Stanford students from a range of majors play in small jazz combos, the jazz big band, and the latin-jazz ensemble. They have the opportunity to take classes in jazz theory, history, and arranging. Beyond improvisation in the jazz idiom, students invent spontaneous trans-idiomatic music in [sic] (the Stanford Improvisation Collective); they engage simultaneously with improvisors around the world in telematic internet concerts at CCRMA; and they combine passions for coding and performing in SLOrk (the Stanford Laptop Orchestra). Popular music is a vibrant area at Stanford, with creative, critical, and hybrid classes in film music, hip hop, musical theater, rock, soul, and other genres. Courses like Songwriters Workshop bring together aspiring pop artists, laptop-based electronic-music producers, folk musicians, spoken-word poets, heavy metal bands, and many others.
Faculty
Lessons & Courses
Courses in the Spotlight
MUSIC 8A: Rock, Sex, and Rebellion
Development of critical listening skills through a detailed study of rock music. Focus will be on competing aesthetic tendencies and subcultural forces shaping the genre. Exploration of rock music’s influence on the American culture and the minority communities which have enriched this form’s legacy as an expressively diverse form. Lectures, readings, listening, and video screenings.
MUSIC 120D: Jazz Improvisation
This class will focus on developing a deeper understanding of jazz improvisation as it relates to individual expression, group interaction, communication and cohesion. Solo and ensemble work, guided listening, ear training, internalization, personalization, and an awareness of the historical evolution of the jazz improvisational language will all be emphasized.
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