Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0230 - American Strings: Old Time and Bluegrass

This course focuses on American southern old-time string band music, bluegrass, and early country song. We draw on cultural theory to explore the development of these musics throughout the 20th/21st centuries as well as the influences of African-American musical expression, class, gender, and music revivalism. We will consider old time and bluegrass both from an historical perspective and ethnographically as vital forms of folk expression in communities today. The course will include weekly reading/listening assignments, occasional film screenings, written assignments based on the reading, and midterm and final essays. If possible and depending on logistics, we will include an optional performance component: interested students will learn to play old time music by ear and develop a repertoire of traditional dance music. Prior experience with old time music is not necessary, but a working knowledge of one of the following acoustic instruments is required: fiddle (violin), cello, banjo, guitar, upright bass, mandolin, harmonica, ukulele, and others. (music, ethnomusicology, American studies, performance, race, class, gender)

Time and Narrative This course is fully remote. Students in this course can expect to spend 5 to 6 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.