Arts: Music   

This is the third in a six-course series on the music of Beethoven, held in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of his death in 1827. We’ll look at and listen to several of his chamber works, including several string quartets, to explore how Beethoven expanded and changed traditional chamber music forms. No previous knowledge is expected. The course will be mostly lectures, using PowerPoint and YouTube for musical examples.

The world of Bob Dylan’s music is so vast as to seem almost impenetrable. How does one even begin? This class will focus on eight individual albums; each represents a separate chapter in Dylan’s recording career. At the beginning of the term, enrolled students will receive a list of the eight records we will cover, and each week we will discuss and listen to some of the songs on the respective albums. Students will be encouraged to listen to the albums before we meet.

We won’t actually be playing on our front porches, but we WILL be playing the kind of music that’s fun to perform at parties or informal gatherings with like-minded musicians. Students are asked to bring song charts with chord markings and lyrics to teach to the group, and everybody will play and sing. Songs should be easily accessible, easy to learn and fun to play! Instruments will typically be guitar, banjo, keyboard, mandolin, ukulele, harmonica, bass and fiddle. Students should be able to play basic chords in the keys of C, A, G, and D and have a tuner for their instrument. No music-reading ability is required. New and former students are welcome.

If you can already play basic guitar chords and would like to learn new techniques to make your guitar playing more interesting, this course may be for you. It will introduce the fundamentals of rhythmic playing, moving bass lines, various strumming and picking techniques, bar chords, chords used in jazz, understanding blues, music theory for guitar players, pentatonic scales, blues scales and melodic playing. One goal will be to help you become more comfortable playing with other guitar players and to even consider performing at an open mic!

NOTE: A study guide will be mailed before the first session and posted on the Raider Moodle communications platform. Students should provide their own guitar, guitar tuner and capo. A music stand may also be useful in class and at home.

Whether students are at the beginning of their singing journeys or rediscovering the joys of singing, participants will learn healthy and sustainable vocal techniques that will keep them singing for a lifetime! Each class begins with a lesson on the “Four Pillars of Singing” — breathing, support, resonance and vowel production — based on voice science research. Singers learn exercises that build these skills and then how to apply them in song. The course is designed for beginning vocalists or those refreshing their knowledge. This is a highly interactive class, and students will start working on songs in the first session. Participants will need to practice daily outside class to make progress.

NOTE: Students will need an iPhone or iPad to play songs.

This four-week course of three-hour classes each week is for music appreciators and musicians alike. The instructor will lead the class through Western music from the 11th through the 15th centuries with an eye to historic performance practice. Subjects covered will include medieval modes, neumes and notational systems, instruments and repertoire from known and anonymous composers. Reading music is not a prerequisite to this course, as we’ll learn the music together by rote. Each class will have time at the end for the lab, an instructor-led hands-on demonstration and workshop using special medieval instruments from the instructor’s collection. This course is aimed at all levels of musical proficiency.

Singing together is one of the more joyful things in life. Come sing in an informal session, no matter your experience or skill. We’ll sing traditional songs with fine choruses and refrains — sea songs, works songs, drinking songs, love songs, shanties, silly songs and easy rounds from the U.S., Canada and England. Some songs from previous terms may repeat and some will be new. Chorus tunes will be taught by ear, and all singing will be done a cappella. Most chorus words will be provided.

Béla Bartók (1881-1945) was a leading composer of the first half of the 20th century whose symphonic and chamber music is still widely performed. A convinced modernist, his musical inspiration nonetheless stems equally from the vanishing world of traditional Balkan folk music, which he was among the first to document for the wider world. In the five sessions of this course, we’ll explore his lyrical and original voice as expressed in works such as Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, his piano concertos and his six masterful string quartets. In addition, as Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is to be performed by the Rogue Valley Symphony in October, we’ll devote particular attention to this piece, one of his best known and best liked works.