Ethnomusicology

A number of electives in Ethnomusicology are offered on a regular basis.  They include:

Music 232:  Javanese Gamelan Ensemble
Professor Philip Acimovic
Javanese musical genres and performance styles from the eighteenth century to the twenty-first. Performance on multiple instruments; study of theoretical, aesthetic, and analytical discourses about gamelan and other Indonesian performance genres. Students in this class form the nucleus of the Yale Javanese Gamelan Ensemble.

Music 233: Cultures and Performing Arts of Central Java
Professor Philip Acimovic
This course explores how music and theatre traditions engage with culture, history, and tradition of performing arts in central Java with a particular focus on the role of the gamelan ensemble. Students gain first-hand experience in Javanese Wayang theater, a traditional shadow puppet performance in which the gamelan serves as a musical accompanist.

Music 276:  Music of Sub-Saharan Africa
Professor Michael Veal.
A survey of the traditional and popular musics of black Africa, organized both by nation, such as Ghana, and by region, such as Senegambia. Introduction to the fundamental musical principles, materials, and performance contexts of African music.

Music 375:  Topics in World Music
Professor Michael Veal.
A critical introduction to selected cultures of world music. Specific cultures vary from year to year but generally include those of Native America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.

Music 480:  Music of the Caribbean: Cuba and Jamaica
Professor Michael Veal
An examination of the Afro-diasporic music cultures of Cuba and Jamaica, placing the historical succession of musical genres and traditions into social, cultural, and political contexts. Cuban genres studied include religious/folkloric traditions (Lucumi/Santeria and Abakua), rumba, son, mambo, pachanga/charanga, salsa, timba and reggaeton. Jamaican genres studied include: folkloric traditions (etu/tambu/kumina), Jamaican R&B, ska, rock steady, reggae, ragga/dancehall. Prominent themes include: slavery, Afro-diasporic cultural traditions, Black Atlantic culture, nationalism/independence/post-colonial culture, relationships with the United States, music & gender/sexuality, technology.