MU6009 - History of Musical Instruments

Your learning will be divided between one-hour lectures, and one-and-a-half hour seminars each week. The lectures will address the historical context of the instruments under examination, providing you with a solid foundational understanding of the instrument, its characteristics, use and position within society. The content of the seminars will vary each week, but will mainly unpack the content of the lectures and encourage you to engage in dialogue with your peers. Other activities may include short presentations (solo and group), group work, debates, and hands-on instrument examinations. Your assignments will be supported by group tutorials spread throughout the semester.

Your academic development will be supported through the module tutor, engagement with your peers and through your programme leader. Your module tutor will offer tutorials, both for the preparation of your assignments and for feedback. In addition, you will also be able to see the module tutor (for instance in the publicised feedback and consultation hours) and to raise questions via email. Your peers will provide you with a collaborative learning environment, and your programme leader will guide you through the requirements and expectations of your course. You will also be supported through individual engagement with the academic literature, lectures, and resources available on the eLearning Portal. Feedback will be ongoing throughout seminar activities and through assessment tasks.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• You will demonstrate an advanced understanding of key musical instruments and their families, and of the historical contexts that impacted the instruments under observation.


Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• You will be able to identify,utilise and critique a range of primary and secondary sources beyond books, journals and scores, such as iconography, audio recordings and musical instruments.
• You will develop your oral presentation skills through both formative and summative assessment

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• You will develop your understanding of issues of gender, sexuality, social class and race within the context of music history.
- You will demonstrate a curiosity about the role of musical instruments as pieces of material culture, considering both the whole instrument and the complexities of their component parts.

1. Oral Presentation of 20 minutes + questions (40%). MLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4
2. Essay of 3,000 words (60%). MLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4

N/A

Students may take EITHER the level 5 (MU5006) OR the level 6 (MU6009) version of this module in their degree, but not both. N/A

This module will introduce you to the study of musical instruments, known as organology, and examines their use, construction, and position within society. In the West, instruments serve an important function in bringing music to life from written composer’s score to aural phenomenon. They also can tell us a great deal about sociocultural history, and relate to issues of gender, sexuality, social class and race. Instruments feature in literature and iconographical sources, many being works of art in their own right. You will gain an understanding of how material culture plays a part in musicological enquiry, and create links between instruments, scores and performance practice. You will look at current, historical and world instruments across a range of cultures.