Students will learn to analyze popular music by considering cultures of listening, technological innovations, and social structures attached to musical genres and communities. With an emphasis on understanding the way that music and its technologies are used to create meaning, students will examine global practices of hearing and listening to music and visual media (i.e. cinema, television) while also considering the history and evolution of the technologies that have shaped music and modes of listening over the past 100 years. Students will leave the class understanding how popular music and its technologies reflect and influence social and cultural attitudes surrounding race, class, gender, and sexuality. Through listening, reading, lectures, attending concerts, guest speakers, and hands-on demonstrations, students will explore topics such as: listening, genre, performance, and authenticity; Hollywood film scoring practices and music supervision; and technological innovations in music production and distribution such as digital audio workstations, synthesizers, and MP3s. The course will culminate in a final creative/analytical project that reflects upon the themes that are covered in class. Prior experience in music is not required.
