Admission requirements
There are no admission requirements for this elective course.
Description
With the transnational opening of the media market in the 1950s, the popular song made in the US and the UK reached new audiences on an unprecedented international scale. Figures such as Elvis, Little Richard and Billy Haley became icons of an emerging global space of interaction. The rest is history: the British invasion, punk and disco, pop and grunge, rap and EDM. Popular music came to stay. But is this ‘global’ dimension of popular music all there is to it?
From the Latin 'popularis', ‘popular’ means ‘prevalent among the people’, definition from whence its meaning as ‘widely supported’ derives in the first place. If that is right, then countless musical practices from every corner of the world (considered one’s own and that of others) should be labeled popular too. In addition, most of such traditions are engaged in the global space of interaction, significantly so in terms of marketing and distribution, which adds to the complexity of today’s musical picture.
In this course, the students explore the tension between the definitions of ‘popular’ and ‘global’ by examining a number of musical materials with an eye to formal features and socio-musical practices. Said materials include (but are not limited to) diverse styles of rock, pop and R&B as well as traditions from the Balkans, South America, East Asia, the Middle East and South Africa.
Course objectives
Upon completion of this course, students will:
Understand the complexities surrounding ‘popular’ and ‘global’ as categories of musical experience.
Gain introductory-level familiarity with the repertoires and practices that such headings stand for.
Develop basic skills to analyse and critically appreciate diverse musical materials in a global context.
Understand their own personal narratives of musical experience in light of broader narratives (e.g. cultural, subcultural, regional and national)
Timetable and location
Timetable
2018-2019, 2nd semester.
Monday mornings from 10.00 till 12.00 hrs (workgroup meetings and exam).
First workgroup meeting: 11 February 2019
Final workgroep meeting: 15 April 2019
Exam: Monday 29 April 2019
Please note: no meeting on 18 March 2019 and 22 April 2019.
Location
The workgroup sessions and the exam take place at P.N. van Eyckhof 2, 2311 BV Leiden, room 003.
Mode of instruction
Lectures and workshops
Course Load
Assessment method
Blackboard
Reading list
Compulsory: – Articles, to be disseminated via Blackboard and read in advance to every lecture; – Handouts
Recommended: – Philip V. Bohlman, World Music: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. – Simon Broughton & Mark Ellingham (eds.), The rough guide to world music. London and New York: Rough Guides, 2000. 2 vols – Nicholas Cook, Music: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, reprint 2000.
Other literature to be announced.
Registration
Register for this course via uSis.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration Studeren à la carte
Registration Contractonderwijs
Contact
Dhr. ir. R.T.W.L. Schneemann
Dhr. dr. C.M. Roos Muñoz
Remarks
For other courses in the domains of music and fine arts, please visit:
Overview of elective courses in music and fine arts: [URL STUDIEGIDS ACPA 2018-2019]
Information about ACPA's education: Elective courses music and fine arts