OSHER 259 - The Way Music Works

This course will begin with the building blocks of sound and go on to teach students terminology and listening skills that can be applied to any genre (consonance, scale, rhythmic complexity, etc.) We will explore questions such as: What is sound? When does sound become music? What is the most basic form of music expression? How does rhythm work? How does rhythm become pitch? How do pitches and intervals work? How are pitches combined to create motives? What is the scientific definition of consonance and dissonance? How are pitches combined to create scales with different characters, and how does this effect the character of the music and our reactions to it? How are motives combined to create songs? Why are there so many tuning systems? How do composers keep our interest through form, repetition, variation, and abstract ideas about sound? What intellectual puzzles do composers layer in their writing? How do we (political parties, schools, governments, individuals) use music to express our identity and mark our territory?