By the time of moderation, music majors will be expected to have successfully completed two semesters of music theory courses and two semesters of music history courses. Please consult your adviser about this.

Unless otherwise noted, each ensemble is for one credit except where indicated. It is possible to participate in more than one ensemble and receive additional credit accordingly.

Auditions for scholarships will be Wednesday, Feb. 7^th, 7:30 - 9:30 in Blum. ALL STUDENTS WHO CURRENTLY HAVE SCHOLARSHIPS ARE EXPECTED TO RE-AUDITION.

This is a year-long course. Students earn 2 credits per semester, and an additional two credits for registering in private lessons which are strongly encouraged. Auditions will be held on September 9 from 9:00 to 6:00 in Blum Hall for both old and new members. A sign-up sheet will be posted in Blum at the beginning of the semester. Please be prepared to play two pieces-one slower and lyrical, and one faster.

Music to be announced.

The program will select students, alumni, faculty and community performers to present chamber music recitals on and off campus. The program will aim for diversity, both in instrumentation (including voice) as well as in repertoire. Weekly coaching will be given by faculty, and rehearsals between coachings will be expected.

Depending on registration students will form their own ensembles (2-5 players) to play a work from the 20^th century repertoire.

2 credits. This ensemble is for serious singers only, and by audition -a sign-up sheet will be posted at the beginning of the semester.

Continuation of Fundamentals I, introduction to harmony, various seventh chords, secondary dominants, basics of modulation, four-part writing and voice-leading. End result: ability to write a hymn, song or brief movement of tonal music. Prerequisite: Fundamentals I or equivalent (knowledge of scales and keys).

This course will include requisition of the basic skills that make up the Foundation of All Jazz Styles. We will also study the Jazz language from the BEBOP era through the present.

Prerequisite: Jazz Harmony I, or permission of the instructor

Beginning with the radical innovations of such revolutionary figures as Charles Ives, Henry Cowell, Edgar Varese early in the twentieth century, the experimental music tradition in the United States will be examined. In addition to studying the body of work this tradition has produced, as well as discussing its aesthetic and philosophic underpinnings, students will be encouraged to actively realize and perform pieces by some of the composers studied. Examples of possible performance projects: Ives's quartertone pieces; Cowell's piano music; graphic scores by Feldman, Brown and Cardew; chance and indeterminate scores by Cage; realization of a Nancarrow player-piano score on Disklavier, event pieces by Fluxus, Palk, and Kosugi, meditations piece by Oliveros, phase pieces of Steve Reich; notated and text pieces by Rzewski; game pieces by Wolff and Zorn, etc. This course is expected to be taken as a prerequisite for all Electronic Music Studio courses.

Musics of sub-Saharan Africa, along with their offshoots in the Americas, have intrigued (and puzzled) European and American travelers and writers for centuries. Only in the last four or five decades, however, have Western scholars (as well as African scholars trained in Western disciplines) begun the serious study of this vast and tremendously diverse musical terrain. This course traces and probes the ongoing encounter between African musics and those "outside" observers and students who have written about ( or otherwise represented) these musics. While the aim of the course is to achieve a clearer understanding of African musical sounds and contexts themselves, the assumption is that this can best be attained through a close examination of the intercultural encounters through which knowledge of "African music" has been produced and disseminated. Readings will range from early European and American travel reports to the growing ethnomusicological literature based on long-term ethnographic studies of musical life within specific African contexts. Some attention will also be given to African-related musics of the Americas, as well as the new urban musics that have proliferated on the African continent itself in recent years. But the focus will remain on those musical genres and contexts often spoken of as "traditional,'" which remain vital across sub-Saharan Africa. Depending on the interest and preparedness of students, the course might include a performance component as well.

A continuation of the survey course of selected musical works composed from 1600 to the present. Works will be placed in a broad historical context with specific focus on stylistic and compositional traits. Additionally, music terminology, composers and historical and theoretical methodology will be introduced and described in relationship to the repertoire. Short essays and listening exams. Basic skills in music reading are expected.

This course, which employs a cultural approach, is also designed to look at the social climate surrounding the music to examine its effects on the music from 1958 to the mid-60's. Emphasis will be on artists and composers such as Cecil Taylor, Omette Coleman, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Max Roach, Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, and Horace Silver. Illustrated with recordings, films, and videos.

This course concentrates on the theory, design and creative use of the basic components found in analog electronic music systems. We'll examine some of the original circuits used by Moog, Bode, Serge, Thermin and others. Discussions will cover voltage control techniques, synthesis and processing. As class projects, we'll re-create some of the classic circuits and patches. Enrollment limited.

This course elucidates the unfolding of seminal compositional tendencies in European and American music within the last hundred years: impressionism, expressionism, serialism, experimentalism, minimalism, neo-romanticism, pluralism. Representative works, techniques, ideas and the impact of figures such as Debussy, Schönberg, Ives, Stravinsky, Cage, Boulez, Crumb, La Monte Young, Reich and Oliveros are examined. Light is shed on the historical contexts and aesthetic issues of selected works and musical directions as well as on their relationship with other arts. Students study texts, recordings and scores. Short projects required. Open to majors and non-majors. Ability to read music is desirable.

This class will compose music that will be written down and passed to players to be rehearsed and taped. Every step of the process is assisted (particularly at the notational level) and discussed. Players in the class, as well as professional players from outside, will later join in to help bring each piece to life in sound. In addition, other twentieth-century works are played and discussed and occasional visits to performances of new music in New York are made. Individual meetings are arranged on a regular basis.

This class is conceived as a unifying workshop for performing musicians within the department. Please meet with the instructor prior to or during registration. (Private lessons can be taken for credit by registering for this course.)

All songwriters, as well as poets, lyricists, singers, instrumentalists, and composers are invited to create and share their original work in this safe forum for collaboration, performance, feedback, discussion, and analysis. The goal is to help participants express more clearly their musical intentions in song form. Lyrics, setting, clarity, musical scene, melody, accompaniment, accompaniment and voice as duet, notation, editing, rewriting, and the collaborative process are examined. Collaborative projects among class participants are organized and writing assignments focus on skill building. Participants present their work with or without self-accompaniment or in collaboration with others. Guests may attend class in order to help participants present their music. Although previously written work may be presented, the focus is primarily on work in progress or work composed during the semester, with the specific goal of writing ten new songs. An open performance is given at the last class meeting.

In this singing class we explore the art songs of America, England, France and Germany, including some opera arias and ensembles depending on the make-up of the class. At the same time we learn the necessary technique to perform them successfully. Each class will be divided into two parts. The first will deal with vocal technique, and the second with technical issues that arise from individual performance. Requirements: the ability to match pitches, and an adequate vocal range. Pianists will be assigned individual singers to work with and coached in the various musical styles.

Once a week a two-hour seminar will be offered to everyone to talk about specific technical and interpretation principals of the classical guitar, as well as to listen and to discuss the repertoire. This seminar is to be taken in conjunction with weekly private lessons offered by guitarist Greg Dinger. There will be a fee for the private instructor to be paid at the beginning of the semester. All levels of playing are accepted. Beginners to advanced players welcome.

This performance class will explore rhythms that are commonly found in the Music of South and Latin America. Songs that are based on the Samba Rythms, Bossa Nova and Afro0Cuban 6/8 beats will be studied. Also selected Jazz compositions that use some of these rhythms will be studied. At the same time, we will learn the necessary techniques for playing a variety of percussion instruments such as the guiro that is associated with the particular region being studied. Recommended for serious drummers and percussion players interested in learning the techniques in playing percussion and exploring rhythms from around the world. Assignments will include some research and listening. Requirements: an understanding of syncopation. Rhythmic patterns in off meters such as 3/4, 5/4, 6/8. Also an understanding of major and minor scales. Limited enrollment.

Special Projects are designed for music majors only to pursue individual or group projects with a particular professor.

All matriculated Bard students may be eligible to receive academic credit and scholarships for private instrumental or voice lessons. The choice of teachers is to be worked out on a case by case basis by the student and the Music Department. The teacher and student arrange payments and schedule.

1. Registered, matriculated Bard College student
2. Assignment of grade, based on performance in a departmental concert or audition by Evaluating Panel at the end of each semester.
3. Participation in a music course that provides the student a larger forum of music making. A waiver of this requirement is possible in certain circumstances and is subject to Music Department review.

Lessons: 2 credits

Performance class 2 credits

Ensembles 1 or 2 credits (check description)

Chorus 1 credit

1. Selection for scholarship by departmental evaluating panel, either through performance in a departmental concert or through audition.
2. Registration in an ensemble or performance class.
3. Maximum of $20.00 per lesson (towards lesson cost) available, applied as credit to student's Bard account.