Course Description: This course explores the most important musical traditions in Latin America and the Caribbean Islands, concentrating on musical values and social styles as they pertain to different cultural groups: Amerindian, African, Mestizo-Criollo and Iberian-European.  It compares musical styles in rural and urban areas and draws comparisons between different social groups.

Course Goals:
1. To listen to music attentively.
2. To learn to appreciate and recognize different musical styles and relate them to a particular culture and geographical area.
3. To broaden the understanding of different musical expressions through the comparative study of cultures.
4. To familiarize the student with the impact of Latin American Music in North American music.
5. To examine the impact of music in society and in the process of globalization and cultural diversity.

Course Requirements and Grading
Students are required to complete all reading assignments before every class period, to ensure lively class discussions.
There will be four assignments during the course of the semester.  Ten percent of the grade will be based on preparedness, class participation, attendance, group participation, oral delivery during class presentations and creative uses of technology.
The final assignment will be a class project.

Meeting Times and Location
Class meetings are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 to 1:15 in Room 308 of the Scales Fine Arts Center.

Required Text
Music in Latin American Culture   John M. Schercher,  General Editor.
 
Assigned Readings From
Articles from Ethnomusicology
Articles from Latin American Music Review
Bachata  A Social History of Dominican Popular Music by Pacini Hernandez
Caribbean Currents by Peter Manuel, Temple University Press, 1995
Cut’N’Mix: Culture, Identity and Caribbean Music by Dick Hebdige, Routledge, 1994
Excursions in World Music by Nettl, Capwell, Bohlman, Wong, and Turino, 1992
Merengue Dominican Music and Dominican Identity by Paul Austerlitz
Moving Away From Silence by Thomas Turino, The University of Chicago Press, 1993
Santería from Africa to the New World: The Dead Cell Memories by George Brandon, Indiana University Press, 1997
The Chilean Verso by Maria Ester Grebe
The Garland Encyclopedia of Music
The Latin Tinge by John Storms Roberts, Oxford University Press, 1979
The Texas-Mexican Conjunto by Manuel Peña
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Videos, CD’s and Readings
Compact Discs and LP's will be available from the Music Library. Students will also receive a CD with all listening assignments. To listen to additional music, students must follow music department regulations for checking out recordings. All recordings must be used in the Music Library.
Reading assignments, such as articles and other publications will be on reserve in the Main Library, and in the reserve bin in the Music Library.

HTML Class Assignments
All lectures presented in class will be in html format, and will be posted in Course Info. This is the general structure of the course and students will be given assignments based on these presentations

Sept. 4 to Sept. 21
The Caribbean: Introduction to cultural elements in Caribbean music. European derived music, African derived music and Creole styles in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
Reading Assignments:
Décima and Rumba: Iberian formalism in the heart of Afro-Cuban song by Philip Pasamanick
Caribbean Currents by Peter Manuel pp. 51-71 Puerto Rico
Bachata:  A Social History of Dominican Popular Music by Pacini
Hernandez- Chapter 6 "Innovation and Social Issues in Pop Merengue"

Sept. 26 to Oct. 5
Popular Mexican Musical Traditions: Música de Mariachi and Música Jarocha. Musical traditions associated with the marimba in Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Music in Latin American Culture Shirmer Books
"Música Jarocha of Veracruz" by Daniel Sheehy.  Pages 65-78
"Música de Mariachi" by Daniel Sheehy. Pages 44- 65
"Marimba and Other Musics of Guatemala and Nicaragua" by T. M.  Scruggs. Pages 80-122
 
October 10 and 12
Class presentations-First assignment 20% of your grade

Oct. 17 to Oct. 24
Colombian musical traditions: from Cumbia and Vallenato to Andean Ensembles. Hispano-Venezuelan, and Afro-Venezuelan music.
Music in Latin American Culture Shirmer Books
Andean Colombia by William J. Pages 302-382.
 
Oct. 26
Second assignment 20% of your grade

Oct 31 to Nov.7
Introduction to Andean Music:
Andean Peru and Bolivia: Aymara traditions and Meztizo-Criollo traditions.
Latin American Music Review "The Charango and the Sirena: Music, Magic, and the Power of Love"

Nov. 9 to Nov. 21
Music in the Southern Cone: Chile Argentina and Uruguay
The role of the guitar in the repertoire of rural and urban areas.
The Andes Axis-Santiago to Mendoza.
The Río de la Plata Axis-Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Uruguay.
Reading Assignments: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music South                                                                      America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, page 254 Mapuche Religious Musical Context and Genre.
Music in Latin American Culture "The Rio De La Plata Axis" by Ercilla Moreno Cha pp. 265-281
"Music of the Southern Cone" by Ercilla Moreno Cha pp. 246-265

Nov. 23
Third assignment 20% of your grade

Nov 23 to Dec 5
Final assignment: A Class Assignment 30% of your grade
The class will be divided into groups and each group will be responsible for doing the research and organizing the writing on an aspect of the music of Brazil. This material will be used to produce a web page on the music of Brazil.
There will be three class times allocated to producing the web site. We will assemble the page in class so students need to have all the material pertaining to their topic ready by Dec. 5. Scanned images and musical material must be ready for publication ahead of time. We will take the Dec.5 and Dec.7 class time to produce the web page.