Course

Listening in Context I

Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Department
Music
Course code
MUSC 1121
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 weeks
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
Fall

Overview

Course description
This course takes a wide stylistic and chronological approach to active listening, with an emphasis on Western art music from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th century. Music will be discussed in relation to arts and culture, as well as to relevant aspects of history, geography, belief systems, politics, society, economics, and technology. Students will occasionally work with scores, but listening skills will be emphasized.
Course content
  1. The elements of music
    • Basic sound characteristics.
    • The dimensions of music: temporal (rhythm), horizontal (melody), vertical (harmony).
    • Musical texture: monophony, polyphony, homophony, heterophony.
    • Pitch source and organization.
    • Dynamics and timbre.
    • Musical instruments: instrumentation; classifications including aerophones, chordophones, membranophones, idiophones, electrophones.
    • Musical style: composition vs. improvisation; form, and genre.
    • Vocal parts: the relation of music and text; vocal styles.
    • Cultural contexts for music: the relation of music to the other arts, as well as history, geography, belief systems, politics, society, economics, and technology.
  2. Pre-Tonal Music: 
    • Music in antiquity.
    • Western Christian Chant and early polyphony.
    • Medieval secular music.
    • Renaissance music (including mass, motet, madrigal).
  3. Tonal Music: 
    • Baroque music (including fugue, ground bass, opera, cantata, oratorio, concerto, and suite) with emphasis on the works of Bach and Handel.
    • Classical music to the beginning of the 19th century (including symphony, sonata, string quartet, piano concerto, and opera) with emphasis on the works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
Learning activities

Lecture time will focus on the analysis, discussion, and critical listening of the musical materials that form the core content of this course. Additionally, relevant information concerning the cultural, social, and political contexts of the time periods studied will be integrated into the lectures. While a significant portion of class time will be dedicated to listening to music, students will also be assigned listening tasks outside of class, which will include the music discussed during lectures as well as other related compositions.

Means of assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the 51Ç鱨վ Evaluation Policy. Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in a course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation must be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.

The following is a sample grades breakdown.

Written and Aural Test on Elements of Music  10%
Listening and Written Test on Medieval and Renaissance Music  20%
Listening and Written Test on Baroque Music  20%
Final Exam: Listening and Written Test on Classical Music  20%
Short projects (minimum of 2)  10%
Quizzes (minimum of 8) 20%
TOTAL 100%
Learning outcomes

 

The successful student should be able to recognize aurally:
1) The basic elements of music.
2) The relationship of musical components to their cultural context.
3) Styles, genres and forms in Western art music. 
4) Specific compositions and their composers. 
5) The elements of music in selected compositions as they relate to their specific historical, geographical, 
and cultural contexts .

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  1. Recognize and describe the basic elements of music such as pitch, rhythm, harmony, and form.
  2. Describe the relationship of musical components to their cultural context.
  3. Aurally recognize various styles, genres, and forms of Western art music from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th century.
  4. Aurally recognize specific compositions and their composers. 
  5. Aurally recognize elements of music in selected compositions as they relate to their specific historical, geographical, and cultural contexts.
Textbook materials

A recent edition of a text such as:

Bonds, Mark Evan. Listen to This. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
With access to Pearson My Music Lab online, e-book and full streaming audio.

OR

Kamien, Roger. Music: An Appreciation. McGrawHill

Requisites

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Equivalencies

None

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see

Institution Transfer details for MUSC 1121
Athabasca University (AU) AU MUSI 267 (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU MUS 108 (3)
Columbia College (COLU) No credit
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU CA 1XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU MUSI 1XXX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU MUSC 1XXX (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) DOUG MUSC 1121 (3) & DOUG MUSC 1221 (3) = TWU MUSI 150 (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU MUSI 150 (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO MUSC_O 2nd (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) No credit
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC HUMN 1XX (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) DOUG MUSC 1120 (3) & DOUG MUSC 1121 (3) = UVIC MUS 116 (1.5) & UVIC MUS 1XX (1.5)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC MUS 116 (1.5)
Vancouver Community College (VCC) VCC MUSC 1305 (3)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) Individual Audition Required

Course Offerings

Fall 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
0
Remaining seats:
35
On waitlist
0
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N3407
Times:
Start Time
11:30
-
End Time
13:20
Section notes

MUSC 1121 001 - This course is restricted to students in the Basic Musicianship program.