MUSIC 304 - The Arithmetic of Listening

Institution:

Bard College

Subject:

Description:

This introduction to the overtone series and the history of tuning teaches how tuning shapes the course of a culture's music; traces the parallel development of music and the number series back 6,000 years, to the teachings of Pythagoras; shows how to discriminate the pitch subtleties that differentiate Indian music, Balinese music, and even the blues from conventional European tuning; analyzes music by American avantgardists such as Glenn Branca, Harry Partch, and La Monte Young; explores the possible uses of music in meditation; and, most important, sensitizes class members to aspects of listening that 20th-century Westerners have been trained to filter out. A basic ability to read music is strongly recommended, but a background in mathematics or acoustics may compensate for its absence.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bard.edu

Phone Number:

(845) 758-6822

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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