An Introduction to Music Studies

by Edited by J. P. E. Harper-Scott , Jim Samson

• ISBN13: 9780521842938
• ISBN10: 052184293X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-02-02
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Why study music? How much practical use is it in the modern world? This introduction proves how studying music is of great value both in its own terms and also in the post-university careers marketplace. The book explains the basic concepts and issues involved in the academic study of music, draws attention to vital connections across the field and encourages critical thinking over a broad range of music-related issues. - Covers all main aspects of music studies, including topics such as composition, opera, popular music, and music theory - Provides a thorough overview of a hugely diverse subject, from the history of early music to careers in music technology, giving a head-start on the areas to be covered on a music degree - New to 'neume'? Need a reminder about 'ripping'? - glossaries give clear definitions of key musical terms - Chapters are carefully structured and organized enabling easy and quick location of the information needed

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Notes on contributors	p. x
Preface	p. xiii
Features of this book: a guide	p. xiv
Introduction	p. 1
Disciplines	p. 5
Music History	p. 7
Art versus history	p. 8
Stylistic or social history?	p. 9
Oral histories	p. 12
Narratives in history	p. 14
Hidden agendas?	p. 18
Music theory and analysis	p. 25
Introduction	p. 25
What is analysis for?	p. 27
What is theory for?	p. 31
The sociology of music	p. 43
Introduction	p. 43
Sociologies of music	p. 44
The problem of "high art"	p. 47
Are geniuses made, not born?	p. 50
"Art worlds" and the music business	p. 51
"Cultural capital," social status, and identity	p. 52
The psychology of music	p. 59
What is psychology?	p. 59
What is the psychology of music?	p. 60
What do music psychologists do?	p. 62
How does "the musical mind" work?	p. 66
How do we learn music?	p. 68
How do we create music?	p. 70
What is expressed in music and how do we perceive it?	p. 72
Music aesthetics and critical theory	p. 79
Introduction	p. 80
Analytical and Continental aesthetics	p. 80
Subjective and objective	p. 81
Aesthetics and history	p. 82
Judgment	p. 83
Absolute music	p. 85
Form and content	p. 86
Music politics, and meaning: critical theory	p. 87
"New musicology"	p. 89
Approaches to repertoire	p. 95
World musics	p. 97
Introduction: World Music(s): exclusions and inclusions	p. 98
Who studies world musics?	p. 100
Does music have a place?	p. 104
Can world music be mapped?	p. 106
Sounding authentic?	p. 108
Can we trust our ears?	p. 109
Early music	p. 119
What is early music?	p. 119
How for can we recreate the music of the past?	p. 121
Music for the Church	p. 123
Secular music	p. 126
Notation and the role of the performer	p. 128
The changing status of the composer	p. 130
Opera	p. 136
Opera as entertainment and ritual	p. 136
Analyzing the workings of opera	p. 141
Writing in the present	p. 144
Opera's messages	p. 146
Singing as persuasion	p. 147
From semiotics to process	p. 148
Concert music	p. 154
Introduction	p. 154
Patronage and funding	p. 155
Concert repertory in the nineteenth century	p. 160
The twentieth century and beyond	p. 167
Jazz	p. 176
Introduction	p. 176
History and context	p. 179
Improvisation and performance	p. 181
Jazz as "critical music"	p. 184
Jazz and the academy	p. 185
Popular music	p. 188
What is popular music?	p. 188
How do we study popular music?	p. 193
Music in film and television	p. 201
Case Study	p. 201
Dividing film music for study	p. 203
Approaches to textual study	p. 208
How does it fit into the history of music?	p. 211
Music in practice	p. 219
Musical performance	p. 221
What is musical performance?	p. 222
Musical performance as experience, process, and embodied practice	p. 223
Musical performance as a mode of interaction	p. 224
Who performs?	p. 226
Learning musical performance	p. 227
The contexts and functions of music	p. 230
Social and political dimensions of musical performance	p. 231
Studying performance in higher education	p. 233
Composition	p. 236
Studying composition	p. 237
Working methods	p. 238
Composers, performers, and audiences	p. 243
Music technology	p. 250
Introduction: what is music technology?	p. 250
How is it studied?	p. 251
Composition	p. 252
Recording	p. 257
Composition and production	p. 258
Composing with sound	p. 259
Making music in home studios	p. 261
Multimedia, film, the Web	p. 261
Careers	p. 262
Courses	p. 263
The economics and business of music	p. 267
Snapshot of 1825: Beethoven's Ninth and the music business	p. 267
The rise and fall of the music profession	p. 271
Giving music its due	p. 274
Classical music in the marketplace	p. 278
The music business between past and future	p. 283
Index	p. 291
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