2009 - 2010 Course Descriptions
Courses are offered in rotation over a period of several years; not all courses listed below are offered every year.
2009-2010 Course Offerings (pdf)
Both MA and PhD students may take either 5000- or 6000-level courses with the exception of Music 6010 6.0: Theoretical Perspectives in Ethnomusicology/Musicology which is usually restricted to PhD students.
Music 5005A 3.0 Seminar in Composition I.
Individual coaching in composition and seminar classes in related problems of analysis and technique. (half course over two terms - Year I). Music 5005B 3.0: Seminar in Composition II. A continuation and intensification of Music 5005A 3.0. Individual coaching in composition and seminar classes in related problems of analysis and technique. (Year II).
Music 5006A 3.0 Private Lessons in Composition I.
This course provides an opportunity for specialized work in composing with particular techniques or for particular media.
Music 5006B 3.0 Private Lessons in Composition II.
This course provides an opportunity for specialized work in composing with particular techniques or for particular media.
Music 5007 3.0 Jazz Composition.
This course develops specific compositional techniques and structural procedures modeled a wide range of music genres within the jazz idiom. Compositions for modeling will be chosen from a wide variety of jazz composers. Sources will be selected from a variety of historical periods.
Music 5008 3.0 Jazz Theory.
This course surveys literature dealing with both the speculative and operative aspects of jazz theory. Sources include works by theorists, musicologists, and pedagogues such as: Aebersold, Mehegan, Delamont, Russo, Schuller, Slonimsky, Schillinger, Riemann, O'Meally, Baker, Giddins, Dobbins, Wright, Berliner, Negus, Coker, Sebesky, Levine, Schenker, and others.
Music 5010 6.0 Problems and Methods of Musical Research.
An examination of different methods and theoretical frameworks for musical research, through intensive, critical studies of existing literature and a number of small research projects. The course is taught by a team of graduate faculty members.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing in music or consent of instructor.
Music 5120 3.0 South Indian Music.
An intensive examination of the Karnatak musical culture of South India with consideration of the history and sociology of music in that region.
Music 5130 3.0 Latin American and Caribbean Music.
An intensive examination of the musical cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean with consideration of the history and sociology of music in that region.
Music 5140 3.0 Commercial Music of the Americas.
A study of music and musicians as absorbed and transformed by the music and entertainment industries. Anglo-American music is the major focus of the seminar with comparative material drawn from Caribbean, Canadian and African-American examples.
Music 5160 3.0 Music of Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
An intensive examination of selected musical cultures of Eastern Europe and/or the Middle East with consideration of the history and sociology of musics in the regions explored.
Music 5180 3.0 Jazz Studies.
The phenomenon of jazz is investigated from a number of perspectives through a survey of scholarly, popular, and pedagogical jazz literature. Various problems and methods of jazz research including discography, style analysis, and criticism are examined.
Music 5190 3.0 African-American Music.
A study of the music of African-Americans from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Musicological, historical and sociological issues are examined.
Music 5410 3.0 Performance Option.
This course involves performance study, generally in a cross-cultural context, with a view to exploring such issues in cross-cultural learning as the relationship between the performance of music and the intellectual discourse about it. Central to the course is an academic component about issues, which emerge in a set of "field notes" about the lessons.
Prerequisite: Permission of the Graduate Executive Committee.
Music 5500 6.0 Performance Studio.
Individual coaching and training in music performance with emphasis on both theoretical and practical aspects. Repertoire is
selected from a variety of relevant sources within the appropriate tradition.
Music 5550 3.0 Recital.
Student required to plan, prepare, produce and perform an advanced, full-length, professional-quality recital under the supervision of a faculty member.
Music 5551 3.0 Ensemble.
Practical experience in ensemble performance with emphasis on the development of collaborative music creation at a professional level. Repertoire is selected from a variety of relevant sources within the appropriate ensemble literature.
Music 6010 6.0 Theoretical Perspectives in Ethnomusicology/Musicology.
This course explores various theoretical perspectives in both the social sciences and humanities as they relate to the study of music in and as culture. Particularly as they have arisen in musicology and ethnomusicology, a wide range of theoretical formulations is explored. These range from the older, traditional historical and interpretive approaches to more recent developments in ethnomusicology, such as deconstruction and discourse analysis, feminism, performance theory and semiotics. The course is taught by a team of graduate faculty members.
Prerequisite: PhD-level standing in Music or permission of the instructor.
Music 6210 3.0 Documentary and Interpretive Studies in Contemporary Music.
Approaches to documenting composers through study of a composer's manuscripts and other writing, sound recordings, and oral history materials. The literature is examined with a view to developing a variety of models for interpreting a composer's music.
Music 6220 3.0 Canadian Music: Repertoires, Practices and Interpretation.
The major scholarly studies of Canadian musical repertoires and practices are examined in relation to the literature on other repertoires and practices. Each student carries out a detailed case study.
Music 6250 3.0 Musical Analysis.
A survey of some problems and methods in musical analysis, oriented first to the repertoires and aesthetic perspectives which gave rise to them and, second, to their more recent extensions.
Music 6270 3.0 Semiotics of the Fine Arts.
A research and historically oriented survey which relates current studies in the semiotics of the fine arts to their philosophical and linguistic sources in classical, medieval, and modern thought. The first part of the course establishes common ground for students from different departments who will normally concentrate their own work in their home discipline.
Music 6330 3.0 Tonality.
An investigation into the many aspects of music associated with the theory and concept of tonality.
Music 6510 3.0 Directed Reading.
Music 6520 3.0 Directed Reading.
Music 6530 3.0 Directed Reading.
Independent study and research under the guidance of a faculty member in the Graduate Program in Music. Aspirants must first submit a course proposal with working bibliography, discography and/or filmography (as appropriate) and outline of papers or other assignments to be completed. The proposal will normally demonstrate that skills and/or knowledge to be acquired in the course are germane to an approved PhD dissertation, Master's thesis or major research paper. Prerequisite: Permission of the Graduate Executive Committee.
Required forms for directed reading, private composition, and performance option courses
The Following activities are recorded separately in GEM:
| MA Research Paper | No Course Credit |
| MA Thesis Research | No Course Credit |
| Comprehensive Questions | No Course Credit |
| PhD Dissertation Research | No Course Credit |
Colloquia
Each year the program holds a series of colloquia, involving distinguished guests as well as the faculty members and students of the program.
