Courses

Department of Music Research and Composition

Courses offered in 2020-21

The Department of Music Research and Composition offers courses in music composition, music theory, music history, and popular music. Regardless of your major at Western University, we offer courses you can include in your academic life.

View course outlines.

Music Courses open only to non-music students

1000 Level Courses

1102A/B: Listening to Music
A basic course to acquaint students with the materials of music and to give a broad perspective of the history of music. Through guided listening, the student will be exposed to a wide variety of musical styles. Not available for credit for music students.

Music Courses open to music and non-music students

1000 Level Courses

(Not offered in 2020-21.)

2000 Level Courses

2701A/B: Musical Theatre
The contexts and forms of popular theatre in which music plays a vital part. Emphasis will be on such twentieth-century genres as the Musical, Rock Opera, Musical Comedy, Comic Opera, Operetta and Vaudeville.

2702B: Introduction to Jazz
A survey of various styles of jazz. Consideration of artists, jazz ensembles, the harmonic and rhythmic language of jazz, and performing practices, including the nature and role of improvisation.

2708B: Music and Gaming
An introduction to composing and producing music for video games. Students will gain an understanding of the medium of gaming by exploring its interactive context and its differences from other media.

2709B: Hip Hop
An overview of the development of hip hop from the late 1970s through to the present with an emphasis on how the music both reflects and shapes the contexts of its production.

3000 Level Courses

(Not offered in 2020-21.)

Music History / Popular Music Courses for Music Students

1000 Level Courses

1710F: Music History: Introduction
Consideration of various approaches to studying the history of music: guided listening, writing about music, library resources.

1730B: Introduction to Popular Music & Culture
An introduction to the study of the culture and history of popular music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and its links to other arts and media.

1750G: Music History: c.900 to c.1750
Survey of music from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.

2000 Level Courses

2701A/B: Musical Theatre
The contexts and forms of popular theatre in which music plays a vital part. Emphasis will be on such twentieth-century genres as the Musical, Rock Opera, Musical Comedy, Comic Opera, Operetta and Vaudeville.

2702B: Introduction to Jazz
A survey of various styles of jazz. Consideration of artists, jazz ensembles, the harmonic and rhythmic language of jazz, and performing practices, including the nature and role of improvisation.

2708B: Music and Gaming
An introduction to composing and producing music for video games. Students will gain an understanding of the medium of gaming by exploring its interactive context and its differences from other media.

2709B: Hip Hop
An overview of the development of hip hop from the late 1970s through to the present with an emphasis on how the music both reflects and shapes the contexts of its production.

2734A: Hit Records: Lyrics, Styles, Mixing
A study of recordings in selected popular music genres, focusing on lyrics, music, performing styles, and arrangement (mixing).

2736B: Introduction to Desktop Music Production [in Popular Music]
Introduction to fundamental principles of recording using desktop music facilities.
(Prerequisites: one of 2700A/B, 2701A/B, 2702A/B; or for 2018-19 co-requisite: 2700B with permission)

2750F/G Music History: C. 1750 to Present
Survey of music from the Classical and Romantic periods, and music of the 20th and 21st centuries.

2671F/G Music Across Cultures
Study of musical practices from around the world in their social, historical, theoretical, and aesthetic dimensions.

3000 Level Courses

3702B: Topics in Baroque Music
Selected topics in the historical, cultural, and analytical study of Baroque music (c. 1600 - 1750).

3734B: Digital Audio Recording
An introduction to the theory and practice of digitally recording, editing, and mixing acoustic music in ambient spaces with Pro Tools.

3735A: Popular Music Songwriting
Introduction to the tools and techniques of songwriting in a variety of popular music styles.

3737A: Topics in the Popular Music Industry
Topics in the popular music industry, emphasizing its history, business, cultural, legal, and creative contexts.

3738B: Digital Production & Engineering
Theory and practice of project studio construction and implementation, including acoustic treatment and advanced tracking techniques.

3752A: Topics in 20th Century Opera
Selected topics in the historical, cultural, and analytical study of twentieth-century opera.

3762B: Music and Politics
The study of music in selected socio-political contexts.

4000 Level Courses

4671B: Introduction to Music Research
A consideration of various issues and approaches to research in musicology and in music theory.

4740Y: Advanced Project in Popular Music Production
Allows students an opportunity to identify and capitalize on professional avenues for producing, distributing, and marketing music.

Music Theory / Composition Courses for Music Students

1000 Level Courses

1629A: Introduction to Composition
Introduction to musical elements and manipulation (pitch, rhythm, intensity, timbre, texture, and form), and appropriate repertoire.

1639U: General Integrated Musicianship (GIM) I
Musicianship skills for basic diatonic materials. Topics include an introduction to solfège, tonal listening, sight singing, dictation and keyboard harmony.

1641U: General Integrated Musicianship (GIM) II
A continuation of Music 1639. Musicianship skills for advanced diatonic materials. Topics include sight singing, dictation and keyboard harmony.

1649A: Studies in Music Theory I
Basic theory and analysis of tonal music from c.1700 to the early nineteenth century. Topics covered include diatonic harmony and voice-leading, the concept and practice of tonality, basic tonicization and modulation, and an introduction to musical form.

1651B: Studies in Music Theory II
Continuation of Music 1649A/B. Intermediate theory and analysis of tonal music. Topics covered include harmonic sequences, an introduction to chromatic harmony, and the small forms of tonal music.

2000 Level Courses

2629: Composition I
An introductory course in composing for voices and instruments. The course will include analysis of pertinent repertoire.

2639U: General Integrated Musicianship (GIM) III
A continuation of Music 1641U. Musicianship skills for chromatic materials. Topics include chromatic solfège, sight singing, dictation, and keyboard harmony.

2641U: General Integrated Musicianship (GIM) IV
A continuation of Music 2639U. Musicianship skills for advanced chromatic materials. Topics include sight singing, dictation, and keyboard harmony.

2651A/B: Studies in Theory III
Continuation of Music 1651A/B. Advanced theory and analysis of tonal music. Topics include advanced chromatic harmony, imitative contrapuntal forms, and the large forms of tonal music.

2695A: Introduction to Electroacoustic Music Composition
A practical introduction to electroacoustic music composition, including digital hardware and software. Students will study appropriate concepts, terminology, and repertoire, and will compose original music in the electroacoustic medium.

3000 Level Courses

3601B: Schenkerian Analysis
A study of Schenkerian analytic techniques with application to small forms.

3602B: Chromatic Harmony
Selected topics in the theory and analysis of chromatic harmony for music of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.

3620A: Tonal Counterpoint I
Study of the practice of tonal counterpoint in Baroque style. Development of written skills through species counterpoint and free counterpoint in the style of J. S. Bach. Composition of pieces such as choral preludes, binary dances, inventions, and fugal expositions.

3629: Composition II
Works in the larger forms for vocal and/or instrumental ensembles. Analysis with an emphasis on twentieth-century literature.

3641A: Score Preparation and Instrumental Arranging
Instruments of the orchestra and band. Timbres, ranges, transpositions, terminology, and score arranging. Arranging for orchestral and/or wind ensembles.

3649A: Studies in Music Theory IV
Theory and analysis of post-tonal music from c.1890-1950, with emphasis on atonal and basic twelve-tone repertoire.

3650B: Studies in Music Theory V
Continuation of material from Music 3649A/B. Theory and analysis of post-tonal music from c.1950 to the present, with emphasis on serial and post-serial repertoire.

3680B: Analyzing Vocal Music

3696B: Electroacoustic Music Composition
Continued study of the terminology and technology of electronic music. Historical development, musique concrète, the “classical” studio, the synthesizer, and computer applications. Survey of the literature with some analysis. Compositional techniques and notation peculiar to electronic music and its real-time performance.

4000 Level Courses

4629: Composition III
A continuation of Music 3629. Works in medium-sized forms for solo instruments and chamber
ensembles. Analysis with an emphasis on contemporary literature

4671B: Introduction to Music Research
A consideration of various issues and approaches to research in musicology and in music theory. 


Contact Information

Department Chair
Omar Daniel
TC 338
519-661-2111 x85369
odaniel@uwo.ca

Undergraduate Program Assistant
Claire Naudi
TC 210
519-661-2111 x85332
mrcdept@uwo.ca

Undergraduate Program Assistant
Catherine Fraser
TC 210
519-661-2111 x85402
mrcdept@uwo.ca