Professor
Robert Fink
1 of 5
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2018 - Professor Fink is great. Take this class whether you love EDM or your just curious about it. It is really interesting and professor Fink does a great job explaining the material. Don't expect to focus entirely on todays EDM scene because the bulk of the class is about the very beginning of it in the US and the UK. Overall the class was easy in my opinion. Two assignments one in which you create your drum rhythm and the other is a short essay about your experience watching an edm set in person. A midterm and final with essay portions. Discussion is mandatory since its a part of your grade but all the TA's were pretty chill. overall a really interesting and fun class.
Spring 2018 - Professor Fink is great. Take this class whether you love EDM or your just curious about it. It is really interesting and professor Fink does a great job explaining the material. Don't expect to focus entirely on todays EDM scene because the bulk of the class is about the very beginning of it in the US and the UK. Overall the class was easy in my opinion. Two assignments one in which you create your drum rhythm and the other is a short essay about your experience watching an edm set in person. A midterm and final with essay portions. Discussion is mandatory since its a part of your grade but all the TA's were pretty chill. overall a really interesting and fun class.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - He was a very fun lecturer. He has a tendency to get really into his music and it might take up a lot of the class, but it's pretty fun to listen to edm. The first half is mainly the history and the second half is more about the music. The hardest part of the class is memorizing songs. You have to be able to listen to it and identify the song title, artist, and the year it was produced. Other than that, if you pay attention to class you will pretty much do well. He posts his lecture slides online and passes out an outline every time.
Fall 2015 - He was a very fun lecturer. He has a tendency to get really into his music and it might take up a lot of the class, but it's pretty fun to listen to edm. The first half is mainly the history and the second half is more about the music. The hardest part of the class is memorizing songs. You have to be able to listen to it and identify the song title, artist, and the year it was produced. Other than that, if you pay attention to class you will pretty much do well. He posts his lecture slides online and passes out an outline every time.
Most Helpful Review
Wow! All these reviews are way too positive for me! Whoever said he was pompous is right on the dot (lectures and office hours). No doubt he loves the subject matter, but he loves himself a lot more. I didn't learn anything relevant in Music 10. I attended every single lecture, stayed awake (pretty impressive), aced the midterm, aced the paper, and thought I did pretty well on the final. Ended up getting a C+ in the class. Tried inquiring what I may have done wrong but he gave me some sarcastic remark and that was that. No discussion. He did all the talking as well during office hours. Oh, and don't walk in late or fall asleep or he'll draw attention to you, as I've noticed w/ classmates. Music is my passion. I love the creativity; love the technicial aspect. Looking into it as a future career, in fact. I give this guy credit for being able to make me despise music for a whole 10 wks.
Wow! All these reviews are way too positive for me! Whoever said he was pompous is right on the dot (lectures and office hours). No doubt he loves the subject matter, but he loves himself a lot more. I didn't learn anything relevant in Music 10. I attended every single lecture, stayed awake (pretty impressive), aced the midterm, aced the paper, and thought I did pretty well on the final. Ended up getting a C+ in the class. Tried inquiring what I may have done wrong but he gave me some sarcastic remark and that was that. No discussion. He did all the talking as well during office hours. Oh, and don't walk in late or fall asleep or he'll draw attention to you, as I've noticed w/ classmates. Music is my passion. I love the creativity; love the technicial aspect. Looking into it as a future career, in fact. I give this guy credit for being able to make me despise music for a whole 10 wks.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - Fink undoubtedly was the best professor in the 60s cluster and truly made students excited to go to lecture. Because his material is so novel (musicology), it was the only part of this course that didn’t feel like a repeat of APUSH and was incredibly engaging. I actually learned so much from his lectures and often wished he lectured more; he is funny, has participatory activities, and was just plain fun. For his portion of the 60s cluster, start studying early for the midterm and later the cumulative final in 60b. There are plenty of musicology playlists on Spotify to help you start differentiating between versions of songs, artists, and years. I would shuffle those playlists and try to identify the songs by short snippets by paying attention to instruments. This course is also very TA-dependent because TAs grade all assignments, so make sure you pick a good one. From what other students have said, do NOT pick Holland as a TA. Finally, the readings are not all necessary for this course, but it’s still good to at least skim or read the first and last sections. I felt that the musicology readings were often the hardest to digest but were also the most interesting and helpful since they directly provided the context/significance of genres and songs, so if you have the time and want to learn something new I really recommend them. They are also great study materials for the musicology portion of the exams.
Fall 2024 - Fink undoubtedly was the best professor in the 60s cluster and truly made students excited to go to lecture. Because his material is so novel (musicology), it was the only part of this course that didn’t feel like a repeat of APUSH and was incredibly engaging. I actually learned so much from his lectures and often wished he lectured more; he is funny, has participatory activities, and was just plain fun. For his portion of the 60s cluster, start studying early for the midterm and later the cumulative final in 60b. There are plenty of musicology playlists on Spotify to help you start differentiating between versions of songs, artists, and years. I would shuffle those playlists and try to identify the songs by short snippets by paying attention to instruments. This course is also very TA-dependent because TAs grade all assignments, so make sure you pick a good one. From what other students have said, do NOT pick Holland as a TA. Finally, the readings are not all necessary for this course, but it’s still good to at least skim or read the first and last sections. I felt that the musicology readings were often the hardest to digest but were also the most interesting and helpful since they directly provided the context/significance of genres and songs, so if you have the time and want to learn something new I really recommend them. They are also great study materials for the musicology portion of the exams.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - Professor Fink was my second favorite professor from this cluster. In this class, he focuses on 60s music and lectures a good amount. He's very active during his lectures, singing, dancing, and engaging with students. I found his lectures to be extremely informative and interesting. The class is made up of two papers, a music paper and a history assignment closing with a final. The class is not recorded, but lecture slides are posted on BruinLearn.
Winter 2025 - Professor Fink was my second favorite professor from this cluster. In this class, he focuses on 60s music and lectures a good amount. He's very active during his lectures, singing, dancing, and engaging with students. I found his lectures to be extremely informative and interesting. The class is made up of two papers, a music paper and a history assignment closing with a final. The class is not recorded, but lecture slides are posted on BruinLearn.
AD
1 of 5
