Courses
MUS 7260 Research Methods in Music (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course offers an understanding of the various approaches to research in music. Emphasis is placed on developing competencies in locating, reading, understanding, and applying music research, and formulating research topics.
MUS 7270 Music Technology (3 units)
This course is designed to help students recognize the characteristics and potential of technology applications in music education and music production in Hong Kong. Students will become familiar with recent technological devices (software and hardware) and how they are set up. A number of topics related to today's music technology will be discussed.
MUS 7280 Creativity in Music (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course presents a concept-and-activities-based approach to developing participants' musical and creative skills. It will serve participants of different educational and musical backgrounds. By creating music and presenting it, through discussion and critique, participants will also recognize the role of creativity in the discovery and exploration of musical instruments and other sound sources readily available, such as voices, speech and body rhythms.
MUS 7290 Psychology and Sociology in Music (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course addresses the various psychological aspects of music and music learning and the socio-cultural context of music. Topics include the nature of musical ability, testing of musical aptitude and achievement, talent development, and social functions of music. There is an emphasis on the tools and products of research in the fields of psychology and sociology of music.
MUS 7300 Curriculum Development and Music Materials (3 units)
This course examines the field of curriculum studies with particular reference to past and current music-educational theory and practice. It allows students to investigate the content and design of curricula as well as critical issues related to curriculum development. In particular, it covers national and international trends with implications for music education practices.
MUS 7310 Choral Pedagogy (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course is designed to advance professional knowledge and practical skills of choral conductors. Emphases will be placed on the principles of choral pedagogy and techniques of diagnosing and correcting problems in choral singing.
MUS 7320 Conducting Practicum (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course is designed to enhance conducting skills in the choral field. Emphasis will be placed on practical rehearsal methods, including communication, motivation and management of choral groups. Students will participate in actual laboratory and group conducting experiences.
MUS 7330 Advanced MIDI Applications (3 units)
- Prerequisite:
- MUS 7270 Music Technology
This course provides an opportunity for students to investigate some of the advanced MIDI applications in different stages and types of the current music production and creative processes. Application areas may include the use of MIDI as a real-time or non-real-time controller in live performance, signal processing, timbral modulation, sonic spatialisation, mixing and other multimedia productions.
MUS 7340 Virtual Music Classroom (3 units)
This course investigates the current development, anatomy and educational potential of the virtual music classroom. Contents will include the following topics: (1) the virtual classroom and the traditional music classroom; (2) setting up a virtual music classroom—hardware and software requirements; (3) managing a virtual music classroom; (4) communicating with other virtual music classrooms on the Internet; and (5) available software and other information on the Internet.
MUS 7350 Piano Pedagogy (3 units)
This course prepares students for a fulfilling career in piano teaching and will focus on modern pedagogical concepts of piano teaching and performance. Specific areas of study include (1) the teaching and learning environment; (2) tutors and pedagogical materials; (3) pedagogical techniques for pupils of all ages and levels; (4) teaching stylistic awareness in piano repertoire from ca. 1700 to the present; and (5) teaching musicianship through traditional and innovative techniques.
MUS 7360 Pedagogy Workshop (3 units)
This course offers students opportunities to advance and enrich their teaching skills by a programme of lesson observations, seminars and assignments. The pedagogy workshops bring together students to openly exchange their views and to share their valuable experience of teaching with one another. Each student is encouraged to develop teaching strategies reflecting his/her own musical background, personality, and the particular needs of individual pupils.
MUS 7370 Music in Chinese and Other Societies (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course explores the role music plays in our society and the types of music that serve religious, political, social, and commercial functions with the following focuses: (1) music and ritual, (2) music and politics, (3) music and popular culture, and (4) music and film/television. Apart from introducing various theories that deal with the above topics, attention will be given to corresponding types of music and musical practices in Hong Kong. Students are expected to acquire skills to study and teach music and musical practices in Hong Kong for research or classroom-teaching purposes.
MUS 7380 The Teaching of Chinese Music (3 units)
This course provides an opportunity for students to develop an understanding of the historical, cultural, theoretical and practical issues of the teaching of Chinese music in Hong Kong. Emphasis is given on the appraising of the general and specialized music curricula in secondary schools, and the incorporation of Chinese music in school-based curriculum. Assessments include a presentation and a related written project.
MUS 7390 Composition Seminar (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course enhances students' problem-solving skills and creative thought-processes. It broadens knowledge of compositional techniques and aesthetic concerns. The creation and, where possible, performance of student compositions will be the focus of the course.
MUS 7400 Current Practices in 21st Century Composition (3 units)
This course explores selected trends in modern music and provides an opportunity to further students' compositional perspective through creative writing along these trends. A wide selection of scores and recordings will be analysed and discussed with respect to their aesthetic and cultural contexts as well as their technical attributes. These may include recent technological developments and collaborations with other arts and disciplines.
MUS 7411 Dissertation Project (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
The dissertation provides the opportunity for students to develop and complete a research or creative project relevant to their specific interests or perceived needs. The approved project is treated with rigour and depth, appropriate to work at postgraduate level.
MUS 7412 Dissertation Project (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
The dissertation provides the opportunity for students to develop and complete a research or creative project relevant to their specific interests or perceived needs. The approved project is treated with rigour and depth, appropriate to work at postgraduate level.
MUS 7420 Choral Training from a Kodály Perspective (3 units)
This course is designed to develop musicianship, aural and choral training skills using Kodály techniques. Emphasis will be placed on the development of unaccompanied singing in the context of children's vocal ensembles.
MUS 7430 Music in Early Childhood (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course aims at developing students' comprehensive understanding in the role of music in child development (e.g. cognitive, socio-emotional, aesthetic, creative, and physical). Students will examine various theories, approaches, strategies, and research in early childhood music education. Both the skills and knowledge necessary to guide children's musical development in the early years (ages 0 to 8) will be emphasised in the course.
MUS 7440 Current Practices in Early Childhood Music Education (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
The goals of the course are to expand students' knowledge and skills of current materials and pedagogy related to early childhood music. Students focus on theoretical and current curricular models through a combination of lecture, discussion, "workshop" activities, and student presentation.
MUS 7450 Sources, Genres, and Performance: Analytical Approaches (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This seminar is designed to utilize various approaches to analyse and develop students' interpretative abilities, and ability to think analytically about music and musical structures. Emphasis will be placed on the practical application of music analysis to issues such as pedagogy, performance and performance practice, rehearsal skills, composition, and arranging.
MUS 7460 Sources, Genres, and Performance: Historical Perspectives (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course provides opportunities for the study of musical works in their original contexts and their transmission and reception in modern times. The course will provide opportunities for further development of topics related to pedagogy, choral and instrumental repertoire, and performance practice.
MUS 7470 Advanced Piano Pedagogy Workshop (3 units)
This course provides students with new insights into complex musical and technical problems that arise in piano teaching. Students will build up more knowledge and skills on working with piano pupils of different levels and needs.
MUS 7480 Advanced Studies in Chinese Music (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- Putonghua
This course enriches the student's knowledge of Chinese music in scope and depth through studying a broad range of folk and traditional repertoire, at the same time cultivating the necessary skills to evaluate Chinese music in contemporary social context.
MUS 7490 Orff and Dalcroze Approaches to Music Teaching (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
Based on the teaching approaches of Carl Orff and Emile Jacques-Dalcroze, the programme focuses on innovative methods, materials, and techniques of teaching general music to children in primary schools. Students will experience the process of learning music concepts from these approaches as well as creating original music materials for their own teaching.
MUS 7500 Issues in the Study of Popular Music: Rock Music in Global Perspective (3 units)
This course will survey the stylistic development of rock music from its beginnings to the present. It will also study the music and musicians who have created rock's history and the social, political and cultural forces that have been at work in that history with regard to how these have influenced the sound of rock music. The course will include an introduction to the academic study of popular music, and will also emphasise critical listening and musical analysis in order to determine the sonic qualities that differentiate various sub-genres of rock music and their social meanings.
MUS 7510 Arranging for Small Ensembles (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course will focus on how to arrange existing music for small and non-professional ensembles of the kind typically found in schools, churches and community organizations. The emphasis will be on Western instruments. Some aspects of this course will cover instrumentation, orchestration, harmonization and performance techniques, and the course is designed to focus on real experiences with the problems of adapting and arranging music for younger or less-experienced musicians.
MUS 7520 Studies in Choral Literature (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course aims to familiarize students with major choral works from the Renaissance to the contemporary period. Emphasis will be placed on an in-depth look at historically significant works in major choral genres. Students will explore a variety of choral works composed for different types of ensembles, sizes and performances levels.
MUS 7530 Studies in Piano Literature (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course will provide students with a comprehensive overview of piano literature from the Baroque era to the present. Students will explore a variety of piano compositions composed for different performances levels, with emphasis placed on composers with historically significant repertories, as well as less-prominent composers who contributed important works to the keyboard repertoire or made important advances in musical genres.
MUS 7540 Current Topics in World Music (3 units)
- Medium of Instruction:
- English
This course introduces students to musical traditions around the world through a critical examination of selected current issues and topics. Course materials are designed to look at the world's musical performances comparatively against changing social and cultural contexts. Students will also develop skills in the field of ethnomusicology through an ethnographic project.
MUS 7550 Arranging for Choirs and Vocal Ensembles (3 units)
This course will cover techniques of arrangements of choral and other vocal music, as well as techniques which are equally applicable to original choral compositions. Students will practice choral-style harmonization of per-existing melodies (such as folk and popular songs), and complete brief arrangements for different types of choral ensembles, including re-arrangements for different forces. Students will exposed to samples of choral music in various genres, including classical, folk and pop, to broaden their knowledge of choral repertoire and practical choral directing and arranging technique.