Music

This course, designed for students who have little or no previous experience in music, will present an approach to the study of music that includes studying some concepts of music theory (rhythms, scales, keys, intervals, harmony). The course will also include a study of some of the great masterpieces though listening, reading, and discussion.

This course concentrates on basic music theory of the common practice period. If time permits, instruction includes ear training, sight singing, and work on scales and intervals.

This course will present ways to facilitate musicianship through the use of technology. Course topics include an introduction to music notation software, MIDI and audio recording, signal processing, and interactive music system programming. The course will address past, current, and emerging trends in music technology as they relate to facilitating an understanding of musical concepts. Students may not receive credit for both MU 2300 and MU 230X. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter.

How are we able to distinguish instruments, timbres and rhythms from the intertwined sonic stream presented by the world? How do we organize these elements in time to create rhythms, melodies, phrases and pieces? How do perception and memory interact to allow us navigate a musical work? We will explore these questions by considering the cognitive and perceptual processes that shape our musical experience. Topics will include event distinction, temporal perception, hierarchical organization, perceptual grouping, expertise, memory and categorization. We will illustrate these ideas in musical contexts by listening to a variety of musical works. We will consider how psychological principles are applied to music technologies, such as compression algorithms, mixing methodologies and the field of music information retrieval. We will consider experiments that focus on some of these topics to further our understanding about how we experience music. Note: Students that received credit for MU 202X may not receive credit for MU 2501. Students also may not receive credit for both MU 2501 and PSY 2501. This course can count for either the HUA or the SSPS requirement, but it cannot double count for both the HUA and SSPS graduation requirements.

Fundamentals II is a course on music theory at the advanced level beginning with secondary dominants and modulations and working through 19th-century chromatic harmony.

The Glee Club is one of WPI’s choral ensembles and the oldest student organization on campus. Glee Club performs many styles and periods of the vast repertoire of music featuring tenor and bass voices. Several times each year the Glee Club and Alden Voices (soprano and alto voices) join forces as the WPI Festival Chorus to perform major works of the repertoire. The Glee Club regularly performs on campus, throughout the Worcester area, and takes international and domestic tours. Rehearsals are held weekly. No audition is required. The course is open to all who are interested and sing in the tenor and bass range.

Alden Voices is one of WPI’s choral ensembles and also functions as a student organization on campus. Alden Voices performs many styles and periods of the vast repertoire of music featuring soprano and alto voices. Several times each year the Alden Voices and the Glee Club (tenor and bass voices) join forces as the WPI Festival Chorus to perform major works of the repertoire. Alden Voices regularly performs on campus, throughout the Worcester area, and takes international and domestic tours. Rehearsals are held weekly. No audition is required. The course is open to all who are interested and sing in the soprano and alto range.

The Brass Ensemble performs frequently on campus and on tour and is open to students who perform on trumpet, trombone, euphonium, French horn, tuba, or tympani. Renaissance antiphonal music is included in the repertoire. Rehearsals are held weekly. Students are expected to perform with the ensemble and to know how to read music. Permission of the instructor is necessary to register.

The Concert Band is a large ensemble that performs several concerts a year as well as on tour. Membership is open to those who play traditional wind, brass or percussion instruments. Rehearsals are held weekly. Students are expected to perform with the ensemble and to know how to read music.

The Orchestra performs music for both a string ensemble and full orchestra on campus and on tour. Rehearsals are held weekly. Students are expected to perform with the ensemble and to know how to read music.

The Chamber Choir is WPI’s smaller, audition-based, choral ensemble. This ensemble explores specific stylistic techniques as pertains to the music of the Renaissance, Baroque, twentieth century, jazz, and extended vocal techniques (electronic, digital and experimental). The ensemble meets weekly. Students are expected to be of the highest vocal caliber and should possess advanced sight-reading techniques. Open to all who are interested. Permission of the instructor is necessary to register.

The String Quartet is an audition-based, select ensemble. Members are required to also participate in Orchestra. The quartet meets weekly and performs both on campus and on tour. Students are expected to be of the highest caliber of string players and know how to read music. Permission of the instructor is necessary to register.

The African Drumming Ensemble meets weekly and performs both on campus and at community venues. Students of all experience levels are welcome to join. Auditions are not required for this ensemble, nor is the ability to read music. Traditional West African percussion styles are the primary focus of the ensemble, but other styles of music are also part of the ensemble’s repertory.

The Percussion Ensemble is an audition-based, select ensemble. The Percussion Ensemble performs a wide stylistic range of music from opera overtures to twentieth century minimalist compositions, to Caribbean songs. The ensemble meets weekly and performs on campus during the school year. Students must know how to read music. Permission of the instructor is necessary to register.

The Jazz Combo is a small ensemble that performs frequently on campus and on tour, playing jazz arrangements written for a small ensemble with major emphasis on improvisation. Rehearsals are held weekly. Students are expected to perform with the ensemble, know how to read music, and have experience with improvisation. This is an auditioned group. Permission of the instructor is necessary to register.

The Jazz Ensemble is an intermediate level ensemble that performs traditional and contemporary big band literature with an emphasis on stylistically appropriate interpretation and performance practice. The ensemble performs frequently on campus and on tour. Rehearsals are held weekly. Students are expected to perform with the ensemble and to know how to read music. This is an auditioned group. Permission of the instructor is necessary to register.

The Stage Band is an advanced level ensemble that performs traditional and contemporary big band literature with an emphasis on stylistically appropriate interpretation and performance practice. The ensemble performs frequently on campus and on tour. Rehearsals are held weekly. Students are expected to perform with the ensemble and to know how to read music. This is an auditioned group. Permission of the instructor is necessary to register.

Through an introduction to the musical contributions of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and others, students are exposed to the chronological development of the language of jazz. Each jazz era is examined in detail including the musical and social contexts which helped define it. Participants are expected to build aural skills with the goal of identifying specific historical periods through the recognition of particular musical characteristics. Students examine in depth one artist of their choice. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter. [This replaces MU 4623. Credit is not allowed for both MU 4623 and MU 2719.]

This course provides a historical survey of Western music from Medieval through Baroque periods with an emphasis on understanding stylistic traits and theoretical concepts of the eras. Topics include Gregorian chant and secular monophony; evolution of musical notation; development of polyphonic music; and vocal and instrumental genres such as mass, motet, madrigal, opera, cantata, sonata, and concerto, among others. No prior background in music is necessary. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter.

This course provides a historical survey of Western music from the Classical period to the present with an emphasis on understanding stylistic traits and theoretical concepts of the eras. Topics include the development of genres such as sonata, string quartet, concerto, symphony, symphonic poem, character piece, Lied, and opera; and 20th century trends of impressionism, primitivism, atonality, serialism, minimalism, aleatory music, and electronic music. No prior background in music is necessary.

This course will explore the uniqueness of Americas popular music and its origins in the music of Africa and the folk music of Europe. Particular emphasis will be given to the origins and history of rock ‘n roll examining its roots in blues and early American popular music. [This replaces MU 4625. Credit is not allowed for both MU 4625 and MU 2722.]

This course will investigate the sonic organization of musical works and performances, focusing on fundamental questions involved in the process of composition: How do I connect different ideas? How can I make a larger work out of smaller parts? How can I vary statements to create interest without compromising coherence? Where do I start? A progressive series of composition projects will build techniques in relevant areas including rhythm, harmony, melody, and form. Exercises in mechanics will be complemented by contemplation and discussion of artistic, aesthetic and philosophical ideas that are equally important in the compositional process. We will examine the relationship between musical works and how they are communicated as instructions to others (e.g. orally, as symbols, prose, graphic images, or computer programs). Weekly listening, reading, and composition assignments draw on a broad range of musical styles and intellectual traditions from various cultures and historical periods.

This course will explore automatic mechanical (electro)acoustic instruments, the people that design and build them and the music that they make. The subject is inherently interdisciplinary, so activities will engage with historical, musical, and technical matters. The history of automatic mechanical instruments reaches back centuries: we will study past designs so that we can better contextualize modern efforts, which have progressed alongside increasing computational power and machine sensing abilities. We will consider the music that has been composed using such instruments including the works of Anthiel, Nancarrow, Ligeti, Gann, and Metheny. In doing so, we will develop analytical tools required to understand such music and will illuminate relationships between electromechanical capabilities and musical ideas. The technical components of this course will introduce students to principles involved in instrument design, actuators, electronic circuits, microcontrollers, and musical programming environments. We will do all of this with our mind open to the question of how we can design new machines to make new kinds of music. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter.

This course introduces students to selected musical cultures of the world, e.g., Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, from the ethnomusicological perspective by examining their musical styles as well as cultural and social contexts. Students will be expected to read materials in interdisciplinary areas, including musical ethnographies. No prior background in music is necessary. This course will be offered in 2021-22, and in alternating years thereafter.

Students will study specific characteristics of instruments and the voice to enable them to successfully arrange vocal and instrumental music. Students will need to possess a basic knowledge of music theory. Suggested background for this course is MU 1611 (Fundamentals of Music I) or its equivalent.

This course will use music as a device to examine issues such as war, racial discrimination, refugee / homelessness, rehabilitation, and personal suffering. Works to be examined may include: Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem – critique and reactions to the World Wars; James MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados – a work highlighting the tragedies of political repression in Latin America; and Joel Thompson’s Seven Last Words of the Unarmed – a piece of social justice that humanizes the black men who were unarmed, yet killed by authority figures. Along with the music, there may also be discussion of individual artists who have been outspoken about social issues, such as Leonard Bernstein in the 1960s, Dimitri Shostakovich under Stalin’s rule, and contemporary pop and jazz artists.
This course will be offered in 2021-22, and in alternating years thereafter.

This course examines topics in Music Technology in which the application of MIDI and MIDI systems play a significant role. Topics may vary each year among the following areas: sequencing, live performance, composition, and film scoring. Students can take MU 3614 only one time for credit, but a student interested in taking another version can take a second one as an ISU. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter.

This course examines topics in Music Technology in which Digital Sound plays a significant role. Topics may vary each year among the following areas: digital editing, audio recording, film scoring, game audio, sound effects, audio production, theatrical sound, and surround sound. Students can take MU 3615 only one time for credit, but a student interested in taking another version can take a second one as an ISU. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter.

This course examines topics in Music Technology in which Interactive Programming plays a significant role. Topics may vary each year among the following areas: real time performance controllers, algorithmic composition, interface design, sensor technology, and gesture detection. Students can take MU 3616 only one time for credit, but a student interested in taking another version can take a second one as an ISU. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter.

This course will address concepts of composition through the use of technology. Students will examine existing compositions in electronic music, art music, popular music, film, multimedia, games, and more, and compose new works within these genres. Students will present newly composed works each class and discuss their aesthetic values, musical functions, and technical underpinnings. Students may not receive credit for both MU 3620 and MU 362X. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter.

This course examines harmonic and melodic relationships as applied to jazz and popular music composition. Students are introduced to a wide range of jazz improvisational performance practices. Topics include compositional forms, harmonic structures, major and minor keys, blues, modal jazz, and re-harmonization techniques. Students are expected to have a basic knowledge of reading music. [This replaces MU 4624. Credit is not allowed for both MU 4624 and MU 2730.]

Students electing to complete their Humanities and Arts Requirement in music may, for one of their five courses, undertake 1/3 unit (normally at 1/12 unit per term) of private vocal or instrumental instruction. (Supplemental ensemble work is also strongly recommended.) The student must receive prior approval by a member of the WPI music faculty, and the instruction must be beyond the elementary level. Lessons involve a separate fee. Note that the maximum of 1/3 unit credit for lessons may be earned in addition to 1/3 unit credit for performance (see condition A or B below). Additional work, either in performance or lessons, may be acknowledged on the WPI transcript but will carry no WPI credit. Private lessons: voice, piano, organ, winds, brass, strings, and percussion. Students who sing or play a traditional band or orchestra instrument at the intermediate level or better may enroll for any of the ensembles listed below. Students will register at the beginning of A term and receive 1/6 unit at the end of B term for participation in both terms. Students may also register at the beginning of C term and receive 1/6 unit at the end of D term for participation in both terms. Students may apply up to 1/3 unit of performing ensembles to the Humanities and Arts course requirement.