| CODE | MSP2065 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Introduction to Semiotics of Music | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Music Studies | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit introduces students to general semiotic concepts and to the semiotics of music more specifically. It deals with issues concerning the specificity of musical communication, musical narrative, memory and the perception of music, the rapport between music and language, as well as the importance of the learning process in the assimilation of musical values and particular modes of thinking about music. Students will be introduced to a sign-typology of music that will eventually dovetail nicely with different approaches to musical analysis as proposed in contemporary semiotics of music studies. Musical examples employed throughout this study-unit rely on an array of musical genres, ranging from folk and traditional to classical and popular music. Study-unit Aims: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: a. evaluate critically different modes of thinking and discourse about music; b. interrelate musical analysis with contemporary theories of music communication; c. delve deeply into issues of musical meaning. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: At the end of the study-unit the learner will be exposed to the following specialised knowledge: a. a wider understanding of the nature of music; b. understand the various processes that determine the way people think, talk and write about music; c. an understanding of the processes inherent to musical creativity; d. a strong recognition of the social and cultural position, intentions and motivations of those producing the music, as well as the functions and acoustic context of the music. 2. Skills: At the end of the study-unit the learner will have mastered the following skills: a. expand the analytical musical skills to include other considerations that might vary from general aspects of communication to the evaluation of simultaneous para-musical forms of musical expression; b. discuss critically issues related to meaning and communication in music; c. apply the knowledge attained to the analysis of different musical genres and styles. 3. Competence: At the end of the study-unit the learner will have acquired the responsibility and autonomy to: a. evaluate critically different modes of thinking and discourse about music; b. interrelate musical analysis with contemporary theories of music communication; c. delve deeply into issues of musical meaning. 4. Learning Outcomes: At the end of the study-unit the learner will be able to: a. evaluate a range of processes in various musical performances and in the production of music; b. relate the musical with the extra-musical; c. scrutinize music as a symbolic system with various interrelationships with other aspects of life. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Clarke, Eric, Nicola Dibben and Stephanie Pitts. 2010. Music and Mind in Everyday Life. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. - Cook, Nicholas. Music: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. - Sheinberg, Esti (ed.). 2012. Music Semiotics: A Network of Significations. In Honour and Memory of Raymond Monelle. Farnham: Ashgate. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-requisite Qualification: A-level Music OR Grade 7 (or above) | |||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Seminar and Tutorial | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Philip Ciantar |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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