H85.1196 Required History & Criticism 4 Credits
Instructor(s): Ben Sisario
REQUIRED for students who entered the program in or after Fall 2006.
Prerequisite: H85.1201 Record Producer as Creative Artist
Any student or practitioner of recorded music requires the ability to communicate articulately about music in written form. Achieving a hands-on familiarity with a wide range of writing styles – from musician biographies, press releases and online blogs, to descriptions, reviews and critiques of musical performances – is the primary goal of this course. Students will also consider and analyze different approaches to writing music, across varying contexts, formats, styles, and methodologies; they will refine skills to describe a musical recording or performance with accuracy and understanding; analyze, understand, and produce quality criticism, reporting and journalism about music; consider the history and contemporary relevance of music writing and journalism; engage key theoretical writings and concepts in the study of popular music (i.e. Benjamin, Adorno, etc.); develop a series of practical writing and reading skills in writing that are immediately applicable in the recorded music workforce. Assignments may include weekly writing assignments of different lengths, and/or a substantial final paper, culminating in a total of approximately 20 pages of writing by the end of the semester. Students' work will be closely edited by the instructor; and through peer critiques, students in the class will also be engaged as editors.
