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What history courses are good for a classical voice major.

My degree will be a Bachelors of Music with only room for a few liberal arts classes. I hope to get advice on what courses are good to round out my knowledge. #vocalperformance

musicmajor vocalperformance musichistory
Thank you comment icon I dont know how many lib arts classes you can get in .. My recommendation is, if you want to be a focused classical voice, to study the classical time period with composers whose pieces you are NOT comfortable singing. stretch your vocal repertoire. Other than that, in general, I found that ethnomusicology classes are also encompassing of a broader spectrum of knowledge. I learned much about different cultures' music and it's importance to the people who created it. a great vocalist will want to hone their instrument and ethnomusicology is great exposure to music that could widen your ability. in either case you won't find vocal coaching in these anthropological classes. But if you're trying to understand the music, I recommend the preceding answers. Nicholas Marcelletti
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Kelly’s Answer

Hi A,

I did a few years in a B.S. Music Education program before transferring universities and majors. First, I would look at the degree requirements for the schools that you are applying to. Chances are the history requirements will be built into the degree. Mine had three levels of music history that you had to pass. The first level started with "ancient" people and the last went up to the 1950's or so. Besides the written sections, the instructors would play a song, and the students would have to be able to name it, the composer, and country of origin. There were usually about 25 of these per test. Like the commenter posted, ethnomusicology was also a requirement for graduation. This forced me into studying instruments and pieces that I had no exposure to anywhere else, and have not re-encountered since! Sometimes you were assigned a region of the world and had to investigate that area, other times the requirements were much more specific. As far as history classes that were not labeled as MUS courses- my degree required 9 credits (usually 3 courses). I did one American history one, and focused my research project for it on a timeline of American funerary music practices. The second one was Ancient Civilizations, which I picked purely on interest for the subject. My last was international politics, which gave me a better understanding about what people were experiencing at the time certain pieces were produced.
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Joey’s Answer

Actually, any history course would be good! Opera and other vocal music tends to draw inspiration from various time periods, whether it be contemporary or historic. For example, Puccini's Madama Butterfly is based on the very real American occupation in Japan in the late 19th-early 20th Century. European history would be especially informative, considering most classical music stems from Europe. You could potentially find that music is more ingrained in general history than you think (i.e. Germany's pre WW2 national anthem comes from a Haydn string quartet, or the chorus "Va' Pensiero" from Verdi's Nabucco played a role in the Risorgimento, or the reunification of Italy).

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