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The Blues: How Three Chords Became Rock & Roll

Eight Classes, 2 hr. Lecture

 

Rock & Roll exists because of The Blues. The genre that began with songs sung by slaves on southern plantations became gospel music, the acoustic blues of the Mississippi Delta, the electrified sounds of Chicago, and the rhythm and blues associated with Memphis. When a diverse audience discovered this musical form in the 50’s, rock & roll was born, creating careers for artists like Aretha Franklin, The Drifters, and a guy named Elvis. The Blues inspired rock groups on both sides of the ocean, the soulful sounds of Motown and Philadelphia, Hip Hop and Rap music.

Through historic recordings, videos, commentary and personal recollection, the class explores the history and evolution of African and African American music through The Blues to Rock & Roll, along the way producing social change and technological innovation that spread worldwide.

 

Lesson Breakdown

  1. Pre Blues, Music Theory & Reference Vocabulary, Origins in Africa, Slave Trade, The Gullahs, Field Chants & Hollers, Call & Response, Alan Lomax

  2. Mississippi Delta Artists

  3. Texas, Memphis & Chicago Blues, The Electric Guitar

  4. The 50’s Pt. 1, Turning Point- Intro & Overview, Record Companies, Producers, Promoters, Songwriters, How It Works (Publishing 101) The Artists & Music

  5. The 50’s Pt. 2 – Extensions, Expansion, Changes in Sound & Form, Doo Wop, Gospel, Wall of Sound, The Artists & Music

  6. The 60’s & 70’s U.S.- Rediscovered Blues Artists, Blues Rock, Gospel Influence, Mass Choirs & Motown

  7. 60’s & 70’s British Invasion

  8. 80’s & Onward- New Technology, MIDI, Digital Recording, Hip-Hop & Rap, Full Circle Return to The Chant

 
 

Jazz DeMystified:

Evolution of An Art Form

a.k.a. All That Jazz: Appreciating an American Art Form

Eight Classes, 2 hr. Lecture

 

Jazz music is a unique and truly American art form that has been embraced around the world for over a century. Often misunderstood as styles became more complex, the course will illuminate each genre as it tracks the progress of Jazz from its origin in New Orleans: Marching Bands, Ragtime and Dixieland through the Big Bands of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s to Bebop, Post Bop West Coast (Cool Jazz) and East Coast (Hard Bop). It will look at Modern and Free Jazz, the advent of electronic instruments that created Fusion Jazz and finally, Contemporary, New Age and the young cutting edge artists of today. And as we move through the chronology there will be special focus and “deep dives” on seminal artists who have influenced the endless evolution of Jazz.



Lesson Breakdown

  1. New Orleans:  Origins, Marching Bands (funeral & festival), Dixieland, Ragtime

  2. Big Bands of the 30’s, 40’s & 50’s

  3. Bebop

  4. Post Bop East Coast (Hard Bop)

  5. Post Bop West Coast (Cool Jazz)

  6. Modern & Free Jazz

  7. Fusion Jazz

  8. Recent & Contemporary Artists, New Age Jazz, Retro & What’s Next

Jazz In Class

 
 

Knowing The Score: How Music Makes Movies Come Alive

Five Classes, 2 hr. Lecture

 

Since the days of silent film, music has accompanied moving pictures in theaters. Whether by single piano or organ, a band or orchestra playing on “cue” from written arrangements, music synchronized to filmed action and dialogue has been an integral part of the movie experience. With the advent of “talkies” and release of The Jazz Singer in 1927, synchronous dialog and singing with a musical score was combined onto a “soundtrack” and there was no turning back. The pianos and organs of the silent era have been replaced by film scores featuring every conceivable type of music from symphony orchestras to the esoteric, indigenous and electronic sounds, decades of pop music. By presenting numerous audio and video excerpts and commentary, the series will explore the history, art and science of film music as seen through the composers’ lens- their fabulous film scores in some of the greatest movies ever shown on the big screen.

 

Lesson Breakdown

  1. Silent Movies & Music

·      A Brief History of Sound Synchronization

·      Early Sound Films

·      Functions of Music In Film

·      Composer Tools & Techniques

·      Thematic Scoring

·      How Instruments Are Used In Film Scoring

·      Musical Movies, But Not “Musicals”

·      Ground Breaking Composers & Films

o   Max Steiner

o   Franz Waxman

o   Erich Wolfgang Korngold


 2. Explanations: Orchestration, Orchestrators, Arranging & Conducting

·      The Newman Dynasty

o   Alfred Newman

o   Emil Newman

o   Lionel Newman

o   Randy Newman

o   David Newman

o   Thomas Newman

·      Bernard Herrmann      

 

3. Classical Music In Film

  •    Classical Music in Classic Films

o   The Bernsteins

  • Elmer & Leonard (Films & Scores)

o   Alex North

·      Great Composers and Films of the 50’s, 60’s & Forward

                       o   Miklos Rosza

                       o   Dimitri Tiomkim

                       o   Maurice Jarre

                       o   John Barry

                       o   Jerry Goldsmith

 

4. The Italians

·      Nino Rota

·      Ennio Morricone

·  Changing Styles (50’s, 60’s, 70, 80’s)

                       o   Henry Mancini

                       o   Music/Film Montage

                       o   Dave Grusin

· Vangelis: Synthesized Music

· Music Supervision (pop recordings in scores)

                       o   Back To The Future

                       o   Jackie Brown

                       o   Deliverance

 

5. Recent and Current: Films, Scores of the 90’s & 2000’s

·      Howard Shore

·      Danny Elfman

·      John Powell

·      James Horner

·      Alexander Desplat

·      Dario Marianelli

·      James Newton Howard

·      Hans Zimmer

John Williams: The Undisputed Heavy Weight Champion

 
 

The Map of American Music

Eight Classes, 2.5 hr. Lecture

 

Jazz, Blues, Rock, Pop, Folk, Country, Hip Hop, Rap and many more kinds of music all evolved in the USA. Some of these genres have common roots stemming from geographic location, ethnic populations, personal history, wars and immigration (by choice and not). They progressed along different paths but as they grew up they influenced one another, comingled, often finding their common ground and giving rise to yet newer and unique styles or genres. Through audio, video, commentary, demonstration and personal recollection, this wide ranging survey class looks at American musical history and development through a wide-angle lens, connecting the lines on the Map of American Music.

  Lesson Breakdown

  1. Explanation of the Map, Colonial & Civil War Era’s (aqua)

  2. Appalachia, Blue Grass, Country, Folk, Folk rock  (yellow & olive)

  3. Origins of American Musical Theater, Minstrelsy, The Golden Age of Broadway Pt.1 (green)

  4. Broadway Pt. 2, American Classical Music  (green & orange)

  5. Evolution of the Blues To Rock & Roll  (blues)

  6. R & R Pt. 2, Gospel to Motown (purple & lavender)     

  7. Jazz (red)

  8. Review of Artists, Recent Music Trends & Connections