Introduction to the Music of North India
(University of California, Santa Cruz)
Instructor: Samuel B. Cushman
Course Description: This course introduces students to the music, culture, and history of Hindustani (North Indian) music. From a musical perspective, we will discuss performance structures, instrumental and vocal genres, and basic musical concepts. From a cultural perspective, we will consider how this music has been transmitted and performed, the roles of different musical communities in its performance and transmission, and how these communities have changed over time. From a historical perspective, we will see how a tradition born in a remarkably different historical era has adapted to become a part of the global music economy in the 21st century.
Course Format: This course will be offered in an online/asynchronous format. Each Monday morning throughout Summer Session 2, a new module will be posted to Canvas. These modules include all materials and assignments for the week. Preliminary module details and weekly schedules can be found on page 4-5 of this syllabus.
Learning Outcomes: Students will gain an understanding of the historical and cultural contexts associated with various musical genres originating in North India. Throughout the session, you will develop analytical listening skills that help you identify these genres, differentiate their musical forms, and situate musical sounds in relation to their historical and cultural contexts.
Grades: Grades will be based exclusively on weekly discussion responses (worth 50% of your final grade), and more formal listening-based writing responses (also worth 50% of your final grade). There will be no quizzes or exams for this course.
Grade breakdowns will be as follows—A+ (97-100), A (93-96), A- (90-92), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79), C (70-76), D (60-69), F (<60).
Required Reading/Listening: All required reading and listening materials will be made available through Canvas. These materials will be posted within each weekly module and all materials can be accessed easily through the “Modules” tab on the Canvas page.
MUSI 80X Summer Session 2023: Online/Asynchronous Format, Grading, and Schedule
o Each week, a new module will be posted to Canvas. Each weekly module will include:
§ An introductory video overview of materials, assignments, and expectations
§ 2 recorded lectures broken into shorter segments (10-15 minutes per segment)
· Lectures are presented in a narrated slide show format and designed to introduce key concepts and terminology, along with relevant musical examples.
§ 2-3 required readings
· Modest reading assignments will complement the content from the lectures.
· You will be expected to engage with these readings in your weekly discussion forums and listening responses.
· I will also offer some optional readings for any students inclined to dig deeper.
§ An audio/video playlist
· Playlists will be linked through YouTube and will help familiarize you with various genres, instruments, and performers.
§ Informal discussion forums (50% of weekly grade)
· Each weekly prompt will engage with lecture materials, musical examples, and readings posted that week.
· In addition to sharing your original thoughts about the materials under consideration, you are expected to engage with your peers in a substantive manner that moves the conversation forward throughout the week.
· You have until 11:59 pm PDT each Sunday night to post responses to a given unit, at which time the discussion will close without exception. No late discussion posts will be accepted.
· Discussions will be evaluated based on the quality and consistency of your engagement with the materials and with your peers—in other words, there are no wrong answers here.
§ Listening response assignment (50% of weekly grade)
· Each week you will choose one piece from the audio/video playlist and you will be asked to respond to a more specific listening-based prompt.
· By the end of the week (11:59 pm PDT), you will submit a typed response of approximately two pages (double-spaced, 12 pt. font) related to the musical example you select.
· These responses should be written in the first-person (i.e., using the “I” pronoun) and should aim to convey your subjective experiences as you encounter new music.
· It should be clear to the TAs who grade your responses that you have engaged with the assigned musical example(s) at length and considered weekly lecture materials and readings in formulating your responses. An “A” response should be well-edited and relatively free of grammatical and usage errors.
· You do not have to use “specialist” vocabulary in order to receive a good grade on these assignments, but your responses must demonstrate basic familiarity with concepts and terminology discussed in the lectures.
· You will not be asked to use any source materials beyond those provided in the class. If you bring in outside sources, be sure to cite them properly.
· Late responses will be evaluated at -10% for every day they are late. (e.g., a response otherwise deserving of full credit will automatically drop to 80% if submitted two days late).
A note on plagiarism and AI:
o Everything you submit for this course (discussions and listening responses) must represent your own original work—plagiarism is a serious academic (and legal) offense and will result in a zero for the assignment and the possibility of disciplinary action!
§ If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, please ask for clarification before submitting your paper!
§ I am not naïve enough to expect you will not engage with the latest information technologies, but please remember that using AI to write responses for you is considered plagiarism and will be treated as such. Furthermore, it will be obvious to your TAs based on the personal nature of these response assignments.
§ These assignments are designed for you to explore recordings in depth in order to draw connections to the lectures and readings. Even if you somehow figure out how use AI chatbots to complete these assignments, what’s the point? I guarantee it will be easier, less time consuming, and ultimately more rewarding to engage with the assignments on your own.
Grading Overview (percentages of final grade)
§ Weekly Discussions: 50% (each discussion counts for 10% of overall course grade)
§ Listening Responses: 50% (each response counts for 10% of overall course grade)
Schedule of Weekly Topics: schedule and readings subject to change
§ Introduction to the Course (view all before proceeding to Week 1 module)
o Syllabus
o Intro video explaining the syllabus, course format, and grading
o Discussion forum for questions regarding course design and expectations
§ Week 1
o Lecture 1: Overview of Music in North India: Culture, History, and Genres
o Lecture 2: Becoming a Musician
o Required Reading:
· George E. Ruckert, “Chapter 1: Modernity and Tradition,” in Music in North India (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 1-17.
· Ruckert, “Chapter 2: Affect,” in Music in North India, 18-32.
o Optional Reading:
· Jon Barlow and Lakshmi Subramanian, “Music and Society in North India: From the Mughals to the Mutiny,” in Economic and Political Weekly 42, no. 19 (May 2007), 1779-1787.
§ Week 2
o Lecture 3: Dhrupad and Khayal
o Lecture 4: Instruments and Instrumental Music
· Ruckert, “Chapter 3: Teaching, Learning, and Performing Music,” in Music in North India, 33-39.
· Ruckert, “Chapter 4: Rhythm and Drumming,” in Music in North India, 40-51.
· Ruckert, “Chapter 6: Instruments, Melodic and Rhythmic,” in Music in North India, 65-80.
o Optional Reading:
· Daniel M. Neuman, “Chapter 3: The Social Organization of a Music Tradition: Hereditary Specialists in North India,” in Studying India’s Musicians (Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 2015), 28-47.
§ Week 3
o Lecture 5: Sufism and Qawwali
o Lecture 6: Singer Saints and Bhakti Bhajans
o Required Reading:
· Hiromi Lorraine Sakata, “The Sacred and the Profane: ‘Qawwali’ Represented in the Performances of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan,” in The World of Music 36, no. 3 (1994), 86-99.
· John Stratton Hawley, “Introduction,” in A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2015), 1-12.
o Optional Reading:
· Hawley, “Chapter 1: The Bhakti Movement and its Discontents,” in A Storm of Songs,13-58.
§ Week 4
o Lecture 7: Thumri, Ghazal, and Courtesan Culture
o Lecture 8: The Gramophone Arrives in India
o Required Reading:
· Mekhala Sengupta, “Courtesan Culture in India,” in India International Centre Quarterly 41, no 1. (Summer 2014), 124-140.
· Gerry Farrell, “The Early Days of the Gramophone Industry in India,” in British Journal of Ethnomusicology 2 (1993), 31-53.
o Optional Reading:
· Frances W. Pritchett, “Chapter 1: The Lost World,” in Nets of Awareness: Urdu Poetry and Its Critics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), 3-15.
§ Week 5
o Lecture 9: Bollywood Film Music
o Lecture 10: Indian Music Goes Global: Cultural Exchange into the 21st Century
o Required Reading:
· Anna Morcom, “Tapping the Mass Market: The Commercial Life of Hindi Film Songs,” in Global Bollywood: Travels of Hindi Song and Dance, edited by Sangita Gopal and Sujata Moorti (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008), 63-84.
· Anjali Gera Roy, “Black Beats with a Punjabi Twist” in Popular Music 32, no. 2 (May 2013), 241-257.
o Optional Reading:
· Gerry Farrell, “Reflecting Surfaces: The Use of Elements from Indian Music in Popular Music and Jazz,” pp. 189-205.