Folklore & Ethnomusicology

ETHM 125: Experiencing Music Credits: 3 (cross-listed with FINA 125 and MUSI 125)

This course uses world musics to introduce fundamental musical elements and vocabulary in order to develop critical listening and musical analysis skills. Course material explores distinctive settings, sounds and significances of various musical cultures. Students come to appreciate music as a form of human expression, and as a meaningful aspect of daily life.

ETHM 201: Music & Culture (cross-listed with FINA 201 and MUSI 201) Credits: 3

An introduction to the discipline of ethnomusicology, this course focuses upon exploring how musical traditions are both shaped by and give shape to the cultural settings in which they are performed. There is an emphasis on developing listening skills and skills in musical analysis.

ETHM 203: Folk Music and Culture (cross-listed with FOLK 203) Credits: 3

An introduction to the vernacular music traditions of communities from various regions, and to the relationships between folk music and the audiences and creators who listen to and perform this music.

ETHM 205: Musics of the World (cross-listed with FINA 205 and MUSI 205) Credits: 3

A survey of several music cultures from around the world, this course explores music as both a reflection and creation of society. It emphasises the diversity of world musics and provides a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between music and culture.

ETHM 207: Celtic Music I (cross-listed with CELT 207, FINA 207, and FOLK 207) Credits: 3

Studies the history of the Celtic music traditions with special emphasis upon Scottish and Cape Breton musical traditions.

ETHM 209: Celtic Music II (cross-listed with CELT 209, FINA 209, and FOLK 207) Credits: 3

Studies the history of the Celtic music traditions with special emphasis upon Scottish and Cape Breton musical traditions.

ETHM 227: Popular Music & Culture I: 1890s-1950s (cross-listed with FINA 227 and FOLK 227) Credits: 3

This course traces the development of popular song in North America from its earliest forms up to the development of rock and roll in the 1950s. Through topics such as parlour song, minstrelsy, jazz, country, swing and blues, the social, economic and technological forces that shaped popular song are explored in depth. The interrelationship between North American popular music and the diverse immigrant communities that helped create it is analyzed.

ETHM 229: Popular Music & Culture II: 1950s-Present (cross-listed with FINA 229 and FOLK 229) Credits: 3

A continuation of Popular Music and Culture I, this course surveys the development of British and North American popular song between the 1960s and the 2000s. In addition to profiling the key performers, genres, businesses and texts from the past 40 years, students are introduced to the many issues that make popular music so compelling: its role in politics, social identity, economic shifts and technological changes. The sound and history of the music are connected to the prevailing social and cultural climate of each decade.

ETHM 231: Performance Analysis of Celtic Arts I (cross-listed with CELT 231, FINA 231, FOLK 231, and HERT 231) Credits: 3

This course looks at the history and social context of Celtic music and dance. Themes include the influence of politics, religion, commercialism, and gender, as well as processes such as modernization, popularization, codification, and revival. Also covered are key individuals (musicians, composers, and collectors) and important societies and institutions. The focus is mainly on the music and dance of Ireland, Scotland, and Cape Breton Island, with some exploration of other Celtic regions. Topics are examined from a cross-cultural perspective. No prior musical knowledge is required.

ETHM 233: Performance Analysis of Celtic Arts II (cross-listed with CELT 233, FINA 233, FOLK 233, and HERT 233) Credits: 3

This course is a survey of Celtic music and dance. Major topics include traditional instruments, basic music theory for Celtic music, and the classification of tune types and forms of song and dance. The focus is mainly on the music and dance of Ireland, Scotland, and Cape Breton Island, with some exploration of other Celtic regions. Topics are examined from a cross-cultural perspective. No prior musical knowledge is required. Prerequisites: 231

ETHM 241: Canadian Celtic Music I 1920-1969 (cross-listed with CELT 241, FINA 241, FOLK 241, and HERT 241) Credits: 3

Students will analyze the Celtic music tradition in the New World by exploring different Canadian regions, specifically Western Canada, rural Quebec, Southern Ontario, and Maritime Canada. The immense richness of the Celtic music in these regions and the wide range of influences that have nurtured the music socially and culturally will be examined.

ETHM 243: Canadian Celtic Music II 1970-Present (cross-listed with CELT 243, FINA 243, FOLK 243, and HERT 243) Credits: 3

ETHM 251: Cape Breton Fiddle Music (Cross-listed with CELT 251, FINA 251, and MUSI 251) Credits: 3

This course will emphasize instructions in the use of Cape Breton fiddle music performance in the dance tradition. Piano accompaniment will also be a feature of this course.

ETHM 253: Fiddle Music for Dancing (Cross-listed with CELT 253, FINA 253, and MUSI 253) Credits: 3

This course will emphasize instructions in the use of Cape Breton fiddle music performance in the dance tradition. Piano accompaniment will also be a feature of this course.

ETHM 255: Indigenous Musics of North America (cross-listed with MIKM 255 and ANTH 255) Credits: 3

This course will introduce students to a range of musical traditions from North American Indigenous communities, including nation-specific (especially Mi’kmaq), inter-tribal, and popular musics. The course focuses on the significance of music to various Indigenous peoples, examining its role in, for example, ritual, spiritual expression, healing, relationships, and dance. Students will also explore the relationship between music and identity, examining gender roles and nation-specific musical expressions. Students will learn basic music vocabulary in order to analyze and describe the characteristics of the music encountered.

ETHM 308: Music and Culture: The Role of the Protest Song in Social History I (cross-listed to FINA 308) Credits: 3

Prerequisites: Any of (1) an introductory or 200-level Fine Arts course with an emphasis on music and/or culture (2) any introductory-level History course (3) ENGL 200.

This course studies the protest song and its role in the recent social history of North America. Specifically, the anti-Vietnam War peace movement, the American anti-slavery and civil rights movements, and the Québec separatist movement.

ETHM 310: Music and Culture: The Role of the Protest Song in Social History II (cross-listed to FINA 308) Credits: 3

Prerequisites: Any of (1) an introductory or 200-level Fine Arts course with an emphasis on music and/or culture (2) any introductory-level History course (3) ENGL 200.

This course will examine the protest song and its role in social and political development in western Europe. The course will reach back into the Celtic past to assess its influence in early European history but concentrates primarily on modern European historical and political culture for the period beginning in the late eighteenth century including the French Revolution, early development of the British socialist movement, the anti-slavery movement, European independence movements, the Russian Revolution, Irish independence, fascism and the Nazis, and social change arising from the First and Second World Wars as found, for example, in the use of the protest song in the Cape Breton Labour movement.

ETHM 320: Traditional and Celtic Dance (cross-listed with CELT 320, FOLK 320, and HERT 320) Credits: 6

Students will learn about Celtic dance traditions by examining their socio-cultural context and their content. They will analyze the role of dance in both private and public domains and will explore the regional varieties of the dances, discovering the multiple influences at work in dance form and structures. Problems inherent to dance transcription will be examined. Includes an ethnographic fieldwork project.

ETHM 321: Popular Musics of the World (cross-listed with FOLK 321, FINA 321, and MUSI 321) Credits: 3

This course focuses on popular musics from outside the North American and British mainstream. Students will grapple with various issues relating to global popular musics, including how they circulate the world and what happens as a result of transcultural contact, how “world music” has been constructed and consumed in the west, issues of intellectual property and ownership, language choice, and the role and modes of mass media.

ETHM 369: Music & Nationalism (cross-listed with FOLK 369, FINA 369, and POLS 369) Credits: 3

This course examines how music can be a potent tool for both building nations and critiquing them. Music can express national identities, narrate national myths, and mark national borders, but it can also critique, deconstruct, and transgress. While many find it easy to accept that music reflects social beliefs and values, in this course we explore how music can be actively used to shape national ideas, principles, and standards.

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