University of Sydney Handbooks - 2021 Archive

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Music Descriptions

Unit outlines will be available through Find a unit outline two weeks before the first day of teaching for 1000-level and 5000-level units, or one week before the first day of teaching for all other units.
 

Music

Major

A major in Music requires 48 credit points from this table, including:
(i) 6 credit points of 1000-level units from Analysis, History and Culture Studies units
(ii) 6 credit points of 1000-level units from Music Skills: Music Theory and Aural Skills units
(iii) 12 credit points of 2000-level units
(iv)18 credit points of 3000-level units, including MUSC3699 Understanding Music: Modes of Hearing
(v) 6 credit points of 3000-level Interdisciplinary Project units such as PERF3640 Industry and Community Projects

Minor

A minor in Music requires 36 credit points from this table including:
(i) 6 credit points of 1000-level units from Analysis, History and Culture Studies units
(ii) 6 credit points of 1000-level units from Music Skills: Music Theory and Aural Skills units
(iii) 12 credit points of 2000-level selective units
(iv) 12 credit points of 3000-level selective units

1000 level units of study

Analysis History and Culture Studies
MCGY1030 This is Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Christopher Coady Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture/week, 1 x 1hr tutorial/week Assessment: tutorial participation (20%), 1 x 1000wd article analysis (25%), 8 x lecture responses (blog posts) and group presentation (25%), 1 x 2000wd final essay (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This is a Foundation unit in Analysis, History and Culture studies.
This course introduces students to the different ways of thinking about music that bind together our Conservatorium culture. It is a course concerned with 'big' questions: What exactly is a musical work? What do we hear when music is played? How do we go about making new music and how do we make old music new again? In grappling with these questions, students learn how to formulate persuasive arguments about the nature of music in general and the significance of musical works and artists in particular. The course is broken into four three-week episodes: Talking about Music, Making Music, Listening to Music and Learning about Music. Lectures from performers, composers, music educators and musicologists comprise each of these episodes and cover the wide variety of music genres and approaches to music making taught at the Conservatorium. As students hone their philosophical positions in relation to the course's 'big' questions, they are therefore simultaneously introduced to the constellation of ideas that constitute our musical world.
MUSC1506 Music in Western Culture

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Rachel Campbell Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2hr lecture and 1 hr tut/wk Assumed knowledge: The ability to follow a musical score while listening to the music and knowledge of elementary music theory. Assessment: Tutorial work (25%), essay (40%), exam (35%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit surveys some of the major developments in the history of western classical music from the Medieval period to the present, and relates them to broader historical and artistic trends. In addition to analysing individual musical works, students will engage with musical historiography and develop a critical understanding of some influential techniques of music analysis. In addition to analysing individual musical works, students will engage with historiography and the relationships between music, society, and the history of ideas.
MUSC1507 Sounds, Screens, Speakers: Music and Media

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2hr lecture and 1 tut/wk Assessment: Article summary, 1000 words (25%); Media analysis of 1000 words (20%); Tutorial tests (15%); Final Project, 2,000 words(30%), overall participation (10%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Music has been dramatically shaped and reshaped by every major change in communications technology in the 20th century from vinyl discs to spotify. In this unit of study we will analyse such issues as the ways in which the early recording industry transformed jazz, the blues and country music, how the presentation of music on radio and television changed the ways the music industry created new musical celebrities, and the challenges the music industry faces as digital technology transforms the creation, distribution and consumption of music.
Music Skills
MUSC1501 Extended Fundamentals of Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1hr lecture and 2 x 1hr tutorials (aural and written)/wk Assumed knowledge: HSC Music 2 Assessment: Written and online music theory assessment (70%), aural assessment (30%) including a final exam. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Through an integrated and research-based approach to music composition and analysis, student's knowledge of music theory and compositional techniques is extended. Skills in this area cover a range of musical styles including classical music (past and present), jazz, popular music and film music. The Written tutorials build on the topics covered in the lectures. The Aural tutorials develop the students ability to listen musically and critically.
MUSC1503 Fundamentals of Music 1

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Jonathan Byrnes Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1hr lecture and 2x 1hr tutorials (aural and written)/wk Assessment: Written and online music theory assessment (70%), aural assessment (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
An introduction to basic music literacy skills, including learning to read and write music, and an understanding of fundamental aspects of its structure and composition. The material covered in this unit of study concentrates upon the basics of music theory and listening to ensure that participants have a solid grounding for a firm understanding of music notation and organisation.
MUSC1504 Fundamentals of Music 2

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1hr lecture and 2 x 1hr tutorials (aural and written)/wk Assessment: Written and online music theory assessment (60%), aural assessment (30%), participation (10%) including a final exam. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
A more advanced exploration of music literacy skills than MUSC1503. The material covered in this unit of study ranges from the broad to the specific: from an examination of musical elements and the way they are used in a variety of musical genres through to specific compositional aspects such as four-part writing. Analysis and compositional craft regarding melody, harmony and rhythm in classical and contemporary popular music are a central focus of this unit of study. Critical listening skills are developed in this unit of study.

2000 level units of study

MUSC2612 Music Performance

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 3hr class/week Assessment: solo performances (40%); ensemble performances (15%); collaborative seminar presentation (15%); critical and evaluative notes (20%); participation and contribution during course and final public concert (10%); Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: Audition Requirements: 2 contrasting pieces (or excerpts) totalling 5 minutes and a brief interview. Must have 18 credit points of 1000-level units from any discipline or faculty.
This unit of study offers an integrated approach to live music performance that includes practical and research components. Students participate in solo and ensemble situations in weekly in-class concerts. Constructive feedback by peers is a significant part of this course and participants trace their own development in weekly reflective journals. Music of all genres (including classical, experimental, popular, jazz and world music), instruments and voice types are accepted, and collaboration across musical traditions is strongly encouraged. A number of seminars dealing with specific key issues are interspersed throughout this unit of study, including performance stress, technical and psychological preparation, ensemble communication and audience perception. Auditions are held during O-Week. This audition consists of two contrasting pieces and a short interview. To be offered an audition, please enroll in this unit of study before O-Week and you will be automatically contacted with all relevant details. If you enroll during or after O-Week, please email the unit coordinator to arrange an alternative audition time.
MUSC2613 Music Ensembles Performance

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 3 hour class per week Prerequisites: MUSC2612 Assessment: Ensemble performances (50%); seminar presentation (20%); media release/programme note/review of a performance (10%); participation and contribution (20%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Ensemble Performance builds on the experience and skills cultivated in Music Performance. Students participate regularly in weekly rehearsal-workshops where ideas are tried out with the participation of peers and the Unit of Study coordinator. Students participate in various ensembles of different sizes, collaborating in a multiplicity of musical genres. This is a highly practical and challenging subject that encourages students to collaborate in a supportive and productive environment. Ensemble Performance culminates with a large-scale public performance in a public venue.
MUSC2614 Composition Workshop

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Amanda Cole Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 hour workshop per week Prerequisites: 18 credit points of 1000-level units Assessment: Contribution in classes and concerts (20%), concert composition (60%), written assignment (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Composition Workshop is designed as an opportunity for students from all musical backgrounds to play, write and perform music together. Each student will write a new piece for an ensemble of classmates that will be performed in an end of semester concert. Set topics studied in this course include: Creative and Resourceful Instrumentation (body percussion, mobile phones as instruments, the human voice and found percussion instruments), Soundscape, Indeterminacy and Loops. The first four weeks of the course are spent exploring these topics through lectures and creative group composition exercises. Students will also look notating their music using one-page scores, graphic notation, time-space notation and text scores. From Week 5 onwards, students will workshop and rehearse their own concert piece for an ensemble of musicians from their class.
MUSC2616 Noise/Sound/Music: Engaging Sonic Worlds

This unit of study is not available in 2021

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 x hour lecture, 1 x hour tutorial per week Assessment: Participation in tutorial discussions (30%); Delivery of two written 'aural diaries' each 800 words minimum, that describe time spent in a specific sonic environment (20% each); A final paper - ca. 2,500 words, on an instructor-approved topic of the student's choice (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit focuses not just on music but also on 'noise' and sounds both natural and man-made. By means of in-class experiments, field trips and 'audio diaries', students will explore the nature of sound; by means of lectures, readings and discussion, they will examine the many ways in which human beings engage - negatively as well as positively - with the sonic world around them.
MUSC2638 Jazz Riots and Revolutions

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Christopher Coady Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture per week; 1 x 1hr tutorial per week Assessment: Tutorial Participation/Demonstrated Knowledge of Required Reading (20%); Annotated Bibliography (30%); Research Essay Introduction (20%); Research Essay Body (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This course examines the powerful link between jazz and moments of social revolution in the United States. It illuminates the central role jazz musicians like Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus and Max Roach played in changing hearts, minds and social structures during four distinct historic periods: the Harlem Renaissance, the post-War 1940s, the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and the Black Nationalist movement of the 1960s. Its central focus is on how music can both ride and resist the political energies that charge particular historic moments.
MUSC2644 Introduction to the Philosophy of Music

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: Essay (60%); Examination (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces students to philosophical questions about music and to thinking about music with philosophical methodology. The course visits some of the questions which have perplexed musicians and philosophers alike: How are beauty and music related? What does music tell us about time? What is a musical work? How do we listen? Is music related to language? This course enables all students of music and the liberal arts to understand music as a philosophically distinctive phenomenon.
MUSC2645 Psychology of Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Associate Professor Helen Mitchell Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture/week, 1 x 1hr tutorial/week Assessment: Readings, Summaries and Class Discussion Participation (30%); Key Question Identification and Project Design Poster Presentation (30%); Essay (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Psychology of Music examines music cognition and behaviour to explore the way music is created, produced and perceived. This unit will introduce recent interdisciplinary research as a way to explore music as a social activity. It will consider the methods used by sociologists and psychologists to investigate music and encourage students to think conceptually about their own musical activities.
MUSC2648 Words and Music : Song Across Cultures

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Myfany Turpin Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture/week, 1 x 1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 48 credit points of 1000-level units Assessment: 1 x presentation (15%), 1 x 2000wd assignment (35%), 1 x3000wd essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will teach students how to analyse the structure of song in diverse cultures drawing on both language and musical perspectives. Songs play many different roles in cultures. For example, they can be a form of entertainment, a tool to influence the world and transmit knowledge; and an expression of religion, identity and a national culture. This unit will engage students with the question of why people sing. It will consider the impact of literacy and the notion of the 'professional' singer/composer, which are absent in many societies.
MUSC2653 Introduction to Digital Music Techniques

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Damian Barbeler Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 hr lecture/demonstration/wk Assessment: Sound recording and editing assignment (30%); creative assignments (60%); online assessments, attendance and participation (10%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: An ability to read music at a basic level and an understanding of fundamental musical terminology is an advantage in this unit of study.
This unit is an introduction to the use of digital sound and music in creative and multimedia contexts. It is a practical course in which students are introduced to tools of sound creation and manipulation. Students will undertake creative projects as a means to learning. In addition, participants will be exposed to a number of approaches to electroacoustic music across the 20th and 21st centuries.
MUSC2654 Popular Music

This unit of study is not available in 2021

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hrs/week Assessment: Two critical analyses 1,000 words each (20% each); tutorial test 1000 words (20%); major essay 3,000 words (30%); class participation (10%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
How did early American blues and country music develop in tandem? How was punk different in the US, the UK and Australia? What are the origins of the DJ culture? This unit of study presents a thematic overview of a wide variety of styles, movements and spectacles. It examines major genres of popular music, their stylistic features and historical antecedents as well as modes of reception and the role of popular music in everyday life. No formal music training is necessary.
MUSC2663 Survey of Film Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hour lecture and 1 hour tut/week Assessment: Review assignments 2,000 words (30%), final paper 2,500 words (50%), participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit is an introductory survey of the history and aesthetics of film music from the late 1890s to the present day. Topics for discussion will include the dramatic function of music as an element of cinematic narrative, the codification of musical iconography in cinematic genres, the symbolic use of pre-existing music, and the evolving musical styles of film composers.
MUSC2664 Popular Music and the Moving Image

This unit of study is not available in 2021

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 hour seminar/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: Musical analysis 1000 words (20%); industrial critique 1000 words (20%);Listening and viewing test (20%); Final Project 3,000 words (30%); Participation (10%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The range of media channels through which we experience popular music has proliferated in recent years. The emotive power of music is used to tell stories, sell products and connect people to one another. This unit of study will analyse the use of popular music in a broad range of multimedia forms from film and television to video games and the use of digital media to disseminate a multitude of musical multimedia productions.
MUSC2666 Global Sound: Drum and Bass, Rhythm and Soul

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Professor Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: Critical Interpretation of 1500 words (25%), Musical analysis of 1500 words (25%), Final Project of 3000 words (40%), Participation (10%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
How did the music of enslaved and marginalised people eventually become a dominant force in contemporary popular culture? This unit will examine the local reinvention of a wide variety of African American music in communities around the world. From soul and funk in West Africa to ska and reggae in the Caribbean, we will examine how music moves around the world and within local communities to make new forms of meaning.
MUSC2672 Australian Popular Music

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Toby Martin Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 hr lecture + 1 hr tut/week Assessment: Tutorial participation and presentations 25%. Essay 25%. Final research project 50%. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The history of Australian popular music presents us with a long and complex heritage. It reflects, in its very constitution, the lives of those who create it and is underscored by the dynamic relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. This unit of study will explore the continuing experience and influence of a wide range of music made in Australia, from songlines to bush ballads and dance anthems, Countdown and Rage. We will examine hillbilly music of the 1930s, surf rock of the 60s, pub rock of the 70s, reggae, punk and indie rock of the 80s and 90s as well as the emergence of Australian dance music, hip hop and the multiplicity of styles and expressions that mark the contemporary music scene.
MUSC2693 Fundamentals of Music 3

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1hr lecture and 2 x 1hr tutorials (aural and written)/wk Prerequisites: MUSC1504 Assessment: Written and online music theory assessment (70%), aural assessment (30%) including a final exam. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Through an integrated and research-based approach to music composition and analysis, student's knowledge of music theory and compositional techniques is extended. Skills in this area cover a range of musical styles including classical music (past and present), jazz, popular music and film music. The Written tutorials build on the topics covered in the lectures. The Aural tutorials develop the students ability to listen musically and critically.
MUSC2695 Popular Music Theory

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 1hr lecture, 1 x 1hr written tutorial, 1 x 1hr aural tutorial Prerequisites: MUSC1503 or MUSC1504 or MUSC1501 or MUSC2693 or MCGY1009 or JAZZ1621 or JAZZ1019 Assessment: Weekly assignment tasks (30%), 1 x Composition and Analysis final project (40%), weekly auralia tests (10%), 1 x mid-semester aural exam (5%), 1 x final aural exam (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The culmination of the Fundamentals of Music series, this unit of study is an exploration of musical language used in contemporary popular, film and world music repertoire from ca. 1960 to the present. The focus is on compositional techniques, analytical tools and workflow that relates to contemporary music practitioners. Lectures will examine the given topic for that week with references to examples drawn from a list of repertoire for that topic. These examples will be discussed further in the written tutorials and supported by weekly homework. An important outcome of this unit of study is the final assignment, in which students apply the knowledge accrued over the semester in an original composition, which they also analyse. Aural Tutorials will draw on these topics to develop skills relating to the student's ability to perceive and interpret musical elements and procedures.

3000 level units of study

Core
MUSC3699 Understanding Music: Modes of Hearing

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hr lecture, 1 hr tut/wk Assessment: Brief essays eq. 1,500 words (30%), final paper 3,000 words (50%), tutorial participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: A good working knowledge of musical terminology and vocabulary is required.
This unit of study deals with the different ways in which we comprehend music and with the different ways in which that comprehension might be explained. It deals with modes of hearing and musical analysis for the purpose of leading students towards a deeper knowledge of how music in various genres (ranging from the classical mainstream to the twentieth-century avant-garde, from Tin Pan Alley songs to punk rock and hip-hop) is understood. This is a required unit of study for a music major in an Arts degree.
Selective
MUSC3603 Advanced Digital Music Techniques

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Damian Barbeler Session: Semester 2 Classes: 3 hr lecture/demonstration/wk Prerequisites: MUSC2653 or CMPN1013 Assessment: Creative assignments (80%), Weekly review and presentation of work (20%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit is an advanced exploration of digital sound and music in creative and multimedia contexts. It is a subject in which students are expected to make sophisticated use of sound creation and manipulation tools in pursuit of their own musical ideas. Students will undertake creative projects as a means to learning. An ability to read music at a basic level and an understanding of fundamental musical terminology is an advantage in this unit of study.
MUSC3609 Musicology

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hr seminar/wk Assessment: Written assessments (50%), weekly summaries of readings (30%), participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is a requirement for Honours in the Arts Music unit.
What do we study when we study music? What kinds of stories do we tell about the history of music? What are the central issues, questions, and concerns that drive the study of music? This unit of study begins to answer these questions and provides an overview of musicology as an academic discipline. The readings cover the field of musicology from its beginnings in the 1880s up to the present day.
MUSC3610 Musical Traditions and Globalization

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 2 hour seminar per week Assessment: Academic Blog - Musical Tradition (20%); In-class Presentation (15%); Academic Blog - Musical Piece (15%); Major Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Every musical form worldwide exists within a tradition, and globalization has been crucial in shaping those traditions in the contemporary era. This course explores different ways that musical traditions and globalization intersect. It introduces key theoretical approaches to both globalization (including postcolonial perspectives) and the concept of musical tradition, and explores case studies including social media and music in the Pacific Islands, East African hip-hop, understanding globalization's influence on indigenous Australian musical traditions and historically informed Western art music performance.
MUSC3629 Music and Everyday Life

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 2hr lecture/week Assessment: 1 x 3000wd fieldwork project paper (40%), 1 x 1000wd description of a musical event (20%), 2 x 1000wd critical response papers (30%), overall class participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is a requirement for Honours in the BA.
What can we learn from non-textual approaches to understanding music? The primary goal of this unit of study is to study music not as a composer, producer, performer, listener or audience member, but as an ethnographer. That is, analysing music through an observational, experiential and intellectual understanding of how people make and take meaning from music.
MUSC3630 Popular Music and the Moving Image

This unit of study is not available in 2021

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Associate Professor Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: 1 x 1000wd musical analysis (20%), 1 x 1000wd industrial critique (20%), 1 x listening and viewing test (20%), 1 x 3000wd final project (30%), overall participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The range of media channels through which we experience, popular music has prolifereated in recent years. The emotive power of music is used to tell stories, sell products and connect people to one another. This unit will analyse the use of popular music in a broad range of multimedia forms from film and television to video games and the use of digital media to disseminate a multitude of musical multimedia productions.
MUSC3631 Music in Public: Performance and Power

This unit of study is not available in 2021

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Associate Professor Charles Fairchild Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 2hr seminar/week Assessment: 2 x 500 wd performance reports (15%), 1 x 1500wd performance genre analysis (25%), 1 x 1000wd performance analysis (20%), 1 x 3000wd essay (30%), overall seminar participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The act of performing music creates a multitude of social relationships between listeners, audiences, musicians, performers, and the industries and institutions that surround them. This subject will ask students to study acts of performance historically, theoretically, and observationally. They will examine a wide range of situations and circumstances and try to work out how the expression of music is also an expression, affirmation, and contestation of social power. This subject will appeal to those who wish to study subjects such as music, performance studies, sociology, anthropology, and gender and cultural studies. It cuts across all of these areas of inquiry in the attention that is paid to the complexity and subtlety of how music is perceived and experienced across multiple social scenes and communities. This subject is not about performance practice or assessment. Instead, it seeks to allow students to gain some insight into the experience of performance as multifaceted and perspectival.
MUSC3639 Music Journalism

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 hr lecture, 1 hr tut/week. Assessment: Exercises in music journalism and reviewing 4,000 words (50%), final paper 2,000 words (30%), participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Even as the 'Age of Newspapers' seems to be coming to an end, human beings' need for authoritative commentary on music remains as strong as ever. Along with surveying the history of music journalism from the early eighteenth century up to the present day, this unit of study offers participants the chance to try their hands at various forms of music journalism.
MUSC3640 Rhythms and Sounds of Latin America

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Daniel Rojas Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x 2 hr lecture per week, 1 hr tutorial per week Assessment: Essay 2,500 words or creative composition/sound project with reflective statement (50%), 2 listening assessments (20%), Exam (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Musical knowledge may be helpful but not necessary
Latin American music has become a powerful force in today's music industry, but its rich diversity and cultural contexts are not always known or acknowledged. This unique unit of study surveys a number of Latin American popular, folk and indigenous musical traditions in terms of their cultural milieu and historical development. These include Afro-Cuban traditions, samba, salsa, tango and Andean music. Various musical, historical and cultural concerns are examined alongside a practical and creative involvement with the compositional characteristics and the repertoire pertinent to these traditions.
MUSC3699 Understanding Music: Modes of Hearing

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr James Wierzbicki Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2 hr lecture, 1 hr tut/wk Assessment: Brief essays eq. 1,500 words (30%), final paper 3,000 words (50%), tutorial participation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: A good working knowledge of musical terminology and vocabulary is required.
This unit of study deals with the different ways in which we comprehend music and with the different ways in which that comprehension might be explained. It deals with modes of hearing and musical analysis for the purpose of leading students towards a deeper knowledge of how music in various genres (ranging from the classical mainstream to the twentieth-century avant-garde, from Tin Pan Alley songs to punk rock and hip-hop) is understood. This is a required unit of study for a music major in an Arts degree.

Interdisciplinary Project units of study

PERF3640 Industry and Community Projects

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Ian Whitney Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Prerequisites: 72 credit points Corequisites: Interdisciplinary Impact in any major Assumed knowledge: upper-level disciplinary knowledge Assessment: 1 x group presentation (10%), 1 x group plan (20%), 1 x group project (50%), 1x individual statement (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This interdisciplinary unit provides students with the opportunity to address complex problems identified by industry, community, and government organisations, and gain valuable experience in working across disciplinary boundaries. In collaboration with a major industry partner and an academic lead, students integrate their academic skills and knowledge by working in teams with students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds. This experience allows students to research, analyse and present solutions to a real¿world problem, and to build on their interpersonal and transferable skills by engaging with and learning from industry experts and presenting their ideas and solutions to the industry partner.