Studying at York
Listen to This! - MUS00125C
Module summary
This module considers a range of music from the multiplicity available to us today and introduces its histories, contexts and meanings. By placing the music within that framework, and considering the role of social context in canon formation, you will be empowered to engage critically with a wider range of music in your own listening and study.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
Module aims
Listening to and engaging with music is central to its study. This process of listening can take many forms; in this module we will use the University Concert Series (YorkConcerts) as the starting point for a wider appreciation of that process. Over the semester, you will be exposed to a wide variety of live music, across musical genres and from different historical periods, and will develop critical listening skills that move from the ‘enjoyment’ factor to an evaluation of that process and the historical factors that inform it. Alongside that experience, there will be weekly lectures given by a wide range of academic staff. These will present a number of works which individual staff consider central to their understanding of music and their own academic practice – these will range across musical history and genres and also serve as introduction to different musicological approaches. In each case the work will be placed into its historical and cultural context, and a range of relevant musicological issues will also be introduced; these examples will also serve to inform the listening ‘live’ that takes place within the concert hall. Lectures will incorporate blocks of interactive discussion supported by the tutor and GTAs; the final assessment will explore the concepts of the module in relation to freely selected repertoire from the concert series.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module you will have:
-
widened your knowledge of music through history across a wide range of styles and approaches;
-
learned about performing issues by listening to and watching experienced performers;
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engaged critically with a number of fundamental issues in musical studies;
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become aware of the many different ways in which music can be studied;
-
developed your written responses to a variety of musical experience.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
Recorded Presentation (100%)
A 15-minute video or audio presentation which takes your choice of repertoire from the YorkConcerts series and sets it in the context of the issues and approaches considered in this module.
Further details and advice on approaches to this task can be found in the module VLE site.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
You will receive written feedback in line with standard University turnaround times.
Indicative reading
Relevant reading for each topic will be indicated via the VLE.
A useful background starting polemic could be:
Ward, Joanna. ‘Decentring and dismantling: a critical and radical approach to diversity in tertiary music education’. Tempo 74, no. 294 (October 2020): 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1017/S004029822000039X.