MUHL 2622 - Popular Music in America
Fall 2026 Syllabus, Section 03, CRN 41581,
Credit hours: 3
Course Meeting Times
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Instructor
Edward Sallustio
Email: ejsallustio@ysu.edu
Course Description
2622. Popular Music in America. The changing styles in American popular music from its origins to the present day studied through an examination of representative compositions and performers. 3 s.h.
Course Readings
| Group | Title | Author | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optional | American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3 (Fifth Edition, Oxford University Press) |
Readings will be provided via Blackboard
The course readings are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, research developments, current events, and/or to ensure better learning.
Assignments/Assessments
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Schedule of Topics and Assignments
| Week of | Reading(s) | Proposed Topic | Due/To Prepare for Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8/24 | Blackboard videos | Introduction/Musical texture | Assignment 1a and 1b due Friday 11:59pm |
| 8/31 | Blackboard videos | Instrument families. 500 years of Western Classical Music | Assignment 2 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 9/7 | Reading: Streams of tradition: the sources of popular music. Blackboard videos | Listening to American Popular music sources | Assignment 3 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 9/14 | Reading: Opera, dance, musical use of popular song. Blackboard video | Listening in opera, dance and musicals | Assignment 4 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 9/21 | Reading: "After the Ball: Popular Music of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Blackboard videos | 19th/early 20th century listening | Assignment 5 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 9/28 | Reading: "Catching as the small-pox: social dance and jazz, 1917-1935." Blackboard videos | Social dance and jazz listening | Assignment 6 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 10/5 | Reading: "I Got Rhythm" | Tin Pan Alley listening | Assignment 7 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 10/12 | Reading: Chapter 6, "In the Mood," The Swing Era 1935-1945 | The Swing Era listening | Assignment 8 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 10/19 | Reading: Chapter 7, Choo Choo Ch'Boogie, The Postwar Era, 1946-1954 | Postwar Era listening | Assignment 9 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 10/26 | Reading: Chapter 7, Choo Choo Ch'Boogie, The Postwar Era, 1946-1954 continued. Blackboard videos | Country/Bluegrass listening | Assignment 10 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 11/2 | Reading: "Rock Around the Clock" 1954-1959. Blackboard videos | Early Rock and Roll listening | Assignment 11 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 11/9 | Reading: "Rock Around the Clock" 1954-1959 continued. Blackboard videos | Early Rock and Roll listening continued | Assignment 12 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 11/16 | Reading: "Good Vibrations" American Pop and the British Invasion, 1960s. Blackboard videos | 1960s American pop listening | Assignment 13 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 11/23 | Thanksgiving Break: No class | ||
| 11/30 | Reading CH 9-10 The British Invasion. Blackboard videos | British Invasion listening | Assignment 14 due Friday 11:59pm |
| 12/7 | No final exam |
The course schedule, policies, procedures, and assignments in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, by mutual agreement, and/or to ensure better learning.