices and/or instruments. Includes a weekly seminar in composition for the presentation and discussion of work in progress. Students are expected to produce at least one substantive work and perform it in public by the end of the term. Contemporary compositions and major works from 20th-century music literature are studied. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.351) 
Prereq: 21M.304, 21M.310, or permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9 

Directed composition of original writing involving voices and/or instruments. Includes a weekly seminar in composition for the presentation and discussion of work in progress. Students are expected to produce at least one substantive work and perform it in public by the end of the term. Contemporary compositions and major works from 20th-century music literature are studied. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments.

3-0-9 units, HASS-A

 Students study concepts and practice techniques of improvisation in solo and ensemble contexts. Centered on the jazz tradition, examines relationships between improvisation, composition, and performance, utilizing both mainstream and experimental approaches. Students are expected to perform in class on a regular basis. Involves extensive listening and analysis. Music reading skills are required, as is intermediate instrumental or vocal proficiency. Enrollment limited to 15; open by audition to instrumental or vocal performers.

3-0-3 units

 For the singer and/or pianist interested in collaborative study of solo vocal performance. Historical study of the repertoire includes listening assignments of representative French, German, Italian, and English works as sung by noted vocal artists of the genre. Topics include diction as facilitated by the study of the International Phonetic Alphabet; performance and audition techniques; and study of body awareness and alignment through the Alexander Technique and yoga. Admission by audition; Emerson Vocal Scholars contact department.

(Subject meets with 21M.475) 
Graduate version
Prereq: None
Units: 1-2-3

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, participate in a departmental performing group, and present a 50-minute solo recital at the end of the Spring term. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition for Emerson/Harris Program.

(Subject meets with 21M.475) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-3 

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, participate in a departmental performing group, and participate in a group recital at the end of each term. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition for Emerson/Harris Program.

Graduate version
Prereq: None
Units: 1-2-3

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, participate in a departmental performing group, and participate in a group recital at the end of each term. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition for Emerson/Harris Program.

1-2-3 units

 Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, participate in a departmental performing group, and participate in a group recital at the end of each term. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition for Emerson/Harris Program.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.480) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-3

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, and participate in a departmental performing group. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.480) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-3 

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, and participate in a departmental performing group. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.480) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-3

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.480) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-3

Synchronous instruction hours arranged

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, and participate in a departmental performing group. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9
HASS-A, CI-M

Seminar that develops analytic and research skills in music history/culture or theory/composition. Topics vary, but are organized around a particular methodology, musical topic, or collection of works, that allow for application to a variety of interests and genres. Strong emphasis on student presentations, discussion, and a substantial writing project. May be repeated for credit with permission from instructor.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-0-9
HASS-A, CI-M

Seminar that develops analytic and research skills in music history/culture or theory/composition. Topics vary, but are organized around a particular methodology, musical topic, or collection of works, that allow for application to a variety of interests and genres. Strong emphasis on student presentations, discussion, and a substantial writing project. May be repeated for credit with permission from instructor.

(Subject meets with 21M.480) 
Graduate Version
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-6

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, and participate in a departmental performing group, and present a 50-minute solo recital at the end of the Spring term. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition for the Emerson/Harris Program.

Graduate Version
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-6

Designed for students who demonstrate considerable technical and musical skills and who wish to develop them through intensive private study. Students must take a weekly lesson, attend a regular performance seminar, and participate in a departmental performing group, and present a 50-minute solo recital at the end of the Spring term. Full-year commitment required. Information about lesson fees, scholarships, and auditions available in Music Section Office. Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition for the Emerson/Harris Program.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.410)
Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-3

For the singer and/or pianist interested in collaborative study of solo vocal performance. Historical study of the repertoire includes listening assignments of representative French, German, Italian, and English works as sung by noted vocal artists of the genre. Topics include diction as facilitated by the study of the International Phonetic Alphabet; performance and audition techniques; and study of body awareness and alignment through the Alexander Technique and yoga. Admission by audition. Emerson Vocal Scholars contact department.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.410) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-3 

For the singer and/or pianist interested in collaborative study of solo vocal performance. Historical study of the repertoire includes listening assignments of representative French, German, Italian, and English works as sung by noted vocal artists of the genre. Topics include diction as facilitated by the study of the International Phonetic Alphabet; performance and audition techniques; and study of body awareness and alignment through the Alexander Technique and yoga. Admission by audition. Emerson Vocal Scholars contact department.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.410) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 3-0-3 

For the singer and/or pianist interested in collaborative study of solo vocal performance. Historical study of the repertoire includes listening assignments of representative French, German, Italian, and English works as sung by noted vocal artists of the genre. Topics include diction as facilitated by the study of the International Phonetic Alphabet; performance and audition techniques; and study of body awareness and alignment through the Alexander Technique and yoga. Emerson Vocal Scholars contact department.

(Subject meets with 21M.423) 
Graduate version
Prereq: None. Coreq: Participation in ensemble for vocalists 
Units: 3-0-3

For the singer and/or pianist interested in collaborative study of solo vocal performance. Historical study of the repertoire includes listening assignments of representative French, German, Italian, and English works as sung by noted vocal artists of the genre. Topics include diction as facilitated by the study of the International Phonetic Alphabet; performance and audition techniques; and study of body awareness and alignment through the Alexander Technique and yoga. Admission by audition; Emerson Vocal Scholars contact department.

3-0-3 units

 The MIT Laptop Ensemble is a forum for the exploration of emerging digital musical practices, giving ensemble members hands-on experience with compositional and performance strategies based on current research. Concerts by the ensemble include repertoire drawn both from historical electronic and computer music compositions, as well as new compositions by invited composers. Also includes opportunities for ensemble members to compose for and conduct the ensemble. Weekly rehearsals focus on concepts drawn from a variety of 20th- and 21st-century practices, including experimental and improvised music, telematic performance, gestural controllers, multimedia performance, live coding, and interactive music systems. No previous experience required. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Admission by audition.

Graduate Level
(Subject meets with 21M.490) 
Prereq: None 
Units: 1-2-3 

Emerson Scholars may receive credit for a solo spring recital that has been prepared with and approved by the private teacher and the Emerson Private Studies Committee. Approval based on evidence of readiness shown in first term master classes. Restricted to Emerson Scholars.

(Subject meets with 21M.490) 
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 1-2-6

Solo 50-minute recital prepared with a private teacher and approved by the Emerson Private Studies Committee based on evidence of readiness shown in the Fall Term performances. See Music and Theater Arts website for application deadlines and conditions. Restricted to Emerson Scholars.

1-2-6 units

 Solo 50-minute recital prepared with a private teacher and approved by the Emerson Private Studies Committee based on evidence of readiness shown in the Fall Term performances. See Music and Theater Arts website for application deadlines and conditions. Restricted to Emerson Scholars.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units arranged

Open to qualified students who wish to pursue independent studies or projects with members of the Music Section. Projects require prior approval by the Music and Theater Arts Chair.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units arranged [P/D/F]

Open to qualified students who wish to pursue independent studies or projects with members of the Music Section. Projects require prior approval by the Music and Theater Arts Chair.

3-0-9 units

Seminar that develops skills needed to explore a broad range of musical questions through a diversity of music systems and cultures, research tools and approaches, and scholarly viewpoints. Engaging the ambiguity, uncertainty, and unsolved (or even unsolvable) questions in music research, students learn to think humanistically and critically about their own priorities, assumptions, and understandings of musical knowledge while gaining the tools to ask new questions and conduct independent research. Strong emphasis on discussion, interdisciplinary thinking, and practical applications of research skills. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Enrollment limited.

3-0-9 units, HASS-A

 Project-oriented class, beginning with a series of guided micro-compositions and culminating in a final composition which is rehearsed, workshopped, and performed. Assignments focus on specific musical parameters (melody and mode, rhythm and meter, form and structure), composing for film and video games, creating beats and grooves, and using microphones and digital audio workstations to create sound sculptures. Listening and discussion assignments present music from a wide range of genres and styles. Students create several complete pieces, sharpen their notation and musicianship skills, and learn the basics of sequencing, recording, and audio editing. Familiarity with western music notation is strongly encouraged; previous compositional and/or arranging experience is welcome but not required. Enrollment limited.

2-1-9 units, HASS-A

 Students develop basic skills in composition through weekly assignments focusing on sampling and audio processing. Source materials include samples of urban/natural environments, electronically generated sounds, inherent studio/recording noise, and pre-existing recordings. Audio processing includes digital signal processing (DSP) and analog devices. Covers compositional techniques, including mixing, algorithms, studio improvisation, and interaction. Students critique each other's work and give informal presentations on recordings drawn from sound art, experimental electronica, conventional and non-conventional classical electronic works, and popular music. Covers technology, math, and acoustics in varying detail. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Limited to 15 per section; ; preference to Music Technology graduate students, Music majors, minors, and concentrators.

3-0-9 units, HASS-A

Explores various technologies in relation to musical analysis, composition, performance, culture, and quantitative methods. Topics vary each term and may include development and impact on society, generative and algorithmic music, recording techniques or procedural sound design. May involve hands-on components such as laptop music ensemble, new instrument building, or comparing the theory and practice of audio recording. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Limited to 16.

3-6-3 units, HASS-A

 Covers aesthetic and technical challenges in the creation of physical interfaces for musical performance. will engage in the design and creation of musical interfaces, and learn how to incorporate new technologies in their artistic practice. Topics covered include user experience design for artistic performance, musical human-computer interaction (HCI), hardware and software standards for digital musical systems, embedded programming and sound synthesis, analog and digital sensors, rapid prototyping and digital manufacturing, and creating performance practices around custom hardware. Students design and build their own digital musical instrument, and present a performance with the instrument as their final project. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Limited to 18.

Graduate Level
(Same subject as MAS.825[J]) 
Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 3-3-3 

In-depth exploration of contemporary concepts in music and media. Studies recent music that uses advanced technology, and the artistic motivations and concerns implied by the new media. Practical experience with computer music technology, including MIDI and post-MIDI systems. Special emphasis on the interactive systems for professionals as well as amateurs. Midterm paper and term project required.

Graduate Level
(Same subject as MAS.826[J]) 
Prereq: MAS.825J
Units: 3-3-6 

Current computer music concepts and practice. Project-based work on research or production projects using the Media Lab's computer music, interactive, and media resources. Requires significant studio work and a term project. Projects based on class interests and skills, and may be individually or group-based. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor.

Fundamentals of signal processing, focusing on the use of Fourier methods to analyze and process signals such as sounds and images. Topics include Fourier series, Fourier transforms, the Discrete Fourier Transform, sampling, convolution, deconvolution, filtering, noise reduction, and compression. Applications draw broadly from areas of contemporary interest with emphasis on both analysis and design. Meets concurrently with 6.3000. Students complete additional assignments with an emphasis on audio and musical applications. Limited enrollment. Priority given to Music and Theater Arts students. Students in Course 6 must register for the undergraduate version, 6.3000.

Prereq: 6.1010 and (21M.051, 21M.150, or 21M.151)                           

3-0-9 units, HASS-A

 Explores audio synthesis, musical structure, human computer interaction (HCI), and visual presentation for the creation of interactive musical experiences. Topics include audio synthesis; mixing and looping; MIDI sequencing; generative composition; motion sensors; music games; and graphics for UI, visualization, and aesthetics. Includes weekly programming assignments in python. Teams build an original, dynamic, and engaging interactive music system for their final project. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments. Limited to 36.

Units: 3

An axiom is defined as an established rule or principle; a self-evident truth. It also stems from the word axios which means “worthy.”There are musical works which don’t quite fit into the context of a typical large-ensemble concert nor chamber music concert but are most certainly worthy works of art. AXIOM, MIT’s newest ensemble, will explore such musical works. This auditioned group will meet twice a week over the course of a quarter and culminate in a public performance. In the first quarter, the ensemble will present the complete Appalachian Spring of Aaron Copland in its original instrumentation. For audition requirements and other information, please email Dr. Adam Boyles.

This spring, AXIOM will examine the sound world of the nonet by studying and performing the Nonet in F major of Louis Spohr (sometimes called the “Grand Nonet”), and the Nonet in Eb major of Louise Farrenc. The instrumentation required for both is the same: Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, French horn, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Bass

Auditions for the Spohr will be February 4, 2025 at 3:35pm in W18-4311. Please prepare a solo of your choice no longer than one minute. After that, there will be sight reading.

Please email Dr. Boyles (akboyles@mit.edu) for further information.

Units: 3

An axiom is defined as an established rule or principle; a self-evident truth. It also stems from the word axios which means “worthy.”There are musical works which don’t quite fit into the context of a typical large-ensemble concert nor chamber music concert but are most certainly worthy works of art. AXIOM, MIT’s newest ensemble, will explore such musical works. This auditioned group will meet twice a week over the course of a quarter and culminate in a public performance. In the second quarter, the ensemble will present La creation du monde of Darius Milhaud. For audition requirements and other information, please email Dr. Adam Boyles.

Prereq: Permission of instructor 
Units: 1-0-5

Definition of and early-stage work on thesis project leading to 21M.THU Undergraduate Thesis in Music or Theater Arts. Taken during the first term, or during IAP, of the student's two-term commitment to the thesis project. Student works closely with an individual faculty tutor. Limited to Music or Theater Arts Majors.

Prereq: 21M.THT
Units arranged

Completion of work on senior major thesis in Music or Theater Arts under supervision of a faculty tutor. Includes oral presentation of thesis project early in the term, assembling and revising final text and meeting at the close with a committee of Music or Theater Arts faculty evaluators to discuss successes and limitations of the project. Limited to Music or Theater Arts majors.

Units Arranged

Individual participation in an ongoing music research project. For students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Progam.

Open by audition to pianists, instrumentalists and singers who wish to explore and develop their talents as collaborative musicians. Students are paired based on availability and receive weekly coachings by appointment. Students practice independently, rehearse with their collaborator, attend their collaborator's lessons as needed, and perform at a juried recital at the end of the term. Students may register for 3 units for a smaller-scale assignment or 6 units for a larger-scale assignment or two small assignments. May satisfy the ensemble requirement for pianists and instrumentalists in the Emerson/Harris program at the discretion of the instructor. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments.