Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
This course aims to help students improve their writing skills, taking a particular type of music as its central material. The goal of the course is to help students prepare for academic writing, develop analytical skills appropriate to the subject matter, and receive an introduction to college-level research papers. Depending on the topic the course may include a section of one to two hours for further listening to musical examples in a group setting.
Reading and Writing about Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017 8 Week Session
Fundamentals of music, including notation, sight singing, ear training, and beginning linear analysis. For general students.
Basic Musicianship: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Fundamentals of music, including notation, sight singing, ear training, and beginning linear analysis. For general students.
Basic Musicianship: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2014, Fall 2008, Fall 2007
The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Freshman seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment is limited to 15 freshmen.
Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018
A writing course based on traditional harmony. Beginning linear and vertical analysis. For general students. Emphasis on written exercises.
Introduction to Music Theory: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Spring 2008, Spring 2007
A writing course based on traditional harmony. Beginning linear and vertical analysis. For general students. Emphasis on written exercises.
Introduction to Music Theory: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Two perspectives are developed: 1) diverse music of groups in America, and 2) American music as a unique phenomenon. Groups considered are African, Asian, European, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American. Lectures and musical examples are organized by topics such as music of socio-economic subgroups within large groups, survival of culture, pan-ethnicity, religious and concert music, and the folk-popular music continuum.
Music in American Culture: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session
Two perspectives are developed: 1) diverse music of groups in America, and 2) American music as a unique phenomenon. Groups considered are African, Asian, European, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American. Lectures and musical examples are religious and concert music, and the folk-popular music continuum.
Music in American Cultures: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Devoted to the development of listening skills, and a survey of major forms and types of Western art music.
Introduction to Western Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2013 Second 6 Week Session
Devoted to the development of listening skills, and a survey of major forms and types of Western art music.
Introduction to Western Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
A seminar for lower division students. Instruments, the role of the conductor, major repertory, and a survey of the great orchestras and conductors of the world. Recordings, videos, and field trips to rehearsals or performances.
The Inner Workings of the Orchestra: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2017
This course explores the basic materials and models that set the boundaries for various present-day musical experiences. Students are exposed to terminology and modes of engagement with the aim of inspiring new paradigms of listening (e.g., listening to silence, noise, space, and timbre). Composers and musicians of today continue to explore new ways of defining and organizing sounds into music. The course focuses on the most adventurous music of our time, but the concepts learned can be applied to any style of music. The course is designed to enrich and deepen the students' musical abilities through direct involvement with musical materials. Direct engagement through listening and participatory learning is accomplished in part with software created at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies. The course does not require students to be able to read music nor to own a personal computer.
Music Now: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2010
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2011
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester.
Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
A course designed for students who wish to attain a beginner's level of proficiency on the carillon. Prospective students must have a working knowledge of the keyboard, read treble and bass clefs fluently, be secure in key signatures through three sharps and flats, and be comfortable with common duple and triple meters.
Group Carillon Lessons for Beginning Students: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Private carillon lessons to develop a personal repertory. In this course, students will begin to learn different practice techniques.
Private Carillon Lessons for Beginning Students: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Private carillon lessons stressing musical questions and de-emphasizing technical and repertory issues. Composition and arranging may be included. Personal musicianship is examined and musical horizons are extended.
Private Carillon Lessons for Intermediate Students: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013
This course is designed for students to reach an advanced level of proficiency. Students are required to play one ten-minute concert per week plus participate in the student recital.
Private Carillon Lessons for Advanced Students: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014
This course is a requirement for those students who are studying for examination by the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.
Carillon Lessons for Advanced Students: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2007, Fall 2006
This course will serve as an introduction to performance practices in contemporary improvisation. Several approaches to improvising will be presented including African American jazz and blues traditions, North Indian Raga, gaming strategies, graphic notation, and conducted improvisation or "sound painting." Class activities will include improvisation exercises and games and repertoire development. Assignments will include listening to and analysis of recorded and live performances and the creation of student works.
Introduction to Improvisation: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session
Students will learn the fundaments of healthy singing. The classical style will be learned and applied to other styles of singing. Students will receive group instruction and individual feedback throughout the semester. Singers will perform two solos: one in English and one in a foreign language. The course is open to all undergraduates. Students involved in campus vocal ensembles are encouraged to enroll. No prior music experience required.
Voice Class: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2017 10 Week Session, Summer 2016 10 Week Session, Summer 2015 10 Week Session
Piano instruction includes music theory (musical notation, triads, scales and primary chords) at the keyboard. Repertoire draws from simple classical pieces and melodies accompanied with chords. Mastery of the material will be demonstrated at the keyboard and through three written assignments.

Weekly class attendance and daily practice (5 hours weekly) are expected.

Beginning Piano Class 1 for Non-Music Majors: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2017 10 Week Session, Summer 2016 10 Week Session, Summer 2015 10 Week Session
Continuing from MUSIC 45, pianists will build on their musical skills through understanding music theory. Course covers minor scales (relative/parallel keys; three forms of the minor scale; primary chords in minor scales), chord inversions, chord progressions, and dominant seventh chords. Repertoire will include classical works and music suggested by students. Weekly class attendance and daily practice (five hours weekly) are expected.

Advanced Beginning Piano Class for Non-Music Majors: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session
Fundamentals of guitar performance, including tuning, basic pitch and rhythm reading, melody and chord playing.
Fundamentals of Guitar Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Diatonic sight singing, ear training, and keyboard harmony.
Musicianship I: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Continuation of diatonic sight singing and ear training, introduction to chromatic sight singing, ear training, keyboard harmony, and score reading.
Musicianship II: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Diatonic harmony, chorale harmonization, and analytical studies. Emphasis on written exercises.
Harmony I: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Introduction to chromatic harmony and analytical studies. Emphasis on written exercises.
Harmony II: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Introduction to the study of music history; required for music majors. This writing-intensive course offers an in-depth study of musical genres and styles in relation to conditions of production and reception. Through listening, reading musical scores, and studying historical documents, students will draw connections between specific features of music and the ways in which listening, performance, and the function of music have changed over time.
History of Music I: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2009
Focus on a variety of musical practices both historical and contemporary, including popular and religious forms. Content will vary and may include genres such as blues, jazz, gospel, and hip-hop, explored with attention to race, gender, and the working of the music industry.
African American Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Studies of selected traditional and popular musical practices from an ethnomusicological perspective. Taking into account local, regional, and transnational connections among the selected practices, this will include approaches to music making and listening, relevant music theory, issues of identity and power, connections to ritual, dance, and theater, and social, economic, and aesthetic values. Topic and geocultural area will vary.
Studies of Musics of the World: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Department organized and supervised field programs involving experiences in tutoring and related activities. Students taking the course for the first time will be provided with training suitable to the subject matter being tutored.
Field Studies: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Group study in a field that may not coincide with that of any regular course. See the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of the General Catalog for enrollment restrictions.
Directed Group Study for Freshmen and Sophomores: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Berkeley Connect is a mentoring program, offered through various academic departments, that helps students build intellectual community. Over the course of a semester, enrolled students participate in regular small-group discussions facilitated by a graduate student mentor (following a faculty-directed curriculum), meet with their graduate student mentor for one-on-one academic advising, attend lectures and panel discussions featuring department faculty and alumni, and go on field trips to campus resources. Students are not required to be declared majors in order to participate.
Berkeley Connect: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Directed individual study in a field that may not coincide with that of any regular course. See the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of the General Catalog for enrollment restrictions.
Independent Study for Freshmen and Sophomores: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2010 10 Week Session, Summer 2010 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2006 10 Week Session
A study of recent musical works from the 20th century to the present, emphasizing collaborations and influences from other art forms including poetry, dance, visual art, theater, and film.
New Music and the Arts: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2010 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2006 10 Week Session
A study of recent musical works from the 20th century to the present, emphasizing collaborations and influences from other art forms including poetry, dance, visual art, theater, and film.
New Music and the Arts: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Students will develop, in consultation with the instructor, a semester length project that focuses on creating a piece of music, and/or researching and building new software tools for music.
Independent Projects in Computer Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
A review of the sensory, perceptual, and cognitive foundations of listening, performing, and composing. Topics include relations among various acoustical and perceptual characterizations of sound; perceptions of pitch, time, temporal relations, timbre, stability conditions, and auditory space; auditory scene analysis and perceptual grouping mechanisms; perceptual principles for melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic organization; orchestration as spectral composition. A course research project is required.
Music Perception and Cognition: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
A review of the sensory, perceptual, and cognitive foundations of listening, performing, and composing. Topics include relations among various acoustical and perceptual characterizations of sound; perceptions of pitch, time, temporal relations, timbre, stability conditions, and auditory space; auditory scene analysis and perceptual grouping mechanisms; perceptual principles for melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic organization; orchestration as spectral composition. This course is restricted to declared Music Majors. These students will hold an individual meeting with the instructor to insure that their final projects are aligned closely with their musical skills and other coursework in the major. A course research project is required.
Music Perception and Cognition: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
The goal of this class is to interrogate and make explicit the powerful musical intuitions that are at work as you make sense of the music all around you. What is the nature of the knowledge that is guiding these intuitions? How does this knowledge develop in ordinary and extraordinary ways? To approach these questions, small composition-like projects aided by a specially designed computer music environment will function as a workplace. You will explore, experiment, question, and reflect on how and what you know how to do as you generate the musical coherence that you seem simply to find.
Music Cognition: The Mind Behind the Musical Ear: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
The goal of this class is to interrogate and make explicit the powerful musical intuitions that are at work as you make sense of the music all around you. What is the nature of the knowledge that is guiding these intuitions? How does this knowledge develop in ordinary and extraordinary ways? To approach these questions, small composition-like projects aided by a specially designed computer music environment will function as a workplace.
Music Cognition: The Mind Behind the Musical Ear: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
A systematic study of jazz theory including scales, chords, keyboard voicings, solo transcription, and tune study approached through playing, singing, listening, writing, improvization, analysis, and small ensemble playing.
Jazz Theory and Performance 1: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
A systematic study of jazz theory including scales, chords, keyboard voicings, solo transcription, and tune study approached through playing, singing, listening, writing, improvization, analysis, and small ensemble playing.
Jazz Theory and Performance 1: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Advanced concepts in theory and performance in the jazz vernacular tradition, including melodic minor and diminished chords and scales, reharmonization, changes, Coltrane changes, use of pentatonics and 4ths, playing outside, solo analysis, piano voicings, and an introduction to jazz arranging and composition. Activities will include short writing and playing exercises, transcription and analysis, historical and analytical readings, arranging and composition projects for small ensemble, and three hours of small ensemble rehearsal each week.
Jazz Theory and Performance 2: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Advanced concepts in theory and performance in the jazz vernacular tradition, including melodic minor and diminished chords and scales, reharmonization, changes, Coltrane changes, use of pentatonics and 4ths, playing outside, solo analysis, piano voicings, and an introduction to jazz arranging and composition. Activities will include short writing and playing exercises, transcription and analysis, historical and analytical readings, arranging and composition projects for small ensemble, and three hours of small ensemble rehearsal each week.
Jazz Theory and Performance 2: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
A systematic study of jazz theory including scales, chords, keyboard voicings, solo transcription, and tune study approached through playing, singing, listening, writing, improvization, analysis, and small ensemble playing.
Jazz Theory and Performance 1: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
For non-majors. A comparative study of different genres and composers in western music. Topic will vary each semester.
Topics in the History of European and American Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2013
A study of musical and dramatic aspects of opera. Lectures on selected operas will be supplemented by assigned recordings and films or videotapes of notable performances.
Opera: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2013
A study of musical and dramatic aspects of opera. Lectures on selected operas will be supplemented by assigned recordings and films or videotapes of notable performances. Analytical studies and a term paper required.
Opera: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
This course is an introduction to Beethoven's music and its historical contexts. While closely analyzing individual works, this course also examines how Beethoven and his music have been represented and interpreted until our own day, exploring the values--musical and cultural--that have ensured Beethoven's towering position in Western music.
Beethoven: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
This course is an introduction to Beethoven's music and its historical contexts. While closely analyzing individual works, this course also examines how Beethoven and his music have been represented and interpreted until our own day, exploring the values--musical and cultural--that have ensured Beethoven's towering position in Western music.
Beethoven: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Summer 2011 8 Week Session, Spring 2009
An introduction to the music of J. S. Bach (1685-1750), a central figure in the history of Western Art Music. The course includes discussion of his organ music, harpsichord works, cantatas, Passion settings, and instrumental chamber music, discusses the relationship between Bach's biography and his compositions, and places study of the man and his music in its cultural and historical context. Required work will include one short paper and one longer paper. There will also be weekly reading and listening assignments.
J. S. Bach: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Summer 2011 8 Week Session, Spring 2009
An introduction to the music of J. S. Bach (1685-1750), a central figure in the history of Western Art Music. The course includes discussion of his organ music, harpsichord works, cantatas, Passion settings, and instrumental chamber music, discusses the relationship between Bach's biography and his compositions, and places study of the man and his music in its cultural and historical context. Required work will include one medium-length paper, one longer research paper, and one analytical study. There will also be weekly reading and listening assignments.
J. S. Bach: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2011, Spring 1998, Fall 1995

Mozart and Haydn: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
A survey of the major symphonic repertory from the Baroque period through modern times, with emphasis on the Classical and Romantic periods.
Symphonic Literature: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2013, Spring 1997
This course will explore the question of whether music has meaning, and if so, what kind. Can music represent, say, birdsong, or the sea, or merely imitate? If music expresses emotions, then whose--those of the listener? The composer? The performer? We will consider parallels and contrasts between linguistic and musical meaning, theories of how music can be expressive, and the question of whether music can convey political meaning.
Music and Meaning: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2008, Spring 2005, Spring 2001
A study of song and the interaction of poetry and music, from late 18th through the 20th century, with texts in English, German, French, and Russian in translation. Music by composers ranging from Mozart and Schubert to Gershwin and Bernstein will be included, with occasional live performances by local artists.
The European/American Art Song: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2015 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2015 Second 6 Week Session
A survey of jazz music from the 1920's through the 1980's covering the major stylistic periods, including the New Orleans and Chicago styles of the 1920's, big band jazz, bebop, hardbop, free jazz, fusion, and neo-classicism. Major innovators to be studies in depth include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman.
History of Jazz in America: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2015 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2015 Second 6 Week Session
A survey of jazz music from the 1920's through the 1980's covering the major stylistic periods, including the New Orleans and Chicago styles of the 1920's, big band jazz, bebop, hardbop, free jazz, fusion, and neo-classicism. Major innovators to be studies in depth include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman. Satisfies music major elective requirement.
History of Jazz in America: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2010, Fall 2008, Spring 2007
Topic(s) in contemporary improvised music will be selected from among the following: innovations in jazz in the 1960s; further innovations in jazz in the 1970s; women in improvised music; improvisation, intermedia, and new technologies; the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM); the phenomenon of the composer/performer/improviser in today's music; a global look at improvisation: fusion and hybrid forms. Please contact instructor for information on current topic(s).
Topics in Contemporary Improvised Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2010, Fall 2008, Spring 2007
Topic(s) in contemporary improvised music will be selected from among the following: innovations in jazz in the 1960s; further innovations in jazz in the 1970s; women in improvised music; improvisation, intermedia, and new technologies; the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM); the phenomenon of the composer/performer/improviser in today's music; a global look at improvisation: fusion and hybrid forms. Please contact instructor for information on current topic(s).
Topics in Contemporary Improvised Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session
A study of the American musical in the 20th century, beginning with its roots in operetta, vaudeville, and Gilbert and Sullivan, and focusing on its connections to politics, technology, film, opera, and a variety of musical styles, including Tin Pan Alley, jazz, and rock. We will consider a selection of shows through a series of theme units, including American mythologies (and counter-mythologies), race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, issues of fandom and performance of personal identity. For non-majors.
The American Musical: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session
A study of the American musical in the 20th century, beginning with its roots in operetta, vaudeville, and Gilbert and Sullivan, and focusing on its connections to politics, technology, film, opera, and a variety of musical styles, including Tin Pan Alley, jazz, and rock. We will consider a selection of shows through a series of theme units, including American mythologies (and countermythologies), race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, issues of fandom, and performance of personal identity. For music majors.
The American Musical: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017
Songs can mark occasions, convey emotions, and create communities. We’ll explore the ways songs produce the different effects and impact that they do. We’ll analyze the qualities and moods created by melody and rhythm, the singing voice, phrasing and form. The aim is to develop a critical understanding and vocabulary about song—an awareness that will be applicable to the papers you write and the music you create. By the end of the term students will have written and recorded original songs and learned how to listen closely to and write about music. Assignments and discussion will emphasize keen listening, the challenge of describing musical experiences in writing, and developing creativity through engagement with song-writing.
Songs and Song-writing: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017
Songs can mark occasions, convey emotions, and create communities. We’ll explore the ways songs produce the different effects and impact that they do. We’ll analyze the qualities and moods created by melody and rhythm, the singing voice, phrasing and form. The aim is to develop a critical understanding and vocabulary about song—an awareness that will be applicable to the papers you write and the music you create. By the end of the term students will have written and recorded original songs and learned how to listen closely to and write about music. Assignments and discussion will emphasize keen listening, the challenge of describing musical experiences in writing, and developing creativity through engagement with song-writing.
Songs and Song-writing: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016
The decade from 1959-1969 was tremendously exciting in the evolution of Jazz. The experimentation with freedom principles and hybrid forms, the influences of African and Indian musical traditions, the larger socio-cultural revolution, and the rise of the Black Nationalist Movement all contributed to the making of a very potent and creative body of work which continues to influence many contemporary music and art scenes throughout the world today. Through lecture, guided listening, discussion, short papers and research projects, we’ll examine the acknowledged conventions in jazz pre-1960, how those conventions were transformed in various ways throughout the 60s, and how the new practices continue to influence artists today.
The Shape of Jazz to Come: Innovations in Jazz from 1959-1969: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016
The decade from 1959-1969 was tremendously exciting in the evolution of Jazz. The experimentation with freedom principles and hybrid forms, the influences of African and Indian musical traditions, the larger socio-cultural revolution, and the rise of the Black Nationalist Movement all contributed to the making of a very potent and creative body of work which continues to influence many contemporary music and art scenes throughout the world today. Through lecture, guided listening, discussion, short papers and research projects, we’ll examine the acknowledged conventions in jazz pre-1960, how those conventions were transformed in various ways throughout the 60s, and how the new practices continue to influence artists today.
The Shape of Jazz to Come: Innovations in Jazz from 1959-1969: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2013
This course will explore the question of whether music has meaning, and if so, what kind. Can music represent, say, birdsong, or the sea, or merely imitate? If music expresses emotions, then whose--those of the listener? The composer? The performer? We will consider parallels and contrasts between linguistic and musical meaning, theories of how music can be expressive, and the question of whether music can convey political meaning.
Music and Meaning: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2009, Spring 2009, Spring 2006
Historical and analytical study of African-American music in the 20th-century. Emphasis on the evolution of jazz and various forms of popular and religious music.
African American Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2014 First 6 Week Session
Historical and analytical study of African-American music in the 20th-century. Emphasis on the evolution of jazz and various forms of popular and religious music.
African American Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Summer 2012 10 Week Session, Summer 2012 First 6 Week Session
Includes the classical music traditions of both North and South India (Hindustani and Karnatak musics). Emphasis on class listening.
Music of India: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2009, Spring 2007, Spring 2005
Music of the Middle East, including folk, art, popular, and religious music of the Pan-Islamic and Israeli traditions.
Music of the Middle East: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Surveys the music of Indonesia (Java and Bali), Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and the Philippines--cultures which share instrumental types but have developed distinctive musical types. Recommended that students also enroll in Javanese Gamelon.
Music of Southeast Asia: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2014, Fall 2012, Spring 2011
Surveys musical traditions of Indonesia and mainland Southeast Asia with special emphasis on Java and Bali and the central role of music in theater and dance in these countries.
Music and Theater in Southeast Asia: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Fall 2005, Spring 2001
In-depth study of the Central Javanese gamelan tradition including performance contexts, repertoire, vocal and instrumental idioms, modal practice and improvisation in current practice and in historical perspective.
Music of Central Java: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2014, Fall 2012, Fall 2010
Surveys the musics of China, Tibet, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan--cultures which share instrument types but have developed distinctive musical styles.
Music of the East Asia Tradition: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2013, Fall 2011
Traditional classical music of Japan: Shinto ritual music, the imperial court orchestral music and dance, biwa and shakuhachi forms, chamber music for shamisen and koto, theatrical genres of kabuki and noh. Reading in music and pertinent Japanese literature in translation.
Music of Japan: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Fall 2004
This course explores the aesthetics and politics of sound - both musical and otherwise - in Chinese cultures. Through musical discourse and literary discourses on music, we trace the ways in which sound has been produced, heard, understood, and debated in both pre-modern and modern China. Topics include Confucian musical theory, Daoist hermeneutics, music, and poetry; the impact of recording technology and Western music; urban popular musics, sound and cinema, and contemporary soundscapes.
Sonic Culture in China: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2012, Spring 2010
Focus on the history, musical structure, and socio-political, economic, and cultural roles of selected traditional and popular music genres of the Caribbean.
Musics of the Caribbean: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 1998, Fall 1995
This course focuses on selected "world musics" to examine how, through their soundings, they make audible their entanglements with particular locales, times, and spaces. In focusing on their soundings, we will examine not only the music technologies they use, but also the diasporic connections they establish. Issues of power relations will be central to our exploration of how these musics circulate and what values (social, economic, and aesthetic) they have acquired on specific markets. In so doing, we will situate these musics in relation to colonial legacies, the politics of labeling, globalization, and music industries.
World Music: Power, Aesthetics, and Connections: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Spring 2013, Fall 2010
Historical and political analysis of a variety of genres related to the New Social Movements of the mid-20th century. Includes African American, European American, Asian American, Latino, and Native American styles.
Music of the Civil Rights Era: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2015
This course explores the intersections between aesthetic practice and social change. Students will investigate—in both theory and practice—the capacity of art making to cultivate transformation of themselves, their relationships, their practices, their institutions, and the larger economic and socio-political structures in which they function, locally and globally. Focusing on historical and contemporary artists and political issues, we ask: 1) How is art impacted by social change? 2) How has art been used toward social change? and 3) How can we, as course participants, use art to bring about social change?
Art and Activism: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session
Surveys the music of different world cultures. The particular culture to be studied will vary.
Topics in Musics of the World: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2015 10 Week Session, Summer 2015 Second 6 Week Session
As hip-hop becomes an increasingly prominent force in U.S. popular culture, it remains a paradoxical art form. As a musical and political tool, it challenges, complicates, and transforms the historical formations of race even as it gives expressive shape to the material realities of racial inequity. This course traces the social, cultural, and musical history of hip-hop in the U.S. through an excavation of seven urban centers: New York, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, New Orleans, Atlanta, Chicago, and Detroit. Our investigations will reveal the many alliances that have contributed to the innovation, production, and consumption of hip-hop across identity assemblages formed at the intersections of gender, race, sexuality, and ethnicity.
Topics in Musics of the World in the US: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session
A performing course for the study and practice of Indonesian music and instruments.
Javanese Gamelan: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
A performing course for the study and practice of Indonesian music and instruments.
Javanese Gamelan: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
May be taken for credit or audited.
University Symphony Orchestra: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
A performing course for the study and practice of traditional and contemporary wind band repertoire.
University Wind Ensemble: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2015 Second 6 Week Session
A performing course for the study and practice of traditional and contemporary wind band repertoire.
University Wind Ensemble: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017 8 Week Session
A course that will focus on the performance of choral music of the African American gospel music tradition with a particular emphasis on contemporary performance techniques. The Gospel Chorus, as is the case with other formal University music performance ensembles, will prepare music to be presented to the public in at least two concerts each semester. Students will be selected for the chorus on the basis of individual auditions.
Gospel Chorus: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
The University Chorus performs music primarily from the 17th to the 20th centuries including works for chorus and orchestra.
University Chorus: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
A smaller mixed chorus that aims at a professional standard of ensemble singing and explores the lesser-known choral repertory.
University Chamber Chorus: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Learn to perform music suited to Balinese gamelan Semar Pagulingan, Pelegongan, Baleganjur, or Gender Wayang (emphasis may change from one semester to the next). Classes will consist of instruction on playing technique and memorization of pieces taught by ear, in the traditional Balinese manner. The course will culminate with a public performance.
Balinese Gamelan: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Spring 2008, Spring 2007
This is an intermediate-advanced repertoire ensemble performing music that incorporates experimental practices in contemporary improvised music, encompassing several styles of music and a variety of approaches. We will work on traditionally notated scores as well as graphic notation and other structures. We will also look at game pieces such as John Zorn's Cobra, pieces by the graduate composers, and music using various conducting techniques for focusing ensembles of improvisers. All instruments welcome, including electronic and non-western.
Contemporary Improvisation Ensemble: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Performance of West African music with particular emphasis on the music of Ghana. Practical instruction in traditional instrumental and vocal techniques.
African Music Ensemble: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2016 10 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session
Performance of West African music with particular emphasis on the music of Ghana. Practical instruction in traditional instrumental and vocal techniques.
African Music Ensemble: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Performance of Renaissance and Baroque music for voices and instruments.
University Baroque Ensemble: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
By audition, for experienced performers of orchestral instruments. A directed program of study including participation in the University Symphony or other department-sponsored ensembles, in workshops, and in special projects. Will include instruction and/or coaching, individually or in groups. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance.
Instrumental Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
By audition for experienced vocalists. A comprehensive program of vocal studies including participation in University Choruses, vocal technique training, and ensemble work with other instrumentalists or vocalists. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance.
Vocal Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Fall 2015
The program will focus on the study of solo repertoire. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance.
Keyboard Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
By audition. Intermediate or advanced instruction in musical practices not encompassed in 150A-150B-150C, within the context of a directed academic program of studies. Students must have experience on the instrument or have studied it in the 130 series. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance.
Various Musical Practices Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Intermediate or advanced instruction in the performance of jazz and improvisation. A directed program of study including participation in department-sponsored or UC Jazz ensembles, workshops, and special projects where applicable. Will include instruction and/or coaching, individually or in groups. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Units range from 1 to 3, depending on number of lessons and ensemble participation.
Jazz Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
The program will include ensemble work in addition to the study of solo repertoire. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance.
Guitar Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
The program will include ensemble work in addition to the study of solo repertoire. The student's program will be worked out in consultation with the faculty in charge of the course. Each student's studies will lead to some kind of public performance.
Early Music Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Sight singing, ear training, keyboard harmony, and score reading involving increasing chromaticism.
Advanced Musicianship I: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017
Continuation of the skills acquired in prerequisite courses, with an emphasis on score reading skills (including use of the voice) and the realization of Baroque figured bass lines, harmonization, transcription, rhythm,study of several 20th-century and contemporary practices, and further work on ensemble singing.
Advanced Musicianship II: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Advanced chromatic harmony, advanced modulation, altered chords, linear chromatic harmony, and analytical studies. Emphasis on written exercises.
Advanced Tonal Harmony: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Materials and techniques of 20th-century music. Analytical studies. Emphasis on written exercises.
Twentieth-Century Harmony: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
A study of species counterpoint. Regular exercises in two and three voices required. Group discussion and analysis.
Counterpoint: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2010
A study of 18th-century counterpoint. Regular exercises required. Analysis of chorale preludes, two- and three-part inventions, canons, and fugue expositions.
Counterpoint: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
A study of formal problems using contemporary composition techniques.
Music Composition: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2015, Spring 2014
The study of various analytical techniques and their application to important works of music.
Studies in Musical Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2014, Fall 2012
A study of instrumentation--the construction capabilities and idiomatic qualities of all of the individual instruments which comprise the contemporary symphony orchestra followed by a study of the 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century orchestrational technique. Analysis of scores and assignments in scoring of selected instrumental combinations.
Orchestration: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
A study of instrumentation--the construction capabilities and idiomatic qualities of all of the individual instruments which comprise the contemporary symphony orchestra followed by a study of the 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century orchestrational technique. Analysis of scores and assignments in scoring of selected instrumental combinations.
Orchestration: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012
Basic concepts and techniques of computer-based music research, composition, and performance. Essentials of digital audio signal processing, musical acoustics and psychoacoustics, sound analysis and synthesis, musical databases, use of MIDI, computer programming for music, and computer-aided music analysis. Works from the computer music repertoire will be examined.
Musical Applications of Computers and Related Technologies: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session
Explores the intersection of music and computers using a combination of scientific, technological, and artistic methodologies. Musical concerns within a computational frame are addressed through the acquisition of basic programming skills for the creation and control of digital sound. Will learn core concepts and techniques of computerbased music composition using the Cycling74/MaxMSP programming environment in combination with associated software tools and programming approaches created by the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies. Included will be exposure to the essentials of digital audio signal processing, musical acoustics and psychoacoustics, sound analysis and synthesis. The course is hands-on and taught from the computer lab.
Sound and Music Computing with CNMAT Technologies: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
The practice and theory of contextual instrument design for use in musical expression is explored. Students create new instruments and performance environments using a variety of physical interaction paradigms, programming practices, and musical processes emerging from the UC Berkeley Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). Building on the methodologies established in Music 158A, the course develops aesthetic, analytic and technical skills through discussion, empirical study, and collaborative engagement. With a balance of artistic and technical concerns, participants deepen understanding of the creative process, demonstrating the results through class installation and public performance.
Situated Instrument Design for Musical Expression: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2015
Software engineering for musical applications covering programming concepts for live-performance real-time systems as well as cloud-based music information retrieval applications. Topics include the software representation of sound and music, real-time scheduling, analysis of gestures from systems of sensors, common design patterns, analysis and controlled synthesis, and machine learning applications for music understanding and creation. Behavior driven design and test driven development are core ideas that permeate the course.
Computer Programming for Music Applications: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
A study of the basic elements of conducting: physical gesture, score reading, and score analysis. Development of skills with emphasis on conducting and rehearsal techniques applicable to orchestral literature in various languages and musical styles. Preparation of selected works for rehearsal and performance in class. Should be taken in a two-semester sequence.
Instrumental Conducting: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2013
A study of the basic elements of conducting: physical gesture, score reading, and score analysis. Development of skills with emphasis on conducting and rehearsal techniques applicable to orchestral literature in various languages and musical styles. Preparation of selected works for rehearsal and performance in class. Should be taken in a two-semester sequence.
Instrumental Conducting: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2009
Continued development of skills introduced in 160 with emphasis on conducting and rehearsal techniques applicable to choral literature in various languages and musical styles. Preparation of selected works for rehearsal and performance in class.
Choral Conducting: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Summer 2015 10 Week Session, Summer 2015 3 Week Session, Summer 2007 3 Week Session
An intensive two-week workshop. Daily classes: conducting technique (MWF) and rehearsal technique (TTh), supplemented by two sessions on topics related to movement and vocal technique (W evening). Conducting technique classes will be taught at an intermediate/advanced level. See prerequisites.
Workshop in Choral Conducting: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2015
This is an intermediate-advanced level performance workshop in jazz-based improvisational music. Class participants will perform pieces from innovative jazz artists of the 60s and 70s up through and including music by contemporary composer/performer/improvisers who have come out of the jazz tradition. Course will also cover related theory and musicianship skills that enable the performer to improvise in this idiom.
Current Trends in Jazz and Improvisation-Based Musics--A Performance Workshop: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
This advanced small ensemble of improvisers (The Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective) will explore a range of repertoire including music by innovative jazz composers of the 1960s and 70s, as well as contemporary works and original student compositions and arrangements. Students will be expected to practice, compose, and arrange music for the bi-weekly rehearsals outside of class time, and will be given individual guidance on composing and arranging by appointment.
Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
A seminar for upper division music majors. Topics will change each semester but will always represent a fairly narrow focus on a single issue in the history, interpretation, or social meaning of music. The course provides students with an opportunity to go deeply into one subject, to discuss their ideas in a seminar setting, and to carry out a substantial independent research project.
Topics in History, Culture, and Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2016
A seminar for upper division music majors. The primary purpose of this course is to create an environment in which students can combine the research and analysis of music with live performance. The specific topic covered will change each semester. Class time will be divided equally among (1) historical and analytical readings; (2) discussion and analysis of recorded and live performances; (3) in-class performance. The final project will combine scholarly work and performance in the form of a lecture-recital or collaborative creative project.
Topics in Research and Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2003, Spring 2002
A study of music from ca. 1600-1750 with emphasis upon performance practices and styles.
The Performance of Baroque Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Fall 2002, Spring 2001

Mozart: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2011, Spring 2009, Spring 2008

Stravinsky: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
A seminar for upper division music majors. Topics will change each semester but will always represent a fairly narrow focus on a single issue in the history, interpretation, or social meaning of music. The course provides students with an opportunity to go deeply into one subject, to discuss their ideas in a seminar setting, and to carry out a substantial independent research project.
Topics in History, Culture, and Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
A seminar for upper division music majors and other prepared students by permission of the instructor. Topics will change each semester but will always concentrate on a selected musical practice from an ethnomusicological perspective. The course provides students with an opportunity to go deeply into one subject, to discuss their ideas in a seminar setting, and to carry out a substantial independent research project.
Seminar in Ethnomusicology: Selected Topics: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014
A seminar for upper division music majors. The primary purpose of this course is to create an environment in which students can combine the research and analysis of music with live performance. The specific topic covered will change each semester. Class time will be divided equally among (1) historical and analytical readings; (2) discussion and analysis of recorded and live performances; (3) in-class performance. The final project will combine scholarly work and performance in the form of a lecture-recital or collaborative creative project.
Topics in Research and Performance: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Individual tutorials leading to the completion of a special honors project.
Special Study for Honors Candidates in Music: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Department organized and supervised field programs involving experiences in tutoring and related activities. Students taking the course for the first time will be provided with training suitable to the subject matter being tutored.
Field Studies: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Not to serve in lieu of regular courses of instruction.
Group Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Berkeley Connect is a mentoring program, offered through various academic departments, that helps students build intellectual community. Over the course of a semester, enrolled students participate in regular small-group discussions facilitated by a graduate student mentor (following a faculty-directed curriculum), meet with their graduate student mentor for one-on-one academic advising, attend lectures and panel discussions featuring department faculty and alumni, and go on field trips to campus resources. Students are not required to be declared majors in order to participate.
Berkeley Connect: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2015
Not to serve in lieu of regular courses of instruction. Enrollment restrictions apply; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read More [+]