Faculty of Fine Arts

Department of Music
Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Dancehall
FA/MUSI 1570 6.0
Fall/Winter 2009

OUTLINE

   

Course Director: Ray Williams                                                  E-mail: Ray Williams

Course Description and Content: This is a study of the musical, historical, spiritual, cultural roots and traditions of the music of Jamaica. Topics will include: Mento, US R&B, Sound Systems, Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Roots, Toasting, Dub, Dancehall. Artists and Producers to include Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid, Prince Buster, Derrick Morgan, Skatelites, King Tubby, Lee Scratch Perry, Owen Gray, The Maytals, John Holt, Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff, The Heptones, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Third World, Bunny Lee, Sugar Minott, Gregory Isaacs, Yellowman, Shabba Ranks, etc. This course is designed for students not majoring or minoring in music. No previous musical training is required.

Schedule: Classes meets each Tuesday as follows:

  TIME PLACE
INSTRUCTOR
Section A 8:30AM - 10:30AM ACW 206
Ray Williams

Required Text: Various readings may be suggested. Suggested text: Rough Guide To Reggae

Requirements: Notebook, pen and ears. You will need a pencil and eraser for Tests.

Academic Honesty: Please note the Senate Policy on academic honesty found on the York website at http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/legislation/senate/acadhone.htm. Any form of cheating will result in a mark of ZERO.

Assignment Submission: All assignments are to be submitted directly to the instructor during class time.  If this is not possible, you may submit your assignments to the Music Office in Accolade East Building 3rd Floor [371] before 3:00PM during working days.  Make sure your assignment is time stamped by the Music Office staff to establish the date of submission.

Evaluation and Grading

COMPONENT
% WEIGHT
Listening Journal 
30
Tests (in class "listening", context, terminology, analysis, genre)
40
Attendance, Effort & Participation  
30
TOTAL
100

Last Date to Drop without Academic Penalty: February 6, 2010

Topic Schedule and Due Dates:

2009 TOPIC 2010 TOPIC
Sep 15 Introduction Jan 5 Roots Reggae 1, Listening Journal Due [30%]
Sep 22 Jamaica & Reggae Jan 12 Test 2 [15%]
Sep 29 Folk, Calypso & Mento Jan 19 Bob Marley movie
Oct 6 Jazz, R&B & Sound Systems Jan 26 Roots Reggae 2
Oct 13 Reading Week - No Classes Feb 2 Roots Reggae 3
Oct 20 Ska 1 Feb 9 Roots Reggae 4
Oct 27 Ska 2 Feb 16 Reading Week - No Classes
Nov 3 Rocksteady Feb 23 Lovers Rock
Nov 10 Test 1 [10%] Mar 2 Test 3 [15%]
Nov 17 Reggae 1 Mar 9 Dancehall 1
Nov 24 Reggae 2 Mar 16 Dancehall 2
Dec 1 Reggae 3 & Dub Mar 23 Journal Return, Video Taping
Dec 8 DJ's & Toasting Mar 30 Guest: Rupert Harvey from Messenjah

Listening Journal

You are required to listen to various forms of Jamaican popular music performed by Caribbean artists and record information along with your personal reaction to this music in a Listening Journal.  The Journal should be divided into four sections as follows:

  • Section 1 - 1950-1962 [min 15 songs] Calypso and music from other Caribbean countries are permitted here.
  • Section 2 - 1963-1969 [min 30 songs] Jamaican music only
  • Section 3 - 1970-1979 [min 45 songs] Jamaican music only
  • Section 4 - 1980-1990 [min 60 songs] Jamaican style music from anywhere in the world.

The Journal will consist of individual song listings for each song you listened to.  You should write about your personal feeling about each song.  There must be no duplicates i.e. same song by the same artist (these will result in mark deductions).  There must be a table of contents.  The Journal’s pages must be numbered. The journal should explore a minimum of 150 songs and be at least 30 pages long.  Entries should list factual data about each song in a table above your write-up, which may include, but is not limited to: artist, song name, composer, release date, record label, etc. where possible.   Plagiarism, especially cut/paste from the Internet, will result in deductions of up to 100%. The journal may not contain songs played in class except for Section 1. Here is a complete list of songs that should not appear in your journal.

Journals are due at the end of class on January 5 , 2010.  Every journal submitted late will result in a minimum 10% deduction – no exceptions.  If you are unable to submit your journal in class, then it must be submitted to the Music Office at Accolade East Building 3rd Floor [Room 371].  Please ensure that your journal is time stamped to prove the date it was submitted.

OUTLINE PDF

©Copyright 2009, Ray Williams. All Rights Reserved