Class Schedules

The Macalester Wind Ensemble performs music in a wide variety of styles, from as early as the 17th century to the classics of band literature, to music composed within the last few years. It is open without audition to wind and percussion students with at least high-school level performance skills.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Study of traditional African music through performance modes of drumming, singing, flutes, marimba, gyil, and dancing. Instrumental and vocal pieces will be selected from a variety of musical styles such as unaccompanied vocal chants, songs, music from life cycle events, royal music and music for social and other festive occasions. The repertoire includes music from Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

The Concert Choir is the advanced, select vocal ensemble of Macalester College, directed by Michael McGaghie. Members are held to an exceptional standard of musicianship and commitment. The choir draws its repertoire from music of the last six centuries and tours annually through the United States or abroad. The ensemble commissions and premieres at least one new work every year. Membership is open to all Macalester students by audition. Three 90-minute rehearsals per week.

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Course Materials

The Chorale is the large choral ensemble of Macalester College, directed by Michael McGaghie. The choir's repertoire includes a cappella and accompanied music from various Western and non-Western vocal traditions. The Chorale and Concert Choir combine annually to perform a major work with orchestra. Membership is open to all Macalester students by audition. Two 90-minute rehearsals per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The Macalester Asian Music Ensemble performs traditional and modern music from East and Central Asia. Core instruments include a variety of plucked lutes and zithers, bowed fiddles, bamboo/reed flutes, hammered dulcimer, and percussion from Chinese music and traditions across the Silk Road.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

Jazz and Popular Music Combos are open to all who wish to concentrate on repertoire, improvisation and original music. Students will focus on developing their composition and performance skills while exploring many different styles of contemporary music. The combos present two concerts each year.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

Bagpipe and highland drum lessons are available free of charge to all students. Beginners and musicians of any experience level are encouraged to participate in lessons and/or ensemble.  We perform traditional and modern music at concert and competitions.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The Chamber Music program offers an opportunity for students to explore and perform repertoire for small ensembles. All instrumentalists and vocalists are eligible to participate and entrance is by audition or by arrangement with Mr. Mandarano. Students who are accepted into Chamber Music are placed in various ensembles and over the course of the semester immerse themselves in learning a challenging and varied repertoire. Rehearsal times are arranged based on schedule availability and individual practice is required. Ensembles receive periodic coaching from department faculty or professional studio instructors and there is least one performance required per semester. Examples of chamber ensemble include: string quartet, piano trio, woodwind quintet, brass sextet, piano trio, flute and clarinet choirs.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

The Macalester Symphony Orchestra prepares and performs a wide range of repertoire for symphony orchestra from the time of Bach to the present day, including the music of living composers. Playing in the orchestra blends individual and group achievement to build toward several challenging, rewarding performances each semester. Social interaction among the members of the orchestra is facilitated by various events, including orchestra dinners and a brief tour. In the spring semester, there is a concerto competition concert, featuring student soloists. Auditions for orchestra are held at the start of the fall semester. Space permitting, a limited number of students may be able to join at the start of the spring semester.

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Historical performance has changed the aesthetic and musical experiences of audiences all over the world. The new ways to interpret music before 1750 has changed the way the audiences listen to this kind of music. Macalester Early Music Ensemble approaches instrumental and vocal music from Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque period. No audition needed.

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This course surveys traditional, folk, and pop genres from major musical traditions in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. We approach music as both aesthetic and social processes, and explore the relationship between music making and other domains of human experience. Students will develop basic skills in critical listening, analysis, and writing about music. Course readings and audiovisual examples are designed primarily for non-music majors or minors. Previous knowledge of musical instrument or notation is not required.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this course we explore theoretical concepts of diatonic music, including counterpoint, harmonic progression, and voice leading, always seeking answers to questions about how diatonic music works. Students will develop the ability to discuss and write about music in a sophisticated way. We will accomplish these tasks through written exercises, analysis, composition, and ear training. Specific topics covered include pitch, meter, intervals, scales, keys, triads, seventh chords, diatonic modes, figured bass, lead-sheet (chord) symbols, Roman numeral identification, part writing, cadences, basic harmonic function, sequence, phrases and periods, melody harmonization, non-chord tones, and basic principles of orchestration. Aural activities include sight singing, identification of pitch patterns, identification of scales, rhythmic dictation, rhythm reading, melodic dictation, harmonic dictation, identification of sonorities, identification of cadences, and contextual listening. Three lectures and one lab per week.

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Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this course we explore theoretical concepts of diatonic music, including counterpoint, harmonic progression, and voice leading, always seeking answers to questions about how diatonic music works. Students will develop the ability to discuss and write about music in a sophisticated way. We will accomplish these tasks through written exercises, analysis, composition, and ear training. Specific topics covered include pitch, meter, intervals, scales, keys, triads, seventh chords, diatonic modes, figured bass, lead-sheet (chord) symbols, Roman numeral identification, part writing, cadences, basic harmonic function, sequence, phrases and periods, melody harmonization, non-chord tones, and basic principles of orchestration. Aural activities include sight singing, identification of pitch patterns, identification of scales, rhythmic dictation, rhythm reading, melodic dictation, harmonic dictation, identification of sonorities, identification of cadences, and contextual listening. Three lectures and one lab per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this course we explore theoretical concepts of diatonic music, including counterpoint, harmonic progression, and voice leading, always seeking answers to questions about how diatonic music works. Students will develop the ability to discuss and write about music in a sophisticated way. We will accomplish these tasks through written exercises, analysis, composition, and ear training. Specific topics covered include pitch, meter, intervals, scales, keys, triads, seventh chords, diatonic modes, figured bass, lead-sheet (chord) symbols, Roman numeral identification, part writing, cadences, basic harmonic function, sequence, phrases and periods, melody harmonization, non-chord tones, and basic principles of orchestration. Aural activities include sight singing, identification of pitch patterns, identification of scales, rhythmic dictation, rhythm reading, melodic dictation, harmonic dictation, identification of sonorities, identification of cadences, and contextual listening. Three lectures and one lab per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this course we explore theoretical concepts of diatonic music, including counterpoint, harmonic progression, and voice leading, always seeking answers to questions about how diatonic music works. Students will develop the ability to discuss and write about music in a sophisticated way. We will accomplish these tasks through written exercises, analysis, composition, and ear training. Specific topics covered include pitch, meter, intervals, scales, keys, triads, seventh chords, diatonic modes, figured bass, lead-sheet (chord) symbols, Roman numeral identification, part writing, cadences, basic harmonic function, sequence, phrases and periods, melody harmonization, non-chord tones, and basic principles of orchestration. Aural activities include sight singing, identification of pitch patterns, identification of scales, rhythmic dictation, rhythm reading, melodic dictation, harmonic dictation, identification of sonorities, identification of cadences, and contextual listening. Three lectures and one lab per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Study of music in various African traditions within a social and historical context. Interrelationships between music and society (function, context, structure, gender roles, political considerations). Instruments, life-cycle rites, genres, musical organizations, traditional musicians, contemporary popular music.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

The concept of freedom both lies at the heart of human rights discourse and provides the spark that ignites any number of musical movements. Intended for students with strong interests in the intersection between the performing arts and humanities, this course serves as an introduction both to the concept of freedom as it developed in Western societies since the late eighteenth century and to the history of music in the cultures that have fostered such ideals. It intends to introduce students to the study of music (and, by association, arts in general) from social, cultural, and critical perspectives, using the framework of freedom as a common theme. It also aims to contextualize the discourse of human rights within the history of arts and ideas, providing students with a a sense of the term's changing meanings and emphases over time and across space. We will explore traditions in both Western art music (also known as "classical music") and the American popular (recorded) music in a search for ways in which music has served social-political ideologies - overtly through the aims of its composers and performers, and unintentionally through the conditions of its reception. Historical readings on the concept of freedom from a variety of disciplinary perspectives (history, philosophy, political science, critical theory) will introduce students to several of the most influential thinkers on the subject and the central concerns and questions that animate the discourse on freedom. No prior background in music is required for the course, although it is assumed that students will have a true interest not only in popular music of the twentieth century but also other traditions and genres, such as opera and symphonic music. "Freedom" signifies a number of ideals, which operate in real-political and abstract-aesthetic realms. Music can represent, convey, and "mean" freedom in infinite ways, and it is the intention of this course to introduce students to this diversity.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

33&⅓ will explore the concept of the record album in popular music. Originally made from vinyl with microgrooves that vibrate a needle, this type of record spun at thirty-three and one-third revolutions per minute, resulting in 30 – 45 minutes of recorded sound. The critical community generally agreed that the record album became a medium for making a coherent artistic statement with nuanced overtones on a variety of subjects: teenage angst, anti-war, racial inequality, gender issues and more. In this discussion-based class, students will be encouraged to interpret what they hear and differentiate the strata through which a message is being delivered — in lyrics, instruments, effects, vocals, production techniques, musical style and more. Students will be encouraged to follow the thread of the themes where they may lead with frequent writing assignments documenting this progress. Students will listen extensively to diverse examples of this medium ranging widely from Elvis Presley, James Brown, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Mary J. Blige, Public Enemy and Lady Gaga. Alongside the list of albums, there will be selected readings of critical commentary to enhance the understanding of history, background and reception.Writing:This class will ask students to respond to the subject in writing in a variety of formats and styles. Students will be asked to frequently (approximately once per week) submit a brief (one-page) writing assignment in response to the listening and/or reading. These writing assignments will provide a foundation for in-class discussion. I will provide written feedback on all writing assignments to address clarity, usage, and appropriateness to the assignment. In these assignments we will explore “tone” and how to think of writing for different audiences (for example, one assignment can be a blog entry, another can be a newspaper article). In addition, the students will be asked to submit two papers of a more scholarly nature (one three pages and one seven pages) that will explore a topic of their choosing in greater depth and which will require some research and evidence. These papers will go through a process which will include submission of the topic and an abstract for approval, submission of a draft for feedback in an individual meeting and written feedback and a grade for the final version. We will also devote time in class on how to structure a paper and how to support an argument with evidence.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Analysis of musical forms and musical development techniques with emphasis on music of the common practice period; advanced harmonic ear training. Prerequisite(s): MUSI 114 or permission of the instructor

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Fine arts

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Language and music are two uniquely human enterprises with a number of parallels: both rely on sound and convention, display hierarchical organization and culturally-specific practices, and can convey both communicative and social meaning. This course examines the intersection of language and music from a linguistic perspective. We will engage with questions such as: How can syntax, phonology, and morphology change between spoken and sung language? How do speakers of tone languages understand lyrics in sung melodies? Is hip hop different in different languages? What does it mean to study melody and rhythm in speech? Can music help people learn languages? How do drum- and whistle-languages work? How does music contribute to language revitalization? No musical ability is required. No prerequisite required.

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Social science

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This course traces the development of Western art music from its beginnings in the monophonic chant of early Christianity, through the development of polyphonic genres in the Renaissance (mass, motet, madrigal), to the emergence of opera in Italy around 1600 and the stylistic revolution that we now call the Baroque (including musical life in the extravagant court of Louis XIV in France and Johann Sebastian Bach's masterful synthesis of Baroque styles), to the sophisticated, multi-movement sonata structures of late 18th century Viennese classicism. Its central concerns are: (1) to understand the place of music in social and cultural life, (2) to gain an appreciation of the musical style and rhetoric that characterizes each of the periods we study, and (3) to develop students' abilities in communicating, in writing and the spoken word, what they have learned about this music and the culture in which it was produced. Course activities will take several forms, including lectures, musical analyses, and performances. Lectures will introduce key terms and concepts and will address broader concerns of cultural life (including composer biographies). In-class analysis and performance will lead to a more detailed understanding of key works. Examinations will test students' retention of course listening and lecture/discussion/reading material. Essays will give students the opportunity to delve deeper into critical and musical analysis, and to sharpen their prose, specifically with respect to writing about music. The course assumes no historical knowledge of the periods in question. However, basic skills in the analysis of music are necessary. Prerequisite(s): MUSI 113 or permission of instructor

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course will provide instruction in basic conducting technique. Topics will include score preparation, beat patterns, cuing, the expressive and independent use of both arms, and control of musical elements such as dynamics, phrasing, and tempo. The course will have a choral emphasis; issues specific to instrumental conducting will also be addressed. The course is designed principally for music majors and minors, though other students with appropriate musical background are most welcome. Concurrent enrollment in a Music Department ensemble is strongly encouraged.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

The Macalester Wind Ensemble performs music in a wide variety of styles, from as early as the 17th century to the classics of band literature, to music composed within the last few years. It is open without audition to wind and percussion students with at least high-school level performance skills.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Study of traditional African music through performance modes of drumming, singing, flutes, marimba, gyil, and dancing. Instrumental and vocal pieces will be selected from a variety of musical styles such as unaccompanied vocal chants, songs, music from life cycle events, royal music and music for social and other festive occasions. The repertoire includes music from Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The Concert Choir is the advanced, select vocal ensemble of Macalester College, directed by Michael McGaghie. Members are held to an exceptional standard of musicianship and commitment. The choir draws its repertoire from music of the last six centuries and tours annually through the United States or abroad. The ensemble commissions and premieres at least one new work every year. Membership is open to all Macalester students by audition. Three 90-minute rehearsals per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The Chorale is the large choral ensemble of Macalester College, directed by Michael McGaghie. The choir's repertoire includes a cappella and accompanied music from various Western and non-Western vocal traditions. The Chorale and Concert Choir combine annually to perform a major work with orchestra. Membership is open to all Macalester students by audition. Two 90-minute rehearsals per week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The Macalester Asian Music Ensemble performs traditional and modern music from East and Central Asia. Core instruments include a variety of plucked lutes and zithers, bowed fiddles, bamboo/reed flutes, hammered dulcimer, and percussion from Chinese music and traditions across the Silk Road.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Jazz and Popular Music Combos are open to all who wish to concentrate on repertoire, improvisation and original music. Students will focus on developing their composition and performance skills while exploring many different styles of contemporary music. The combos present two concerts each year.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Bagpipe and highland drum lessons are available free of charge to all students. Beginners and musicians of any experience level are encouraged to participate in lessons and/or ensemble.  We perform traditional and modern music at concert and competitions.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The Chamber Music program offers an opportunity for students to explore and perform repertoire for small ensembles. All instrumentalists and vocalists are eligible to participate and entrance is by audition or by arrangement with Mr. Mandarano. Students who are accepted into Chamber Music are placed in various ensembles and over the course of the semester immerse themselves in learning a challenging and varied repertoire. Rehearsal times are arranged based on schedule availability and individual practice is required. Ensembles receive periodic coaching from department faculty or professional studio instructors and there is least one performance required per semester. Examples of chamber ensemble include: string quartet, piano trio, woodwind quintet, brass sextet, piano trio, flute and clarinet choirs.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The Macalester Symphony Orchestra prepares and performs a wide range of repertoire for symphony orchestra from the time of Bach to the present day, including the music of living composers. Playing in the orchestra blends individual and group achievement to build toward several challenging, rewarding performances each semester. Social interaction among the members of the orchestra is facilitated by various events, including orchestra dinners and a brief tour. In the spring semester, there is a concerto competition concert, featuring student soloists. Auditions for orchestra are held at the start of the fall semester. Space permitting, a limited number of students may be able to join at the start of the spring semester.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Historical performance has changed the aesthetic and musical experiences of audiences all over the world. The new ways to interpret music before 1750 has changed the way the audiences listen to this kind of music. Macalester Early Music Ensemble approaches instrumental and vocal music from Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque period. No audition needed.

General Education Requirements:

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Focuses on listening to music and making sense of what we hear. Explores diverse musical styles and cultures with an emphasis on concert music of the western world, placing the music within cultural-historical frameworks.

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Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this course we explore theoretical concepts of chromatic music, including harmony, voice leading, and form, always seeking answers to questions about how chromatic music works. Students will develop the ability to discuss and write about music in a sophisticated way. We will accomplish these tasks through written exercises, analysis, composition, and ear training. Specific topics covered include review of diatonic harmony and voice leading, secondary dominants, modulation to closely related keys, small forms (binary, ternary), mode mixture, chromatic mediants, modulation by common tone, Neapolitan sixth chords, augmented sixth chords, descending tetrachord bass line, enharmonic modulation, extended tertian chords, altered chords, and an introduction to sonata form. Aural activities include sight singing, identification of pitch patterns, melodic dictation, harmonic dictation, identification of sonorities, identification of intervals, harmonic substitution, modulating harmonic dictation, three-chord progressions, and contextual listening. Three lectures and one lab per week. Prerequisite(s): MUSI 113 or permission of the instructor

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this course we explore theoretical concepts of chromatic music, including harmony, voice leading, and form, always seeking answers to questions about how chromatic music works. Students will develop the ability to discuss and write about music in a sophisticated way. We will accomplish these tasks through written exercises, analysis, composition, and ear training. Specific topics covered include review of diatonic harmony and voice leading, secondary dominants, modulation to closely related keys, small forms (binary, ternary), mode mixture, chromatic mediants, modulation by common tone, Neapolitan sixth chords, augmented sixth chords, descending tetrachord bass line, enharmonic modulation, extended tertian chords, altered chords, and an introduction to sonata form. Aural activities include sight singing, identification of pitch patterns, melodic dictation, harmonic dictation, identification of sonorities, identification of intervals, harmonic substitution, modulating harmonic dictation, three-chord progressions, and contextual listening. Three lectures and one lab per week. Prerequisite(s): MUSI 113 or permission of the instructor

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Fine arts

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What, and how, can a musical subject contribute to a work of literature? How do the two artforms interact, where do they intersect, how do they illuminate, even change, one another? In this course, we will read and discuss the following novels, with an aim towards developing musical perspectives on them: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Unconsoled (1995); Toni Morrison, Jazz (1992); Richard Powers, The Time of Our Singing (2002); Lisa Halliday, Asymmetry (2017); Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark (1915); Leo Tolstoy, The Kreutzer Sonata (1889); and Kate Chopin, The Awakening (1899). We will also read short fiction by James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Katherine Mansfield, Marguerite Duras, and Vernon Lee (Violet Paget), as well as excerpts from works by David Mitchell and E. M. Forster.

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Fine arts

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Survey of contemporary music and modern compositional techniques with emphasis on analytical skills. Prerequisite(s): MUSI 213 or permission of the instructor

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Fine arts

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This course provides a survey of Western art music from the early works of Ludwig van Beethoven, composed in the mid-1790s, to the symphonic works of the generation of modernist composers born around 1860 (Gustav Mahler, Jean Sibelius, Giacomo Puccini, Richard Strauss). One principal aim of the course is to expose students to a large quantity of multi-national Western music in a variety of genres and styles, thus leading students to a deeper understanding of the development of musical style in the nineteenth century. In addition to the musical works themselves, and no less importantly, the course stresses the contexts surrounding the musical texts. Lectures address the political, cultural, and intellectual history that directed the path of musical style in this period. Students are therefore expected to become familiar not only with specific works and the stylistic footprints of many composers, but also with the significant cultural-historical events and trends that informed composition during this period--the pan-European revolutions of 1848, the aesthetic ideology of autonomous music, the public music culture of the European bourgeoisie, the relationship between musical reception and various strains of European nationalism, and so on. Classroom activities include lectures, directed listening of pieces on the listening list (and sometimes, for comparison, other works), some formal and stylistic analysis, and discussion. Prerequisite(s): MUSI 113 or permission of instructor

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

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musicians, as well as issues that affect their musical lives. We will also interrogate constructions of gender, masculinity, and femininity as they relate to music. An ongoing goal will be to develop reading comprehension and critical thinking skills through a series of short summary/response papers and discussion in class. Finally, as this course emphasizes writing and research skills, several class periods will be devoted to research techniques and the writing process, and accordingly you will be required to write and revise a substantial paper.

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Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

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Fine arts

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Instruction in composition starting with exercises in motific and harmonic manipulation of materials, and leading to directed composition for available performers. Meetings will be as a group and as individuals. Composers will have at least two works performed on scheduled evening concerts. Prerequisite(s): MUSI 213 or permission of the instructor

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Fine arts

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This course introduces students to the field of ethnomusicology through its philosophical foundation, theoretical models, and disciplinary practices. Topics include comparative approach, structuralist/functionalist models, cultural relativism, organology, bi-musicality, reflexivity, post/modernism, among other recent research directions. Assignments are designed to develop skills in musical fieldwork, transcription and analysis, as well as preparing and presenting scholarly findings in ethnographic disciplines. This course is aimed primarily for students of music and/or anthropology. Prerequisite(s): Basic knowledge or experience in world music and performance recommended

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Fine arts

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