Music 105 - Jazz Appreciation
Jim Scully, Instructor
Jim Scully
Office: MUS 107
Phone: 654.2511
Cell: 330.9304
Email: jscully@csub.edu
Important Dates and Events
October 15 – Furlough Day #1
October 20 – MIDTERM EXAM
October 22 – LBWA #1 DUE
November 10 – Furlough Day #2
November 19 – LBWA #2 DUE
November 24 – YouTube Playlist DUE
November 24 – Final Exam
Days and Times: T and TR from 12:20 to 2:40 PM in Music Building, room 112
CSU Employee Furloughs – Impact on Classes: This year across this campus and around the CSU system some class days will be cancelled because of furloughs. A furlough is mandatory un-paid time off; faculty and staff on each CSU campus are being “furloughed” two days per month. These cancelled class days are October 15 and November 10. It is important to recognize that these days off are not holidays. Instead, they are concrete examples of how massive state budget cuts have consequences for you as students and for me as a faculty member.
Office Hours: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM. I am also available for appointments outside of these times if need be. Contact me by phone or email to request an appointment.
Course Description: Appreciation of Jazz (Music 105) will introduce students to the many musical characteristics, techniques, styles, terms, and methods found in the jazz tradition. This course will focus on the study of African and African-American folk origins through blues, early jazz, the swing era, bebop, cool, avant-garde jazz, jazz-rock fusion and new creative music. In addition to musical issues, we will examine critical issues related to the social and cultural history of African-Americans (Slavery, African Diaspora, the World Wars, the Civil Rights Movement, etc.) and how that history influenced the creation of the music. Ultimately, the class will attempt to align those social and historical issues with the corresponding musical developments within jazz.
Learning Goals: Upon completion of Music 105 students will be able to define important musical elements and techniques such as melody, harmony, rhythm, form, improvisation, swing, call-and-response, etc., and how they are used in the many sub-styles within jazz. Students will be able to identify artists and compare and contrast important compositions from the various historical periods within jazz; identify the impact of the African-American experience on the expressive characteristics of jazz, and trace the evolution of jazz in relation to the important historical events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Textbook Information: Jazz - The First 100 Years, 2nd Edition. Henry Martin and Keith Waters. Schirmer, 2006
Course Audio/Video Media: The instructor has created a set of web sites, organized by jazz style, containing a representative selection of the audio and video clips that will be discussed throughout the course. Students are required to listen to and as necessary download the course audio via these websites.
These pages are password protected, so students should go to the following URL to access the audio/video content: http://www.csub.edu/~jscully/audio/index.html.
I recommend bookmarking this site. You will be provided a username and password in class. Once you are authenticated, follow the link to the Music 105 Audio Page and begin listening/viewing the course media. If your Internet connection is slow (dial-up service) the MP3 files will take a long time to download. I only recommend downloading and listening on-line if you are listening from a campus computer (very fast internet service) or you have DSL or cable modem at home.
Academic Dishonesty: Much can be gained from studying and discussing course material with others, but each student must be responsible for producing her or his own work. Group responses are appropriate only for those assignments designated as group projects. Copying or relying upon another’s work is simply unacceptable, and this obviously includes plagiarism on written assignments. In all cases, University policy regarding academic dishonesty will be enforced.
Weekly Outline and Course Readings
Week 1: Introduction to Music 105 and the Basic Elements of Music & African Roots of Jazz
Reading: Martin/Waters: Chapter 1 (pp. 3-20)
Lecture 1 & Lecture 2
Week 2: Ragtime and the Blues (country and classic); New Orleans and Chicago
Reading: Martin/Waters: Chapters 1, 2 & 3 (pp. 21-85)
The Anatomy of a Jazz Band, The Migration North (to Chicago), Joe “King” Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong
Lecture 3, Lecture 4 & Lecture 5
Week 3: New York in the 1920’s and the Swing Era
Reading: Martin/Waters: Chapters 4, 5 & 6 (pp. 87-189)
Harlem Stride & Art Tatum and Influential Big Bands (Basie, Goodman, Ellington)
Lecture 6 & Lecture 7
Week 4: Bebop, Vocalists and Vocalese
Reading: Martin/Waters: Chapter 7 (pp. 191-221, 241-245)
Creators of a style: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk
Lecture 8 & Lecture 9
Week 5: The 1950’s – Substyles
Reading: Martin/Waters: Chapter 8 (pp. 223-265)
Reactions to Bebop: Cool Jazz (Davis/Evans), Third-Stream (Brubeck & MJQ), Hard Bop (Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and Mingus), Funky/Soul Jazz (Horace Silver), Modal Jazz, Bossa Nova, etc
Lecture 10
Week 6: The 1950's - Substyles (continued) and MIDTERM
Week 7: The 1960’s Avant-Garde
Reading: Martin/Waters: Chapter 9 (pp. 267-299)
Opening up the music: Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor
Lecture 11
Week 8: The 1960’s Mainstream Jazz
Reading: Martin/Waters: Chapter 10 (pp. 301-322)
Further Development of Traditional Styles: Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Cannonball Adderley, Wes Montgomery and Lee Morgan
Week 9: The 1970’s Jazz-Rock Fusion
Reading: Martin/Waters: Chapter 11 (pp. 325-355)
Electrifying the Music: Miles Davis, Chick Corea and Return to Forever, Weather Report, Mahivishnu Orchestra and Pat Metheny
Week 10: The 1980’s and Beyond - Current Trends
Reading: Martin/Waters: Chapter 12 (pp. 357-390)
Contemporary artists: Wynton Marsalis, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Joshua Redman, Michael Brecker, Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel
Course grading scale:
Listening Based Writing Assignments - 10% each (2 total) - 20%
Concert Attendance Questionnaires – 5% each (3 total) – 15%
YouTube Video Playlist Project - 15%
Midterm - 25%
Final – 25%
Listening Based Writing Assignments: Students are required to write two short papers based on the material from the course Audio/Video and the textbook. Each paper will delve into one artist of the many that we study throughout the quarter. The student is expected to 1) write a minimum of two type-written pages, 2) use compositions to back up your thoughts/conclusions and 3) provide some original thoughts in your paper. Take a stand and formulate an opinion.
These are not historical research papers, though some minimal research should be done. These are basically position papers about an artist that we have covered and your thoughts and observations about that person, their music and their contributions to the music we have studied. The goal of the listening based writing assignments is twofold: First, this assignment will force the student to grapple with, describe and discuss the music being presented in the course on a regular basis. Secondly, the assignments will afford the instructor many opportunities to assist the student as he/she works to improve their writing skills.
It is expected that students will listen to a wide array of music from the artist they choose to write about. Explore the materials that I have provided, but also explore YouTube for examples we haven’t discussed. It is important that you listen to a lot of music before you begin writing this paper.
LBWA #1 should be written on Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk or Benny Goodman and is due on October 22, 2009.
LBWA #2 will be on Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Chick Corea or Pat Metheny and is due on November 19, 2009.
The two listening based writing assignments are each worth 10% of the final grade - for a total of 20% of the final grade.
You Tube Video Playlist Project: Students are required to create a video playlist of at least 12 videos on YouTube. Students are required to create a YouTube account and compile these videos based on their favorite genre/composer-performers from the course and their favorite non-jazz music. Students will email the URL for their playlist to the instructor with a one to two page document that provides individual annotations for each video.
Of course, the videos in the students’ playlist may not be contained in the video playlists created by the instructor. At least 75% of the videos MUST be "jazz" videos. The other 25% can be at the discretion of the student.
The YouTube Video Playlist is worth 15% of the students’ final grade and due on November 24 – the day of the Final Exam.
Concert Attendance/Concert Report: Students are required to attend three (3) live jazz concerts during the quarter. The instructor has provided a list of approved concerts in Bakersfield and students are always welcome to travel to jazz clubs in Los Angeles to attend a concert. Please consult with the instructor if you choose this option. Some clubs are better than others…
The student will fill out the concert attendance questionnaire for each event and turn it in within 2 class-meetings of the event. Each questionnaire is worth 5% of the final grade.
The Midterm Exam will consist of multiple choice and short answer/identification questions. Additionally, there will be at least one extended essay covering a major musical, historical or cultural development in jazz. Approximately 50% of the midterm exam will deal with identification of specific music from the course audio pages. Students are required to bring a BLUE BOOK and SCANTRON (Blue Form - # 30423) for the exam. The Midterm is worth 25% of the quarter grade and is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20 during class time.
The Final Exam will consist of multiple choice and short answer/identification questions. Additionally, there will be at least one extended essay covering a major musical, historical or cultural development in jazz. Approximately 50% of the final exam will deal with identification of specific music from the course audio pages. Students are required to bring a BLUE BOOK and SCANTRON (Blue Form - # 30423) for the exam. The Final Exam is worth 25% of the students’ final grade and is scheduled for: Tuesday, November 24 @ 2 PM.
Syllabus Subject to Change