Sample Discussion Prompts

The 1970s: A Decade in Rock

Discussion #1: Blues, Appropriation, and Resistance

As you work your way through this week's lecture and reading materials, pick one of the three assigned albums (Jimi Hendrix, Band of Gypsys; Janis Joplin, Pearl; Led Zeppelin, (untitled) "IV") and listen to it beginning to end in a focused listening session.

Based on your understanding of the Blues (which may be quite limited at this point, and that's fine) discuss the Blues influence on the music as you understand it. This could include attending to specific musical characteristics, instrumentation, attitude, lyrics, etc. Consider the ways in which the artists replicate aspects of Blues traditions in their performances and ways in which they take creative liberties and aim to expand upon them. Please direct your readers to at least two specific tracks that inform your observations.  Where relevant, reference the readings assigned for this week (likely Gilroy if discussing Hendrix and McMullen if discussing Joplin or Zeppelin).

If this feels like a difficult task, that's ok. Don't stress out, just give it a shot. Remember, these discussions are evaluated based on effort and engagement rather than correctness. You're not expected to know everything, and it's fine to express uncertainty and ask questions in your responses. If you're lucky, maybe one of your classmates or TAs will know the answer!

Discussion #2: The Politics of Progressive Music

After viewing the week six lecture and completing the assigned readings, familiarize yourselves with the five albums on the Week 6 Listening List. I don't expect you to listen to everything front to back, since this is a lot of music, but try to get a sense of each album and flag a few specific musical examples to reference in your responses. In my lecture, I identify each of these albums as being "progressive" in some way, but the artists themselves did not necessarily view their music as such. In fact, as Keister notes, "Many musicians, fans, and writers have been quick to distance themselves or their music of choice from the faintest whiff of the progressive label to avoid critical derision or guilt by association" (Keister, "Black Prog," 5). Keister also draws attention to the racialization of the term "progressive" in popular music discourse.

In your responses, please discuss the the "progressive" music as a genre category and the ways in which the term has been racialized, celebrated by some, and dismissed by others. What types of musical values and sonic features are venerated within the discourse of "progressive" rock and which tend to be downplayed or overlooked? Why would artists, and specifically artists of color, want to actively distance themselves from this label? Why have rock critics tended to dismiss "prog" as inauthentic, excessively cerebral, and pretentious? What values do these types of critical assessments reflect? What are your personal thoughts regarding what it means to be musically "progressive"? You don't have to answer all of these questions, but they should give you plenty to think about. Please be sure to reference both of the assigned readings and at least two of the albums assigned for this week. Discuss specific musical examples where appropriate.

Music of North India

Discussion # 1

This discussion has two parts:

1.) First, I want you each to begin by discussing the idea of "affect" in Hindustani music as you understand it. Be sure to engage with the Ruckert reading from last week (Chapter 2) and Lecture 3, in which I discuss raga theory. The idea that certain musical performances can move you in specific emotional or physical ways will likely not be too difficult to grasp, but the precise metaphysical basis of raga theory and affect theory in Hindustani music may well be entirely new to you. Rather than merely parroting the reading or my lecture, please wrestle with these concepts in your own terms. What do you make of all this talk of musical moods, time theory of ragas, ragas associated with specific seasons, etc.?  

2.) Once you've considered affect theory broadly, select any piece of music from the Week 2 Listening List (with the exception of the tabla solo clips and the Panjabi MC videos at the end), listen to it in at least two different settings (preferably at different times of day), and finally reflect on the feelings it evokes as you listen to it across different contexts. Do you think these are the feelings the musicians intended to evoke? Do you connect with the performance differently at particular times of day or in different spaces? If so, why do you think this is the case?

In your responses, please don't feel bound by what you've learned of specific ragas thus far. That is, if you select Raag Bhimpalasi (a common afternoon raga), don't feel compelled to accept the essential "afternoon-ness" of it. You're free (and encouraged) to draw your own thoughts and connections that depart from accepted theories of affect in Hindustani music. Regardless of how you situate your experiences with the raga performance you select, however, please reflect on why you feel the way you do. That is, if you connect the performance with early morning or late night, reflect on its "early morning-ness" or "late night-ness"--in other words, what musical attributes evoke this sense of affect?

As always, spend some time engaging with your peers--preferably those who select the same performance. It's ok to disagree with their assessments, but please do so thoughtfully and considerately. If no one else has selected the same performance by the time you are ready to post, feel free to engage with anyone who has posted.

Discussion #2

Lecture 7 introduces thumri and ghazal as "light classical," or "semi-classical," genres, though I acknowledge that the term has limitations.

Based on what you know about other Hindustani performance genres (dhrupad and khayal at the "classical" end of the spectrum; qawwali and bhajan at the devotional end), what does this category of "light classical" or "semi-classical" mean to you? What distinguishes thumri and ghazal lyrically and musically from the other genres we've discussed to date? What similarities, if any, do they share with other genres we've discussed? In what ways can they be considered a synthesis of devotional and classical performance practices?

I'm not going to specify multiple parts of this prompt, but as always you are expected to clearly demonstrate your engagement with the week's lecture materials, assigned reading, and musical examples. In addition to referencing specific examples from the Week 4 Listening List, you may want to reference musical examples from previous weeks (since you're being asked to compare/contrast and discuss the influence of other genres on thumri and ghazal).

Don't forget to spread your participation throughout the week, and please don't wait until Sunday night to engage with your peers!