Winter Session 2004
Dr.
Dan Margolies
Office: Blocker 31
Email: dmargolies@vwc.edu
Phone: 455-5716
Office Hours: By Appointment during Winter Session—Come on
by!
Class meeting: Monday, Wednesday, 7-9:30
Blocker 17
Course Overview:
This one credit course provides an introduction to the music and
folk culture of the southern Appalachians, including Virginia, West Virginia,
North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. It pays particular attention to the unique pre-World II styles of
rural dance music, social and religious music, and early commercially recorded
music, including the old time string band, jug bands, clawhammer style of banjo
playing, unaccompanied fiddling, shape note singing, and balladry. Students will study the history,
development, and structure of these regional music styles and be introduced to
playing the music themselves in an old time string band or jug band.
Quizzes:
We will start each class
meeting with a short quiz. There also
will be a quiz at the end of each week on the reading and on the subjects
discussed in class.
Required Texts: (in
bookstore)
Gerald Milnes, Play of
a Fiddle: Traditional Music Dance and Folklore in West Virginia
Joyce Cauthen, With
Fiddle and Well-Rosined Bow: A History
of Old Time Fiddling in Alabama
Cecilia Conway, African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia (recommended)
Attendance and Participation:
Regular
attendance in class is mandatory, as is prompt completion of all readings and
assignments by the date assigned. This
course meets twice a week and, given the amount and complexity of the readings,
music, and concepts we are covering, it is vital that you attend all of the
meetings. The class may culminate in
one or more music ensembles, the nature of which will be determined by the
members of the class.
Your
active participation in all aspects of the class is expected and required, and
your final grade will reflect your level of involvement and commitment.
Grades:
Class
Participation: 60%
Quizzes:
40%
The following grading point scale
will be used in determining your grade, subject to the discretion of the
instructor: A= 93-100; A- = 90-92; B+ = 88-89; B = 83-87; B- =
80-82; C+ = 78-79; C = 73-77; C- = 69-72; D+ = 67-69; D= 64-66 ; D=60-64; F =
less than 59
Email policy:
Email
is a vital tool of communication for educators and scholars and all students
must be familiar with its effective use.
I encourage you to contact me via email whenever you have questions or
comments about the course or the assignments.
We will have at least one homework assignment that will be submitted in
the form of an email attachment. This
will be discussed during the course.
However, please do NOT send me assignments or papers through email as a
general policy, unless it is part of an assigned exercise, or prior
arrangements were made.
ACCOMMODATION
FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
In accordance with Title 5, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, reasonable accommodation will be
provided to any student who has followed the College's procedures as outlined
in the current Academic Bulletin. It
is best to begin this process by contacting the disability services
coordinator, Fayne Pearson (455-3246) at the beginning of the semester.
Once the need for accommodations has been officially established, the student
should consult with the instructor to insure that the student's needs may be
met as effectively as possible.
Reading Schedule:
Week One: Milnes, ch. 1-6
Week Two: Milnes,
ch. 7-12
Cauthen, ch 1-2
MARK CAMPBELL PERFORMANCE, MONDAY JANUARY 12 in SCIENCE AUDITORIUM
Week Three: Cauthen,
ch. 3-5