Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Articulate an understanding of the development of civilization through the history of the guitar.
2. Recognize that contemporary music instruments are the result of thousands of years of evolution and development across a multitude of global cultures and civilizations.
3. Connect global and ancient traditions with contemporary trends through an understanding of the guitar and its history.
4. Identify the influence of culturally-based music practices to assess intercultural connections in music.
5. Articulate personal aesthetic preferences through an understanding of artistic and aesthetic values found in a multitude of global music genres.

Lectures and readings that survey of the history of plucked chordophones including instruments form ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia, Greece and Rome through Common Era Europe and evolution of the guitar in the Americas.

Listening and viewing of major performers and repertory (both Western and non-Western) with focus on global distribution of the guitar through print, audio, video and web-based media in the 20th and 21st centuries. Ideally there should be a balance between Western and non-Western genres.

Lectures and readings on the development of the guitar including design innovators and associated technology with focus on 20th and 21st centuries.

Small and large group discussions

Research papers/presentations

Scheduled written examinations

Aural and/or visual identification of major performers/repertory

Participation in, and contribution to, all class and group discussions and activities

Evolution of plucked chordophones

Popular and classic guitar repertory

Å·ÖÞ±­¾öÈü¾º²Âapp_Å·ÖÞ±­×ãÇòÍø-Ͷע|¹ÙÍøments and innovations in instrument designs

The electric guitar and associated technology

Global distribution of music via technology

Identification of critical repertory and performers