Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LH The Blues
School	Lan, Cult, Art Hist & Music
Department	Music
Module Code	09 24206
Module Lead	Amy Brosius
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-180 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	The Blues is one of the most important African-American musical genres and has been highly influential in the development of jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, and other Western popular musics. This module will consider what the blues are and who were/are the musicians who sang them. We will study the stylistic aspects of the different types of blues and the societies which shaped them. More specifically we will discuss the ways in which the blues were disseminated and the attitudes they communicate about morality, society, religion, etc. of the musicians who created them. Other important issues considered will include race, class, gender, and questions of intellectual property.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Crirtically analyse different types of blues studied, including suitable blues not discussed in seminars as examples in support of their commentaries and evaluations; discuss different social and cultural influences on the development of the blues studied; Cite and, where appropriate, critically analyse, specific and suitable pieces of music as examples in support of their commentaries and evaluations; synthesise and evaluate themes across a wide range of diverse material; demonstrate a sophisticated ability to find and appraise scholarly literature not cited on module reading lists.
Assessment	24206-01 : Essay 1/2 : Coursework (45%) 24206-02 : 24hr THEP Centrally Managed : Exam (Centrally Timetabled) - Written Unseen (45%) 24206-03 : Weekly Assignments : Log Book/ Portfolio (10%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 45% Essay: 2000 words 45% Exam: includes timed essays and listening identification (1 hour 40 mins) 10% Weekly questions and three sentence summaries (500 words) Reassessment: No resits are permitted in final year. If students miss the assessed task owing to extenuating circumstances, the failed task would be rescheduled at a later date.
Other
Reading List