Introduction to World Music

MUS 17
Spring 2013
MWF 10-10:50
Music 1145

Philip Murphy: Associate Lecturer

pmurphy@umail.ucsb.edu
office hours: Friday 11AM-12PM, or by appointment
Aviva Milner-Brage: Teachers assistant
avivamb@gmail.com
office hours:
Description
Why is music important, and why should it be studied? Ethnomusicologists convincingly
argue that music offers a great way to understand culture and therefore human beings.
Music is both a mirror that reflects culture and a tool used to produce and shape culture.
In this class we will attempt to understand aspects of various world cultures by listening
to and learning about their music. We will move through different geographical areas and
engage with people making music in different historical and social contexts. We will
zoom in and attempt to approach each music culture on its own terms, to understand who
and what gives it life and what makes it unique. At the same time we will widen our
angle of view in an attempt to understand the cultural connections and overlap that
contribute to a given music culture. In addition to its geographic structure, this class is
organized around various issues that pertain to the music we will study. Issues such as
globalization, nationalism, gender, leisure, pedagogy, and others will provide useful
lenses and theories for our project of understanding music in and as culture.
Objectives
We are working towards the development of critical listening, reading and writing skills
that facilitate relativistic analysis and musical knowledge that are sensitive to bias and
ethnocentrism. In this class, you will learn to understand and apply basic music
terminology and concepts of ethnomusicology. You will become familiar with and be
able to identify a number of musical genres and music cultures from various world
communities. You will use music as a lens to explore issues that pertain to human
communities throughout the world.

Reading/Listening

The readings for this class are in PDF format. The listening examples are in mp3 and mp4
(video) format. Both the readings and listening examples will be found on the Gaucho
Space site. Reading and listening are required. You will be required to answer questions
based on the readings in your sections and on tests. We will go over musical examples in
class, but you are expected to practice your skills by working on your own. You will be
asked to identify and discuss many of the listening examples on the midterm and final.
Attendance/Section/Office Hours
You are required to attend every class period. Please notify me if you will have to miss
class for any reason. Attendance will be recorded in class, sometimes through the
collection of short assignments based on the readings.
Attendance in the discussion sections is also required and will be recorded. Please come
to section prepared to discuss the readings. For some weeks, I will provide guiding
questions to prepare you for discussion that may be collected.
You are required to attend my office hours at least once during the class. You can use
this opportunity to discuss a paper, different class topics, future plans, etc.
Exams
There will be two in class listening exams, in which you will attempt to identify brief
recorded examples from the assigned listening, as well as answer short questions about
musical concepts and cultural themes drawn from our readings and class presentations.
No musical training is required for this class. However, you will need to pay careful
attention to the assigned listening materials. All examples will be posted on Gaucho
Space. A note on careful listening You may be accustomed to casual listening to music
recordings as part of your daily life, but your attention to the recordings in these listening
assignments should be much more focused. Some of the most important things you will
learn in this class will be through listening as much as through reading, so you should
listen closely and often to the musical examples to develop critical listening skills and
think about connections between social and sonic contexts. In other words, regular and
attentive listening is an essential part of your study for the course. Even when examples
are played in class, you will need to listen to the recordings repeatedly on your own, both
in advance of each class meeting and in preparation for the examinations.
Paper
Your final paper will be a 1500 word musical ethnography, prepared with a
combination of library research and ethnographic observation of a local musical context.
You will need at least 3 scholarly resources (books, journal articles, etc) to provide
historical and cultural information that will serve as background for your fieldwork. The
Music Library is a valuable resource for reference works, such as Garland Encyclopedia
of World Music, Grove Dictionary of Music as well as many other journals and books.
Many resources can be accessed online at
http://www.library.ucsb.edu/subjects/music/musi.html. There are numerous reliable print
sources available, so consider carefully your use of general web searches to inform you
about global cultures and musical histories. The ethnographic portion will be based on
interviews with musicians and listeners, observations of performance scenes, and
possibly your own participation in a musical situation. As we will explain over the course

of the quarter, ethnography, like musical scholarship in general, does not just mean
writing solely about your opinion or your experiences. It is a social-scientific method that
uses close-up observation and dialogue to shed light on cultural contexts and musical
behavior. In other words, your ethnographic paper is a chance to show something about
how music works in peoples lives. Papers should use double-spaced, 12 pt Times font,
and include a bibliography of all cited sources, including personally conducted
interviews. If you quote or derive a significant concept from another authors work, you
must cite the work explicitly in footnotes or in the main body of the text.
Performances
You are required to attend at least three musical performances this quarter. There are
many performances to choose from. Look at the schedules for the UCSB Multi-Cultural
Center and Arts and Lectures. If you want to receive credit for another performance (not
MCC or A&L) please see Aviva or myself for approval. Some concerts may sell out - so
please buy your tickets ASAP! You can buy tickets at the Arts & Lectures Ticket Office
in Building 402 adjacent to Campbell Hall or at the Multicultural Center. Hold onto your
ticket stubs after the concert and give them to your TA with a short written report (300500 words). More info on the performers is available at the Arts and Lectures and Multicultural Center websites.
Grading & Evaluation
mid-term exam: 25%
final exam: 25%
paper: 25%
concert attendance: 15%
attendance and participation: 10%
Grade Scale
A+ 100-97, A 96-93, A- 92-90, B+ 87-89, B 86-83, B- 82-80, C+ 79-77, C 76-73, C- 7270, D+ 69-67, D 66-63, D- 62-60, F 59 and below.

Class Schedule

(please refer to Gaucho Space for up-to-date and detailed information)

Week 1-Introductions, Orientation, Ideas, Concepts
Week 2-Jamaica: Popular Music, Media and Circulation
Week 3-Morocco/Egypt: Islam Soundscapes, Music & Islam
Paper proposals due
Week 4-Indonesia: Guest Lectures (Aviva)
Week 5-Review and Mid-term
Week 6-India: Music & Pedagogy, Gender
Week 7-Brazil: Music & Race/Ethnicity, Politics
Week 8-West, Central & South Africa: Community, Appropriation, Protest
Week 9-Hawaii: Material Culture and Globalization
South America: Music & Protest, Politics
Global Pop, World Music 2.0: Authenticity, Appropriation
Week 10-Review
Final papers due