Course Descriptions - Undergraduate Calendar 2023-2024

The styles, forms, techniques, and terminology of Western music through lectures and listening, as exemplified by great works from all eras of music history.

This course studies music from around the globe and throughout the ages, employing several approaches in studying how music reflects and responds to its diverse social, political, and historical contexts.

An introduction to the primary skills of music practice emphasizing the reading and writing of musical notation. Students will learn elementary keyboard, listening, and sight-singing skills.

The study of selected music literature through rehearsals and performance in one of the Music Department ensembles: Chamber Choir, Chapel Choir, University Choir, Vocal Techniques, Orchestra, Instrumental Chamber Ensembles, Jazz Ensemble, World Music Ensemble. Regular attendance at rehearsals and performances is required.

The study of selected music literature through rehearsals and performance in one of the Music Department ensembles: Chamber Choir, Chapel Choir, University Choir, Vocal Techniques, Orchestra, Instrumental Chamber Ensembles, Jazz Ensemble, World Music Ensemble. Regular attendance at rehearsals and performances is required.

An examination of the styles, forms, and development of 20th century popular music. The social, commercial, and technological aspects of popular music are considered.

The study of selected music literature through rehearsals and performance in one of the Music Department ensembles: Chamber Choir, Chapel Choir, University Choir, Vocal Techniques, Orchestra, Instrumental Chamber Ensembles, Jazz Ensemble, World Music Ensemble. Regular attendance at rehearsals and performances is required.

The study of selected music literature through rehearsals and performance in one of the Music Department ensembles: Chamber Choir, Chapel Choir, University Choir, Vocal Techniques, Orchestra, Instrumental Chamber Ensembles, Jazz Ensemble, World Music Ensemble. Regular attendance at rehearsals and performances is required.

A study of conducting techniques appropriate for song leading, choral rehearsal, and public performance. The course will include score analysis and rehearsal procedures for music from a wide variety of historical styles.

Individual instruction in voice, piano, organ, classical guitar, and orchestral instruments.

Individual instruction in voice, piano, organ, classical guitar, and orchestral instruments.

The study of music from a behavioural science perspective. Topics include auditory perception, creativity and aesthetic experience, emotive human responses, and the social psychology of music activities. Recent research in the field of music cognition will be explored in detail.

A survey of music studied in a cross-cultural perspective with regard to its sound, performance practices, meanings, and functions from selected world traditions found in the diverse cultures of Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America, Europe, and the Middle East.

A study of rhythm in selected musics from oral traditions worldwide. The course emphasizes communal spirit, musical interaction, and human experience through theoretical and ethnographic studies, and hands-on workshops. It focuses on the development of rhythm skills, embodiment of new sounds, and acquisition of new tools for teaching, composing, and thinking about music. Experience a unique opportunity to study the rhythms of diverse music cultures, learn from guest artists, and play a range of percussion instruments including drums, bells, shakers, bronze metallophones, and gongs.

A survey of the development of jazz schools and individual styles as well as a study of melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic improvisation. Styles will be demonstrated through recordings and live performance.

An examination of the techniques, styles, and functions of music in film, and how music interacts with image and narrative to create meanings. Weekly screenings of films selected from the 1930s to the present.

A study of major developments in western music during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, including Gregorian chant, mass, secular songs, instrumental music, and other musical genres that flourished under courtly and church patronage from the early Christian church to 1600.

A study of Baroque and Classical music of the 17th and 18th centuries in cultural, political, and artistic contexts. Topics include the development of opera, choral music, symphony, sonata, and the music of Monteverdi, Bach, Handel, Mozart, and others.

A study of music of the 19th century in cultural, political, and artistic contexts. Topics include the development of principal forms in the music of Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Chopin, Wagner, Verdi, Brahms, Bruckner, and others.

A study of music of the 20th and early 21st centuries in cultural, political, and artistic contexts. Topics include modern and contemporary composers' challenges to traditional musical ideals in the music of Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Cage, and others.

A survey of the great symphonies from Haydn to Stravinsky, through lectures and listening. A portion of the course will be devoted to works being performed by the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra during the term.

An introduction to the themes, sources, forms, and nature of opera through selected works from Monteverdi to Britten. The course explores ways that drama is interpreted through music and considers opera in a broader context of social and artistic issues.

A survey of the great masterpieces for vocal ensemble from Medieval times to the present studied through reading, lecture, and listening. Principle choral genres of each historical era are studied and discussed including works performed by the Grand Philharmonic Choir during the term.

The study of basic melodic, harmonic, and voice leading concepts including an introduction to figured bass and functional harmony. Ear-training, sight-singing, and keyboard lab sessions will be integrated with written and analytical work.

The study of harmony, counterpoint, and form of 18th and early 19th century music. Sight-singing, ear-training, and keyboard lab sessions will be integrated with written and analytical work.

A hands-on introduction to music and technology, including recording, audio editing, digital signal processing, and Musical Instrumental Digital Interface (MIDI). Course work will foster a practical understanding of digital music production software and techniques, and involve electroacoustic or acoustic composition.

A special study of a selected topic in music. Consult department for details.

The study of selected music literature through rehearsals and performance in one of the Music Department ensembles: Chamber Choir, Chapel Choir, University Choir, Vocal Techniques, Orchestra, Instrumental Chamber Ensembles, Jazz Ensemble, World Music Ensemble. Regular attendance at rehearsals and performances is required.

The study of selected music literature through rehearsals and performance in one of the Music Department ensembles: Chamber Choir, Chapel Choir, University Choir, Vocal Techniques, Orchestra, Instrumental Chamber Ensembles, Jazz Ensemble, World Music Ensemble. Regular attendance at rehearsals and performances is required.

A continuation of the study of conducting techniques begun in MUSIC 222. The course focuses on the development of analytical and musical skills including score study, aural skills, and gestural clarity.

Individual instruction in voice, piano, organ, classical guitar, and orchestral instruments.

Individual instruction in voice, piano, organ, classical guitar, and orchestral instruments.

This course employs various methods to explore questions of musical meaning. Through study and discussion of selected sources from antiquity to the present, such themes as imitation, abstraction, beauty, and other debated issues will be examined in historical context and in relation to the other arts.

This course explores how landscape is represented in music from Vivaldi and Beethoven to popular genres and Canadian music. Topics include the role of landscape and music in cultural identity, ways in which music evokes space and place, music and the environment, soundscape, and site-specific music.

An examination of women's roles in music from a cross-cultural perspective. Topics may include women's music as a genre, historical accounts of women's music-making, and the effects of gender ideology on women's musical activities, behaviour, and performance.

This course examines music's role in peace and conflict from a variety of perspectives through listening, reading, discussion, and using examples from around the world. Topics include the use of music in dissent and resistance, and as an instrument of propaganda, conflict, and peacebuilding.

A spring term seminar approximately three weeks long, taught on location including daily lectures, attendance at music performances, and tours to places of cultural importance. Past and possible future locations include Vienna, London, Leipzig, South Africa, Morocco, Bali, and Estonia.

A study of the music written for solo voice from the 17th century to the present.

A study of music for solo piano from its 17th and 18th century antecedents to the present. Using historical and analytical approaches, individual works will be considered within a tradition of particular forms, genres, and styles.

This course examines the origins of the music sung by the Christian church and its development up to the present. The course considers the Church's Song as theological, poetic, musical, cultural, and spiritual expression, and the use of songs in a variety of worship settings. Students will practice methods of song analysis, assess musical meaning, value and effects in various cultural contexts, and reflect on written and oral transmission of music.

The nature of worship and the role of music within worship in historical, theological, and cultural perspectives. Field trips to services of various traditions.

The study of chromatic harmony as well as melodic and formal aspects of 19th-century music. Ear-training, sight-singing, and keyboard lab sessions will be integrated with written and analytical work.

The study of the compositional aspects of 20th century music, including extended tonality, atonality, 12-tone writing, neo-classical idioms, and contemporary compositional procedures. Lab sessions will cover non-tonal melodic reading and complex chord structures.

An exploration of the discipline and craft of composing and arranging. Topics include choral, chamber ensemble, and orchestral techniques; electronic music; and charting for popular music. The course includes both score preparation and opportunities for recital performances of original works.

An independent term project completed under tutorial guidance of a faculty advisor.

An independent term project completed under tutorial guidance of a faculty advisor.

A special study of a selected topic in music. Consult department for details.

A study of a selected topic in global music. Consult department for details.

The study of selected music literature through rehearsals and performance in one of the Music Department ensembles: Chamber Choir, Chapel Choir, University Choir, Vocal Techniques, Orchestra, Instrumental Chamber Ensembles, Jazz Ensemble, World Music Ensemble. Regular attendance at rehearsals and performances is required.

The study of selected music literature through rehearsals and performance in one of the Music Department ensembles: Chamber Choir, Chapel Choir, University Choir, Vocal Techniques, Orchestra, Instrumental Chamber Ensembles, Jazz Ensemble, World Music Ensemble. Regular attendance at rehearsals and performances is required.

Individual instruction in voice, piano, organ, classical guitar, and orchestral instruments.

Individual instruction in voice, piano, organ, classical guitar, and orchestral instruments.

Individual instruction in voice, piano, organ, classical guitar, and orchestral instruments. Students perform a senior recital.

A research seminar for Music majors designed to give students an opportunity to develop research techniques through individual research projects and regular meetings with other students and faculty.

An independent research project for Honours Music students. The topic is determined through consultation between the student and a faculty advisor.