Music and Consciousness

Description

This program will investigate the relationship between sound, music and human consciousness. We will compose music that explores the psychological and spiritual effects of this music on those who hear it. The program is for experienced composers and performers. It is primarily a musical endeavor, working with aspects of psychology and contemplative studies, rather than a study of psychology that involves aspects of music. The program goal is to become better composers and performers and to develop greater understanding of the qualitative aspects of listening, how music “functions” in our lives, and how it can be used to affect changes in various internal states, such as brain wave frequencies, breathing patterns and galvanic skin response. We will read texts that deal with established contemporary compositional techniques as well as recent findings related to the effects of music at the somatic level. We will also read texts on psychology, such as Jung’s Man and His Symbols, in order to build a working vocabulary of psychological terminology.

Students will be expected to complete bi-weekly research projects, listening exercises, and to keep a journal of their experiences with the music that we create. In fall, we will build listening and compositional skills and begin to relate these to the psychological and spiritual dimensions of the pieces, learning to use appropriate vocabulary and critical techniques. There will be an overnight retreat during which guest artists from various cultures will work with the students and share information about how music functions in their respective cultures. In winter, students will deepen their musical skills and will select a topic for a twenty-minute formal research presentation that will be given during week nine. There will also be a public concert of original pieces at the end of winter quarter.