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Maymester music courses for non-majors

Need a course this summer to fulfill a core requirement in fine arts? Just looking for a way to enrich your studies in May? These courses are designed especially for all those not maoring in music, so take a look at these Maymester offerings from the College of Music.

Music Appreciation, MUEL 1832 (3 credit hours, 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday)

Professor Yoshi Ishikawa has been teaching this class for close to 30 summers. This year it is offered remotely. Here’s what it’s about:

Whether listening to the morning news or watching a favorite movie, music plays an integral part. The most amazing part about the music we hear today is that it is based on concepts discovered in the early 17th century. In this class we will listen to and explore music from the 17th to the 21st century. You’ll learn more about great composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and others such as Clara Schumann, William Grant Still and Don Shirley (the pianist from the movie Green Book). Join us for an exciting exploration of the greatest classical music throughout history.

Jazz History, MUEL 3642 (3 credit hours, 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday)

Another veteran of our Maymester faculty, well into his third decade of offering this fascinating deep dive into jazz, Professor Douglas Walter is teaching this course in person (with distancing protocols in place in the classroom). Here’s a preview of what to expect:

Jazz is arguably the United States’ greatest gift to world culture. The music of “Duke” Ellington, Charlie “Bird” Parker, Louis “Pops” Armstrong and other Black Americans is unarguably powerful and extremely popular. We’ll bring this music to life thru live jazz performances in class played by local jazz stars. Jazz arrived as recording technology appeared, so we listen to recordings that led to rock, pop, even new gospel and classical music. The history of jazz musicians, their struggle for respect and their glorious music are the subject of this entertaining course.

Heavy Metal, MUEL 2872 (3 credit hours)

The experienced and successful Instructor of this course, Mike Barnett, is a heavy metal performing and composing professional in his own right. This course, which now for the first time can fulfill a core curriculum requirement, is offered remotely this May. Here’s some further information:

We will develop a deeper understanding of the heavy metal genre through readings, discussions and debate. Included: a study of musical style characteristics and lyrical content, listen and learn about innovative performers, and its place in the larger world of rock music and in societal contexts. Issues of gender, religion and sexuality in the heavy metal construct will also be explored.

Guitar Class MUEL 1145 (2 credit hours, 1:30-3:50 p.m., Monday through Friday)

Taught remotely. Nicolo Spera, our artist-teacher of guitar has this to say:

Do you want to learn the basics of playing guitar? Do you already play guitar, but would like to strengthen your basics? This class will give you those solid foundations you need to play guitar for the rest of your life—and to have fun with it! And if you already play guitar, in this class you may discover things about this instrument that you may have never imagined.

Music in Space MUEL 3892 (3 credit hours, taught online) 

This is a relatively new course, taught this summer by our esteemed ethnomusicologist Jay Keister, that has already proven to be immensely popular. Perhaps this will especially appeal to our engineering majors? Here’s what it’s all about:

This course will explore the ways that outer space inspires and is portrayed in musical sound. You’ll be introduced to literature and media connecting your understanding of this music to anthropology, physics, geography and planetary science, with case studies ranging from Ancient Greece to Western art music to contemporary popular music.