Music at LMU

An introductory-level survey of art, traditional, and regional popular music, chosen from the South Asia, Indonesia, East Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America. Class lectures and discussion focus upon readings and guided listening. Some in-class performance.

3 semester hours

Basic conducting skills, technical and expressive uses of the conducting gesture, methods of verbal and non-verbal communication appropriate to a choral ensemble.

2 semester hours

Basic conducting skills, technical and expressive uses of the conducting gesture, and methods of communication appropriate to an instrumental ensemble.

2 semester hours

The exploration of issues and topics involved in creating and producing music with technology, specifically through the use of software on a personal computer. Students will learn basic facility and fluency with a number of software platforms on the Macintosh operating system. In addition, a large portion of this course is devoted to direct music and audio composition. In this way, students are evaluated both on technical proficiency as well as creative energy employed in completing course assignments.

3 semester hours

An introduction to harmonic progressions ("changes") and formal procedures and structures utilized in various popular musics such as folk, blues, pop, gospel, rock, musical theater, and jazz. Coursework includes completing both harmonic and structural exercises as well as small original compositions.

3 semester hours

A survey of the origins and major style periods of jazz from the antebellum era to the present. The course covers the lives and work of major figures in Black American music history, investigating the political, social, regional, and economic pressures that shaped these artists and their music. Listening assignments emphasize specific stylistic features that reflect currents of American history and culture. 

3 semester hours

Basic skills of coordinated movement appropriate to stage work for vocalists and instrumentalists. Exploration of the elements of poise, postural habits, and style based on principles developed by F.M. Alexander. 

2 semester hours

An introduction to the woodwind, brass, string, and percussion families of instruments, including the study of instrumental ranges, transpositions, and techniques. The articulative, dynamic, and timbral characteristics of each instrument are also explored. To these ends the course utilizes live demonstrations, music notation software, and short orchestration projects.

2 semester hours