Undergraduate Course: Thinking about Music (MUSI08075)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course introduces students to critical and scholarly thinking on music, broadly defined, and equips them with the basic scholastic skills needed for subsequent elements of the curriculum. A key component of the course is challenging the idea that there is any one way to think about or "do" music, by introducing students to a broad spectrum of musical practices and repertoires, and by teaching them to recognise the presence and impact of various value systems in musical discourse. The course also introduces students to a range of music research topics, approaches and debates, and in this way underlines what is specific about the academic study of music. Key issues in contemporary and historical thought on music will be covered, including historiography, gender and sexuality, race and post-colonialism, migration and mobility. The course provides a critical grounding for BMus students upon which second year history and analysis courses build, as well as functioning as a stand-alone elective that will encourage and support cross-disciplinary thinking and exchange with students from other subject areas. |
| Course description |
Delivered via a weekly 2-hour workshop and accompanying tutorial, this course aims to provide students with academic reading, research, and writing skills, and to introduce them to a range of contemporary issues in music research. The workshop components involve a mix of lecture content and group writing and listening exercises; the tutorials focus on guided reading. The course is divided into three blocks. The first of these equips students with the skills to interrogate the value systems that underpin the reception and production of music. The second block introduces students to a variety of modes of research in music via a series of research dialogues between staff members. The final block comprises of a group research project on a local music history topic, and provides students with the opportunity to consolidate the skills and ideas they have acquired on the course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Available to BMus Music Students only.
Students must have either an A at A level or Advanced Higher in Music, or have passed the course Fundamentals of Music Theory (MUSI 07001), or be able to demonstrate that they have successfully completed the final exam in the CourseEra MOOC Fundamentals of Music Theory. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students must have completed the equivalent of A level or Scottish SQA Advanced Higher in Music (e.g. GCE A Level, AP test, SAT Subject test), at Grade A, or have passed the course Fundamentals of Music Theory (MUSI07001) in Semester 1, or be able to demonstrate that they have successfully completed the final exam in the Coursera MOOC Fundamentals of Music Theory. Prospective students should contact the Course Organiser to assess their suitability for this course if there is any doubt. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 60 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
162 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
40 %,
Coursework
60 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Formative assessment: research project (directed) undertaken during final weeks of the course.
Summative assessment:
1. 500-word written assessment: analysis, normally due in week 6 (weighted 20%) (LOs 2, 4, 5)
2. 500-word written assessment: critical review, normally due in week 9 (weighted 20%) (LOs 1-5)
3. Written assessment: annotated bibliography - 5 items, normally due in week 11 (weighted at 20%) (LOs 1, 3, 4, 5)
4. 2-hour examination (weighted at 40%) in May diet (LOs 1-5)
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| Feedback |
As part of the research project, each group will report back to the wider class (during the workshop in week 11) - selecting a mode of communication that befits findings. Groups will receive verbal feedback during this workshop, which supports preparation for the exam, which focuses on sources. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Identify appropriate sources for researching topics in music.
- Demonstrate an awareness of different approaches to music research.
- Analyse critically a range of sources.
- Evaluate the value systems underpinning the sources.
- Communicate ideas clearly in appropriate formats.
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Reading List
David Beard and Ken Gloag *Musicology: The Key Concepts*. London: Routledge, 2016 (2nd edition).
Michael Clayton, Trevor Herbert, and Richard Middleton (eds). *The cultural study of music: a critical introduction*. London: Routledge, 2012.
Mathew Gelbart *The invention of art music and folk music: Emerging categories from Ossian to Wagner*. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007.
J. P. Harper-Scott and Jim Samson (eds) *An Introduction to Music Studies*. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2009.
Ellen Koskoff *A feminist ethomusicology: writings on music and gender*. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2014 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Generic cognitive skills (e.g. evaluation, critical analysis);
Communication, numeracy and IT skills; and
Autonomy, accountability and working with others.
SCQF attributes 3, 4 and 5 |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Weekly 2 hour workshop (all students) and 1 hour tutorial (small groups). |
| Keywords | critical,music,listening,value,historiography,gender,race,migration,mobility |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Morag Grant
Tel:
Email: mgrant33@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Laura Varga
Tel: (0131 6)50 2430
Email: laura.varga@ed.ac.uk |
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