This course is a general introduction to American popular music. The goal is help you understand the roots and styles of popular music, and also to show how music has developed in relation to society and to the media. We will present topics in a more or less chronological order, beginning with the 19th century and continuing through to the present (or close to it). Experience in music is not a pre-requisite, but you will be expected to develop your ear and your vocabulary for describing music. Your goal should be to develop a basic understanding of musical structure, to relate different types of music to one another, and (most importantly) to relate music to a broader socio-historical context.

You are expected to attend class daily and take careful notes on lectures, films, and presentations by visitors. Class presentations will cover some material that is not on the listening or in the reading, so class notes are your most important resource. Reading assignments are also important, and the weekly load is light (around 50 pages) because listening will also take time.

Listening assignments are a component of this course that many students will be encountering for the first time, so do not underestimate the time necessary, and definitely do not leave it until the last minute! You should plan to listen to each example several times, which means budgeting at least three hours each week for listening. Ideally you should listen to each song before it is discussed in class and again afterwards.

Graded work for the course includes two midterms, a final exam, and a musical autobiography, with weight given to those assignments as follows:

EMP visit      15 pts.
Midterm 1      25 pts.
Midterm 2      25 pts.
Final Exam      35 pts.


Your grade for the quarter will be calculatedaccording to your point total as follows:

90-100      4.0
89            3.9
88            3.8
87            3.7
86            3.6
85            3.5
84            3.4
83            3.3
82            3.2
81            3.1
80            3.0
79            2.9…
.
.
(etc.)
.
.
…..60            1.0
59      0.9
58      0.8
50-57      0.7

Below 50 is zero



Guidelines for the EMP visit are below. Dates for the exams are listed in the schedule. The final will be cumulative.

READING:
American Popular Music:From Minstrelsy to MP3 (2nd edition), by Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman, available at University Book Store

Weekly reading assignments are posted on the “Schedule” page of the course website

LISTENING:
Most of the examples played in class will be streamed on-line by the library. You can access the listening examples by selecting “Course Reserves” on the search page of the UW libraries website and searching for Music 162. You can access the accompanying written notes through the “Listening notes” link on the course website. Many of the required examples are also included on the Starr and Waterman textbook CDs, and a few are only on the Starr and Waterman CDs.

Weekly listening assignments are posted on the “Schedule” page of the course website

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