Skagit Valley College

Catalog Course Search Details

 Course Title:   Jazz: America's Artform: D

 Title Abbreviation:   JAZZ: AMERICA ARTFORM: D

 Department:    MUSC

 Course #:    128

 Credits:    5

 Variable:     No

 IUs:    5

 CIP:    500902

 EPC:    n/a

 REV:    2018


 Course Description  

This course provides a general survey of the development and evolution of jazz from its roots to the present. The student will explore the background, history, characteristics and significant performing artists of the major jazz styles.

 Prerequisite  

Prerequisite: Appropriate placement or grade of 2.0 or higher in ENGL 099.

Additional Course Details

Contact Hours (based on 11 week quarter)

Lecture: 55

Lab: 0

Other: 0

Systems: 0

Clinical: 0


Intent: Distribution Requirement(s) Status:  

Academic Humanities  

Equivalencies At Other Institutions

Other Institution Equivalencies Table
Institution Course # Remarks
CWU X
WSU 362
WWU 202

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

  1. Identify basic jazz harmony, form, and instrumentation.
  2. Recognize the leading jazz composers and performers for the past 100 years.
  3. Describe the relationship of this music to mass media, cultural, and racial attitudes.
  4. Analyze jazz music based on historical, social, and cultural differences.

General Education Learning Values & Outcomes

Revised August 2008 and affects outlines for 2008 year 1 and later.

1. Information Literacy

Definition: Recognizing when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
1.1 Determine the extent of information needed.
1.2 Access the needed information effectively, efficiently, ethically, and legally.
1.3 Evaluate information and its sources critically.
1.5 Effectively integrate and use information ethically and legally to accomplish a specific purpose.

2. Critical Thinking

Definition: The ability to think critically about the nature of knowledge within a discipline and about the ways in which that knowledge is constructed and validated and to be sensitive to the ways these processes often vary among disciplines.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
2.1 Identify and express concepts, terms, and facts related to a specific discipline.
2.2 Analyze issues and develop questions within a discipline.
2.3 Identify, interpret, and evaluate pertinent data and previous experience to reach conclusions.
2.8 Describe how one’s own preconceptions, biases and values affect one’s response to new and ambiguous situations.
2.9 Apply and/or create problem-solving strategies to successfully adapt to unpredictable and/or changing environments.

3. Communication

Definition: Understanding and producing effective written, spoken, visual, and non-verbal communication.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
3.1 Recognize, read, and comprehend academic and/or professional writing.
3.2 Recognize, produce and demonstrate appropriate interpersonal, group, and public speaking skills.
3.3 Demonstrate effective listening skills.
3.4 Produce academic and/or professional writing and integrate it into written and spoken projects.
3.5 Recognize, comprehend, and use non-verbal behaviors appropriate to a given context.
3.6 Recognize, comprehend, and use visual communication appropriate to a given context.

4. Community & Cultural Diversity

Definition: Recognizing the value of human communities and cultures from multiple perspectives through a critical understanding of their similarities and differences.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
4.1 Identify and express concepts, terms, and issues associated with the diverse perspectives of race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and culture.
4.2 Understand, value and respect human differences and commonalities as they relate to issues of race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and culture.
4.3 Understand the historically and socially constructed nature of—and the meanings attributed to—human differences.

6. Individual Awareness & Responsibility

Definition: Understanding, managing, and taking responsibility for one’s learning and behavior in varied and changing environments.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
6.2 Demonstrate standards of professionalism in manner, appearance, and setting appropriate to the context, including the classroom, workplace, and community.
6.3 Apply successful organizational strategies of planning, goal setting, prioritizing, resolving conflict, and managing time to specific goals and/or projects.

7. Aesthetics & Creativity

Definition: Interpreting human experience through engagement with creative processes and aesthetic principles.

Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
7.2 Demonstrate knowledge of aesthetic principles.
7.4 Demonstrate an understanding of the role of arts and creative expression in societies.

Course Contents

  1. Music: basic music theory: I, IV, V progression and 7th, 9th, and 13th chords
  2. Basic form analysis: song form and 12, 16, 32 bar blues.
  3. Advanced form analysis: head, chorus, and bridge structures
  4. Recognition of the leading composers and performers for the various jazz genres
  5. Cultural analysis: how cultural, societal, and historical issues affect jazz artists and listeners