Syllabus
Course: Introduction to Popular Music
Instructor: Mark Katz, chairman, department of
musicology, Peabody
Conservatory
Course description: The purpose of this course is to
explore the stylistic traits, historical context, and
social significance of a variety of popular music styles
that have flourished since the early 1950s. An initial unit
will focus on the forms, timbres, textures, and
technologies characteristic of much popular music. The
course will then proceed chronologically, with class
sessions devoted to various trends and styles from the
1950s to today.
Musical styles to be studied: The blues roots of
rock and roll, the British invasion, Motown, folk and
protest songs, psychedelia, heavy metal, funk and disco,
punk, new wave, rap, grunge, electronica, hip-hop
On the juke box (a sampler): Beatles, "Strawberry
Fields Forever"; Little Richard, "Tutti Frutti"; Elvis
Presley, "Hound Dog"; The Rolling Stones, "Satisfaction";
Jimi Hendrix, "Purple Haze"; Black Sabbath, "Paranoid"; The
Bee Gees, "Stayin' Alive"; The Clash, "White Riot"; Talking
Heads, "Once in a Lifetime"; Queen Latifah, "Ladies First";
Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"; Moby, "Go"; Tupac
Shakur, "California Love"
Assignments (a sampler): Concert report: In a typed,
double-spaced paper of about three pages, describe and
discuss the musical and social aspects of a concert. In
terms of music, describe characteristic aspects of the
instrumentation, timbre, melody, rhythm, harmony, form,
etc. Assuming the stance of a detached, but open-minded
observer (you may imagine yourself as, say, an
English-speaking anthropologist from another planet),
describe the appearance and behavior of the performers and
audience.
Short paper: Write your own song! Specifically,
write two (or more) verses of lyrics on the subject of your
choice. The verses may be in any pattern or form.
Forever
Altered
Mentor, hero, inspiration: Hopkins teachers who have left
their mark
"Although I had very little background in German history,
only the vaguest of ideas about what I wanted to study in
graduate school, and he had never met me, Hopkins history professor Vernon L. Lidtke
took a chance and accepted me as one of his doctoral
students in 1970.
"Many of my colleagues remember their graduate school
experience as a grueling, anxiety-ridden time working with
eccentric and often unreasonable teachers. Because of
Vernon, my experience was quite the opposite: He was
caring, patient, and supportive, but also an intellectually
demanding teacher and mentor who expected (and therefore
usually got) our best work. Because he took great pleasure
in learning and teaching, he created an environment where
we could do the same.
"It was from watching Vernon teach his undergraduate
courses that I learned many of the skills, and the joys, of
effective teaching. I still remember the lecture in which
he read to the class a Dadaist poem consisting of nonsense
words, grunts, and elephant noises. His tongue-in-cheek
delivery provoked peals of laughter from the class and
earned him a rousing ovation. I was so impressed by his
performance that when I started teaching, I tried to create
that same joyous learning environment for my students. And
I must admit, I read that same poem in my classes. Vernon's
teaching has inspired my own."
Gary D. Stark, A&S '72 (MA), '74 (PhD), teaches
European history at Grand Valley State University and has
published several books and articles about German history.
He is the co-editor with Lawrence D. Stokes, A&S '64 (MA),
'72 (PhD), of a special issue of the journal Central
European History dedicated to Lidtke.