Music analysis typically aims to deepen one’s understanding of a piece of music by studying the details of that music. In this class, instead, we focus on the instruments that create the music, and consider how instruments shape music and culture.
Motivating questions
- What is a musical instrument? (Voice is an instrument in this context, by the way!)
- How do instruments shape music?
- How do instruments reflect culture?
- What are some instrument-centered analytical methodologies?
- How can we deepen our understanding of pieces of music by considering them from the angle of specific instrumentalists?