MENAME Winter 2022 schedule

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

short link: http://bit.ly/mename22s

MENAME will run every Thursday from Jan 6 until April 7, with the exception of Reading Week (Feb 24).

Classes (6:30 - 9:30 pm) are in 3 parts:

1. Lectures/presentations (about 30-45 min)
2. Warm-up exercises (about 15-30 min)
3. Rehearsals (from about 7:30)

Instructors are usually available by 6 and stay until everything has been put away. Your assistance in setting up chairs, and putting them away afterwards would be greatly appreciated!

On this schedule - to be filled in week by week - we'll summarize what we covered in each class in each of these categories, so you can review during the week.

Assignments (including readings/listenings/viewings), Repertoire, and quiz review sheets, are available online in Google Drive:
http://bit.ly/mename22g Theory resources on maqamat and durub are available via the main course webpage http://bit.ly/mename Also see http://maqamworld.com

Within that folder, assignments are listed this google sheet, with links. Note that all assignments are to be submitted via eClass (http://bit.ly/mename22e) by 6pm - i.e. before the class for which it is due.

Week 1: Jan 6: Introduction & Meeting for consent

Note: all enrolled for-credit students are admitted. If you have not yet enrolled but wish to do so, please contact one of the instructors.

• Introduction to the profs
• Greetings in various languages:
• introduce ourselves, our areas of research and performance (with some short performances?)
• Introduction to the course: general
  • Brief history of MENAME from 2004.
  • MENA: Middle East and North Africa
    • Countries
    • Languages
    • Religions
    • History
    • Musical characteristics: instruments (takht), heterophony, poetry-centric
  • Our journey: Iran to Greece

• Introduction: nuts-and-bolts
  • Website: http://bit.ly/mename - links everywhere else
  • covid related issues and requirements
  • Arrive and leave on time, participate and pay attention throughout, no side conversations!
  • Please help set up chairs at the beginning, and help stack them at the end
  • Attendance will be taken each class.
  • Keep break to 10 min
  • No electronics! (no phones, tablets, computers allowed, whatsoever) Take notes with pen and paper.
  • Bring xeroxed sheets (lyrics, notations), ideally arranged in a notebook, to every class.
  • Practice exercises and repertoire as part of your homework
  • Homework. Submit writing assignments on eclass
• Dates to note on your calendars:
  • Final concert Thurs April 7
  • Quizzes (from 6:30): Feb 17, March 10, take-home final due April 14
• introduce a rhythm and maqam and do some warmups (I can do this part - I have a little melody in mind - it will be Arabic in style; if you have some similar materials feel free to use them too, or you can plan something for next week!)
• then perhaps you can introduce our first piece or two and we can get started learning them? First we review the lyrics. People will need help with pronunciation. Then we listen. You can play pieces from your phone or laptop - there's a plug to connect to the room's speakers. We can try that beforehand.
• Introduction to the Music & Warmup
  • Introduction to iqa`at or durub (maqsum, masmudi, sa`idi, wahda, bamb, malfuf), clapping or using dum/tek
  • Percussion exercise: clapping/drumming
  • Introduction to maqam hijaz: singing/playing
  • Singing/playing and clapping/drumming
• Songs: Iran and Azerbaijan
  • "Aghrab-e Zolf/Gozelim (Persian and Azerbaijani lyrics)
  • "Tir-e Ghamat".

Week 3: Jan 20

Homework Assignments

Assignments are listed on the course schedule here.

Remember homework to be handed in is always due on the day it is listed, before class! You must submit reading reviews for each reading, listening, or viewing before class on Thursday! Each review is one paragraph (or, at most, two), in two parts: first, you should demonstrate that you’ve completed the assignment (reading, listening, or viewing) by telling me what it’s about (what are the main points?); second, you should demonstrate that you’ve thought about it, by telling me what you think of it (what are its limitations?). If there's more than one item (reading, listening, viewing) be sure you discuss all of them. You don't have to write much on each. Use the eClass site to submit all assignments. Late submissions will be downgraded (see course outline for details).

All assignments due on a particular day will be submitted together, since eClass provides a single link for each Thursday (note that there aren't assignments for every Thursday). For more details on assignments, see course outline.

Rehearsal segment

warmup:

Songs:

Week 4: Jan 27

Rehearsal segment

warmup:

Songs:

Week 5: Feb 3

Rehearsal segment

warmup:

Songs:

Week 6: Feb 10 - QUIZ #1

Class will begin with a short quiz (about 45 min). Consult this review sheet. Be sure you've completed the readings, watched the films, and are familiar with the music we've studied so far.

Week 7: Feb 17

Homework assignment

Rai ("opinion") music developed in Algeria over the past 100 years, out of folk roots. The music was popular but controversial, "telling life like it is": expressing taboo subjects against social convention, similar to the blues in America. Developing in the city of Oran (Wahran), the music reached its pinnacle in a more electrified version of the 1970s, featuring the "chebbab" (youth) singers of the day, and developing in dialog with new technologies (especially the cassette) and global musical trends. The expatriate Algerian community in France, also played an important role, and many singers began to emigrate there, particularly after the rise of Islamism in Algeria and threats against musicians for their supposedly dissolute ways (Cheb Hasni was assassinated in 1994).

Watch the comedic 1997 film 100% Arabic, set in the largely Arab "Banlieues" (suburbs) of Paris, and starring two of the biggest names in Algerian rai music, Cheb Khalid and Cheb Mami. Submit your impressions on eClass: What social issues are raised? What is the role of music among Paris's African immigrants, as depicted in the film? Why is rai music important? What is the role of religion? Why and how do they conflict? What do you think of the film? Write as critically as you wish. (Note that the film is lighthearted, and full of stereotypes). Submit a paragraph or two on eClass.

We will sing Cheb Khalid's famous song, "Wahran"; hear it at 1:12:35 and also at the famous 1, 2, 3 Soleils) live 1998 concert in Paris.)

Week 9: March 3

Quiz #2, 6:30 - 7:15 in room 2-20 FAB (not in our regular classroom!). This quiz will center on maqamat, durub, and songs. I will play (live or recording), and you will identify. More details at the link below:

Review for MENAME20 quiz #2

Week 10: March 10

Homework assignment

Watch Halfaouine. Submit your impressions on eClass: What are the social themes raised by the film? Where does music occur, whether diagetic (diagetic music is part of a scene's drama, heard and possibly seen by the scene's characters) or non-diagetic (non-diagetic music is "background music", heard by you, the film's audience, but not heard by its characters; performers are unseen)? List a few examples of each type of music, including the song we are performing from the film, and explain how each type helps highlight themes or supports the film's dramatic impact.

Listen to our repertoire as often as possible on http://bit.ly/mename20g and http://bit.ly/menamerep (Winter 2020)

Week 11: March 17 - QUIZ #2

See assignment on eClass (to watch, to read, to write...)

Week 12: March 24

See assignment on eClass (to watch, to read, to write...)

Week 13: March 31

Final quiz and self-assessment due. See course outline and eClass. Also any late assignments must be handed in by April 2. Late assignments are downgraded, but it will be worth your while to complete them, rather than incur a zero instead.

Week 14: April 7

Final concert!

Week 15: April 14

Undergraduates: Final take-home quiz due

Graduate students: Final research paper due