This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
This module examines the origins and development of the major popular musical styles that have emerged in the twentieth century, with a focus on the synthesis of African and European musical elements on the American continent. The module will explore the full complexities of the idea of the popular and the shifting and contested meanings of genre and style. Links between oral traditions of music making, musical literacy, technology and changes in popular musical styles will be made.
Delivery of this module is through lectures and tutorials (totalling 2 hours per week over one term). In addition to this, students are encouraged to attend guest lectures, research seminars, screenings and listening sessions which relate to this module. Students should also attend any relevant study skills sessions on essay writing and referencing in order to help them complete their coursework successfully.
The lectures will introduce and explore the subject area. Students will be provided with directed background reading to supplement material covered in lectures. The module will provide students with the necessary principles and concepts to deal with not only the content of this module but also establish a common understanding and knowledge base for future modules.
Total Contact Hours: 22
Independent Study Hours: 128 (approx.10 hours per week)
Total Study Hours: 150
20% Style and Music Terminology Exercise
80% Essay, 1500 words
Covach, J.R. (2012). What's That Sound? An Introduction to Rock and Its History, 3rd edition. London: Norton.
Frith, S., Straw, W. & Street, J. (2001). The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moore, A.F. (2001). Rock the Primary Text: Developing a Musicology of Rock, 2nd Edition. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Scott, D.B. (2012). Sounds of the Metropolis: The Nineteenth-Century Popular Music Revolution in London, New York, Paris, and Vienna. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Shuker, R. (2005). Key Concepts in Popular Music, 2nd Edition. London: Routledge.
Shuker, R. (2001). Understanding Popular Music, 2nd Edition London: Routledge.
Van Der Merwe, P. (1989). Origins of the Popular Style. Oxford: Oxford 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 an understanding of popular musical styles that have emerged in the twentieth century.
2) Demonstrate familiarity with the role of African and European musical elements in the development of popular styles on the American continent and elsewhere.
3) Identify and explore key characteristics of popular styles.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1) Display confidence in managing a project and carrying it through to delivery.
2) Manage resources, including information sources.
3) Display an openness to alternative ideas and ways of thinking and demonstrate flexibility of thought.
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