43 courses with the subject MUSC, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
CR: 3 This course introduces the computer-based sound studio as a tool for artistic expression. Topics will include principles of acoustics, recording techniques, digital audio theory, digital signal processing, and MIDI sequencing. This course combines lectures illustrated by audio examples, class discussions, and creative projects.
CR: 0/1 This course is for all musicians (composers, conductors, instrumentalists, and vocalists) as well as any artist seeking to collaborate with musicians on a musical performance (dancers, writers, visual artists, dramatic artists, etc.). Participants will design a unique performance event, curating the works to be performed (including possibly creating new works), choosing the space for performance, rehearsing the works, handling all logistics and marketing for the event, and executing the final performance. Through this comprehensive experience, students will learn both the musical skills and the practical skills required to produce a performance event. Each session will feature a different theme. May be repeated for credit.
CR: 1.0 In this course, students will explore the music of diverse cultures of the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asia through applied music instruction and performance. Through aural training, percussion instruction, and vocal coaching, students will develop cultural knowledge and practical understandings of the scales, rhythms, and concepts central to Arabic music. Seasonal repertoire may include pieces from Turkish, Persian, and other related music of the region. The course culminates in a public performance for the Sweet Briar community. Players of all instruments and voice parts are welcome; no prior musical experience is necessary. May be repeated for credit.
CR: 1 This course is a practical exploration of music and dance traditions from Appalachia and its European, African and Indigenous roots. Students are instructed in the performance of traditional songs and dance tunes and in related dance styles (which include flatfooting, clogging, and square dance). May include performance opportunities and/or field trips to local events.
CR: 3 What does music mean to us? How can music be simultaneously present everywhere in modern life and still retain its ability to profoundly impact our emotions and well-being? This course introduces students to key skills, concepts, and background information to engage with music from different cultures and time periods. Engaging in close listening, readings, journaling, and playlist curation, students will come away with a greater ability to observe and critically engage with music in their lives. This course fulfills the CORE 150 requirement.
CR: 3 This course explores the ways in which creative practice can contribute to mental wellness and life satisfaction. We will engage in practices from across artistic disciplines as well as consider multidisciplinary evidence of the positive effects of physical activity, social engagement, mindfulness, and experiences of “flow” to explore how creative activity fosters a sense of well-being. Participation in creative practices with Sweet Briar faculty and guest artists will give students the chance to experience and reflect on how these practices affect their own subjective sense of well-being. No prerequisites. Fulfills the CORE 150 requirement.
CR: 3 This course allows students to explore some of the ways that humankind has made music an integral part of social life throughout history and around the world. Topics include the intersection of music with a wide variety of social issues - involving gender, race, class, politics, religion, sexuality, and more - embedded within particular historical and cultural contexts. Topics will be explored through readings, discussions, watching videos, and a variety of hands-on activities (often, but not always, involving expressive practices like music theater, dance, visual art, and the like). No prior knowledge of music is necessary. This course counts for the CORE 150 requirement. C150
CR: 3 This course addresses topics related to music. Topics will vary by semester. The course may be repeated for credit when the topic is different. No prior knowledge of music is necessary.
CR: 0 or 1 Rehearsal and performance of the choral literature from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Performances with neighboring college choral groups.
CR: 3 This course explores the intersection of sound and image in film, television, and video games through examining recent practices in filmmaking, video game design, sound design, and music composition. Students will study contemporary aesthetics of sound and screen through reading authors including Adorno, Chion, Barthes, Zizek, and Kane, Additionally, they will apply the principles they learn by composing and designing sound for screen using computer applications. No prior knowledge of music is necessary. This course counts for the CORE 150 requirement. C150
CR: 3 As an art, a practice, and a form of entertainment, analyzing music offers a unique lens for investigating the creative, social, and intellectual tools humans use to make sense and meaning with sound. This course seeks to explore the ways people think about, explain, and understand music. Centering human beings as creators, listeners, and theorizers of music, we will examine how musicians and fans assign value to musical features. The course introduces fundamentals of musical analysis, including pitch, time, timbre, scales, harmonies, and the tools of musical composition. Students will learn the basics of Western musical notation within an expansive and comparative scope to make observations about and connections among music of different styles, cultures, and historical periods. No prior musical knowledge is expected for this course.
CR: 2 Songwriting will help students develop their musical creativity through inventing lyrics and melodies. Students will learn conventions related to popular music styles, including pop, rock, country, hip-hop, etc. Students will produce demo recordings of their original songs each semester in the college’s SArPA studio. Other topics that may be covered include recording, production, marketing, and entrepreneurship for performing artists, and royalties and distribution for composers. The ability to accompany yourself on an instrument (guitar, ukulele, piano, or other) would be helpful but is not required. This course may be repeated for credit. Applied music fee required.
CR: 2 Students will have independent instruction in musical composition. Weekly assignments of prescribed composition projects will introduce students to a variety of musical procedures. Additionally, each student will produce a single larger work developed progressively throughout the semester to be presented in performance at the end of the term. May be repeated for credit.
CR: 2 This course will focus on developing each student’s ability to organize and lead rehearsals of vocal and instrumental ensembles. During the term progressive exercises on beat patterns, transpositions, and score reading, combined with score analyses, will lead to an investigation of rehearsal procedures and teaching strategies. By arrangement with the instructor, students will have the opportunity to lead ensembles in rehearsals to acquire practical experience in applying techniques examined in the classroom. May be repeated for credit. Applied music fee required.
CR: 2 A weekly, 50-minute private lesson. An applied music fee will be assessed for this course. Music scholarships are available to defray part of the cost. Once a scholarship has been awarded, it will continue to be awarded whenever the student enrolls in the course, as long as funds are available and the student shows sufficient progress. All students enrolled in applied music are required to perform in a departmental recital or before a faculty jury, usually near the end of the academic term. Exceptions may be made for those students who have performed a solo recital or program of equivalent difficulty. May be repeated for credit.
CR: 3 A study of Western vocal and instrumental music from 1770 to 1890, focusing both upon general stylistic developments in their historical contexts and upon the closer study of great works of the Classic and Romantic masters. Basic forms and score analysis will be introduced. These forms include Sonata-allegro form, theme and variations, rondo, minuet and trio, and song forms. III.W
CR: 3 This course will examine musical products and byproducts of colonialism, imperialism and globalization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will look at the emergence of cultural nationalisms in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America and examine how logics of musical value traveled along economic, political, diasporic, and imperial routes. Connecting musical material with discourse around music, we will delve deeply into the uses of music in colonial and post-colonial contexts. Students will engage with a variety of theoretical, analytical and empirical approaches to music and discourses of empire, race, and nation in this historical period.
CR: 3 This course addresses topics related to the study of music from around the globe, organized by themes and/or specific geographic regions. Topics will vary by semester (see semester’s catalog for current course description). The course may be repeated for credit when the topic is different.
CR: 3 A study of vocal and instrumental Western music from the period of Gregorian chant through to the early classical period ca. 1770. Emphasis is placed upon study of stylistic developments in their historical contexts.
CR: 3 Intensive study with emphasis upon at least two of the following: analysis, historical research, or performance. This study will culminate in a substantial creative project or piece of critical writing by the student, to be carried out under the supervision of the department faculty.
CR: 3 Upper-level research or creative project determined in advance by the student in consultation with two faculty members who will serve as primary and secondary project sponsors. The course is required for the Honors Degree, and serves as the capstone experience for Honors students who do not pursue a senior Honors thesis project. This course is typically taken in the student’s junior or senior year.
CR: 3 During this course, a senior is expected to refine and submit their thesis proposal under the supervision of a thesis advisor. The senior will submit their thesis proposal to the Student Advancement Committee by the deadline determined by the Honors Program. Pending approval by the Student Advancement Committee, the student will spend the remainder of the semester beginning the research described in their proposal. If a student does not submit an acceptable thesis proposal as determined by the Student Advancement Committee, they will not be allowed to continue in the pursuit of the Honors Degree/Program Honors. This course will carry the rubric of the student’s major in which the thesis is based.
CR: 3 In this course, the student is expected to continue the research proposed and approved by the Student Advancement Committee in the 471 Proposal/Research course. This work is completed under the supervision of faculty advisors, culminating in the student defending their thesis before a committee.
Source: Sweet Briar College's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 59
