The course is an exploration of important aspects of Western music by topic, theme and idea. Subjects to be addressed include higher-level elements such as melody, harmony, counterpoint, style, texture and instrumentation, musical aesthetics, repertoire and how to listen; and some social and political aspects of music. All these topics will be treated with reference to specific pieces of music, as a collection of set works.

Incorporated into the course through online tutorials is an introduction to basic music theory, for those who need it. Starting from the beginning, theoretical materials will be covered progressively up to the equivalent of NZMEB Grade 3 by the end of the course.

As a FLEXI course, the content of the paper will be delivered via two face-to face lectures per week (which will be recorded) and a one-hour tutorial to support the online theory tutorials, for those students who need them. Some weeks, instead of a face-to-face lecture, an Online lesson, with a task to be completed in the students' own time, will be undertaken via Moodle classroom. (NB. The Lecturer will be away from campus from March 9th-17th so online lessons will be made available during that time).

All Power Point lectures note will be available on the class Moodle page

The readings list is accessible on Moodle

The music play-lists for each class are available on www.naxosmusiclibrary.com via the UoW subscription (Login and password: WaikatoMM)

All assignments can be submitted online via Moodle

Zoom sessions can be facilitated.

The following texts, both of which are available online through the University Library, are recommended:

Burkholder, J.P., D.J Grout, and C.V. Palisca, A History of Western Music (8th or 9th ed.) W.W. Norton and Co, New York and London. 2010

Endris, R. Ryan The history of western music for beginners, 2014

Any required readings for assignments will be made available online.