Course Description
Summary
Composers and improvisers periodically reinvent the wheel, creating systems of scales and tunings, instruments, and even philosophies of harmony and rhythm. In this course, we’ll also explore how to invent your own systems. Beginning with tuning, students will build an acoustic or virtual instrument based on their own temperament. We will then explore harmonic systems that ground the work of Bartók, Messiaen, and Partch as well as later 20th century music. We’ll look at concepts of raga and tala, and Javanese concepts of pathet, as well as a broad range of rhythmic and harmonic systems from across the world. Students will be expected to do advanced harmonic analysis, master readings, and create original work. Special in-class musicianship labs will be devoted to the performance and listening of the works that we cover.
