MUS 307 – JAZZ APPRECIATION
SUMMER 2014
Professor:
Jeff Hellmer, Director of Jazz Studies, University Distinguished
Teaching Professor; Associate Director, Butler School of Music
Office:
MRH 4.122
Phone:
512/471-0744
Email:
jhellmer@austin.utexas.edu
Office hours:
12:30-1 T; 2:30-3 Th, otherwise ask for appointment
Course Description:
MUS 307 is a course that introduces you to the jazz idiom, emphasizing listening
skills and developing critical thinking and writing skills that will allow you to comment intelligently about
music and its place in society. By achieving the objectives below, you will understand jazz in a variety of
contexts, including historical, cultural, and social; and you will appreciate the processes and products
associated with the art form. This course satisfies the cultural diversity in the United States flag
requirement, as the vast majority of the course grade is based on content dealing with the culture,
perspectives, and history of one or more underrepresented cultural groups in the United States.
This iteration of the course offers a “flipped” classroom experience. We have created extensive highquality materials designed specifically for this course. You will watch videos first used in the successful
UT/Austin MOOC in Jazz Appreciation in preparation for each class meeting, and engage in discussion
and further listening and demonstration during class meetings. A significant portion of the evaluation of
your performance in the course will take advantage of the technology of the memory management
company Cerego (explained in class and in the Cerego screencast). Finally, we will use the Learning
Catalytics program (similar to i-Clicker) in this course to evaluate your knowledge of material discussed in
videos, and to inspire discussions (explained in class and via separate handout).
The use of these technologies should allow us to have more meaningful discussions, and to listen to
more music in class. By allowing you to engage with the material more efficiently, these tools should
leave you with a more in-depth and permanent understanding of jazz without increasing the time spent
outside of class.
Course Objectives: By the end of this course, you will learn to speak and write intelligently about music,
particularly about jazz. In the pursuit of that goal, by the end of the course you will be able to do the
following:
1. Use your acquired vocabulary and listening skills to effectively describe and evaluate music through
the following activities:
--- Engage in effective communication with others about music played in the course, and about music in
other genres that is meaningful to them.
--- Write short essay(s) that effectively describe an instructor-chosen selection by detailing your critical
reaction, the musical elements that are present, and the influence of societal context on the music.
2. Develop competency in the history of jazz through the following activities:
--- Identify the instrument, style, and contribution(s) of important jazz musicians.
--- Name the characteristics of and understand the relationships between each jazz style.
--- Elaborate more deeply on the contributions of the five “all-time jazz greats.”
--- Articulate the relationship between music and society, in particular as it relates to jazz and
American
history.
3. Develop listening skills that will improve your understanding and appreciation of music through the
following activities:
--- Recognize specific selections from a prescribed list of 10 songs.
--- Recognize musical elements such as form and rhythmic feel.
--- Identify the style associated with an unknown excerpt, and give valid reasons for your choice.
4. Understand the musical processes and elements involved in the creation of jazz through the following
activities:
--- Globally describe the process of improvisation, and point to factors that differentiate improvisers.
--- Describe the framework and principles that jazz groups use in their art.
--- Understand the latitude for interaction, communication and self-expression that is available in jazz, and
the relationship between those latitudes and the principles of American society.
--- Clearly define 15-20 terms that are essential to describing jazz.
Required resources: An internet-capable device such as a laptop, notebook, or smartphone must be
brought to class each day for Learning Catalytics participation (which represents 30% of your final
grade).
Recommended resources: A computer with internet access and external speakers (or with high-quality
headphones), used to watch videos and to engage in Cerego exercises. You can accomplish this on a
mobile device if necessary, but the sound quality will not be ideal for complete appreciation of the music.
Assignments: The course uses Canvas modules that outline the videos assigned for each class, as well
as outlining other assignments. You will be expected to watch videos prior to each class meeting.
Knowledge of the material in the videos will be evaluated by a few questions you will answer at the
beginning of each class. You will also be expected to spend time in Cerego sets that will help you learn
many aspects of the subject. You should plan on spending an average of one hour between each class
completing assignments—30-40 minutes watching videos and studying video content, and 15-20 minutes
on Cerego sets.
There will also be two writing assignments made through Canvas where you will write a description of
specified listening selections. Due dates of the writing assignments are July 25 and August 11.
Participation and Attendance: Participation and attendance will be measured through the Learning
Catalytics system (explained in separate handout). You will need to bring your internet-capable device
each day. Failure to attend class, or to participate in Learning Catalytics, will result in a lower grade for
this portion of the course.
There will be numerous in-class activities where you will listen to jazz music played in class, engage in
discussion with a small number of your peers, and form a consensus on the musical factors you believe
are present, the societal influences on the music, and a critical reaction to the music. Your consensus will
be compared to the results of other groups in the class through class discussion and Learning Catalytics
questions. Effective participation in these exercises is a component of your participation grade.
Final Exam: We will have fewer examinations and quizzes than in many versions of the course (and in
other courses) because of the use of Cerego, which gives you credit for studying and learning over time.
The only examination in the course will be the final examination, which will be held at the scheduled time:
Monday, August 18 at 9 AM.
Chronological Order of Activities:
July 15
Begin Jazz Facts 1 (due August 18, 9 AM) and Jazz Deep Listening 1 (due August 15, 6 PM)
July 21
Begin Jazz Facts 2 (due August 18, 9 AM) and Jazz Deep Listening 2 (due August 15, 6 PM)
July 28
Writing Assignment 1
August 11
Writing Assignment 2
August 15
Cerego Set Grades Finalized
August 18
Final Exam – 9 AM
Teamwork:
One of the goals of core curriculum classes is to develop your abilities to work in a team setting. We will
use the team setting with Learning Catalytics to meet this goal. On occasion, the class will be divided into
teams, and given questions to discuss and respond to as a team. These responses will be factored in to
your Attendance/Participation grade.
Grading: Grades will be based on percentage of points possible. The course average will be rounded to
the nearest tenth of a percentage point, as follows:
A
92.0-100.0; A- 90.0-91.9, B+ 88.0-89.9
B
82.0-87.9; B- 80.0-81.9; C+ 78.0-79.9
C
72.0-77.9; C- 70.0-71.9; D+ 68.0-69.9
D
F
62.0-67.9; D- 60.0-61.9
59.9 and below
Grades will computed according to the following formula:
Cerego Sets
Jazz Facts 1:
Deep Listening 1:
Jazz Facts 2:
Deep Listening 2:
35%
10%
7.5%
10%
7.5%
Participation (Learning Catalytics)
30%
Writing Assignment 1
7.5%
Writing Assignment 2
7.5%
Final Exam
20%
We’ll look at the music from the following perspectives:
“Nuts and bolts”—how the music works; how jazz is put together; how to talk about music
“Critical”—how to develop your own aesthetic for evaluating music of all types; how to make informed
decisions about the music you choose to incorporate in your future
“Biographical”—who’s who among the greatest jazz players; how to recognize them; and why they are so
highly regarded
“Stylistic”—how jazz styles differ from one another; how to hear those differences
“Sociological” –what the musicians are trying to say; how the music relates to societal factors and
historical events
Using personal computing devices for activities unrelated to the course is prohibited.
The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for
qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at
471-6259, 471-6441 TTY.
I hope you enjoy the process of discovering jazz as much as I enjoy sharing the music with you. I value
your feedback on any aspect of the course, and encourage you to provide it to me at any time.