Syllabus:
Electronic Composition Lessons 2010–2011
Michael James Olson, Instructor
m@michaeljamesolson.com office: MU 111A office hours: by appointment
office: n/a home (call before 9 PM): 612-382-2964 School of Music: 285–5400
Course Objectives: Students taking composition lessons will compose one or more complete compositions or movements over the course of the semester, beginning from initial experimentation and/or improvisation and continuing through the stages of identifying viable musical ideas and extending or developing them. The finished composition should be available in both multitrack(Pro Tools or Digital Performer) sessions, as well as performance ready media (audio files on CD or Data DVD). Additionally, Students should submit a biographical sketch and program notes that correspond to artistic and/or technical elements of the piece that they wish to highlight.
Attendance: Students are expected to attend all lessons and to arrive on time. I am willing to reschedule one lesson per semester, but I would prefer not to do it more often. Even if you have not written much music for the week, the lesson will still go on as scheduled—contact me at least 24 hours in advance so that I can bring other materials for us to look at in the lesson. Missing more than one lesson per semester will result in a full letter grade deduction for each absence.
Evaluation: Grading is on a standard 90–80–70–60 scale, with plus and minus grades awarded at the instructor’s discretion. The factors detailed above will contribute to the final grade as follows:
40% Quality and depth of the finished composition(s), as appropriate to the student’s level.
30% Student’s attainment of weekly goals
10% Student’s attendance at the composition seminar
10% Student’s attendance at concerts of the composition area
10% Student’s fulfillment of the contemporary repertoire listening requirement
Weekly Goals: Each student will articulate weekly goals for the progress of his or her composition, and each week the instructor and the student together will evaluate whether or not those goals have been reached. It is expected that each student write an appropriate amount of new music each week—even if that new music is an experiment or a draft version that does not become part of the finished composition—or accomplish an appropriate amount of revision.
Composition Seminar: Except in the case of course conflicts, all students are expected to attend the composition seminar, which meets 4:00–5:00 (or 5:30) Thursdays in MU 303. Three absences are permitted—for legitimate or frivolous reasons. (–1% if 9/10 attended, –2% if 8/10 attended, etc.) For students who have a course conflict, I will provide 10 alternate activities/assignments.
Concert Attendance: I hope that all composition students will try to attend as many composition recitals and other concerts sponsored by the composition area as possible.
–0% for attending all 6 concerts listed on the other side; –1% for attending 5;
–3% for attending 3–4; –4% for attending 1–2; –10% for attending none of them
Familiarity with Contemporary Repertoire: Part of learning to compose music is learning the styles and approaches of contemporaneous musical literature. Discussion of particular 20th- and 21st-century compositions will be a regular feature of the weekly lessons. Once I know a little bit about the interests of each student, and the type of composition s/he is working on, I will give each student a short list of compositions for study (careful, repeated listening, with perusal of the score if available) and discussion over the course of the semester. (No written work is required.)
