Bro these lectures were so so so long and absolutely useless. Thankfully, the assignments weren't based on what was taught in the lectures. It is a super easy GE, and I would recommend it - just don't go to the lectures. Also my TA didn't really speak English, so when I would ask her something she would high key just confuse me more and not answer my questions at all. NOT HER FAULT FOR NOT SPEAKING ENGLISH it just made it hard to have her as a teacher.

This class was pretty easy, and it wasn't necessarily over the top too difficult. The lectures aren't too important to attend, but they definitely are interesting if one can pay attention. There were two quizzes, and while I definitely benefitted from going to lectures for the first quiz, the second quiz was information that was within the modules. The two papers were also fun to complete. They were assigned about 3 weeks apart, and they took about 6 hours each max. The final was a playlist on any genre of your choice, and overall, the class was extremely doable if you don't fall behind. Even if you do though, the readings weren't required, but it may entirely depend on your TA. I'd definitely take this class again as this is probably one of the easier classes that one can take without needing to try too hard on.

TLDR: One of the easiest GE's that exist at UCLA, but some changes to this quarter pushed that back slightly.

Not quite sure about previous quarters, but for this quarter, he started Canvas exams (open for 24 hours) that have questions pertaining to class lectures. Some of them pertain to the lectures on certain days, so if you miss class on that day and it shows up on the test, that's a loss of a free point. Most of the questions on the test pertain to concepts we learned in class, though.

Lectures are not mandatory, but discussions are mandatory. One midterm exam on Canvas, one final exam on Canvas. Both are MCQ's only.
One midterm 1 paper, one midterm 2 paper, one final paper.

He invites guests for special performances and talks (we had two guests this quarter). One of the guests was just starting their music career, another was a 12-time Grammy nominee (6-time winner) for Hawaiian music.

Hopefully his lectures in the future are a little bit more engaging. His lectures felt really really slow, and we would just stay on one slide for 30-45 mins.

i hated going to lectures so much expect for the occasional musical performances. they were just so long and weary and i almost never paid attention because prof is really unengaging. HOWEVER, it is such an easy class that you can absolutely grab an A. I actually enjoyed and looked forward to going to section (shoutout my TA Learsi) cuz it was so much fun and you actually made a connection to your own taste in music. The papers were fun to write, and the final project was to curate a playlist surrounding a topic of your own choosing and your own connection to the songs and the topic. the assignments were very personal and it is hard to bomb them. i just hated lectures, everything else was so easy and fun.

Your grade depends on your TA.