MUSC1111: Rock Music History – Spring 2014
Mondays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays 10:30am-11:35 am
Blackman Auditorium (Ell Hall)

Professor: Junauro Landgrebe
Office: 337 Ryder
Phone: 617.373.7473
Email: J.Landgrebe@neu.edu (email is preferred)
Office Hours: Wednesdays 12 PM – 1 PM or by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Brian Bergeron
Email: RockHistoryTA@gmail.com

Course Objective:

The objective of Rock Music is to examine the origins of the style and trace it’s evolution from the popular music styles of the 1920’s through current times. We will do this by studying the pertinent social, political, cultural, racial, gender, and class issues that pertain to rock music’s history. We will also examine the development of the music business and technology that shaped and distributed it. You will develop listening skills by studying song examples covered in the textbook and in class. We will begin with an introduction to what the study of rock music entails and then focus on listening skills and musical terms to develop a vocabulary with which to discuss and experience selected song examples. The study of music, especially for the newly initiated may be more difficult than you expect. You will be more successful if you approach it in the same way as you would a foreign language – immerse yourself by listening to the song examples repeatedly. Ask questions if you do not fully understand something. The same applies to listening skills - if you are not hearing the musical characteristics discussed during the lectures and in your readings, please ask for help! This course fulfills the CORE Category II: Methods of Inquiry requirement as an Art elective.

Required Text & Technology: What’s That Sound? 3rd edition by John Covach. Turning Technologies ResponseCard RF clicker. Both can be purchased at the campus bookstore.

Required Audio: There are a number of required listening examples. Some can be found on youtube. The Blackboard course site has direct links to purchase the music from either iTunes or Amazon. Make sure you’re listening to the correct version of the song since covers may differ from the required song example.

Course Work and Weighted Percentages:

Grading Online Exams I, II, & III (20% each) = 60%
Criteria 5 Online Quizzes (4% each) = 20% 10 Written Assignments (1% each) = 10%
Attendance = 5% Participation = 4% TRACE Evaluation Confirmation = 1%
Lectures, Attendance, and Participation

Lectures start promptly at 10:30 am and will end at 11:35 am. Bring your ResponseCard to every class. Attendance and participation with the clicker technology is mandatory and is a contributing factor to your overall course grade. Lectures will include interactive polling and questions to be answered with the clickers, listening to song examples, watching video clips, and live performance demonstrations. Daily attendance is given after responding to any question. Participation requires responding to a minimum of 75% of the daily questions. Students are responsible for all announcements made at the beginning and end of each lecture.

Reading Assignments

Reading assignments should be completed prior to the Monday’s lecture in order to develop an understanding of the concepts about the subjects discussed in class.

Blackboard: Course Material

Weekly course material will be made available on Blackboard corresponding to the current week’s lecture schedule outlined below. The content areas for each week are the key to your academic success in this class. Each folder will contain a study guide, reading, listening and writing assignments. Visit the Blackboard course frequently!

Writing Assignments

There are weekly writing assignment due every Friday by 11:55 pm. These will be available on Mondays in the ‘Weekly Folders’ content area on blackboard. Choose one of the questions and compose a well thought out response that clearly answers the