This Internet survey course will cover the musical elements and historical background of the pop quartet, the Beatles, through four chronological phases:
Phase I (1958-63) will examine the formative early song writing years and German and U.K. tours. The roots of Beatlemania will also be discussed. Albums covered will include Please Please Me and Meet the Beatles, and early British hit singles will be discussed.
Phase II (1964-66) begins with the very successful pop songs and American tours and continues through their early studio experiments. Albums discussed include A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Beatles for Sale, Rubber Soul, and Revolver. Films examined in clude A Hard Day's Night and Help! Hit singles, and pertinent personal and social events will also be covered.
Phase III (1966-68) focuses on their psychedelic period, examining their studio production techniques. Albums include Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour (film also), and hit singles, pertinent personal and social events will also be covered.
Phase IV (1968-70) concludes with an emphasis on individual composing styles and final recordings. Albums discussed include Yellow Submarine (film also), The Beatles (White Album), Let It Be (film also), and Abbey Road. Final notes will cover each member's solo activities after 1970 and more recent Anthology series and related releases.
1. Listening examples will be drawn from popular recordings and rarities. Also discussed will be instruments used, studio innovations, vocal techniques, song writing processes and musical personalities.
2. Required text is Who is the Greatest/Elvis or the Beatles? by Shellans & Slater. Please see your syllabus for ordering information.
3. Students will participate by submitting four 3-part Topic Assignments worth 40% of the course grade.
4. Four(4) on line exams will be given; each exam will be worth 15% of the class grade. On-line exams will consists of multiple choice questions as well as questions associated to an audio component (MP3file).