We will begin the class by familiarizing you with some common musicological approaches to the study of musical instruments.

Week 1

In our first class (Wed, Aug 27), we’ll do some housekeeping—going through the syllabus, getting you acquainted with Teams and the course website, and introducing ourselves.

As part of your introduction, please plan to talk a bit about your primary instrument (voice is an instrument!), what other instruments you may play and in what contexts, and any other information that might be pertinent to your interest in this seminar topic.

I’ll alsp make a brief presentation on a couple important readings (Théberge 2017; Bates 2018). I recognize some of you may not have time to do this reading before the first class, but you’ll probably get more out of class if you do.

Homework due Sun, Aug 31

  1. Position your instrument (or any instrument) within an assemblage like the ones Thèberge (2017) describes. Describe the assemblage and make a visual diagram if possible. How does this exercise reshape your idea of what your instrument is?

    • Write ~500 words
    • Save as a PDF
    • prefix your filename with 01
    • Upload to your homework submit folder.

  2. Indicate which readings you are interested in leading discussion for. View all the readings here, and submit your choices here.

Week 2

Reading due Wed, Sep 3

  • Tresch, John, and Emily I. Dolan. 2013. “Toward a New Organology: Instruments of Music and Science.” Osiris 28 (1): 278–98. https://doi.org/10.1086/671381.
  • Wright, Brian F. 2024. “The Picked Instrument: Reinventing the Sound of the Electric Bass.” In The Bastard Instrument, 112–34. University of Michigan Press. https://press.umich.edu/Books/T/The-Bastard-Instrument2.

Homework due Sun, Sep 7

Analyze an instrument’s “ethics” as in Tresch and Dolan’s article (2013, p. 284).

  • Write ~500 words.
  • Please save as a PDF
  • Prefix your filename with 02
  • Upload to your homework submit folder.

Bibliography

  1. Bates, Eliot. 2018. “Actor-Network Theory and Organology.” Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society 44: 41–51. https://www.proquest.com/docview/3132950357/abstract/5C71D4E6E9534759PQ/1.
  2. Théberge, Paul. 2017. “Musical Instruments as Assemblage.” In Musical Instruments in the 21st Century, edited by Till Bovermann, Alberto De Campo, Hauke Egermann, Sarah-Indriyati Hardjowirogo, and Stefan Weinzierl. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2951-6.
  3. Tresch, John, and Emily I. Dolan. 2013. “Toward a New Organology: Instruments of Music and Science.” Osiris 28 (1): 278–98. https://doi.org/10.1086/671381.