Music (MUSI) 285

History of Popular Music I: Blues to Big Bands, 1900-1940 (Revision 1)

Status:

Temporarily closed, effective October 17, 2016

Delivery mode:

Individualized study with Video component (Overseas students, please contact the University Library before registering in a course that has an audio/visual component)

Credits:

Areas of study:

Arts or Humanities

Prerequisites:

None

Precluded:

MUSI 285 is a cross-listed course—a course listed under 2 different disciplines—with HUMN 285. MUSI 285 may not be taken for credit by students who have obtained credit for HUMN 285.

Challenge:

MUSI 285 is not available for challenge.

Faculty:

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Overview

MUSI 285 surveys the history of North American popular music from the ragtime era to the end of the 1960s. This course concentrates on the period between the two world wars and takes the story of popular music up to the swing era of the late 1930s. MUSI 285 examines the evolution of musical styles and places such musical forms as blues, jazz, and hillbilly music in their social contexts.

Evaluation

To receive credit for MUSI 285, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least D (50 percent) and a grade of at least 50 percent on the final examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Activity	Weight
Exercise	20%
Essay	30%
Final Exam	50%
Total	100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.

Materials

Collier, James Lincoln. 1978. The Making of Jazz: A Comprehensive History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (Print)

Malone, Bill C. 3^rd ed., 2010. Country Music U.S.A. Austin: University of Texas Press. (Print)

Oakley, Giles. 1978. The Devil's Music: A History of the Blues. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. (Print)

Oliver, Paul. 1972. The Story of the Blues. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin. (Print)

Porterfield, Nolan. 1979. Jimmie Rodgers: The Life and Times of America's Blue Yodeler. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. (Print)

Shapiro, Nat, and Nat Hentoff, eds. [1955] 1966. Hear Me Talkin' to Ya. Reprint. NY: Dover. (Print)

Other Materials

The course materials include audiotape lectures and a student manual. A radio program, The Long Weekend, is broadcast on CKUA Radio throughout Alberta.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.

Opened in Revision 1, July 2, 2004

Updated August 14, 2023

Music (MUSI) 285

Overview

Outline

Evaluation

Materials

Other Materials

Important links