Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon successful completion students should be able to:
Overcome ethnocentrism through awareness about diverse peoples cultural communities and traditions. Use the social, political, and cultural contexts for different musical practices to gain a better awareness about their own cultural heritage and develop understanding and empathy for others.
Relate music to history, society, culture, and the individual while incorporating intellectual concepts, material resources and listening skills to appreciate and analyze diverse music from a global intercultural perspective.
Gain an understanding of the relationship of music to history, society, culture, and the individual while learning about intellectual concepts, material resources and listening skills necessary to appreciate and analyze diverse music from a global intercultural perspective.
Experience music "dynamically," that is, to appreciate simultaneously the uniqueness and value of each culture and its music through particular cultural moments, origins, precedents and potential in relationship to and inspiration upon other musics.
Appreciate the artistic, social, historical, and cultural contexts of world music through observation and critique to become an informed listener.
Generalize course content to other cultural expressions (including but not limited to music and genres not covered in the course) so that one can understand and value a broad spectrum of cultural expressions within diverse cultural settings.

At the beginning of the course, the instructor will detail the methods used to evaluate student progress and the criteria for assigning a course grade. The methods may include one or more of the following tools: examinations, quizzes, listening assignments, research papers, class participation, concert reports.

Basic elements of music  

• Melody
• Harmony
• Rhythm
• Form
• Timbre
• Improvisation

• Music of North America/Native Americans
• Music of Africa
• Music of Black Americans
• Music of Central/Middle East
• Music of India
• Music of Asia/Indonesia
• Music of East Asia/Japan
• Music of Latin America
• Music of Other Ethnic Cultures

COMPETENCIES/SKILLS
The following competencies are expected to be achieved to successfully meet the minimum requirement ("C" or "Pass") of the course.

• Define the musical terms that apply to the basic elements of world music.
• Identify aurally the six basic elements of music.
• Identify aurally the listening examples for each culture presented in class.
• Apply musical understanding when writing musical reviews of performances.
• Complete basic research on the music and culture of one specific group.