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Unit of study_

MCGY1030: This Is Music

2025 unit information

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.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Study level Undergraduate
Academic unit Analysis, History and Cultural Studies
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
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None
Corequisites:
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None
Prohibitions:
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None
Assumed knowledge:
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None

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. independently source scholarly articles and books that inform a personal musical interest
  • LO2. identify the different sorts of evidence used to support arguments in a variety of music disciplines
  • LO3. Explain how an argument about a musical work or artist’s significance is formulated and evaluate the persuasiveness of the argument.
  • LO4. trace the evolution of an idea about music over time and evaluate its trajectory
  • LO5. develop a plan for growing your own musical practice.

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2024
Normal day Sydney
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2025
Normal day Sydney
Outline unavailable
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2020
Normal day Sydney
Semester 1 2021
Normal day Remote
Semester 1 2021
Normal day Sydney
Semester 1 2022
Normal day Remote
Semester 1 2022
Normal day Sydney
Semester 1 2023
Normal day Remote
Semester 1 2023
Normal day Sydney

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Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.