POPULAR MUSIC STUDIES

The course will introduce the main themes of the young discipline better known in English as "Popular Music Studies", which deals with those music that are "Popular" (Pop) for their vast audience, for the their worldwide distribution and sales numbers.
In this sense, the course intends to provide a series of conceptual tools useful for dealing critically with the musical products of contemporary popular music production, reflecting on some general themes such as: the relationship of contemporary popular music with the media and their cultural dimension; the structural construction of Pop Music; the formation of meaning and the attribution of aesthetic value to the Popular songs.
From this general introduction, we will move on to a monographic part dedicated this year to the various genres that have arisen in the area defined by anthropologist Paul Gilroy as the "Black Atlantic" (Paul Gilroy, The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, London, Verso, 1993). Applying a rather original approach, Gilroy defines the Black Atlantic as a transnational space of cultural construction; rather than lamenting the separation from mother Africa and the horrible fate of the blacks who came there with the infamous slave trade, Gilroy emphasises the importance of hybridity, of the metissage.
In this particular perspective, we will take into exam some cultural and musical phenomena that have arisen in the area: first of all, the many religious cultures in which ritual interacts with music and trance, such as the Brazilian Candomblé, the Cuban Santerìa and the Haitian Voodoo. Hence the many Carnivals (Carnaval, Carniva) present everywhere as an annual occasion for concerts and performances; the 'processional parades' such as the Junkanoo in the Caribbean area, the Rara in Haiti, the Parades in La Nouvelle Orléans/New Orleans. Finally, the many musical genres that have had a global resonance: Calypso, Reggae and its derivations (Sound System, Ska, Dub, Dancehall-Reggae, Ragamuffin, Drum&Bass), Cuban Son and the recent phenomenon of Reggaeton in Santo Domingo.
In conclusion, the links between African-American genres (Spiritual, Gospel, Blues, Jazz, Rhythm&Blues, Soul, Funk) and the Black Atlantic will be highlighted.

According to the framework for the European Higher Education, the so called Dublin descriptors, the expected results are:
1. Knowledge and Understanding
a) To know the basic terms and concepts of the young discipline and to understand the texts that use such terms and concepts.
b) To understand the peculiarities of the approaches of the so called "Popular Music Studies" and their new approach.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
a) Being capable of a simple analysis of some given musical examples, being aware of the singles musical languages and cultures.
b) Ability to connect a musical tune with its cultural framework.

3. Judgement's ability
a) Being capable to formulate and to argument simples hypothesis.

4. Communicational Skills
a) Being able to communicate the peculiarities of the ethnomusicological approach to music, using an appropriate terminology.

5. Learning Ability
● Being able to take notes and to share them in a collaborative form.
● Being able to consult the texts critically and the Bibliography immanent.

No particular prerequisites are required but open mindedness, curiosity and attention.

Introduction to the main themes of the young discipline called "Popular Music Studies".

1) Gianni SIBILLA, I linguaggi della musica pop, Milano, Bompiani, 2003.
2) Paul Gilroy, The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, London, Verso, 1993.
3) AA.VV. L'isola magica. Haiti, Milano, Ricordi/BMG, 2011.
OR, alternatively:
LeRoi JONES (Amiri BARAKA), Blues People. The Negro Experience in White America and the Music that Developed from It, New York, William Morrow & Company, 1963.
Non-attending students will add the course notes and: Gilbert ROUGET, Musica e trance. I rapporti fra la musica e i fenomeni di possessione, Torino, Einaudi, 2019. Capitoli II e III: pagine 55-99.

Oral Examination on the Bibliography and on the notes from the lessons.

Lesson with abundant use of audio and video materials

Italian

Before starting a course I order the necessary texts for the course in BAUM; obviously, being exam papers, these are not available for loan.
You can also find the texts for the exam in Venetian as well as national bookstores, online, or in the many Venetian libraries.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development