This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
This module will provide a broad introduction to important aspects of music history and culture from the twentieth century to the present day. Different approaches to musical language will be considered (tonality/modality, rhythm and timbre in a range of mainstream and experimental styles). The advent of sound recording and the increasing importance of technology in music will also be examined. These key ideas will be connected to research specialisms within the Centre for Music and Audio Technology, encouraging students to appreciate the potential for further study in each of these areas.
Total Contact Hours: 22
Private Study Hours: 128
Total Study Hours: 150
Main assessment methods
Critical Writing Exercise (1,000 words) – 20%
Essay (2,000 words) – 80%
Reassessment methods
Like-for-like
Indicative Reading List
.Harper-Scott, J.P. E. & Samson, J. (2009). An Introduction to Music Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hendy, D. (2014) Noise: A Human History of Sound and Listening. New York: Collins.
Judkins, J. (2011). 'Silence, Sound, Noise and Music' in Gracyk, T. & Kania, A. (eds), The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Music. London: Routledge.
Kaemmer, J. E. (1993) Music in Human Life: Anthropological Perspective on Music. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Nettl, B. (2000) ‘Music’ in Sadie, S. et al. (Eds) Grove Music, [online]
Zak, A. (2009). ‘Getting Sounds: The Art of Sound Engineering’ in Cook et al. (eds) The Cambridge Companion to Recorded Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
See the library reading list for this module (Medway)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of important figures, trends and theories relevant to the development of twentieth and twenty-first century musical cultures;
2 Demonstrate a familiarity with a range of scholarly practices and ideas of special significance within the research culture of the Centre for Music and Audio Technology;
3 Research one or more areas of study within music, using skills such as finding and using appropriate sources, producing a bibliography, developing an argument and
drawing connections between texts and contexts.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Manage and navigate information sources (both electronic and printed);
2 Work independently to a given brief;
3 Demonstrate flexibility of thought and an openness to alternative ideas and different ways of thinking.
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