Module MUSI42030: Indian Music

Department: Music

MUSI42030: Indian Music

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To introduce students to some of the main concerns of current research on Indian music.
• Through this, to develop a critical perspective on some of the central concerns of ethnomusicology.
• To develop skills in critical reading and evaluation of Indian music research.
• To develop skills, appropriate to Level 4, in critical thinking and writing about music.

Content

• The seminars will engage students as a group on a range of topics in Indian music. ‘Indian music’ is taken here to include music and related performing arts of the whole subcontinent, broadly defined. Although the ‘classical’ genres are covered at length, a wide range of music will be considered.
• Topics may include, but are not limited to the following areas:
• theory and analysis of Indian music, including raga and tala structure, form and genre, improvisation and accompaniment
• critical histories of Indian music, including e.g. the impacts of nationalism and classicization
• music, ideology and social identity, including e.g. gender and respectability
• popular music production and reception
• Appropriate themes for seminars, readings and other materials (e.g. audiovisual documents) will be chosen and programmed at the start of each Michaelmas term by module coordinator. Students will be directed at the start of the course to a range of sources on the subjects of the designated seminars. Specific items will be chosen for group discussions and for student presentations.

Learning Outcomes

• Familiarity with key issues in Indian music scholarship, and a representative and diverse selection of current scholarship concerning these issues.
• critical understanding of theories and methodologies pertinent to the scholarly study of Indian music, drawn from varied disciplinary perspectives
• advanced knowledge of relevant Indian musical repertories from a range of historical periods and geographical locations
• advanced knowledge of relevant creative and performative praxes

• An ability to write on current issues in Indian music in a way that demonstrates critical engagement with relevant scholarly literature.
• an advanced ability to engage critically with theories and methodologies pertinent to the academic study of Indian music
• an advanced ability to describe and analyse a range of Indian musical repertories, informed by an understanding of the socio-cultural matrices from which they emerged and of their specific formal and stylistic features
• an advanced ability to draw upon appropriate theoretical perspectives and methodologies to study Indian music while simultaneously deriving independent intellectual and creative insights from this activity
• advanced competence in musical literacy
• advanced competence in engaging with musical materials of different kinds, whether as physical objects (e.g. scores) and or in electronic formats (e.g. recordings, audio-visual materials)

• An understanding of, and ability to use, technical vocabulary specific to Indian music
• Oral presentation skills
• engage in close readings of a wide range of challenging texts (musical, verbal, audio-visual, as appropriate)
• deploy independent research skills using appropriate specialist tools and resources;
• synthesise complex materials from a wide range of sources and to present them cogently in the form of written documents, oral reports, presentations, and musical performances, as appropriate
• demonstrate competence in information technology skills to support MA learning and research (e.g. by means of: word-processing and music-processing software; databases; presentation software; audiovisual editing and analysis software; graph- and image-processing; web-based resources; relevant technologies)
• deploy advanced knowledge of professional conduct in meeting academic standards, including appropriate use of relevant ethical codes of practice and correct referencing of sources
• deploy problem-solving skills
• deploy organisational skills, including time management.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• In seminars students will benefit from focused discussion with academic staff specialising in Indian music research. Students will be expected to give at least one short presentation each term to a seminar, and to contribute to discussions in those seminars to which they are not presenting. Learning Outcomes will be tested through assessment of written assignments. Essays should include, where appropriate, critical discussion of audiovisual sources and/or published transcriptions and analyses. Students will also be expected to attend the Music Department's Postgraduate Seminar and Research Forum events, where they will benefit from exposure to the presentation of research at an advanced level by visiting and Durham-based scholars.
• Typically, directed learning may include assigning student(s) an issue, theme or topic that can be independently or collectively explored within a framework and/or with additional materials provided by the tutor. This may function as preparatory work for presenting their ideas or findings (sometimes electronically) to their peers and tutor in the context of a seminar.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Regular written and oral presentation tasks relating to the topics covered on the module.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University