Paying for college:
| New course | 400/500 course |
| First term offered : Fall 2011 | ||
| Course Prefix&Number | Descriptive Title | Credits/Hours |
| MUS 471/571 | The Great American Songbook | 3 - 3 |
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Abbreviation for Class Schedule(20 spaces) American Songbook |
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Catalog Description: Study of the compositional styles and historical context of the Tin Pan Alley songwriters, including Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer. Style investigation will include analysis of melody, harmony, form and lyrics. |
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Course Goal and Objectives: Understanding of the compositional styles of the Tin Pan Alley Composers. Knowledge of the historical context of popular music in the mid-20th Century. Ability to apply analytical tools to melody, harmony, form and lyrics. |
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Justification for adding the course (e.g. alignment with other institutions, program revision, etc.): This course has been offered as a topic under MUS 465/565: Special Topics in Music Theory. With the change in the advanced theory requirement embodied in another request, demand for this course will continue to be strong, and will continue to be offered on an alternate-year basis. |
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Faculty and facilities needed: Available: Course is currently in rotation as a Special Topics class. |
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Brief Course outline: ANALYSIS Weekly Projects Every Friday, weeks 1-8, an analysis project will be due. These analyses will be shown to the class for discussion and will be focused on one or two dimensions of a song such as, for example: Form Harmony cycles non-diatonic chords tonicizations & modulations Melody use of non-chord tones motives Lyrics topics rhyme patterns rhythmic setting Final Project At the end of the term, a collection of complete analyses will be due ¿ 3 for 465 / 6 for 565. Students will select from their weekly assignments and complete comprehensive analyses including all dimensions covered in class. During the time of the final exam, each student will present to the class a 10-minute summary of their analytical findings. RESEARCH PROJECT Each student will research the life/lives and musical contributions of a single songwriter (undergraduate) or songwriting team (graduate). This research will culminate in a written paper which will be read to the class, along with appropriate visual and aural components. The presentation should be 10 minutes (465) or 20 minutes (565), with audio examples accounting for no more than about 20% of the presentation time. |
| Step | Approver | Decision | Timestamp |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 - Department | Keller Coker | Approved | October 19 2010 |
| 2 - Division | Diane Tarter | Approved | October 21 2010 |
| 3 - Division Curriculum | David Janoviak | Approved | October 26 2010 |
| 5 - Curriculum Committee | Robert Monge | Approved | January 31 2011 |
| 5 - Graduate Committee | Mary Bucy | Approved | November 16 2010 |
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Comments: We recommend including a clearer section identifying requirements for graduate students, including a description of qualitatively different expectations. |
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| 6 - Faculty Senate | Gavin Keulks | Approved | February 08 2011 |
| 7 - Dean | Stephen Scheck | Approved | February 13 2011 |
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Comments: Providing unique course number/title permits department to better publicize the diversity of curriculum covered at WOU.
Note re. graduate committee comments...it would be good for committee to address this issue for all 4xx/5xx slash courses, rather than course by course. |
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| 8 - Provost | Kent Neely | Approved | February 14 2011 |
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Comments: As per Graduate Committee, Department needs to demonstrate commitment to distinction between 400 and 500 requirements. |
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| 471-571 Syllabus.pdf | Download |
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