Courses

Spring 2025 Listing Course Info on SIS Archives

Course Descriptions

The list below includes descriptions of all undergraduate and graduate courses that have been offered by the Department of Music.

Visit the undergraduate and graduate pages for course requirements for specific programs. For information on the current semester's course offerings, schedules, room locations and registration, please visit the Student Information System (SIS).

Undergraduate Courses

MUS 0001 Introduction to World Music. Exploration of diverse musical traditions around the world. Musical systems, musical instruments, lives of musicians, social settings of performance, music, and culture. Previous musical training not required.

MUS 0003 Introduction to Western Music. Introduction to selected forms and genres of Western music. Emphasis on analytical listening and cultural critique through guided examinations of both the formal organization and the social/cultural background of a wide range of musical styles. Previous musical training not required.

MUS 0005 Introduction to Music Theory and Musicianship. Exploration of the basics of music theory, including notation, rhythm, scales, intervals, chords, and form. Introduction to ear training, sight singing, and keyboard skills. Musical systems both inside and outside Western notated tradition covered.

MUS 0007 Introduction to Piano. Class piano for beginners and other musicians who want to develop basic piano skills. Taught in the computer lab; maximum twelve students per class. Pass/Fail only; 0 credits. May only be taken once.

MUS 0009 Private Lessons No Credit. Private lessons for voice or an instrument. Broad range of styles including Classical, Jazz, Rock, Klezmer, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Arab, North African, Mediterranean, Indian and Japanese vocal and instrumental music. New students must consult the Coordinator of Applied Music for details before beginning lessons. Extra tuition per semester is charged for this course. Applications for scholarships are due the first week of each semester and include scholarships for music majors or minors, financial aid, and ensemble scholarships.

MUS 0009 Private Lessons. Private lessons for voice or an instrument. Broad range of styles including Classical, Jazz, Rock, Klezmer, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Arab, North African, Mediterranean, Indian and Japanese vocal and instrumental music. New students must consult the Coordinator of Applied Music for details before beginning lessons. Extra tuition per semester is charged for this course. Applications for scholarships are due the first week of each semester and include scholarships for music majors or minors, financial aid, and ensemble scholarships.

MUS 0011 Sound and Structure. Integrated approach to music theory and musicianship, with emphasis placed on rhythm, timbre, and harmony. Exploration of musical structure through theoretical, analytical, creative, and critical perspectives on a diverse repertoire of styles, compositional eras, and music traditions. Includes a lab to develop aural skills and put theoretical knowledge into practice. Recommendations: Music 10, placement through the Music Theory Assessment (offered every Fall), or permission of department theory coordinator.

MUS 0012 Music Scholarship at Tufts. Overview of the musical humanities, focusing on the subjects and resources uniquely offered by Tufts Music Department. Exposure to the full gamut of musical disciplines through dynamic classroom visits from our diverse faculty. Conduct in-depth critical research and analysis of topics of personal interest. Techniques of scholarship including utilizing sources, fieldwork, libraries, and databases; as well as methods for academic citation, formatting, and argumentation. One 2.5-hour classroom seminar session and one 50-minute lab.

MUS 0014 Introduction To Songwriting and Arranging. Songwriting and arranging fundamentals. Composition and arrangement of songs in many styles and genres while building skills in tonal and modal chord vocabularies, melody, notation, form, instrumentation, voicing, and aural skills. Prerequisite: MUS 5 or basic understanding of harmony, scales, modes, triads and seventh chords, and notation. Students present their work in an informal concert setting but do not necessarily need to perform themselves.

MUS 0015 Introduction to Theory and Analysis Of Popular Music. A study of the structure and forms used in popular music through score analysis, transcription, and aural skills. Focus includes the innovation and development within specific genres, as well as their shared common practices. Genres studied will include: rhythm and blues, soul, funk, hip-hop, rock, folk, musical theater numbers, and ballads from the 30's -50's. Recommendations: MUS 5 or consent.

MUS 0017 Composition for Film. (Cross-listed as FMS 67) Introduction to composing music for a variety of visual media, including film, video games, and advertising. Access to the music lab where students produce their work hands on. Recommendations: Working knowledge of notation and sequencing software (such as Finale or Sibelius and DigitalPerformer or Pro Tools) helpful. Music 5 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.

MUS 0021 American Music. A historical and cultural overview of American art music from the founding of the United States to the present day with close readings of representative works. Intended for undergraduate music majors. Recommendations: MUS 10 or permission of instructor.

MUS 0022 History of African American Music. (Cross-listed as AFR 39 and AMER 39) The development of black music and aesthetics in the United States from the antebellum period to the present. Materials include the music and appropriate literature representing the composed, folk, and popular traditions.

MUS 0023 History of Rock 'n' Roll. An examination of sociocultural meaning and musical structure in rock 'n' roll and related idioms of popular music. Emergence of the idiom in context of the history of American music. Connections among various styles and major artists. Impact of technology and the music industry.

MUS 0025 History of Blues. Origins, development, and regional styles; downhome blues, classic blues, and urban blues; vocal and instrumental traditions and innovations. Emphasis on such major figures as Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and B.B. King.

MUS 0026 History of Jazz. Major figures and schools of this American music approached primarily through detailed study of recordings dating from about 1914 through the present. Artists include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and many others.

MUS 0027 Miles Davis and his Musical Proteges. The music of Miles Davis and members of his ensembles, beginning with recordings of Davis with Charlie Parker and ending in the 80’s with Davis’ electric fusion period. Davis’ significance in historical, social, and aesthetic issues considered through autobiography, biography, and essays. Careers of sidemen in Davis’ ensembles including Betty Davis, Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Keith Jarrett, John Scofield, and Benny Maupin.

MUS 0028 Queer Pop. A sociocultural exploration of the popular music that is by, about, or important to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered and other queer people in the United States. In tandem with important moments in queer history, including early sexology, the Stonewall Riots and the AIDS Crisis, the course looks at a broad range of musicians and genres from Cole Porter to the Indigo Girls.

MUS 0029 French Popular Music. A survey of French popular music from the 1950s to the present in its cultural context, exploring significant musical trends and artists in each decade. Major topics include the relationship between musical aesthetics and French identity; authenticity (what is French music?); immigrant influences and racial politics; gender and sexuality. The broader socio-cultural issues at stake in the production, performance, and consumption of popular music in France. No prior musical experience or French-language proficiency required. Taught in English.

MUS 0031 Music and Prayer In The Jewish Tradition. (Cross-listed as JS 150 and REL 158.) The role and function of music in Jewish worship and cultural identity. Focus on the Kabbalat Shabbat. Topics to include participation vs. performance in worship, music and historical authenticity in prayer, music and religious experience, and the invention and presentation of tradition. Liturgical music and dual culturalism in the American Jewish community.

MUS 0032 Technology and the Jewish Oral Tradition. (Cross listed as JS 55 and REL 55). Oral tradition and its traditional transmission in the Jewish community. Investigation of why the performance of text is viewed as authentic religious expression—not only face to face with cantors, rabbis, or teachers but from websites and computer programs. Examination of how new technologies change the practice and cultural understanding of sacred oral traditions. Previous musical training not required.

MUS 0035 Women in Music. (Cross-listed w/WGSS 30 and CVS 37) Popular music and art music around the world from the perspective of women. The roles of women as creators, performers, sponsors, and consumers. The representation of women in music and how it reflects the culture of the past and present.

MUS 0038 Music as Culture. An introduction to ethnomusicology, the study of music in human life. The anthropological view of music as a response to the natural environment and social experience. Comparative methods using case studies from diverse world traditions.

MUS 0040 Music of Africa. Music systems and musical instruments from selected music cultures on the African continent and of the African diaspora; music as an integration of song, instrumental ensembles, and dance; music in its historical, social, and cultural context; lecture, discussion and hands-on performance labs.

MUS 0042 Music of North Africa. Survey of North African music cultures, focusing on cultural politics, social contexts, and performance practice. Topics may include musical practices associated with healing rituals of the sub-Saharan diaspora; Amazigh (Berber) rights movement; rap and the Arab Spring; nationalism and the Arab-Andalusian historical memory; Islamic and Jewish mysticism; migration and the world music market.

MUS 0044 Music of Asia: The Pop Revolution! A critical overview of the production, reception, and circulation of East and Southeast Asian pop music. How different musical movements and genres are crafted and how pop music conveys ideas of social changes and cultural identity.

MUS 0046 Music of The Middle East. Survey of Middle Eastern musics in their cultural, religious, and historical contexts. Introduction to Arabic, Turkish, and Persian musical systems, including ritual, folk, and popular music and dance traditions. Topics may include the relationship between music and the sacred; gender, music, and dance in the public sphere; music and poetics; popular music, technology, and globalization; politics and music.

MUS 0048 Music in the Age of Empires (900-1750 AD). Music as a technology of power in the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras. Invention of music notation; music and religious authority; songs of Knights and Ladies; music books and instruments as luxury gifts; music puzzles, enigmas, and intellectual virtuosity; soundscapes of diplomacy; battles over song in the Reformations and Wars of Religion; music as magic; technologies of music printing and the amateur consumer; early opera as political spectacle; the rise of instrumental genres and concerts. Composers include Hildegard, Josquin, Palestrina, Strozzi, Monteverdi, and Bach. Hands-on course featuring rare books in Tufts Library Special Collections. No prerequisites.

MUS 0049 History of Western Music (1770-present). An historical and cultural overview of European art music from Haydn and Mozart through the present, with close readings of representative works. Recommendations: MUS 5 or equivalent with permission of instructor.

MUS 0051 Opera. A critical look at the marvels and excesses of opera. Representative works explored from the cross-disciplinary perspective of staging and acting practices, film adaptation, dramaturgical conventions, voice, performance, and spectatorship. Field trip to live opera performance.

MUS 0052 Music in Paris and Vienna At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century. Paris and Vienna as epicenters of music, literature, and the visual arts. Studies of works by Debussy, Ravel, Satie, Stravinsky, Mahler, and Schoenberg, with attention to cultural and artistic contexts.

MUS 0053 Composer of The Year. A study of an important composer. Focus on significant works in the context of the composer's life and times.

MUS 0054 Developments in New Music. A study of music by late twentieth-century and recent composers. Such topics as serialism, minimalism, new Romanticism, postmodernism, electro-acoustic music, globalization, and cross-over, considered in their sociological and cultural contexts. Guest lectures by Boston-area composers, and attendance at concerts of new music.

MUS 0055 The Music of John Williams and Star Wars. (Cross-listed with FMS 64) Critical evaluation of the music of John Williams. Emphasis upon Williams's eclectic style and the wider cultural and social currents. The composer’s engagement with history and politics, notably through collaborations with directors like Spielberg and Stone and connections to local musical institutions. Scores for the Star Wars franchise, focusing on topics of thematic construction, myth, gender, and racial representation. No prior background in music required.

MUS 0056 Music on Film; Film on Music. (Cross-listed as FMS 0082). Films, animation, and videos as audio-visual media, from Fantasia to The Shining, attending to the matching of images with sound and music. Topics such as synchronization and synchresis, vertical montage and musicality of the image track, leitmotif and dolby, in literature from film, music, and media studies. Class discussion crucial to develop the ability to “audition” film and video.

MUS 0058 Music, Technology and Digital Culture. (Cross-listed w/STS 33) Study of the interactions between music, technology, and culture in popular and concert music since World War I. Issues of production, distribution, and reception, involving such topics as the impact of radio on composition in the 1920s, recording technologies, electric guitar as cultural icon, synthesizers and the rise of electronic music, digital sampling, hip-hop and DJ culture, the MP3 phenomenon, cross-cultural borrowings, gender and technology, the internet, interactivity, and new models of consumption.

MUS 0061 Computer Tools For Musicians. (formerly Music 64) Using computer technology to compose, arrange, synthesize, transcribe, orchestrate, mix, and publish music. Tools to be covered include Sibelius, Reason, Kontakt, and Digital Performer. Students will complete several creative projects using music hardware and software. Prerequisites: Music performance and/or composition experience, ability to read music, facility at the keyboard, familiarity with the Macintosh operating system.

MUS 0064 - Origins of Electronic Music, 1890-1980. The history and technology of electronic music starting from its beginnings in the age of Edison and Bell, to the dawn of the digital era. Topics include composers' search for new sounds; technological developments enabling the electronic creation and manipulation of sounds; inventors of new instruments and compositional techniques; and development of schools of electronic music in various cultures in North America, Europe, and Asia. Emphasis on listening to and analyzing important works, viewing and reading interviews with composers and inventors, and hands-on sound manipulation using modern simulations of historical electronic-music tools.

MUS 0067 - Private Lessons No Credit. Private lessons for voice or an instrument. Broad range of styles including Classical, Jazz, Rock, Klezmer, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Arab, North African, Mediterranean, Indian and Japanese vocal and instrumental music. New students must consult the Coordinator of Applied Music for details before beginning lessons. Extra tuition per semester is charged for this course. Applications for scholarships are due the first week of each semester and include scholarships for music majors or minors, financial aid, and ensemble scholarships.

MUS 0067 Private Lessons. Private lessons for voice or an instrument. Broad range of styles including Classical, Jazz, Rock, Klezmer, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Arab, North African, Mediterranean, Indian and Japanese vocal and instrumental music. New students must consult the Coordinator of Applied Music for details before beginning lessons. Extra tuition per semester is charged for this course. Applications for scholarships are due the first week of each semester and include scholarships for music majors or minors, financial aid, and ensemble scholarships. Prerequisite for 153: fourth-year level of competence.

MUS 0068 Senior Recital. Recital-level competence; emphasis on solo literature and major repertory; solo recital required. Please see departmental website for specific details. Recommendations: Permission of Coordinator of Performance Studies.

MUS 0069 - Gospel Choir. Selected repertory of choral works from the African American tradition of religious music. No prerequisite or previous musical experience necessary.

MUS 0069 Gospel Choir No Credit. Selected repertory of choral works from the African American tradition of religious music. No prerequisite or previous musical experience necessary.

MUS 0070 Jazz Orchestra No Credit. Jazz instrumental and ensemble improvisation skills developed through performance of classical jazz compositions and recent works for big band. Elements of jazz, including rhythms, blues, and other traditional song forms; jazz melody and harmony.

MUS 0070 Jazz Orchestra. Jazz instrumental and ensemble improvisation skills developed through performance of classical jazz compositions and recent works for big band. Elements of jazz, including rhythms, blues, and other traditional song forms; jazz melody and harmony.

MUS 0071 -Jazz Improvisation Ensemble. Focus on a practical knowledge of jazz improvisation in small combo settings; includes blues and AABA structures, turnarounds, construction of chords, phrasing, scale and chord relationships, and rhythmic pulse.

MUS 0071 Jazz Improvisation Ensemble No Credit. Focus on a practical knowledge of jazz improvisation in small combo settings; includes blues and AABA structures, turnarounds, construction of chords, phrasing, scale and chord relationships, and rhythmic pulse.

MUS 0073 Pep Band. Performs at football games and rallies. Fall only.

MUS 0073 Pep Band No Credit. Performs at football games and rallies. Fall only

MUS 0074 Wind Ensemble No Credit. Symphonic band and wind ensemble literature as well as contemporary works.

MUS 0074 Wind Ensemble. Symphonic band and wind ensemble literature as well as contemporary works.

MUS 0076 Klezmer Ensemble. Old style and current Klezmer music, the celebratory art originating with the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe. Improvisation of lead melodies. Arrangements and instrumental roles. Recommendations: Instrumental fluency (intermediate to advanced).

MUS 0076 Klezmer Ensemble No Credit. Old style and current Klezmer music, the celebratory art originating with the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe. Improvisation of lead melodies. Arrangements and instrumental roles. Recommendations: Instrumental fluency (intermediate to advanced).

MUS 0078 African Music and Dance Ensemble No Credit. Repertory of traditional singing, instrumental ensemble music, and dance. May be repeated for credit.

MUS 0078 African Music and Dance Ensemble. Repertory of traditional singing, instrumental ensemble music, and dance. May be repeated for credit.

MUS 0079 Arabic Music Ensemble No Credit. Performance of both classical and folk Arabic music. The Maqam micro-tonal scale system as applied to both Western and Arabic instruments. Improvisation, form, style, rhythmic cycles, as well as Arabic vocal diction. Some Arabic Ouds (lutes) to be made available.

MUS 0079 - Arabic Music Ensemble. (Cross-listed w/ARB 51) Performance of both classical and folk Arabic music. The Maqam micro-tonal scale system as applied to both Western and Arabic instruments. Improvisation, form, style, rhythmic cycles, as well as Arabic vocal diction. Some Arabic Ouds (lutes) to be made available.

MUS 0080 Javanese Gamelan No Credit. Central Javanese music performed on a gamelan orchestra, a traditional ensemble consisting of mostly percussion instruments--gongs and metallophones. Repertory drawn from the centuries-old court tradition as well as more modern works of post-independence Indonesia.

MUS 0080 Javanese Gamelan Ensemble. Central Javanese music performed on a gamelan orchestra, a traditional ensemble consisting of mostly percussion instruments--gongs and metallophones. Repertory drawn from the centuries-old court tradition as well as more modern works of post-independence Indonesia.

MUS 0081 Concert Choir No Credit. Music for large vocal forces ranging from Bach to Bernstein, including major works in the Western canon, recent compositions, and arrangements of non-Western choral music.

MUS 0081 Concert Choir. Music for large vocal forces ranging from Bach to Bernstein, including major works in the Western canon, recent compositions, and arrangements of non-Western choral music.

MUS 0082 Chamber Singers No credit. Works for a small vocal ensemble, primarily a cappella, including Renaissance motets and madrigals, arrangements of jazz, pop, and Broadway, compositions by contemporary composers, and non-Western music. Recommendations: MUS 69 (Tufts Concert Choir).

MUS 0082 Chamber Singers. Works for a small vocal ensemble, primarily a cappella, including Renaissance motets and madrigals, arrangements of jazz, pop, and Broadway, compositions by contemporary composers, and non-Western music. Recommendations: MUS 81 (Tufts Concert Choir).

MUS 0083 Opera Ensemble. Music for beginning opera singers with emphasis on development of musical skills, staging techniques, acting and singing skills, and role interpretation. Public performance of opera scenes, including solo arias.

MUS 0083 Opera Ensemble No Credit. Music for beginning opera singers with emphasis on development of musical skills, staging techniques, acting and singing skills, and role interpretation. Public performance of opera scenes, including solo arias.

MUS 0084 Symphony Orchestra. Music ranging from the Baroque to the twenty-first century. Major works for chorus and orchestra regularly undertaken with the Tufts Concert Choir.

MUS 0084 Symphony Orchestra No Credit. Music ranging from the Baroque to the twenty-first century. Major works for chorus and orchestra regularly undertaken with the Tufts Concert Choir.

MUS 0085 Chamber Orchestra. Works for small orchestral forces, including Baroque, Classical, and contemporary pieces; regular collaborations with other departmental ensembles.

MUS 0085 Chamber Orchestra No Credit. Works for small orchestral forces, including Baroque, Classical, and contemporary pieces; regular collaborations with other departmental ensembles.

MUS 0086 Chamber Music Ensembles. Study and coaching of selected works for small chamber ensembles. Audition required. For details, consult the Coordinator of Performance Studies.

MUS 0086 - Chamber Music Ensembles No Credit. Study and coaching of selected works for small chamber ensembles. Audition required. For details, consult the Coordinator of Performance Studies.

MUS 0087 Early Music Ensemble. Music from the medieval period to the eighteenth century. Ensembles include recorder consorts, lute ensemble, Renaissance wind band, small vocal ensembles, viols, and mixed ensemble.

MUS 0087 Early Music Ensemble No Credit. Music from the medieval period to the eighteenth century. Ensembles include recorder consorts, lute ensemble, Renaissance wind band, small vocal ensembles, viols, and mixed ensemble.

MUS 0088 Flute Ensemble. Composed of members of the flute family (piccolos, C-flutes, alto flute, bass flute). Performs music from several centuries and a wide variety of styles (Renaissance, Bach, Debussy, Joplin, avant-garde).

MUS 0088 Flute Ensemble No Credit. Composed of members of the flute family (piccolos, C-flutes, alto flute, bass flute). Performs music from several centuries and a wide variety of styles (Renaissance, Bach, Debussy, Joplin, avant-garde).

MUS 0089 New Music Ensemble. Recently written compositions by both established and student composers; free improvisation. Frequent performances.

MUS 0089 New Music Ensemble No Credit. Recently written compositions by both established and student composers; free improvisation. Frequent performances.

MUS 0090 Electronic Music Ensemble No Credit. An ensemble combining computer-based synthesis and performance. Semester culminates in a public concert. Required: instrumental proficiency, music-reading literacy. Preferred: experience with musical improvisation, MIDI, and synthesizer programming. Recommendations: Permission of instructor.

MUS 0090 Electronic Music Ensemble. An ensemble combining computer-based synthesis and performance. Semester culminates in a public concert. Required: instrumental proficiency, music-reading literacy. Preferred: experience with musical improvisation, MIDI, and synthesizer programming. Recommendations: Permission of instructor.

MUS 0095 Psychology of Music. (Cross-listed as PSY 80.) Examination of a wide range of topics in the psychology of music: music perception; music cognition; music aesthetics; music and emotions; the influence of music on human behavior; the nature and measurement of musical abilities; music education; and child development.

MUS 0097 Special Topics. Study and research in a course involving one or more of the following: music history, composition, ethnomusicology, music theory. Please see departmental website for specific details. Does not count toward the Music major. Recommendations: Depend upon topic and level of instruction.

MUS 0098 Special Studies: Tutorial. Guided independent study of an approved topic. Enrollment by permission.

MUS 0099 Internship and Community Service. Opportunity for students to apply their musical training in a practical setting, including community-based, profit or nonprofit, governmental, or other sites. Individual faculty sponsor internships in their areas of expertise. Students will work for 100+ hours, must have an on-site supervisor, and complete a piece of meaningful scholarly work related to the internship area. May be repeated for credit.

MUS 0101 Jazz Theory. Harmonic and melodic techniques of jazz and popular music. Extended chords (ninths, elevenths, thirteenths) and substitutions; modulations and free melodic treatment of dissonance. Song forms. Written exercises and analysis; emphasis on student composition. Continuation of aural and keyboard skills. Recommendations: MUS 112 or permission of instructor.

MUS 0102 Jazz Improvisation. Emphasis on the written and practical application of jazz harmony. Playing and writing modes from the harmonic and melodic minor scale, bebop scales, blues, and digital patterns. An examination of many jazz forms, such as blues, modal, bebop, and contemporary. Selected composers include Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Horace Silver, Mulgrew Miller, Duke Ellington, and Wayne Shorter. Techniques for memorizing melodies and chord changes. Study of the theory and meaning of improvisation through practice-based learning. Recommendations: MUS 101 or permission of instructor.

MUS 0103 Jazz Arranging and Composition. Techniques of arranging jazz and popular compositions for ensembles of various sizes and types. Intensive work on student compositions. Recommendations: MUS 101 or permission of instructor.

MUS 0104 Jazz Analysis. Formal analysis of important jazz compositions and improvised solos from the 1920s to the present, including early jazz, swing, bebop, free jazz, and fusion. Application of theory through composition and performance. Critique of the value, meaning, and definition of jazz analysis. Recommendations: MUS 104 or permission of instructor.

MUS 0105 Rhythms of Afro-Latin Music. In-depth study of Afro-Latin jazz and popular music idioms of the Caribbean and South America with emphasis on musical rhythm. Study of rhythms according to their names, musical identify, and categorization. Exploration of how ensembles and individuals use rhythms in composing, arranging, and soloing. Inquiry into the musical history, gradual change, and innovation of various styles of music that are associated with specific rhythms, i.e., the Merengue from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, or Leonard Bernstein’s use of Mexican and Cuban Rhythms in Westside Story. Examples from musical scores, sound recordings, films, and television. For music majors and graduate students. Prerequisite: Music 11 or permission of the instructor.

MUS 0109 Musical Systems of The Arab World. Arabic musical traditions from a music theory perspective. In-depth study of the modal system (maqãm) and rhythmic cycles (îqã'ãt), approaches to modulation and improvisation, ensemble texture, formal analysis, the relationship between theory and practice, and theories of music and emotion.

MUS 0110 African Music Systems. African musical traditions from a music theory perspective. African approaches to rhythm, melody, form, and texture. Methodological and ethical problems in cross-cultural formalization of theory for unwritten musical traditions. Recommendations: MUS 5 or permission of instructor.

MUS 0112 Sound & Structure II: Color, Form, and Meaning. An integrated approach to tonal harmony, counterpoint, and the analysis of form within complete tonal movements. Attention given to the development of aural skills such as sight singing and dictation; concurrent enrollment in the Ear-Training Lab 0112-LA required. Recommendations: MUS 11 or placement through the Music Theory Placement Test.

MUS 0113 Romantic and Modernist Musical Systems. Musical analysis of Western art music, with a focus on full works from end of eighteenth century through first half of twentieth century. Emphasis on expansions and/or dissolutions of tonal and formal norms within entire movements, fragments, and dramatic works. Recommendations: Music 11, placement through the Music Theory Assessment (offered every Fall), or permission of department theory coordinator.

MUS 0114 Analog and Digital Music Notation. Skills in music notation, both hand-written and digital; contextualizing information about history of staff notation and ethnography of various non-Western notation systems; critical thinking about the cultural implications of notation; project-based, hands-on method of learning. Prerequisites: Significant prior experience with music notation and/or permission of instructor

MUS 0115 Orchestration. Ranges, tone qualities, and expressiveness of instruments and voices. Students learn how to orchestrate songs and piano scores or reduce the size of a larger score. Special individual projects reflecting student interest. Recommendations: MUS 11 or permission of instructor.

MUS 0116 Advanced Musicianship. Training in aural perception, sight singing, transcription, and keyboard skills through an exploration of tonal, atonal, jazz, contemporary, and non-Western idioms of music.

MUS 0117 Methods of Music Analysis: Schenkerian, Set, and Transformation Theories. Introduction to the leading systems for analyzing harmony in tonal and atonal musics. Schenkerian theory (for functional tonal repertoires, e.g. Beethoven); pitch-class set theory (for free atonal repertoires, e.g. Schoenberg); and transformation/neo-Riemannian theory (for chromatic triadic repertoires, e.g. Schubert). Students apply these methodologies through analysis of works of their choice and explore the critical and historical discourses surrounding each system. Pre-requisite: Music 112 or permission.

MUS 0118 Contemporary Composition. A project-oriented course with emphasis on the creative experience. Lectures on significant composers; attendance at concerts of contemporary music. Recommendations: MUS 11 or permission of instructor

MUS 0118 Contemporary Composition No Credit. A project-oriented course with emphasis on the creative experience. Lectures on significant composers; attendance at concerts of contemporary music. Recommendations: MUS 11

MUS 0119 Composition Practicum: No Credit. Student performers will work closely with student composers in MUS 118 Contemporary Composition to prepare newly created musical works for performance.

MUS 0119 Composition Practicum. Student performers will work closely with student composers in MUS 118 Contemporary Composition to prepare newly created musical works for performance.

MUS 0119 Composition Practicum: No Credit. Student performers will work closely with student composers in MUS 118 Contemporary Composition to prepare newly created musical works for performance.

MUS 0120 Conducting. Vocal and instrumental conducting, stressing baton techniques and score reading. Preparation of vocal, orchestral, band, and other instrumental ensembles for conducting with the assistance of Tufts performing groups. Recommendations: MUS 112 (Sound and Structure) or permission of instructor.

MUS 0125 Ethnomusicology in Theory & Practice. Introduction to ethnomusicological inquiry into music-cultures of the world's peoples. Systematic study of humankind's heritage of classical, folk, ethnic, and traditional music from around the world. Recommendations: MUS 38 or equivalent or consent.

MUS 0127 Sounds of Sufism. Exploration of the relationship between music and the sacred in Sufism and the veneration of Muslim saints. Interdisciplinary, ethnomusicological approach to sound, movement, and meaning in ritual through a consideration of Sufi treatises and ethnographic case studies from across the Islamic world. Recommendations: MUS 52 or permission of instructor.

MUS 0128 Music and Religious Experience. Examination of social currents that mold spiritual experience in the United States in the 21st century. Why and how contemporary worshippers understand, perform, and engage with music in traditional and non-traditional religious settings. Case studies from diverse religious traditions on four framing topics: music and transcendent experience; the impact of digital culture on religious expression; the contemporary meaning of the performance of sacred text; and the role of music in faith-based social justice initiatives. For advanced undergraduates and graduate students.

MUS 0129 Music and Religious Experience. Examination of social currents that mold spiritual experience in the United States in the 21st century. Why and how contemporary worshippers understand, perform, and engage with music in traditional and non-traditional religious settings. Case studies from diverse religious traditions on four framing topics: music and transcendent experience; the impact of digital culture on religious expression; the contemporary meaning of the performance of sacred text; and the role of music in faith-based social justice initiatives. For advanced undergraduates and graduate students.

MUS 0130 Music, Religion, and Magic in Early Modern Europe. Music in religious and spiritual practices from around 1350-1650, with an emphasis on the francophone world. Musical composition and performance in sacred, ceremonial, and devotional spheres; music as magic and medicine; sonic symbols, riddles, and enigmas; controversies over music in the Protestant and Catholic reformations; role of music in the religious wars; music in overseas missionization; development of music printing and its relationship to manuscript culture. Features rare books held in Tufts Special Collections and tools from the digital humanities. No prerequisites.

MUS 0132 Music and Ethics. (Cross-listed w/ CVS 152) The relationship between music and moral philosophy/ethics in contemporary and historical perspective. Music in virtue cultivation; ethics of musical style; music therapeutics; performing civility and manners; ethical responsibilities of performers and listeners; representations of self and others; aesthetics; feminist and care ethics; aural and environmental ethics; music in crime and punishment. Assigned readings drawn from philosophy, musicology, ethnomusicology, and sound studies; and audio/visual examples feature a range of musical styles, time periods, and geographies. No prerequisites.

MUS 0139 A History of Sonic Art. (Cross-listed with MDIA 165) A History of Sonic Art examines the historical, theoretical and aesthetic bases of sound, noise and music in modernity. The course will take as its point of departure the development of mechanical media following the stages of industrialization in the early twentieth century. Roughly chronological, the course will trace the early European Avant-Garde through to post-war experimentation, and then onto postmodern sampling, laptop culture, and the acceptance and expansion of “sound art” within the institution of art. While following a timeline, topics, issues and theories presented will nonetheless often be transhistorical and interdisciplinary, addressing concerns that have persisted within the production of culture since the fundamental change to it through the development of recording technologies. Parts music history, sociology and aesthetic theory, History of Sonic Art will provide students the historical context and conceptual framework from which to articulate their own practices. Regardless of whether or not a student works with sound, it will be a very thought provoking class. Non-SMFA students and MAT Art Education students will receive a letter grade.

MUS 0140 Music Recording and Production. Theory and techniques for recording, editing, and producing acoustic music. Topics include acoustics, audio perception, physics and electronics of transducers, analog and digital audio principles, stereo and multitrack recording, mixing, virtual instruments, and synchronization. Students will develop the technical and listening skills to understand and evaluate the aesthetics of recorded sound. Course may be used as an elective for students in the Acoustic Instrument Design and Electronic Instrument Design tracks of the Music Engineering minor. Students may not receive credit for both Music 140 and 142. Recommendations: Ability to play an instrument, musical literacy, MATH 30 or 32 or equivalent, PHY 1 and 2 or equivalent, or permission of instructor. Permission of instructor required.

MUS 0141 Electronic Musical Instrument Design. (Cross-listed as ES 95.) Non-standard electronic musical instruments or "controllers," incorporating sensors that respond to touch, position, movement, finger pressure, wind pressure, and other human factors, and their translation to Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) data. Designing and building original systems using common materials and object-oriented music-specific programming languages and software-based synthesis. Students will complete several creative projects using music hardware and software. Recommendations: Experience in one or more of the following--electronic music, electronic prototyping, mechanical engineering, computer programming.

MUS 0142 Music Recording and Production with Audio Electronics. Theory and techniques for recording, editing, and producing acoustic music, and principles of audio system design. Topics include acoustics, audio perception, physics and electronics of transducers, analog and digital audio principles, stereo and multitrack recording, mixing, virtual instruments, and synchronization. Additional material in circuit design, signal flow, and analog and digital audio theory. Develop technical and listening skills to understand and evaluate the aesthetics of recorded sound, and an understanding of how circuits and components influence the sound of a recording. Students may not receive credit for both Music 140 and 142. Music 142 is required for the Recording & Production emphasis of the Music Engineering minor. Recommendations: Ability to play an instrument, musical literacy, MATH 30 or 32 or equivalent, PHY 1 and 2 or equivalent, and one of the following: ES 3, EE21, ME 93-01, EN 1-02. Permission of instructor required.

MUS 0145 Studies in Jazz. Emphasis on discography, bibliography, and biography. Selected topics include a single jazz figure such as John Coltrane or Duke Ellington or a specific period such as 1945 to 1970. Recommendations: MUS 104

MUS 0147 Studies in Popular Music. Selected topics concerning popular music. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0149 Colonial Soundscapes, 1492-1800. Survey of trans-cultural musical encounters during the peak period of exploration and colonization (16th-18th centuries). Role of music, musicians, and musical instruments in negotiating cultural difference, forging diplomatic relations, inciting or resisting violence, and partnering in projects of missionization and colonization. Examination of these musical encounters using non-traditional sources in music historiography (archeological evidence, local archives, travel narratives, missionary accounts, etc.), the documentation of oral traditions using European-style notation, and the problem of unequal power relationships embedded in many of these historical and musical accounts. Readings from historical ethnomusicology, musicology, postcolonial studies, and comparative music theory. For advanced undergraduates and graduate students.

MUS 0150 Listening & History. The Western art canon as articulations of listening and history. From the politics of public concerts and their silent still listeners, to the adaptation and quotation of past works; from the monumental length of timeless classics to the temporalities of repetition and improvisation. Explores tropes by which musical works from the 18th century onwards negotiate the listeners’ attention, physical and spatial positioning, and aesthetic presence. Prerequisites: MUS 11 or permission of instructor

MUS 0151 Studies in Women and Music. Selected topics concerning women in music. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0153 Studies in African Music. Selected topics concerning the music of Africa. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0154 Studies in West African Music. Selected music cultures of West Africa studied in detail from an interdisciplinary perspective (history, anthropology, and music). Traditional and contemporary genres of music. Musical instruments, musical repertories, musical systems, lives of musicians, musical meaning in the context of rapid cultural change and globalization. Comparison with other music cultures. Influence of West Africa on music of Europe and the Americas. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0156 Studies in Asian Music. Selected topics concerning the music of Asia.

MUS 0158 Popular Music in the Middle East. Popular music in the Middle East from an ethnomusicological perspective. Case studies from the Arab world, Turkey, Iran, and Israel will engage with themes of gender, religion, youth, technology, and politics. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0159 Studies in Music And Trance. (Cross-listed with ANTH 156) Cross-cultural approaches to understanding the relationship between music and trance. Topics include music and healing, spirit possession, and the religious experience. Case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0161 Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music. Selected topics concerning music from the beginning of manuscript culture to the emergence and development of print. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0162 Studies in Baroque Music. Selected topics concerning music of the seventeenth and early-eighteenth century. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0163 Studies In Late 18th-Century Music. Selected topics concerning music of the late eighteenth century.

MUS 0164 Studies In 19th-Century Music. Selected topics concerning music of the nineteenth century. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0165 Studies In 20th- and 21st-Century Music. Selected topics concerning music since 1900. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0167 Studies in Opera. Selected topics concerning opera from its beginnings to the present. Intended for advanced music majors and graduate students.

MUS 0168 Analytic and Cultural Studies in 19th-Century Music. Exploration and assessment of music-analytical methods in light of recent studies of early- to mid-nineteenth-century European ideologies. Romanticism, form and content, gender and genius. Emphasis on the notion of musical form as process and its precedents in early nineteenth-century philosophy.

MUS 0169 Analytic and Cultural Studies in 20th-Century Music. Analysis of early-to-mid twentieth-century concert-music styles in Europe and North America, with reference to social, ideological, national, literary, artistic, and biographical cultural contexts. Assessment of landmark repertoire, from Debussy and Mahler to composers of the 1960s and 70s. Introduction to analytic techniques such as pitch-class set theory and twelve-tone methods; exploration of what "modern" can mean in application to twentieth-century music.

MUS 0193 SoundTracks: Studies in Audio-Vision. The soundtrack as a variable aural complex (of music, sound, and voice) crucial to the audio-visual experience. The study of audio-visual artifacts -- from silent to digital film, from melodrama to animation and music video, from blockbusters to installations -- and of current critical literature in musicology, film studies, and media studies. Sustained inquiry into historical and ideological modes of image-sound synchronization. Entanglements of the visual and the aural, as well as their aesthetic aspiration to constitute an immersive sensorium. Prerequisites: Junior or Senior standing or graduate standing or permission of instructor.

MUS 0194 Dark Places: Sound in Noir, Horror, and SciFi. (Cross-listed with FMS 182) Inquiry into the contribution of sound design and music to the dystopian imaginaries of Noir, Horror, and Sci-Fi films. How do soundtracks manipulate the sense of space and place, they aurality and hapticity? Close viewing of films and readings in film theory, musicology, and media studies. Pre-requisites: Junior or senior standing or graduate standing or permission of instructor.

MUS 0196 Special Topics: Study Abroad. No description at this time.

MUS 0197 Special Topics. Study and research in a seminar involving one or more of the following: music history, composition, ethnomusicology, music theory. Recommendations: Prerequisites depend upon topic and level of instruction.

MUS 0198 Special Studies: Tutorial. Guided independent study of an approved topic. Recommendations: Advanced undergraduate standing & permission of instructor.

MUS 0199 Senior Honors Thesis A. Guided research on a topic that has been approved as a suitable subject. A full-year course. This is a yearlong course. Each semester counts as 4 credits towards a student’s credit load. Students will earn 8 credits at the end of the second semester.

MUS 0199 Senior Honors Thesis B. Guided research on a topic that has been approved as a suitable subject. A full-year course. This is a yearlong course. Each semester counts as 4 credits towards a student’s credit load. Students will earn 8 credits at the end of the second semester.

Graduate Courses

MUS 0201 Seminar in Music Research. Intended for graduate students, this course introduces the tools of music scholarship including reference and research materials in both book and electronic forms particularly in the fields of ethnomusicology, musicology, and music theory. Emphasis on a critical approach to writing about music, with specific reference to style and form. Methodologies concerning the various subfields of music research will also be explored. Recommendations: Graduate standing or permission of instructor.

MUS 0202 Studies In Ethnomusicology. History, method, and theory of ethnomusicology; transcription/analysis, fieldwork, current trends in the field. Recommendations: Graduate standing or permission of instructor.

MUS 0203 Studies in Field Work. Field techniques learned by doing: participant-observation, field notes, interview audio/video documentation, project design and management, fundraising. History of fieldwork, ethics, intercultural communication, self-other relationships and awareness. Recommendations: Graduate standing or permission of instructor.

MUS 0204 Conducting Seminar. An intensive, skill-based course focusing on the specific musical skills needed to be a successful conductor in today’s world.

MUS 0205 Conducting Practicum. Conducting students will serve as Assistant Conductors to current Tufts Music Department ensembles (such as Concert Choir or Tufts Chamber Orchestra). Through daily interaction and “podium time” with students in the ensemble, an accompanist (if applicable), and the Professor, conducting students will learn and experience all the real-world aspects of leading, rehearsing, and conducting a University-level ensemble.

MUS 0220 Children's Musical Development and Learning. (Cross-listed as CSHD 175.) Research, theory, and practices related to the development of musical skills and understanding in children from infancy through adolescence. Topics include development of musicianship; musical intelligence, and the relationship of music to other cognitive functions; acquisition of pitch and rhythm; family involvement in music learning; approaches to teaching music (Dalcroze, Kodály, Suzuki, Orff); music education for special learners, including gifted and talented; development of musical performance skills; resources for classroom and private music instruction; curriculum frameworks and standards for music education; and music therapy. Lectures, discussions, observations of children engaged in musical activities. A practicum in music learning and music teaching accompanies the course. May be taken as a graduate elective course, but may not be used to fulfill the degree requirements for the master's degree in music.

MUS 0297 Graduate Research.

MUS 0299 Master's Thesis. Guided research on a topic that has been approved as a suitable subject for a master's thesis. Please see departmental website for specific details.

MUS 0401 Master's Degree Continuation.

MUS 0402 Master's Degree Continuation.

MUS 0405 Grad Teaching Assistant.

MUS 0406 Grad Research Assistant.

MUS AC Ac Music. Tufts equivalency awarded based upon SAT or International Diploma exam/score. Please see Tufts Exam Equivalency Chart in Bulletin for detailed information.

MUS AP Ap Music.