MUSC 15
Art of Listening
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; outside study, 11 hours. Acquisition of listening skills through direct interaction with live performance, performers, and composers. Relationship of listening to theoretical, analytical, historical, and cultural frameworks. Music as aesthetic experience and cultural practice. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2019 - I took MUSC 15 with Professor Court in Winter 2019. The class itself is extremely interesting, even to those without any musical background. As long as you have at least a sliver of interest in music, you'd likely enjoy this class. At least once a week, there is a musical performance during scheduled lecture time. We watched a crazy variety of musical performances, including Chinese classical, jazz, Chicago footwork, techno, etc. The lectures taught basic music fundamentals that were key to being able to analytically listen to music, such as rhythm, meter, and pitch. It was still basic enough that anybody without a background in music could still understand it. There were 3 pop quizzes during the quarter, but they were only related to the musical performances (basic questions like "what brass instrument was not used in the brass ensemble" or "which of the following was not a genre of klezmer," all of which are easy to answer so long as you attended the performances. The midterm and final were easy. The study guide prepares you well and a majority of the content is based on the lecture slides that taught basic music theory that relates to musical listening.
Winter 2019 - I took MUSC 15 with Professor Court in Winter 2019. The class itself is extremely interesting, even to those without any musical background. As long as you have at least a sliver of interest in music, you'd likely enjoy this class. At least once a week, there is a musical performance during scheduled lecture time. We watched a crazy variety of musical performances, including Chinese classical, jazz, Chicago footwork, techno, etc. The lectures taught basic music fundamentals that were key to being able to analytically listen to music, such as rhythm, meter, and pitch. It was still basic enough that anybody without a background in music could still understand it. There were 3 pop quizzes during the quarter, but they were only related to the musical performances (basic questions like "what brass instrument was not used in the brass ensemble" or "which of the following was not a genre of klezmer," all of which are easy to answer so long as you attended the performances. The midterm and final were easy. The study guide prepares you well and a majority of the content is based on the lecture slides that taught basic music theory that relates to musical listening.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Took this as a random GE because I saw it was an easy class. And trust me, it was. Class was a hybrid of asynchronous and synchronous occasionally for live webinars. She will ask you to buy a program called MITA and DO NOT buy it. It's essentially a dictionary of music terms behind a paywall. I genuinely cannot recall anytime being required to use it, it's going to be a waste of your money. Lecture were mainly recorded videos that were boring. At times she'd go over time and honestly 80% of the videos are just her describing classical music. Out of an hour worth of lecture, you would be fine just skipping around and watching 15 minutes worth. Every now and then the class would require you to be live. I do wish Professor was more prepared since the class would wait 30 minutes for her to properly set up, making everyone late. Live lectures invited guest speakers and we'd basically all watch a recorded video together. Assignments were weekly summaries of the lectures. No exams or midterms but there are 2 group projects where you write about music. So be prepared to work with others, however the final is the exact same thing but is solo work. Honestly don't be afraid if you have no music background, I didn't know anything and you just have to finesse your writing for the projects. Professor wasn't too accommodating for extensions or timezones so beware. However the TAs were very nice.
Winter 2021 - Took this as a random GE because I saw it was an easy class. And trust me, it was. Class was a hybrid of asynchronous and synchronous occasionally for live webinars. She will ask you to buy a program called MITA and DO NOT buy it. It's essentially a dictionary of music terms behind a paywall. I genuinely cannot recall anytime being required to use it, it's going to be a waste of your money. Lecture were mainly recorded videos that were boring. At times she'd go over time and honestly 80% of the videos are just her describing classical music. Out of an hour worth of lecture, you would be fine just skipping around and watching 15 minutes worth. Every now and then the class would require you to be live. I do wish Professor was more prepared since the class would wait 30 minutes for her to properly set up, making everyone late. Live lectures invited guest speakers and we'd basically all watch a recorded video together. Assignments were weekly summaries of the lectures. No exams or midterms but there are 2 group projects where you write about music. So be prepared to work with others, however the final is the exact same thing but is solo work. Honestly don't be afraid if you have no music background, I didn't know anything and you just have to finesse your writing for the projects. Professor wasn't too accommodating for extensions or timezones so beware. However the TAs were very nice.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - Take this class. It's super fun, and an easy A, as long as you submit the assignments and put some effort in. This quarter she started an Iclicker thingy so a portion of your grade was attendance (you got to miss 2 lectures b4 it started to affect your grade but they had excused absences). My TA introduced me to a ton of cool music, and we kind of learn about the different ways of listening so it's kind of cool. The lectures are two hours so they can get kind of long (oh and they close the doors after 10 minutes so you can't come in if you are late), but other than that, this class was great. The professor was really nice. Most of your grade was attendance but 20% was from the concert reports (10% each) you go to (you can join the live and not go in person too). Another 20% was for the weekly response papers you wrote (8 total). and 20% for the final paper. One thing I didn't like was I felt like I didn't really understand how they were grading. In my first concert report I got a 95% but I felt like I had put in a ton of effort and my second concert report was written in haste the night before and i got a 100% (I'm aware I'm complaining about nothing, but I just felt like the grading was randomly assigned sometimes). I never got below a 90 on anything though so idk i guess it is what it is. The lectures also put me onto some great songs and songwriters. We had some phenomenal guest lecturers too.
Winter 2024 - Take this class. It's super fun, and an easy A, as long as you submit the assignments and put some effort in. This quarter she started an Iclicker thingy so a portion of your grade was attendance (you got to miss 2 lectures b4 it started to affect your grade but they had excused absences). My TA introduced me to a ton of cool music, and we kind of learn about the different ways of listening so it's kind of cool. The lectures are two hours so they can get kind of long (oh and they close the doors after 10 minutes so you can't come in if you are late), but other than that, this class was great. The professor was really nice. Most of your grade was attendance but 20% was from the concert reports (10% each) you go to (you can join the live and not go in person too). Another 20% was for the weekly response papers you wrote (8 total). and 20% for the final paper. One thing I didn't like was I felt like I didn't really understand how they were grading. In my first concert report I got a 95% but I felt like I had put in a ton of effort and my second concert report was written in haste the night before and i got a 100% (I'm aware I'm complaining about nothing, but I just felt like the grading was randomly assigned sometimes). I never got below a 90 on anything though so idk i guess it is what it is. The lectures also put me onto some great songs and songwriters. We had some phenomenal guest lecturers too.
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