ETHNOMUSICOLOGY (MUSC 4112/5112)

Syllabus: Fall 2004

Instructor: Jay Keister

Class time: MW 4:00-5:15

Office: N124; Tel: 303-492-5496; keister@colorado.edu

Office hours: TBA

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is an introductory study of the definition, scope and methods of ethnomusicology, the study of music and how it functions in (or as) culture. The objectives of this course are for students to: 1) become familiar with the theoretical approaches of ethnomusicology; 2) explore the techniques and methods of investigating music in culture; 3) become familiar with bibliographic sources in ethnomusicology; 4) learn how to analyze music as part of its cultural context.

READINGS:

All readings for this class will be placed on Reserve in the Music Library (see Reading List at end of syllabus). There is no textbook for this class.

GRADING:

Undergraduate students

10% Socio-cultural Paper: a short paper (approx. 4 pages) on music and the socio-cultural system (Guidelines to be handed out in class). DUE September 13^th.

20% Transcription Assignment: each student will make a transcription of a musical recording chosen by the professor and write a brief (1-2 pages) summary/analysis of the work. DUE September 27^th.

25% Fieldwork Project: a project in which students will study a musical event or series of events in a community in the front range area by observing and/or participating ≥in the field.≤ Students will work in groups on this assignment and present an oral report in class. Each student will turn in a brief, written report. DUE end of October.

35% Research paper and oral presentation: a scholarly paper of original research that demonstrates your knowledge of literature in ethnomusicology. Choice of topic is open, but must be approved by instructor. Your paper may be an extension of your Fieldwork Project, your Transcription Assignment, or a new topic.

10% Participation: students are expected to attend class regularly, contribute to discussions and occasionally make presentations. Missed classes will lower your grade and hinder your ability to participate. It is your participation, not the quality of your comments, that is most valued. Students should not be embarrassed to ask any question as this subject is most likely unfamiliar to everyone. The instructor can best gauge how to pace this class based on feedback from students.

Attendance: 3 unexcused absences will lower your grade.

Graduate students

5% Socio-cultural paper (Same as above).

10% Transcription Assignment: (Same as above).

15% Fieldwork project: (Same as above).

35% Research paper and oral presentation: (Same as above)

15% Participation, Discussions and Class presentations. Graduate students will be expected to participate by leading classroom discussions and making presentations on the course material. Instructor will assign presentations to students throughout the semester. As stated above, missed classes will damage your participation grade.

20% Journal of commentaries that documents each class reading. These commentaries, due each week throughout the course, should briefly summarize each reading and include your critical reaction to the authorπs work. Try to determine what kind of theory or bias might be influencing the author and describe how you think the author contributes (or fails to contribute) to the field of ethnomusicology.

Weekly schedule: (reading assignments are subject to change)

1) Aug. 23: Class introduction; Aug. 25: discuss Nettl (Prelude and Ch. 1)

2) Aug. 30: Kaemmer (Ch. 1); Sept. 1: Kaemmer (Ch. 2)

3) Sept. 6: (Holiday); Sept. 8: Kaemmer (Ch. 3)

4) Sept. 13: SOCIO-CULT. PAPER DUE; Kaemmer (Ch. 5); Sept. 15: Kaemmer (Ch. 6)

5) Sept. 20: Ellingson (≥Transcription≤); Sept. 22: Nettl (Ch. 6)

6) Sept. 27: TRANSCRIPTION DUE; Myers (≥Fieldwork≤); Sept. 29: Nettl (Ch. 18)

7) Oct. 4: Nettl (Ch. 19); Oct. 6: Hood (Ch. 4)

8) Oct. 11: Titon (≥Knowing Fieldwork≤); Oct. 13: Rice (≥Toward a Mediationä≤)

9) Oct. 18 and 20: Blacking How Musical is Man?

10) Oct. 25 and 27: FIELDWORK PROJECT GROUP PRESENTATIONS

11) Nov. 1 and 3: FIELDWORK PRESENTATIONS

12) Nov. 8: Becker ≥A Musical Icon≤; Nov. 10: Turino ≥The Coherence of Social Style≤

13) Nov. 15: Feld ≥Flow Like a Waterfall≤; Nov. 17: Feld ≥Aesthetics as Iconicity≤

14) Nov. 22 and 24: Slobin ≥Micromusics of the West≤

15) Nov. 29 and Dec. 1: Kingsbury Music, Talent and Performance

16) Dec. 6 and 8: FINAL PROJECT presentations Monday and Wednesday

FINAL: Sat. Dec. 11, 10:30-1:00 FINAL presentations (missing Final will lower your grade)

Ethnomusicology: Selected Readings

Becker, Judith and Alton. 1990 [originally 1981]. ≥A Musical Icon: Power and Meaning in Javanese Gamelan Music.≤ In The Garland Library of Readings in Ethnomusicology: Volume 7, A Century of Ethnomusicological Thought, edited by Kay Kaufman Shelemay, pp. 305-317. New York: Garland Publishing.

Blacking, John. 1973. How Musical is Man? Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.

Ellingson, Ter. 1992. ≥Transcription.≤ In Ethnomusicology: An Introduction, edited by Helen Myers, pp. 110-152. New York: Norton.

Feld, Steven. 1981. ≥Flow Like a Waterfall: The Metaphors of Kaluli Musical Theory.≤ Yearbook for Traditional Music 13, 22-47.

_________. 1994. ≥Aesthetics as Iconicity of Style or åLift-up-over-Soundingπ: Getting into the Kaluli Groove.≤ In Music Grooves: Essays and Dialogues, Keil, Charles and Steven Feld, 109-150. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Herndon, Marcia. 1990 (originally 1974). ≥Analysis: The Herding of Sacred Cows?≤ In The Garland Library of Readings in Ethnomusicology Volume 5: Cross-Cultural Musical Analysis, edited by Kay Kaufman Shelemay, 259-302. New York: Garland Publishing.

Hood, Mantle. 1982. The Ethnomusicologist. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press.

Kaemmer, John E. Music in Human Life: Anthropological Perspectives on Music. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

Kingsbury, Henry. 1988. Music, Talent, and Performance: A Conservatory Cultural System. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Lomax, Alan. 1968. Folk Song Style and Culture. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.

Merriam, Alan P. 1964. The Anthropology of Music. Northwestern University Press.

Myers, Helen. 1992. ≥Fieldwork.≤ In Ethnomusicology: An Introduction, edited by Helen Myers, pp. 21-49. New York: Norton.

Nettl, Bruno. 1983. The Study of Ethnomusicology. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Qureshi, Regula. 1987. ≥Music Sound and Contextual Input: a Performance Model for Musical Analysis.≤ Ethnomusicology 31, 56-87.

Rice, Timothy. ≥Toward a Mediation of Field Methods and Field Experience in Ethnomusicology.≤ 1997. In Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology, edited by Gregory F. Barz and Timothy J. Cooley, pp. 101-120. New York: Oxford University Press.

Seeger, Anthony. 1990 [originally 1980]. ≥Sing for your Sister: the structure and performance of Suya Akia.≤ In The Garland Library of Readings in Ethnomusicology: Volume 7, A Century of Ethnomusicological Thought, edited by Kay Kaufman Shelemay, pp. 269-304. New York: Garland Publishing.

______________. 1987. Why Suya Sing: A Musical Anthropology of an Amazonian People. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Slobin, Mark. 1992. ≥Micromusics of the West: A Comparative Approach.≤ Ethnomusicology 36(1): 1-87.

Sugarman, Jane. 1989. ≥The nightingale and the partridge: Singing and gender among Prespa Albanians.≤ Ethnomusicology 33:191-215.

Titon, Jeff Todd. ≥Knowing Fieldwork.≤ 1997. In Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology, edited by Gregory F. Barz and Timothy J. Cooley, pp. 87-100. New York: Oxford University Press.

Turino, Thomas. 1989. ≥The Coherence of Social Style and Musical Creation among the Aymara in Southern Peru.≤ Ethnomusicology 33(1):1-30.

Some Important Journals for Ethnomusicologists:

Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology Online

Yearbook for Traditional Music

Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council

Yearbook for inter-American Musical Research

Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology

Worlds of Music

Music and Anthropology

Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology

Area journals:

Asian Music: journal of the Society for Asian Music

American Music

The American Music Research Journal

African Music: journal of the African Music Society

Black Music Research Journal

Encyclopedias:

The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music

The New Grove Dictionary

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KWASIπS MOST RECENT SYLLABUS:

MUSC 4112/5112

Kwasi Ampene

Ethnomusicology

N134 Music Building

Fall 2003    Office Hours: M 1-2:30pm/Thur 1-3pm

MWF 10:00am-10:50am    Tel: 2-6439

MUS C191    E-mail: kwasi.ampene@colorado.edu

Introduction to Ethnomusicology

The course introduces students to "Ethnomusicology" and aims to give an overall understanding of the discipline through a survey of its history, theory, and methodology. Additionally, we shall examine the theoretical discussions and technical aspects of research activities commonly associated with the discipline including musical transcription and analysis, and fieldwork/research. We shall interrogate a specific topic every week with relevant readings assigned.  There will be two main projects: transcription and analysis, and field research discussed in detail below. The course will benefit from my personal experiences in field research, as well as my audio-visual materials from the field. Lectures will be supplemented with, when possible, guest speakers/artists, and demonstrations.

Required Readings

There are no required textbooks for this course, although numerous readings from different sources will be placed on reserve in the Music Library. Many of the readings will be reviewed by designated students and presented orally in class. Other readings will be assigned as background material for general discussion.

Course Requirements

You are required to participate in all class discussions and activities-this means completing any reading and/or writing assignments on time. You are responsible for attending lectures regularly.

Transcription and Analysis Project

We shall interrogate different techniques, methodologies, and ideologies related to music transcription. Based on the premise that transcription is, in itself, an act of musical analysis, you will transcribe a piece of music (on reserve in the Music Library) and orally present your project in class. A written paper is due on October 1st,  in other to obtain your mid-term grade.

Fieldwork Project

You will design and execute a mini-fieldwork project based on the three main components of field research namely: 1) Preparation (proposal/research design) 2) Fieldwork (Participant-Observation i.e. studying and documenting expressive culture on site) and 3) Ethnography (interpreting data from the field). The second component will necessitate the use of audio-visual equipment. There will be a handout to guide you with the proposal writing. You will carry out these three phases of fieldwork throughout the semester after choosing a performing group on campus or in the community. Your final project (a written paper with footnotes, bibliography, etc; and a separate oral presentation) will be based on your sustained contact with and documentation of the performing group. Your paper should be based on thoughtful, interpretive study addressing some of the issues raised in class. You are free to choose any performing group you wish for your project, although, I reserve the right to reject any proposal I feel is inappropriate. The project may either examine a particular music (event/performance/tradition/genre) or be theoretically or conceptually oriented, addressing some of the issues discussed in class. You may consult with me any time during the semester. Note in the course schedule below that you are required to submit a proposal on 10/1, for approval before beginning your project.

Grading Procedure

Undergraduates

20% Reviews: Should mention, among others, the main thesis and other relevant points raised by the author followed by your own views about the subject at hand. All reviews must be 1-2 pages long, typed and double-spaced.

30% Mid-Term: A short paper (3-4 pages) on the transcription and analysis project; may include but not limited to background of the music, social context, genre, gender, footnotes, bibliography etc.

40% Final Paper: Your fieldwork project should result in an extended essay of a maximum of 10 pages in addition to footnotes, bibliography, discography and the URL for web pages.

10% Oral Presentation: You will give a 10 minute oral presentation towards the end of the semester and during exam week.

Graduates

20% Reviews: Reviews: Should mention, among others, the main thesis other relevant points raised by the author followed by your own views about the subject at hand. All reviews must be 1-2 pages long, typed and double-spaced.

30% Mid-Term: A short paper (3-4 pages) on the transcription and analysis project; may include but not limited to background of the music, social context, genre, gender, bibliography etc.

40% Final Paper: Your fieldwork project should result in an extended essay of a maximum of 10 pages in addition to footnotes, bibliography, discography and the URL for web pages.

10% Oral Presentation: You will give a 10-minute oral presentation towards the end of the semester and during exam week.

GRADING POLICY

A+ = 96-100

A = 93-95  B- =80-82

A?  = 90-92  C+ = 77-79

B+ = 87-89  C = 73-76

C- = 70-72

B = 83-86  D =

COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS

Week 1 Mon August 25, 2003

Introduction to the course, goals, requirements, responsibilities, attendance and participation

Wed 8/27: What is Ethnomusicology?

What has been said; What has been done

Helen Myers, ed. Ethnomusicology: An Introduction (The Macmillan Press, 1992). pp. 3-18. Undergrads and Grads Review

Bruno Nettl, Theory and Method of Ethnomusicology, (New York: Free Press, 1964).

Read pp. 1-26.

Fri 8/29: Alan Merriam, "Definition of Comparative Musicology" and "Ethnomusicology': An Historical Theoretical Perspective," Ethnomusicology XXI (1977): 189-204. Grads Review

Bruno Nettl, The Study of Ethnomusicology; Twenty-Nine Issues and Concepts, (University of Illinois Press, 1983). pp. 1-25   Undergrads Review

Week 2: Bi-Musicality? The Hood Approach to Ethnomusicology

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 1: LABOR DAY NO CLASSES

Wed 9/3: Mantle Hood, ÏThe Challenge of Bi-Musicality,Ó Ethnomusicology,  IV  (1960): pp. 55-99. Grads Review

Background Reading: Mantle Hood, The Ethnomusicologist, New edition (Kent State University, Kent Ohio, 1982). Read pp.1-23

Fri 9/5: Mantle Hood, ÏEthnomusicology and Bronze Age in Y2K,Ó Ethnomusicology. 44 (3) 2000, pp. 365-375

Week 3 Mon 9/8: Focus on Behavior? The Merriam Approach to Ethnomusicology

Alan Merriam, The Anthropology of Music, (Northwestern University Press, 1964).

Chapter VI, Physical and Verbal Behavior   Undergrads Review

Wed 9/10: Merriam, Chpt. VII: Social Behavior: The Musician  Grads Review

Background Reading: John Kaemmer, Chpt. 3. The Sociocultural Matrix: Conceptual Factors in Music in Human Life: Anthropological Perspectives on Music, (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1993) pp. 58-68

Fri 9/12 Guidelines for research design and discussion

Week 4 Mon 9/15, Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology

G. F. Barz, ÏConfronting the Field (Note) In and Out of the Field: Music, Voices, Text, and Experiences in Dialogue,Ó in Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology, G. F. Barz & T. J. Cooley, eds., (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 45-62    Grads Review

Wed 9/17: Timothy Rice, ÏToward a Mediation of Field Methods and Field Experience in Ethnomusicology,Ó Ibid., pp. 101-120  Undergrads Review

Fri 9/19: Ethics and Gender in Fieldwork

Kofi Agawu, ÏThe Ethics of Representation.Ó In Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions, (New York and London: Routledge Press, 2003), pp. 199-220. Grads Review

Carol M. Babiracki, ÏWhatÌs the Difference? Reflections on Gender and Research in Village India,Ó in Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology, G. F. Barz & T. J. Cooley, eds., (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 45-62 pp. 121-138   Grads & Undergrads Review

Background Reading

Anthony Seeger, ÏEthnography of MusicÓ in Ethnomusicology: An Introduction, (London: Macmillan Press, 1992), pp. 88-109.

J. Post, M. R. Bucknum, L. Sercombe, Manual for Documentation Fieldwork & Preservation for Ethnomusicologist,Ó (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1994)

Week 5 Mon 9/22: Musical Transcription in Ethnomusicology

Charles Seeger, ÏPrescriptive and Descriptive Music-Writing,Ó The Musical Quarterly, 44 (2) 1958, pp. 184-195     Grads Review

Nazir Jairazbhoy, "The 'Objective' and 'SubjectiveÌ View in Music Transcription" in Ethnomusicology XXI.2 (1977): pp. 263-274.   Undergrads Review

Background Reading

Ter Ellingson, ÏTranscriptionÓ in Ethnomusicology: An Introduction, ed. by Helen Myers (London: The Macmillan Press, 1992). pp. 110-152.

Wed 9/24: Current Field Technology and Transcription Devices

Guest Lecture: Prof. Andrew May

Fri 9/26: ORAL PRESENTATION OF TRANSCRIPTION PROJECT

Week 6. Mon 9/29: Oral Presentation of Transcription Project

Wed 10/1: Oral Presentation of Transcription Project

Written Report on Transcription and Fieldwork Proposal Due

October 2-3, Fall Break. No Classes

Week 7: Mon 10/6 & Wed 10/8 A reflection on my personal experiences in fieldwork

Fri 10/10: Guest Speaker: Prof. John Galm: A reflection on personal experiences in fieldwork

Week 8: 10/13 Ethnomusicology and Representation

Christopher A Waterman, ÏThe Uneven Development of Africanist Ethnomusicology: Three Issues and a Critique,Ó in Comparative Musicology and Anthropology of Music: Essays on the History of Ethnomusicology, Ed. By Bruno Nettl and Philip V. Bohlman (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1991), pp. 169-186.

Undergrads Review

Kofi Agawu, ÏPopular Music Defended against Its Devotees,Ó in Representing African Music, Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions, (New York and London: Routledge Press, 2003), 17-150.     Grads Review

Wed 10/15: Lawrence Witzleben, ÏWhose Ethnomusicology? Western Ethnomusicology and the Study of Asian MusicÓ Ethnomusicology, 41 (2) 1997, pp. 220-242 Grads Review

Fri 10/17: Kofi Agawu, ÏThe Invention of African Rhythm,Ó in Representing African Music, Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions, (New York and London: Routledge Press, 2003), pp. 55-70.      Undergrads Review

Kofi Agawu, ÏPolymeter, Additive Rhythm, and Other Enduring Myths,Ó Ibid., pp. 71-96.

Grads Review

Week 9. Mon 10/20, Guest Lecture: Prof. Kofi Agawu (Princeton University)

Wed 22: The Power and Limitation of ÏContextÓ

J. H. Kwabena Nketia, "Contextual Strategies of Inquiry and Systematization" (Charles Seeger Memorial Lecture, 1989). Ethnomusicology XXXIV.1 (Winter 1990): pp. 75-97.    Grads Review for 10/28

Background Reading

Fri 10/24: Nketia, Kwabena. 1962. ÏThe Problem of Meaning in African MusicÓ in Ethnomusicology 8 (1), pp. 1-7.

Week 10 10/27: Reflexivity? New Directions in Ethnomusicology

Michael Bakan, Music of Death and New Creation (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1999), pp. 3-36,

Wed 10/29: Michael Bakan, Chapter 8: Learning to Play: An EthnomusicologistÌs Experiences  Grads Review

Fri 10/31: Bakan, Chapter 9, Playing to Learn: Toward New Understandings

Undergrads Review

Week 11 Mon 11/3: Universal Perspectives in Ethnomusicology

Bruno Nettl, The Study of Ethnomusicology: Twenty-nine Issues and Concepts (University of Illinois Press 1983). pp. 36-43.

Wed 11/5: J. H. Kwabena Nketia, "Universal Perspectives in Ethnomusicology." The World of Music 24/2 (1984): 3-24.

Fri 11/7: Alan Lomax, "Song Structure and Social Structure," in Readings in Ethnomusicology, David P. McAllester ed. (New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1971): 227-252.

Week 12 Mon 11/10: Call and Response or Reflection and Deflection?

Henry Kingsbury, ÏShould Ethnomusicology be Abolished?Ó (reprise), Ethnomusicology, 41 (2) 1997, pp.243-249

Anthony Seeger, ÏA Reply to Henry Kingsbury,Ó Ibid., pp. 250-252

Wed 11/12: Call and Response contÌd

Jeff t. Titon, ÏEthnomusicology and Values: A Reply to Henry Kingsbury,Ó Ibid., pp. 253-257

Henry Kingsbury, ÏHenry KingsburyÌs Response,Ó Ibid., pp. 258-259

Fri 11/14: Progress report and discussion of fieldwork projects

Week 13 Mon 11/17: Oral Presentation of Fieldwork Projects (2 Presenters)

Wed 11/19: Oral Presentation (2 Presenters)

Fri 11/ 21: Oral Presentation (2 Presenters)

Week 14 Mon 11/24: Oral Presentation of Fieldwork Projects (2 Presenters)

Wed 11/26: Oral Presentation (2 Presenters)

Thursday Nov 27-28, Thanksgiving Holiday: No Classes

Week 15 Mon 12/1: Oral Presentation of Fieldwork Projects (2 Presenters)

Wed 12/3: Oral Presentation of Fieldwork Projects (2 Presenters)

Fri 12/5: Oral presentation of fieldwork projects (2 presenters)

Week 16 Mon 12/8: Presentation of Fieldwork Projects (2 presenters)

Wed 1/10: Presentation of Fieldwork projects (2 presenters)

Fri 12/12: Written Papers Due

Note: The instructor reserves the right to make changes or alter portions of this syllabus.

CU Honor Code

Be aware of the classroom behavior policy and studentÌs honor code. (www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/)

Information for the Physically Challenged

If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services (DS) early in the semester so that your needs may be addressed.  DS determines accommodations based on documented disabilities (303-492-8671, Willard 322, (www.colorado.edu/sacs/disabilityservices)

Religious Observance

Reasonable and appropriate accommodations will be made for those students who have conflicts between religious observance dates and course examinations and assignments. Please see me at the beginning of the semester to discuss any potential problems.

(www.colorado.edu/policies/index.html)