AFRC047 - That's My Song! : Musical Genre As Social Contract

Music in American history has been fundamental to identity formation because, as one scholar notes, it comprises "the deepest feelings and qualities that make a group unique. Through moving and sounding together in synchrony, people can experience a feeling of oneness with others." This course examines how various musical genres have served as "social contracts" among audiences throughout the process of this country's nation building process. Within America's melting pot ideal, communities of listeners have asserted their powerful convictions about social identity through musical praxis and its "rules of engagement." The discourses surrounding the notion of "genre" have often made these meanings legible, audible and powerful for many. From Protestant church performance practices, to minstrelsy, to Tin Pan Alley to rock and hip-hop, the social agreements of musical genres help us understand the dynamism of American identities.