This class is designed to accommodate all skill levels and musical experiences. Hopi scholar Trevor Reed writes about the sonic sovereignty traditional Hopi music enacts. Similarly, Dylan Robinson xwélmexw (Stó:lō/Skwah) asks audiences to critically engage with listening as a decolonial practice. This course builds off this Indigenous Sound Studies framework to listen carefully to the contributions Indigenous artists are making through hip-hop and the coalitions they build through the art form. Using the concept of sonic sovereignty as a lens, this course will consider how Indigenous hip-hop speaks of important issues such as (but not limited to) decolonization, resisting settler colonial borders, missing murdered Indigenous women, language revitalization, joy, survival, and urban life. This course also invites you to explore the creative process and build respectful coalitions and allyship through hip-hop. Using recording technology we will record and create our own hip-hop music, while also being mindful of our positionality and intersectionality in the creative process. 1 unit - Reyes

This class is for students seeking to learn the art of musical improvisation. Improvisation is a real-time application of compositional techniques, theory, and in-the-moment expression. Both theory and performance based, this class gives students a deep and practical experience of composing in the moment on their instruments. Students will be given written and listening assignments, as well as concepts to practice on their instrument. A balance of written theoretical analyzation and instrument-in-hand practical workshopping will be achieved in each session. This class is open to all instruments, and only requires students to have a basic understanding of reading and writing notated music. .25 unit - Sweum

This course examines music-making as a significant site of gender performativity during the Georgian era (1714-1832), the period in which Jane Austen lived, and a critical period for gender construction in England. Her novels are full of musical scenes that offer fascinating commentary on the gendering power of music-making, however, the coded language and dated references often make these scenes difficult for the modern reader to parse. In order to situate ourselves in Austen’s gendered musical world, we will read from a variety of primary and secondary sources on music, gender and sexuality, as well as current scholarship on musical instruments and repertoire during the period. In the second half of the course we will turn to Austen’s 1815 novel, Emma, to observe the ways in which the Georgian construction of gender played out in literature, particularly through representations of domestic music-making. Open to all students. 1 unit - Chang

How do we create meaning and understanding from music? And what do we do with that information in our everyday lives? This course invites students to think actively and critically about the ways the world around them is constructed through sound. We will explore modes of listening across a wide variety of musical genres and traditions, past and present, considering the ways people hear music individually and together. Students will develop newfound ways to discuss music meaningfully in a broad range of contexts and to translate what they hear into what they feel and why that matters to our collective experience. This course is open to any interested student and welcomes a diversity of backgrounds and levels of experience. 1 unit – Chang

Course description: This class is designed to accommodate all skill levels and musical experiences. Hopi scholar Trevor Reed writes about the sonic sovereignty traditional Hopi music enacts. Similarly, Dylan Robinson xwélmexw (Stó:lō/Skwah) asks audiences to critically engage with listening as a decolonial practice. This course builds off this Indigenous Sound Studies framework to listen carefully to the contributions Indigenous artists are making through hip-hop and the coalitions they build through the art form. Using the concept of sonic sovereignty as a lens, this course will consider how Indigenous hip-hop speaks of important issues such as (but not limited to) decolonization, resisting settler colonial borders, missing murdered Indigenous women, language revitalization, joy, survival, and urban life. This course also invites you to explore the creative process and build respectful coalitions and allyship through hip-hop. Using recording technology, we will record and create our own hip-hop music, while also being mindful of our positionality and intersectionality in the creative process. 1 unit - Reyes

This class is for students seeking to learn the art of musical improvisation. Improvisation is a real-time application of compositional techniques, theory, and in-the-moment expression. Both theory and performance based, this class gives students a deep and practical experience of composing in the moment on their instruments. Students will be given written and listening assignments, as well as concepts to practice on their instrument. A balance of written theoretical analyzation and instrument-in-hand practical workshopping will be achieved in each session. This class is open to all instruments, and only requires students to have a basic understanding of reading and writing notated music. .25 unit - Sweum

This course examines music-making as a significant site of gender performativity during the Georgian era (1714-1832), the period in which Jane Austen lived, and a critical period for gender construction in England. Her novels are full of musical scenes that offer fascinating commentary on the gendering power of music-making, however, the coded language and dated references often make these scenes difficult for the modern reader to parse. In order to situate ourselves in Austen’s gendered musical world, we will read from a variety of primary and secondary sources on music, gender and sexuality, as well as current scholarship on musical instruments and repertoire during the period. In the second half of the course, we will turn to Austen’s 1815 novel, Emma, to observe the ways in which the Georgian construction of gender played out in literature, particularly through representations of domestic music-making. Open to all students. 1 unit - Chang

What makes a piece of music feel cohesive, powerful, or surprising? And how do we uncover the deeper workings beneath its surface? In this course, students will break down music into fundamental elements for analysis—scales, harmony, rhythms, form, and beyond—while understanding how and when such theoretical constructions can be applied to a range of historical and global repertoires. Through hands-on exercises, listening sessions, case studies, and digital technologies such as DAWS (Digital Audio Workstations), we will explore an array of analytical techniques that reveal new layers of meaning. Students will gain fresh perspectives on how music is constructed, emerging with analytical skills that can be applied in future music-making, scholarship, and everyday listening. All interested students are welcome to join, regardless of their level of music theory background. 1 unit – A. Carrizo, Ben-Amots

This course invites students to explore the relationship between creativity and social structures through ethnographic research and podcasting in the city Manitou Springs. Students will conduct archival research, oral history interviews, and participatory observation to understand how musicians navigate social, economic, and political forces. Through hands-on research and podcasting, students will gain a deep understanding of how musicians navigate and challenge social structures while generating new artistic forms. By the end of the course, students will be able to describe their creative process, engage critically with scholarly frameworks, and articulate how creativity operates within complex social contexts. In this course, students will explore the music and traditions of Manitou Springs. Students will conduct ethnographic research, to include archival materials, and complete oral history interviews with residents to understand the relationship between the creative process and larger structural and institutional factors. 1 unit - Reyes

How do our listening habits shape our perceptions of the world around us? And what can our responses to sound reveal about our identities and communities? This course invites students to move beyond passive hearing and engage with music more intentionally—examining diverse genres, traditions, and historical moments to discover how cultural, social, and personal contexts influence the act of listening. Through guided exercises, discussions, and reflections, we’ll explore new ways to describe and interpret the sounds we encounter, both in and out of class. Students will leave with an expanded set of listening strategies that enrich daily life and deepen their appreciation of music’s role in shaping our collective experience. Open to all students, regardless of musical background or prior training. 1 unit - Chang

Course description: This introductory-level course looks at music as data and explores the various interactions between music and code, from video games to AI to the digital music industry. Students will learn the fundamentals of music notation, examine how music notation captures the data necessary to realize a sound performance, and explore other non-audio music encoding systems such as MIDI, MusicXML, and MEI. Students will also be introduced to the fundamentals of computer programming by writing programs and creating projects exploring the various ways that code can be used to represent, generate, perform, transform, organize, and interact with music. No prior music or computer science experience is required. 1 unit - Wood