Music for Nonmajors
Courses | Ensembles | Private Lessons

COURSES
The School of Music and Dance offers a variety of opportunities for nonmajors to be involved in music courses and performance ensembles. See course listings for details. The following courses, which are open to students who have not had musical instruction, satisfy some of the university's general-education requirements. Those with an asterisk (*) satisfy either Arts and Letters or Multicultural requirements.

• Understanding Music (MUS 125)*
  This course will familiarize the student with many aspects of music, including the elements of music, historical style periods of Western Art music, the development of jazz and popular music.
• Music Industry (MUS 199)
  Offered through the Community Education Program as a comprehensive review of the music industry. Publishing, licensing, rights, management, copyright, promotion, marketing, music for TV and film, starting up, record labels and contracts.
• History of Rock Music (MUS 264, 265)*
  Evolution of rock emphasizing musical style and social context. 264: roots of rock through the British Invasion (1950-1970). 265: psychedelic rock to early rap music (1965-present).
• History of the Blues (MUS 270)*
  Traces blues music from its African and African American roots through its 20th-century history and its influence on the values of jazz, rhythm and blues, and country music.
• Styles in History (HUM 300)
  This course is designed as an interdisciplinary approach to Western European art forms from the early Middle Ages to the end of the Baroque era. It focuses mainly on music and the visual arts and philosophy within their historical context to illustrate developments in style.
• History of Jazz (MUJ 350)*
  Jazz History 1900-1950. Covers styles and musicians from Early Jazz and Swing through Modern Jazz (Bebop and Cool Jazz). Major figures covered include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Issues of history, biography, multiculturalism and racism. No prerequisite. No musical training required.
• History of Jazz (MUJ 351)*
  Jazz History 1940-Present. Covers styles and musicians from Modern Jazz, Bebop, Cool Jazz and Hard Bop to the present. Major figures covered include Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman. Issues of history, biography, multiculturalism and racism. No prerequisite. No musical training required.
• The Music of Bach and Handel (MUS 351)*
  Compositions by Bach and Handel such as organ chorales, cantatas, oratorios, operas, and masses; cultural context in Germany, France, Italy, and England for the development of their styles.
• Survey of Opera (MUS 353)*
  Introduces great operas including works by Mozart, Wagner, and Verdi.
• Beethoven (MUS 355)*
  Life and works of Beethoven considered in the context of the tumultuous events of postrevolutionary Europe. Works include piano sonatas, symphonies, and quartets.
• Innovative Jazz Musicians (MUS 356)*
  Covers one or two innovative and influential jazz musicians per term. Examines issues of history, biography, multiculturalism, racism, and critical reception.
• Celtic Music (MUS 357)*
  Explores music and culture of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Brittany. History, culture, and both modern and old performance styles studied.
• Music in World Cultures (MUS 358)*
  African, East European, and Indonesian musics in sociocultural context. Emphasis on listening skills, relationships between music and culture, aesthetics, styles, genres, music structures and forms, and participatory music making.
• Music of the Americas (MUS 359)*
  African American, Asian American, Latin American, and Native American musics in sociocultural context of the Americas. Emphasis on listening skills, relationships between music and cultures, and music structures and forms.
• Music for Dancing (MUS 379)*
  Introduction to music for dancing in theater and film; emphasizes ballet (Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky) and American popular music by African American artists (Ellington, James Brown).
• Film: Drama, Photography, Music (MUS 380)*
  Understanding the manner in which drama, photography, and music combine to form the whole through extensive viewing and analysis. Film Certificate
• Art Film (MUS 381)
  Introduces the best available examples of art films as embodying complex and often abstract use of drama, photography, and music. Prereq: MUS 380.
  Film Certificate
• Digital Audio & Sound Design (MUS 447)
  Fundamentals of electroacoustic music including additive and subtractive synthesis, MIDI basics, and analog recording.
• Introduction to Ethnomusicology (MUS 451)*
  Study of world musics in their social and cultural contexts. Emphasis on comparing the varied approaches, ideas, and methods of selected American and European researchers since 1980.
• Musical Instruments of the World (MUS 452)*
  Examines instruments of the world in their cultural contexts. Covers cross-cultural issues and focuses on particular geographic areas. Includes films, recordings, live demonstrations.
• Folk Music of the Balkans (MUS 453)*
  Forms and styles of folk musics and dances in their cultural contexts in southeastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia.
• Music of India (MUS 454)*
  Classical music traditions of North and South India with some discussion of dance, rural folk music, and popular film music; participatory music making and demonstrations by visiting artists.
• Music and Gender (MUS 460)*
  Examines the role of gender in shaping the music that is created, performed, taught, and listened to in representative cultures of the world, including the West.

Courses are occasionally offered under Special Studies (MUS 199), Seminar (MUS 407), Experimental Course (MUS 410). Such courses do not fulfill general-education requirements.

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ENSEMBLES (complete list)
Course numbers through 499 are for undergraduates; 500-, 600-, and 700-level courses are for graduate students.

• East European Folk Ensemble (MUS 390, 690)
• Collegium Musicum (MUS 391, 691)
• Chamber Ensemble-Brass Choir, Brass Ensemble, Celtic Ensemble, Studio Guitar Ensemble, Trombone Ensemble, Tuba Euphonium Ensemble, other ensembles as needed (MUS 394, 694)
• Band-Green Garter Band, Oregon Basketball Band, Oregon Marching Band*, Oregon Wind Ensemble, UO Campus Band*, UO Symphonic Band, Yellow Garter Band (MUS 395, 695)
• Symphony Orchestra, Campus Orchestra (MUS 396, 696)
• Chorus-Chamber Choir, University Gospel Choir*, University Gospel Ensemble, Gospel Singers, Concert Choir*, University Singers, Repertoire Singers, Women's Choir (MUS 397, 697)
• Jazz Laboratory Band III (MUJ 390, 690)
• Jazz Laboratory Band II (MUJ 391, 691)
• Oregon Jazz Ensemble (MUJ 392, 692)
• Small Jazz Ensemble (MUJ 395, 695)
• Opera Workshop (MUS 398, 698)
• Balinese Gamelan (MUS 490/590)
• Javanese Gamelan (MUS 408/508)

*no audition necessary

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PRIVATE AND GROUP LESSONS
Private lessons are available to nonmajors in all instruments and voice on a space available basis. The following are group classes that are available.

• Basic Performance Piano
  (Class Piano) (MUP 100)
• Basic Performance Voice
  (Class Voice) (MUP 101)
• Basic Performance Strings (MUP 102)
• Intermediate Guitar Skills(MUP 108)
• Begin Guitar I (MUP 120)
• Beg Guitar II (MUP 121)
• Blues Guitar I (MUP 127)
• Blues Guitar II (MUP 128)
• Special Studies Tabla Class (MUP 199)
• Basic Guitar Theory (MUS 129)
• Funk Guitar (MUP 122)
• Special Studies Folk Harp (MUP 199)

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