POPULAR MUSIC STUDIES

The course will introduce the main themes of the young discipline better known in English as"Popular Music Studies", which was born approximately in the second half of 1980 and that deals with those music that are "popular" (Pop) especially for their vast public, for their planetary diffusion and for their sales numbers. The relationship between contemporary Popular music and the media and their cultural dimension will therefore be examined. The course aims to provide a series of conceptual tools useful to critically address the musical products of contemporary production, placing at the center the relationship between the structural construction, the formation of meaning and the attribution of aesthetic value.
From this general introduction, we will move on to a monographic part dedicated to the Neapolitan song, "light" urban genre, to its diffusion and its success, thanks to the early media, between the nineteenth and twentieth century, up to Pino Daniele, the "Neomelodici" and to the very vital contemporary Neapolitan scene (Nap Pop Sound).

According to the framework for the European Higher Education, the so called Dublin descriptors, the expected results are:
1. Knowledge and Understanding
a) To know the basic terms and concepts of the young discipline and to understand the texts that use such terms and concepts.
b) To understand the peculiarities of the approaches of the so called "Popular Music Studies" and their new approach.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
a) Being capable of a simple analysis of some given musical examples, being aware of the singles musical languages and cultures.
b) Ability to connect a musical tune with its cultural framework.

3. Judgement's ability
a) Being capable to formulate and to argument simples hypothesis.

4. Communicational Skills
a) Being able to communicate the peculiarities of the ethnomusicological approach to music, using an appropriate terminology.

5. Learning Ability
● Being able to take notes and to share them in a collaborative form.
● Being able to consult to consult the texts critically and the Bibliography immanent.

No particular prerequisites are required but curiosity and attention.

Introduction to the main themes of the young discipline called "Popular Music Studies".

Roberto De Simone, La canzone napolitana, Einaudi, Torino, 2017.
Jason Pine, The Art of Making Do in Naples, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis and London, 2012.

Oral Examination..............

Lesson with abundant use of audio and video materials

Italian

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development