Undergraduate Program/World Music

Faculty Emphasis Advisors

Tara Browner, Professor
A. J. Racy, Professor
Helen Rees, Professor
Roger Savage, Associate Professor
Timothy D. Taylor, Professor

Plan of Study

GPA requirement

Students who select this emphasis must have a 3.5 grade-point average in departmental lower division core courses and a cumulative 3.25 GPA at the time of application.

Capstone (thesis requirement)

Students must write a 40-50 page thesis (capstone) and enroll in Ethnomusicology 199 for at least one term while writing their thesis. (See the "Emphasis Application " link above).

Degree Requirements

CORE COURSES
Lower Division Core Course Units (57)

World Music Theory (10A/B/C or its equivalent)

World Music Systems and Structures (11A/B/C)

Musical Cultures of the World (20A/B/C)

World Music Performance Ensembles (91A-91Z) or
Private Instruction (92) (6 2-unit courses)

Upper Division Core Course Units (20)

Sociology of Music (175) OR Anthropology of Music (181)

Study of Ethnomusicology (183)

World Music Performance Ensembles 161A-161Z or
Private Instruction (162) (6 2-unit courses)

TOTAL CORE COURSE UNITS

SCHOLARLY/RESEARCH EMPHASIS COURSES

Four 4-unit courses selected from one of the following
groupings:
I. Americas
II. Africa and Asia
III. Popular Music and Jazz
IV. Aesthetics, Politics and Psychology of Music

An additional 16 units must be completed with courses selected from the same emphasis or from other emphases, or with Special Topics, or Individual Studies courses (188, 197E or 197S)

Directed Research or Senior Project in Ethnomusicology (199)

TOTAL EMPHASIS UNITS

TOTAL UNITS FOR MAJOR

Minimum School of the Arts and Architecture Requirements
(Writing I and II, Foreign Language, Quantitative Reasoning, Diversity, GE, and 12 units of upper division non-major courses)

Minimum Number of units required for Bachelor of Arts
(World Music Concentration)

Scholarly/Research Emphasis Courses

I. Americas
Traditional North American Indian Music (106A)
Contemporary North American Indian Music (106B)
South American Indian Music (107)
Music of Latin America: Mexico, Central America, Caribbean (M108A)
Music of Latin America: Latin South America(108B)
The African American Musical Heritage (CM110A/B)
African American Music in California (CM112)
Music of Brazil (113)
Chicano/Latino Music in the U.S. (M116)

II. Africa and Asia
Music of Africa (C136A/B)
Folk Music of South Asia (146)
Survey of Classical Music in India (147)
Music in China (C156A/B)
Music on China's Periphery (C159)

III. Popular Music and Jazz
American Popular Music (117)
Development of Rock (118)
Cultural History of Rap (M119)
Ellingtonia (M111)
Development of Jazz (120A/B)
Cross Cultural Perspectives in Jazz (121)
Music of Bebop (123)
Women in Jazz (M109)
Development of Latin Jazz (M131)

IV. Aesthetics, Politics and Psychology of Music
Musical Aesthetics in Los Angeles (M115)
European Musics: Politics, Identities, Nationalisms (133)
Music and Politics in East Asia (C150)
Acoustics (170)
Cognitive Psychology of Music (172A)
Aesthetics of Music (174)
Psychology of Film Music (C176)
Aesthetic and Philosophical Foundations in Systematic Musicology (C178)
Empirical Foundations in Systematic Musicology (C179)

Special Topics and Individual Studies
Special Topics in Ethnomusicology (188)
Individual Studies in Ethnomusicology (197E)
(8 units maximum allowed)
Individual Studies in Systematic Musicology (197S)
(8 units maximum allowed)

Senior Thesis
Directed Research in Ethnomusicology (199)

World Music Performanc Ensemble Courses

Because learning to perform the music of the world can enlighten and enrich academic experiences, ethnomusicology majors are required to take performance courses (Ethnomusicology 91 A-Z and 161 A-Z) concurrently with their academic courses. Students have the opportunity to participate in performing organizations representing some 10-12 traditions. These ensembles are taught by masters of each tradition, who are also usually natives of that tradition, giving the student a chance to understand the subtleties of pedagogical technique from someone who has spent a lifetime immersed in the music (for details click on World Music Performance Ensembles).

Private Instruction in Music

Students in the world music concentration who want alternatives to the above performance ensembles may enroll in Ethnomusicology 92 or 162 in order to receive two units of credit for private or semi-private lessons with a distinguished community-based musician. All costs involved with these lessons are to be paid for by the student. Once the student has selected the musician and musical tradition, a 92/162 course contract must be completed and submitted to the department chair's office no later than the end of the second week of the quarter the student plans to enroll. For more information go to: Private Instruction in Music.