Mar 28, 2024  
2012-2013 Academic Catalog 
    
2012-2013 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

MUS 201-01 - Tpcs in Mus & Cult: Baroque Improv (Spring)

4 credits (Spring)
The art of improvisation-a vital aspect of music-making in many types of popular and non-Western music today (e.g. jazz, North Indian classical music)-has virtually died out of Western classical music. Yet in earlier periods, the ability to improvise was an essential skill learned by every Western musician; J.S. Bach was famously able to improvise counterpoint for hours on end. In this course we will study historical sources from the Baroque period (such as treatises and examples of written-out improvisation) plus the work of recent scholars and performers who have studied these sources. Students will then apply these ideas to their own performance medium. They will learn to ornament a melody in various Baroque styles, build variations over a standard harmonic pattern, realize a figured bass, and work towards improvising whole pieces.

Prerequisite: MUS 112 , and facility on any instrument (including voice). Recommended: MUS 213 , MUS 261 , MUS 324 , MUS 215 , or MUS 216 .
Instructor: Brown