MCCCD Program Description

Survey of American Music

Course: MHL155

First Term: 2004 Spring

Lecture 3 Credit(s) 3 Period(s) 3 Load
Subject Type: Academic
Load Formula: S

Description: History of the music of North America from the earliest American Indian music to the present. Introduction to the musical trends, composers, socioeconomic developments and trends, musical forms and styles that influence our modern American musical sense

MCCCD Official Course Competencies
1. List the major influences in early American music. (I) 2. Identify major early American composers. (I) 3. List musical traits, trends, and forms that accompany each of the major influences, using terminology from the American music scene. (I, II, III) 4. Identify musical examples from the early American historical period. (I) 5. Describe major historical and socioeconomical influences on American music. (I, II, III) 6. Contrast early American music with major European musical forms and ideas. (I) 7. Contrast band and orchestral music. (III) 8. Identify and explain major nationalistic elements of American music. (I, II, III) 9. Define and contrast major musical forms, such as minstrel, folk, jazz, rock, and classical music, as developed in American music. (II, III) 10. Cite musical examples of each of the musical forms that developed in American music of the Twentieth Century. (III) 11. Contrast early and modern American Indian, African-American, folk, classical, jazz, rock, and musical comedy ideas and idioms. (I, II, III)
MCCCD Official Course Competencies must be coordinated with the content outline so that each major point in the outline serves one or more competencies. MCCCD faculty retains authority in determining the pedagogical approach, methodology, content sequencing, and assessment metrics for student work. Please see individual course syllabi for additional information, including specific course requirements.

MCCCD Official Course Outline
I. Before the Nineteenth Century A. The first American song-American Indian music B. European inroads-early Christian music making C. From ritual to art-development of sacred music D. Colonial song, dance, and home music making E. Early military, concert, and theatre music F. Maintaining oral traditions-African music in early America G. New England psalmody reformed II. The Nineteenth Century A. Lowell Mason: Southern and frontier devotional music B. Theatre and opera: 1800-1860s C. Blacks, whites, and the minstrel stage D. Home music making and the publishing industry: Parlor songs, bands, and orchestras E. From church to concert hall F. Significant composers and musicians 1. Anthony Phillip Heinrich 2. Louis Moreau Gottschalk 3. William Henry Fry 4. George W. Chadwick 5. Amy Beach 6. Edward McDowell G. Musical nationalism H. American Indian music from 1820 I. Slave songs and other Black music through the 1800s J. Songs of the later Nineteenth Century 1. John Phillip Sousa 2. The phonograph 3. The rise of Tin Pan Alley III. The Twentieth Century A. Charles Ives B. The Jazz Age 1. Duke Ellington 2. Count Basie 3. Swing 4. Jazz 5. Broadway 6. Musical performance C. Classical music, mass media, and the Great Depression D. Classical music in the post-war years E. Minimalists F. The Gap: 1960s-1980s G. American folk song collectors H. The golden age of the American musical I. The rise of rock and roll J. Post-war popular trends K. Popular music and ethnicity L. Black music and American identity M. The Beatles N. Rock O. Popular music

MCCCD Governing Board Approval Date: 11/27/2001

All information published is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, but based on the dynamic nature of the curricular process, course and program information is subject to change in order to reflect the most current information available.