Instructor: Jay Keister
Class meeting time: TR 12:30-1:45
Office: N124, Tel: 303-492-5496; keister@colorado.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-3:00 or by appointment.
Website: stripe.colorado.edu/~keister/

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is an introduction to the music of Asian cultures and is open to all students, regardless of music background, knowledge or experience. It requires no prior knowledge of music notation or music theory and all necessary terminology will be explained. The goals of this course are for the student to: 1) experience and learn about a broad range of music from various parts of the world; 2) learn how to analyze music and its relationship to culture; 3) develop basic listening skills for understanding music.

REQUIRED TEXT AND RECORDINGS:
1. Course Reader available in Bookstore. See reading assignments below.
2. CD 1 of listening examples plus explanatory notes.
3. CD 2 of listening examples plus explanatory notes (available in October).
CDs can be purchased at the Norlin Media Center (west side of Norlin Library). Explanatory notes will be available on the website. CDs will also be on reserve in the Music Library, 2nd floor, Imig Building. CD 1 is required for the first half of this course. CD 2 will be required for the second half of this course.

GRADING:
Listening assignment (2%) - due Sept. 19
This is a short take-home exercise based on the listening examples on CD#1 and designed to give students practice in analyzing music.
Reviews (18%) - due approximately every two weeks beginning Sept. 12
 Six written reviews (one for each geographic section covered in this course) to be turned in at specific times during the semester (see schedule below). These are brief papers (no more than two pages) based on the articles in the course reader. Instructor will announce the review topics during each section of the course. No late papers or email submissions will be accepted.
Mid-term (35%) - Oct. 17
A multiple choice, true/false and short answer test based on lectures and listening examples from the first half of the course.
Concert report/CD review (10%) - due Dec. 10
A written report on a concert event or a CD recording relevant to this course. The report should be a minimum of four full double-spaced pages with references and should incorporate listening techniques and ideas about music in culture learned in this course.
Final exam (35%) - Dec. 13
A multiple choice, true/false and short answer test based on lectures and listening examples from the second half of the course (non-cumulative).
Attendance and classroom demeanor (may lower your grade)
Regular attendance is highly recommended in this course given that most of the material on the exams is covered only in lectures. Missed classes = missed test questions and missed assignments. Classroom demeanor is also crucial in a large class in which many students are concentrating on listening to music and taking notes. Arriving late for class, leaving early and excessive talking will result in a loss of points for students.
 
SCHEDULE: (may be subject to revision)

Aug. 27/Aug. 29 Introduction/Questions of ethnomusicology

SECTION ONE: OCEANIA
Sept. 3 / Sept. 5 Australia
(Readings: Ellis Ch.3 and "I Have a Dreamtime")

Sept. 10 Tahiti / Sept. 12 Papua New Guinea
 (Readings: Feld "Flow Like a Waterfall") Review #1 due.

SECTION TWO: INDONESIA
Sept. 17 Javanese gamelan / Sept. 19 Listening Assignment due.
(Readings: Sutton Ch.7 Indonesia and Becker "Musical Icon")

Sept. 24 Balinese gamelan / Sept. 26 Indonesian popular music
(Reading: Tenzer Ch.7) Review #2 due.

SECTION THREE: MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA
Oct. 1 Thailand / Oct. 3 Vietnam
(Reading: notes to "Eternal Voices")

Oct. 8 Laos, Myanmar / Oct. 10 FALL BREAK (no class)
 (Reading: "The Many Sounds of Siam") Review #3 due.

Oct. 15 REVIEW SESSION / Oct. 17 MIDTERM EXAM

SECTION FOUR: WESTERN AND CENTRAL ASIA
Oct. 22 Iran / Oct. 24 Egypt
(Reading: Danielson "The Quran and the Qasidah")

Oct. 29 Turkey / Oct. 31 Uzbekistan
(Reading: Friedlander "The Whirling Dervishes") Review #4 due.

SECTION FIVE: SOUTH ASIA
Nov. 5 / Nov. 7 India
(Reading: Ravi Shankar "My Heritage")

Nov. 12 / Nov. 14 Pakistan
(Reading: "Songs of Praise: Sufi Devotional Music") Review #5 due.

SECTION SIX: EAST ASIA
Nov. 19 Tibet / Nov. 21 China

Nov. 26 Korea / Nov. 28 Thanksgiving HOLIDAY
(Readings: "Traditions of Chinese Music" and
  "Concepts and Aesthetics in Traditional Music")

Dec. 3 / Dec. 5 Japan
(Reading: "Some of Japan's Musical Principles") Review #6 due Dec. 3rd.

Dec. 10 Japan / Dec. 12 REVIEW FOR FINAL
 CONCERT REPORT/CD REVIEW DUE - Dec. 10
FINAL EXAM: Friday, December 13, 1:30-4:00pm