Mar 28, 2024  
2020-2021 Academic Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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MH 2020 - History of Popular Music


Credits: 3

In this sophomore-level course, students learn how the popular music industry evolved— through the assimilation and hybridization of styles, and under the transformative catalysts of music technology and the media. Beginning with the rise of folk styles in the first half of the 20th century, the course explores how diverse musical influences, consumerism, technology, politics, and media formats all contribute to the explosion of Pop since the mid-1950s. By learning how electronic instruments and the development of modern recording studios multiplied the palette of available sounds and presentation methods, students will understand how record labels’ saturation of the media converged with film, magazines, broadcasting technology, cable television, and the internet to drive sales and broaden cultural influence. By the conclusion of this course, students are able to identify key recordings and popular music milestones, based on facets of musical style, recording technique and distribution model, and cultural impact, and explain their significance in the development of broader aesthetics, music technologies, and cultural tensions that underlie the popular music of today.

Prerequisites: HU 1110 - Humanities I: World Thought I  

Course Learning Outcomes:
  • Explain the musical, technological, commercial, and cultural significance of key milestones in the history of popular music.
  • Evaluate popular music of past decades.
  • Formulate historical connections to music styles relevant today.
  • Analyze how the development of new recording technologies and media influenced musical styles.
  • Explain through example how different folk or underground musical cultures have been influenced, accepted, appropriated, or excluded by the popular music industry.




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