MUS 307 – APPRECIATION SUMMER 2013

Professor: Jeff Hellmer, Director of Jazz Studies, University Distinguished Teaching Professor; Associate Director, Butler School of Music Office: MRH 4.122 Phone: 512/471-0744 Email: [email protected] Office hours: 12:30-1 TTh, otherwise ask for appointment Teaching Assistant: Andres Amado ([email protected])

Course Description: MUS 307 is a course that will introduce students to the jazz idiom, emphasizing listening skills and developing critical thinking and writing skills that will allow you to comment intelligently about music and its place in society. By achieving the objectives below, you will understand jazz in a variety of contexts, including historical, cultural, and social; and you will appreciate the processes and products associated with the art form.

Course Objectives: By the end of this course, you will learn to speak and write intelligently about music, particularly about jazz. In the pursuit of that goal, you will be able to do the following:

1. Use your acquired vocabulary and listening skills to effectively describe and evaluate music through the following activities: --- Write short essay(s) that effectively describe an instructor-chosen selection that by detailing your critical reaction, the musical elements that are present, the influence of societal context on the music, and a comparison of your evaluation of other selections. --- Write short answers in quiz/exam settings that effectively describe excerpts. --- Engage in effective communication with others about music played in the course, and about music in other genres that is meaningful to them.

2. Develop competency in the history of jazz through the following activities: --- Articulate the relationship between music and society, in particular as it relates to jazz and American history. --- Identify the instrument, style, and contribution(s) of important jazz musicians. --- Name the characteristics of and understand the relationships between each jazz style. --- Elaborate more deeply on the contributions of the five “all-time jazz greats”.

3. Develop listening skills that will improve your understanding and appreciation of music through the following activities: --- Recognize specific selections from a prescribed list of 10-12 songs; give pertinent information about the recording; and give valid reasons for your choice. --- Identify the style associated with an unknown excerpt, and give valid reasons for your choice. --- Recognize musical elements such as form and rhythmic feel.

4. Understand the musical processes and elements involved in the creation of jazz through the following activities: --- Globally describe the process of improvisation, and point to factors that differentiate improvisers. --- Describe the framework and principles that jazz groups use in their art. --- Understand the latitude for interaction, communication and self-expression that is available in jazz, and the relationship between those latitudes and the principles of American society. --- Clearly define 15-20 terms that are essential to describing jazz.

Required materials: 1) Purchase and download the music from iTunes or another source: Pent-Up House A Portrait of Sonny Rollins Blues March Moanin’ (Rudy Van Gelder) & Jazz Messengers All The Things You Are Two of a Mind / So What Kind of Blue Freddie Freeloader Kind of Blue Miles Davis Flamenco Sketches Kind of Blue Miles Davis Blue Rondo a la Turk Time Out Dave Brubeck Senor Blues Six Pieces of Silver Walkin’ Shoes Best of Gerry Mulligan Gerry Mulligan Quartet Boplicity Miles Davis Fables of Faubus Mingus Ah Um Misterioso Best of the Blue Note Harlem Airshaft Classic Swing Collection Duke Ellington One O’Clock Jump Compact Jazz Count Basie Giant Steps Giant Steps Moanin’ Moanin’ (Rudy Van Gelder) Art Blakey & Jazz Messengers Shaw ‘Nuff Genius of Charlie Parker Charlie Parker Blowin’ The Blues Away Blowin’ The Blues Away Horace Silver Song For My Father Song For My Father Horace Silver

2) i>clicker “personal response system” unit—more information on separate handout.

Assignments: Regular listening, reading and writing assignments will be made. Descriptions are as follows:

Writing Assignments: There will be three writing assignments where you will write a description of specified listening selections. Due dates of the writing assignments are as follows: July 22, July 29, and August 7. The nature of these writing assignments is as follows:

Write a two to three page description of the music you hear. Use the musical vocabulary we have developed in our classes. Discuss your emotional reaction to the music and why you did or did not like this particular selection. Discuss the societal factors present in the United States during the period when the recording was made, and any effects you believe those factors may have had on the music. Discuss the musical and any social factors that influenced your reaction to the music. Describe the format of the performance as well as the order of the improvised solos. Compare this selection to other selections you have written about previously in the course.

Participation Exercises: There will be numerous in-class activities where you were listen to jazz music played in class, engage in discussion with a small number of your peers, and form a consensus on the musical factors you believe are present, the societal influences on the music, and develop a critical reaction to the music. Your consensus will be compared to the results other groups in the class through class discussion and iClicker questions. Effective participation in these exercises is a component of your participation grade.

Examinations/Quizzes: There will be two written exams, a midterm and a final. The midterm exam will be given on August 1. The final exam will be given at the scheduled final exam time, Saturday, August 17 at 9 AM. There will be two listening quizzes, one given on July 24, the second given on August 12. The instructor reserves the right to give additional quizzes at his discretion.

Chronological Order of Assignments/Exams: July 22 Writing Assignment 1 July 24 Listening Quiz 1 July 30 Writing Assignment 2 August 1 Midterm Exam August 7 Writing Assignment 3 August 12 Listening Quiz 2 August 17 Final Exam

Attendance: During the brief summer session, attendance is extremely important, and will be taken daily. Each student will start with an attendance grade of 100. For each absence after the first absence, 5% will be deducted from the grade. Absences will be excused only at the discretion of the instructor. Attendance will be verified by the i>clicker system.

Participation: Each student will receive grades based on their participation in class. This grade will be assigned by the instructor based on a combination of: 1) participation exercises; 2) participation and correct answers through the i>clicker system; 3) verbal interaction and participation in other classroom activities during class meetings. Students will be apprised of their participation grade via the Blackboard system on July 24 and August 6.

Grading: Grades will be based on percentage of points possible. The course average will be rounded to the nearest tenth of a percentage point, as follows:

A 92.0-100.0; A- 90.0-91.9, B+ 88.0-89.9 B 82.0-87.9; B- 80.0-81.9; C+ 78.0-79.9 C 72.0-77.9; C- 70.0-71.9; D+ 68.0-69.9 D 62.0-67.9; D- 60.0-61.9 F 59.9 and below

Grades will computed according to the following formula:

Writing Assignments (7.5% each) 22.5% Final Exam 25% Midterm Exam 22.5% Listening Quizzes (7.5% each) 15% Attendance 7.5% Participation 7.5%

We’ll look at the music from the following perspectives:

“Nuts and bolts”—how the music works; how jazz is put together; how to talk about music “Critical”—how to develop your own aesthetic for evaluating music of all types; how to make informed decisions about the music you choose to incorporate in your future “Biographical”—who’s who among the greatest jazz players; how to recognize them; and why they are so highly regarded “Stylistic”—how jazz styles differ from one another; how to hear those differences “Sociological” –what the musicians are trying to say; how the music relates to societal factors and historical events Laptops are permitted in class. However, using the laptops for activities unrelated to the course is prohibited. If frequent uses of the laptops for those activities persist, the instructor reserves the right to end laptop use in class.

The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-6441 TTY.

I hope you enjoy the process of discovering jazz as much as I enjoy sharing the music with you. I value your feedback on any aspect of the course, and encourage you to provide it to me at any time.