Melody and Rhythm Across the Mediterranean

Course Description

Summary

This course will be an introduction to music practices of the Mediterranean, encompassing Southern Europe, West Asia, and North Africa. Our central aim will be to develop familiarity with a range of music traditions—folk, religious, popular, and classical—by studying their underlying melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic principles. We will also examine the function of these traditions in cultural life. Most importantly, we will learn how music makers in these regions have understood their musical actions and communicated musical knowledge on their own terms. Our work will investigate local approaches to pedagogy, instrumental and vocal performance practice, rhythm and meter, lyrics, ornamentation, and improvisation. At the same time, we will observe how histories of imperialism, colonization, nationalism, and westernization projects have impacted musics across this region. We will cover the modal musics and rhythms of Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean Arab World; pentatonicism and natural scales in the mountains of Northwestern Greece; rhyming couplets and dance music on the island of Crete; polyphonic singing of Albania, Sardinia, and Corsica; al-Andalus music of southern Spain and North Africa; Byzantine and Jewish chant, and more. Our daily classwork and assignments will focus on listening, analysis, readings, discussion, ear training exercises, and hands-on music making. A final assignment will allow students to pursue a relevant topic of their choice in the form of a research essay or creative project. No prior experience with music notation is required to be successful in this course. We will build a relevant and extensive music vocabulary as we go.