Music Appreciation: History, Culture, and Context
Bonnie Le
Francis Scully
Steven Edwards
Publisher: LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network
Language: English
Formats Available
Conditions of Use
Attribution
CC BY
Reviews
I found the content effective and easy to understand in all areas. Following the timeline of Western European history helps the students to contextualize the music they are learning about. Sometimes the text appeared to overreach in its efforts to... read more
I found the content effective and easy to understand in all areas. Following the timeline of Western European history helps the students to contextualize the music they are learning about. Sometimes the text appeared to overreach in its efforts to foster understanding. For example, in Chapter 4: It is clear enough just to mention that BCE and CE are "secular designations."
The content was accurate and readability was excellent.
Content is relatively up-to-date.
The level of clarity of the material was very good. In Chapter 11 and the 20th/21st century art music content, the concept of ambiguity is used as a thread throughout the chapter to focus the student, can be combined for a deeper perspective with other 20th-21st century artistic concepts such as the rise of the perceptions/reactions/mirroring of perceived chaos (in art / in our world) and the rise of individuality. Additional aspects of Modern/Contemporary art music are explained succinctly- such as lack of repetition, unpredictability and absence of pulse.
Consistency: Objectives at the beginning of chapters and Summaries at the ends of the chapters are consistent throughout. The quizzes at the end of each chapter enrich understanding of the content.
I enjoyed the easily accessible and divisible sections.
The topics are presented in a logical, clear fashion.
YouTube videos are easy to access, embedded.
Very few grammatical errors.
I liked that the text is inclusive of a wide range of cultures and ethnicities, and that is sensitive to include female examples and used examples of composers and music of varied backgrounds.
I enjoyed reviewing the content, organization, interactivity and examples used in this text. The American Folk Music section, Chapter 16, is one of the best summary teaching texts on this topic I've read, and the American Folk canon is given the importance and comprehensive treatment that it deserves. The Western European Classical content is accessible, concise and supported by excellent short examples as well as longer ones. The title of the text seems outdated, and so it was a pleasant surprise to access the easygoing, colorfully written text.
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
-
I. Music Fundamentals
-
II. History of Western Music before 1600
-
III. History of Western Music after 1600
-
IV. Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries
-
V. Listening to Genres
-
VI. Music of Louisiana, the Americas, and the World
- Appendix A
- Appendix B: Checklist for Accessibility
- References
Ancillary Material
Submit ancillary resourceAbout the Book
Music makes us human. Every culture on earth has music. In fact, every human society extending back into prehistoric times has had music. Most of us are surrounded by music. We use it to enhance our mood and to regulate our metabolism, to keep us awake and help us go to sleep, as background to accompany the work, study, exercise, and relaxation that fills our days. But it is precisely when music steps out of this background and asks for our attention, engages our memory and our expectations, that it becomes a fundamentally artistic endeavor. Music is a sonic response to a question that’s not really about sound at all, but rather is historical and social. The study of music is the study of human thought, experience, and history. This course is about the musical imagination. It’s how to think about music, but it’s also about music as a mode of thinking. (inspired by Michael Hays, Professor of Architectural Theory at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design: Welcome to The Architectural Imagination (edx.org).
This textbook was created as part of the Interactive OER for Dual Enrollment project, facilitated by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network and funded by a $2 million Open Textbooks Pilot Program grant from the Department of Education. This project supports the extension of access to high-quality post-secondary opportunities to high school students across Louisiana and beyond. This project features a collaboration between educational systems in Louisiana, the library community, Pressbooks technology partner, and workforce representatives. It will enable and enhance the delivery of open educational resources (OER) and interactive quiz and assessment elements for priority dual enrollment courses in Louisiana and nationally. Developed OER course materials will be released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification and sharing with others.
The target audience for this project and this textbook are dual enrollment students. Dual enrollment is the opportunity for a student to be enrolled in high school and college at the same time. A dual enrollment student receives credit on both their high school and college transcripts for the same course.
About the Contributors
Authors
Bonnie Le
Francis Scully
Steven Edwards