Department of Music 507 WA
History of Rock Music (3 hours credit)
Syllabus, Summer1, 2011
Dr. Sonny Burnette: NMB 12, Office: 502-863-8112
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Study of the origins, characteristics and stylistic development of rock and roll music from the early 1950s through the 1990s and beyond.
TEXTBOOK:Stuessy, Joe, & Lipscomb, Scott. Rock and Roll: Its History and Stylistic Development, 6th ed., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2009.
[ISBN 0-13-601068-7]
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Textbook.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to: (1) describe the origins of rock and roll music from existing musical styles of the early ‘50s, (2) associate music artists with various rock styles, and by decade, (3) describe the musical characteristics of various rock styles, and, (4) aurally identify rock styles and major rock artists.
REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE: (1) attend the town meeting on June5, (2) reading assignments, (3) YouTube viewing assignments, (4) five written assignments, (5) final paper.
COURSE OUTLINE
Course dates: Monday, April 25 – Friday, June 10
The course categories on moodle conveniently match the chapter layout of the text. There is no specific deadline for watching specific YouTubes or reading specific chapters. I offer the following schedule merely as a general guideline. Assignment due dates are specific, however. All assignments, including the research paper, are due electronically by midnight on the date indicated.
WEEK ONE: April 25 - 29
Read Text Chapters 2-4
View YouTubes associated with Chapters 2-4
WEEK TWO: May 2 - 6
Assignment One due: Monday, May 2
Read Text Chapters 5-6
View YouTubes associated with Chapters 5-6
WEEK THREE: May 9 - 13
Assignment Two due: Monday, May 9
Read Text Chapters 7-9
View YouTubes associated with Chapters 7-9
WEEK FOUR: May 16 - 20
Assignment Three due: Monday, May 16
Read Text Chapters 10-13
View YouTubes associated with Chapters 10-13
WEEK FIVE: May 23 - 27
Assignment Four Due: Monday, May 23
Read Text Chapter 14
View YouTubes associated with Chapter 14
WEEK SIX: May 30 – June 3
Assignment Five Due: Monday, May 30
Read Text Chapters 15-17
View YouTubes associated with Chapters 15-17
WEEK SEVEN: June 6 - 10
Final Paper Due: Wednesday, June 8
Read Text Chapter 18
View YouTubes associated with Chapter 18
MOODLE FORUM: I have set up a general discussion forum in Moodle should you wish to post comments or ask questions of the group—not required. Also, there will not be a live chat.
EVALUATION: Grading scale for the course is:
A = 93 – 100B = 85 – 92C = 75 – 84D = 65 – 74F = 0 – 64
Assignments: five @ 10 points each = 50 pointsFinal paper: 50 points
ASSIGNMENTS: Each of the five assignments is worth 10 points each, for an assignment total of 50 pts.
Assignments are due by midnight on the due date. Please e-mail your assignments to me
as Word file attachments:
1.1950s Assignment: Due Monday, May 2
Select a ‘50s artist other than one of the Big Six and write a three- to five-page paper describing
the artist’s biographical information and musical accomplishments. Please provide a bibliography.
2.1960s Assignment: Due Monday, May 9
Surf, dance, folk rock, soul, Motown, acid rock (San Francisco), jazz rock, art rock. Select one of
these ‘60s genres and give the Reader’s Digest condensed version of the important points in three
to five pages. Please provide a bibliography.
3.1970s Assignment: Due Monday, May 16
Pick a ‘70s singer/songwriter or band with which you are not terribly familiar. By now, you
surely know what to do. (Just in case, make it three to five pages.) Imagine that you are
writing a short overview for Rolling Stone, touching upon the major accomplishments of the
person or band you chose. Please provide a bibliography.
4.1980s Assignment: Due Monday, May 23
Select a rap artist (or group) who flourished during the 1980s. Have at it with the usual three-
to five-page paper thing. Please provide a bibliography.
5.1990s Assignment: Due Monday, May 30
Select either a ‘90s alternative genre or a ‘90s alternative artist and enlighten the world in three to
five pages. Please provide a bibliography.
Assignments should be double-spaced with one-inch margins, 12-point font.
**Wikipedia references are unacceptable.
FINAL PAPER: The final paper is worth 50 points. It will not be a research paper in the traditional sense
of the word; it will be a condensed outline of the text. In fact, it should be written in outline form.
The outline should match the headings of the Contents at the front of the text. Each subcategory
should have a short paragraph of information, highlighting the most important points of that section
of text. If it pertains to a specific artist, for example, it should include birth/death
information/location, significant music hits and any other significant contributions. Length is up to
you. I don’t want you to rewrite the text, but I do want you to have been intimately exposed to its
most important points. Shoot for 25-40 pages. Since it’s an outline, the Final Paper should be single
spaced.
Activities involved with this online course will address College Readiness Standards:
College Readiness Standards (Reading)Main Ideas and Author’s Approach: Students will be able to identify a clear, main idea in any paragraph.
Supporting Details: Students will be able to locate basic facts and important details in passages.
Sequential, Comparative, and Cause-Effect Relationship: Students will be able to order sequences of events in passages.
Meanings of Words: Students will be able to use context to determine the appropriate meaning of some figurative and nonfigurative words.
ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY: See College Catalog and Student Handbook.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: See the MUS 507 web page for an extensive Bibliography. (Note: The MUS 507
web page does not apply to this online course.) Web resources are also acceptable. Please bear in
mind that plagiarism in any form (copying/pasting, etc.) is considered a violation of the College’s
Academic Honest Policy.