Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music (NZSM) offers the following range of music papers that require no prior knowledge of music, therefore have no music prerequisites. We welcome students who want to take music papers as a supporting subject for another major, degree, or for general interest, and encourage you to consider music as a study option. Note, however, that not all academic papers are offered each year. You need to check the list of courses below and then follow the links to the Victoria website to confirm the availability of specific offerings.

As NZSM is a joint venture of Massey University of New Zealand and Victoria University of Wellington, Massey students can also credit NZSM papers to some Massey degrees. 

MUSC 105 Music Now: Understanding Music Through the Lens of the 20th-21st Centuries

A study of the range of musical experiences that define contemporary musical consciousness, from development in art, popular, and world music across the 20th and 21st centuries, to the changing role of performers and performance. Historical, critical and ethnographic approaches will be introduced.

MUSC 120 Ragtime to Rap: Introduction to Popular Musics

An introduction to the study of popular musics in the 20th and 21st centuries considering a range of musical genres and styles with historical roots in America and their global development, including within New Zealand cultural contexts.

MUSC 125 Jazz History

Study of the historical development of jazz, acquisition of skills in analysis of the contributions of performers, composers and innovators to the evolution of jazz, and in the recognition of specific performers and important recordings.

CMPO 181 Introduction to Music Tehnology

An introduction to key aspects of acoustics and music technology.

MUSC 130 Hildegard to Avant-Garde: Western Music 900-Present

A study of Western music approached through a series of modules, each centred on one exemplary composition, with an emphasis on the social and cultural context of music, rather than on analytical study of musical style. 

MUSC 131 Introduction to Opera 

An introduction to operatic repertoire, viewed in its social, historical and/or cultural contexts.

MUSC 132 The Beethoven Phenomenon

An introduction to the music and image of Beethoven, with a focus on his impact on perceptions of Western Art Music and musicians to this day. 

MUSC 150 Music in World Cultures

An introduction to music in world cultures. A survey of examples from the Pacific, Asia, Africa and the Americas that examines music within its cultural context, and an introduction to the study of ethnomusicology.

PERF 151 Māori Music Performance

Introductory performance study of Māori music and its cultural contexts.

MUSC 160 Basic Musical Techniques

An introduction to fundamental written skills in music and to basic forms used in Western music, including introduction to the keyboard and practice in aural perception. Preference will be given to students majoring in Music.

MUSC 247 Introduction to Music in 20th-Century Sound Cinema

An introduction to the practice and criticism of music in sound cinema from 1927 to the end of the twentieth century. 

MUSC 248 Pop Music Since the 1950s

A critical analysis of the development of popular music from the 1950s to the present, examining diverse genres, the musical techniques employed to achieve the desired outcomes, and the cultural contexts in which the music is created. 

MUSC 250 Music in Social and Cultural Contexts

Introduction to the ethnography of music and performance in social and cultural contexts.  

PERF 250 Gamelan Performance

Introductory performance study of gamelan ensemble with an understanding of the cultural contexts of the music.

MUSC 251 Perspectives on Music and Dance of Oceania

Study of a range of perspectives on select music cultures of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia considered in social and cultural contexts. 2013 Offering: This paper is an introductory exploration of music, poetry, and dance of the Pacific Islands. Discussion includes such topics as: chant and indigenous poetry, Christianity and hymn singing, indigenous spiritual practices, concepts of dance, types and functions of musical and sound-producing instruments, composition, contemporary popular music, and Pacific music in film. We will also examine issues of representation, gender, sound recordings and archiving, festivals and tourism in Oceania. 

PERF 251 Pasifika Performance 1

An introductory performance study of Pacific Island musics with an understanding of the cultural contexts.

MUSC 252 Perspectives on Music of Asia

Study of a range of perspectives on select music cultures of Asia considered in social, and cultural contexts.

PERF 252 Asian Music Performance 1

Introductory performance study of Asian music with an understanding of the cultural contexts. 

MUSC 309 Special Topic: Music in Social and Cultural Contexts

This course will focus on the study and understanding of music in everyday life.

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