* Prospective NCAA Division I and II student-athletes should visit the NCAA Eligibility Center website (www.eligibilitycenter.org) and seek the NCAA's acceptance of a particular Education Provider's virtual course prior to registration.
Music Listening and Critique is a fifteen week course that will take you into the world of a music critic. You will discover some of the more pertinent facts that go into the making of a true music critic, ultimately, you will have the opportunity to write reviews of original works that will be read by the actual performers and composers; real people with real feelings. Our journey will have us take a look at all types of critics, TV reviews, live performances, original works and many other art forms that somehow or another must undergo the scrutiny of a critical pen.
You will also have the opportunity to explore some of the wacky and unconventional idiosyncrasies that were part of the lives of many composers. (Not all of them seemed to be playing with a full deck of cards when it came to their private lives.) We will explore how these quirks became part of the music they wrote. Our thinking here is that the more you know about a composer and his or her life, the better able you will be to write and interesting review of their work.
Another section of the class will involve your discovering how to listen to music with a discriminating ear. You will be taking time to compare and contrast one work interpreted by different conductors. We will explore what a critic looks for when listening to music that is both original and new? We will explore questions such as: What does a music critic look for? How does one become a music critic? Does a critic have to criticize to be good? What constitutes a great performance? You will interview a music critic. These questions and discoveries will be interspersed with information from music critics around the country. Critics from various leading newspapers and magazines who have taken the time and interest in the VHS to say just exactly what they do and how they got into the business.
You will experience the human side of being a critic. Our course will include a series of short letters written just for you by performers who will share their thoughts on what it is like to be reviewed. Finally our class will give all of you the opportunity to actually be a critic. You will be supplied musical works composed and performed by students throughout the United States. Their music ranges from pop to classical and is almost entirely original. You will (in reality) become the critic. The reviews you write will not simply be prose for a course, rather, they will be real and will affect real people with real feelings. (Many of your reviews will be read and responded to by the composer or performer you reviewed).
