Commit to your craft or field of study, get a head start on college credits, or complete GE or pre-requisites to help accelerate your academic progress as a matriculating UCLA student. The School of Music offers a number of summer courses in music performance, music industry, music history and world music. Courses are open to high school students as well as musicians and scholars at any skill level (some courses have pre-requisites; students may petition for an exception by contacting info@summer.ucla.edu). Study alongside scholars, musicians and music industry professionals to expand upon your current skill set or follow your curiosity and explore something new.
SUMMER COURSES
2022
See All Summer Music Courses

Follow Your Curiosity
Summer Sessions begin June 21 & August 1.
Current matriculated UCLA students can enroll in summer academic courses beginning February 1 on MyUCLA.
ACADEMIC SUMMER COURSES AT A GLANCE
Courses Offered
29
GE-Approved Courses
11
Summer Sessions
2
Featured Summer Courses
Disco to Deadmau5: an exploration of politics and identity in electronic dance music
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How do Daft Punk, Deadmau5, and Steve Aoki relate to Margaret Thatcher, the Chicago White Sox and the Civil Rights Movement? This course aims to explore the intersection of electronic dance music and exploration of identity, gender, sexual-expression, politics and counter-culture. We will investigate electronic dance music’s roots in early Dub and Reggae through its many iterations, culminating in its meteoric success as a global sound; EDM.
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Music Around the World
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Overview of world's musical traditions by selecting one or two case studies from each of nine musical world regions: Pacific, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and U.S. and Canada.
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Cultural History of Rap
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Introduction to history and development of rap music and hip-hop culture.
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Understanding Movie Music
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Brief historical survey of film music, with a strong emphasis on recent development: Japanese animation, advertising, and MTV, as well as computer tools and digital scoring methods. Designed to inspire and inform those interested in movie music. Offered in summer only.
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Academic Courses Available for Current High School Students
Summer Sessions is a unique opportunity to advance your academic career. During the summer, many academic courses that make up UCLA’s regular curriculum are offered in two sessions, Session A and Session C. We hope you decide to join us for an academically, socially and culturally enriching experience!
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Summer Courses, Below:
Summer Courses, Below:
UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Summer Courses
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Advanced Music of China
Advanced performance of specializations in traditional vocal and instrumental music of China. May be repeated for credit without limitation.
ETHNMUS 168A
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: C. Li
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: C. Li
Advanced Music of India
Advanced performance of specializations in traditional vocal and instrumental music of India.
ETHNMUS 168F
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Kaushal
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Kaushal
Advanced Music of Persia
Advanced study of traditional vocal and instrumental world music of Persia.
ETHNMUS 161L
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: P. Hadadi
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: P. Hadadi
African American Music
Study and performance of gospel music, beginning with Afro-American spirituals, and including traditional and contemporary gospel.
ETHNMUS 161P
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: D. White-Clayton
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: D. White-Clayton
Audio Technology for Musicians I
This course will provide an introduction to basic acoustic principles, practical techniques, and working procedures for equipment used in contemporary music production, including microphones, mixers, recorders, synthesizers, and sequencers. Basic sound processing operations (equalization, compression, distortion, reverberation). Operating principles of most popular systems of music production software and hardware (Ableton Live, Apple Logic, Avid ProTools, etc.). No prior musical training is required to enroll. Letter grading.
MSC IND 107A
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: Shabibi
Summer Session C
Meets August 2-September 19, 2022
Instructor: Gonzalez
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: Shabibi
Summer Session C
Meets August 2-September 19, 2022
Instructor: Gonzalez
Beatles
In this course you will examine the life and music of The Beatles within the social and historical context of the 1960s. Credit for both courses 68 and 168 not allowed. Formerly numbered Music History 68. P/NP or letter grading.
MUSCLG 68
Summer Session C
Meets August 2-September 9, 2022
Instructor: Craven
Summer Session C
Meets August 2-September 9, 2022
Instructor: Craven
Beginning Guitar
Receive an introduction to guitar techniques, accompanying, and arranging for guitar; coverage of note reading and tablature. May be repeated for credit without limitation. P/NP or letter grading. Offered in summer only.
MUSC 80F
Summer Session A
Meets June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: B. Mayer
Summer Session C
Meets August 2-September 9, 2022
Instructor: B. Mayer
Summer Session A
Meets June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: B. Mayer
Summer Session C
Meets August 2-September 9, 2022
Instructor: B. Mayer
Beginning Keyboard
Students learn simple keyboard skills together with basic aspects of music theory and its practical application to keyboard: sight-reading, tonality, chords, scales, cadences, simple compositions, and improvisations. May be repeated for credit without limitation. P/NP or letter grading. Offered in summer only.
MUSC 80A
Summer Session A
Meets June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: S. Rezai
Summer Session C
Meets August 2 – September 9, 2022
Instructor: S. Rezai
Summer Session A
Meets June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: S. Rezai
Summer Session C
Meets August 2 – September 9, 2022
Instructor: S. Rezai
Cultural History of Rap
This course will introduce you to the development of rap music and hip-hop culture, with an emphasis on musical and verbal qualities, philosophical and political ideologies, gender representation, and influences on cinema and popular culture. Same as African American Studies M107. Fulfills the Visual and Performance Arts Analysis and Practice requirement. GE-approved course.
ETHNMUS M119
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: D. Story
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: D. Story
Disco to Deadmau5: an exploration of politics and identity in electronic dance music
How do Daft Punk, Deadmau5, and Steve Aoki relate to Margaret Thatcher, the Chicago White Sox and the Civil Rights Movement? This course aims to explore the intersection of electronic dance music and exploration of identity, gender, sexual-expression, politics and counter-culture. We will investigate electronic dance music’s roots in early Dub and Reggae through its many iterations, culminating in its meteoric success as a global sound; EDM. We will consider aesthetic shifts from early disco to techno, house and electro and their subsequent evolutions as they provide the soundtrack for cultural revolutions across the globe. Some of the topics we will examine include electronic dance music within the context of Anti-Thatcher sentiment in the UK, the Civil Rights Movement, counterculture during England’s Second Summer of Love, and anti-nationalist movements in 21st century Eastern Europe. Examining various tracks, physical media and events surrounding this genre of music, students will develop the skills to analyze music as an intricate organ within a living cultural ecosystem.
Music 188
Summer Session A
Meets June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Bonilla
Summer Session A
Meets June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Bonilla
Global Pop
In this course, you will explore the development of world music or world beat, including its meaning and importance to contemporary culture as well as its history and impact. Fulfills the Visual and Performance Arts Analysis and Practice requirement. GE-approved course.
ETHNMUS M25
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Norkey
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Norkey
History of Electronic Dance Music
In this course you will survey groove-based electrified dance music from its origins in 1960s pop and soul to present, covering disco, house, techno, ambient, rave and jungle. This course will emphasize the interaction of technology, musical structures, psychoactive drugs, and club cultures to induce altered states of musical consciousness; promise (versus the reality of) political and spiritual transformation; electronic dance music as new art music. Formerly numbered Music History 8. P/NP or letter grading. GE-approved course.
MUSCLG 8
Summer Session C
Meets August 2-September 9, 2022
Instructor: Hallenbeck
Summer Session C
Meets August 2-September 9, 2022
Instructor: Hallenbeck
History of Rock and Roll
In this course, you will analyze the forms, practices, and meanings of rock and roll music, broadly conceived, from its origin to the present. This course will include an emphasis on how this music has reflected and influenced changes in sexual, racial, and class identities and attitudes. Credit for both courses 5 and 185 not allowed. Formerly numbered Music History 5.
MUSCLG 5
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: Martinez
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: Martinez
Introduction to Songwriting
Learn and employ the craft of songwriting in this course. Students will examine, analyze, and implement song structure, lyric and melody writing, arranging, orchestrating and recording techniques. Students will also learn about the evolution of songwriting in modern society, as well as how songs and society both affect and reflect one another. No prior musical training is necessary to take this class, but you will be required to make music and perform at your level of ability. Formerly MSC IND 112. Letter grading.
MSC IND 112A
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 30, 2021
Instructor: Kuney
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 30, 2021
Instructor: Kuney
Songwriters Workshop
Workshop in contemporary songwriting practices for intermediate to advanced songwriter. Emphasis on collaboration, flexibility, and working within teams to master specific songwriting challenges. All genres and styles of music accommodated. Letter grading.
MSC IND 112B
Summer Session C
Meets August 2 - September 9, 2022
Instructor: N. Pasternak
Summer Session C
Meets August 2 - September 9, 2022
Instructor: N. Pasternak
Jazz in American Culture
Survey of the development of jazz music in American culture. Course M50A is not requisite to M50B. Fulfills the Visual and Performance Arts Analysis and Practice requirement. GE-approved course.
ETHNMUS M50A
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: O. Stuparitz
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: O. Stuparitz
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Perspectives in Pop Music
In this course, you will survey English-language popular music in the 20th century, with a focus on lesbians, gay men, and members of other sexual minorities as creators, performers, and audience members. Formerly Music History M137. Same as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies M137. Letter grading. GE-approved course.
MUSCLG M137
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: Rhodd Lee
Summer Session C
Meets August 2-September 9, 2022
Instructor: J. Ace
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: Rhodd Lee
Summer Session C
Meets August 2-September 9, 2022
Instructor: J. Ace
Music and Media
This course allows you to explore how music is mediated to people by industry, technologies and corporations. This course includes a survey of leading theorists of media and an exploration of case studies. Fulfills the Visual and Performance Arts Analysis and Practice requirement. GE-approved course.
ETHNMUS 30
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: O. Stuparitz
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: O. Stuparitz
Music and Film
History of music and cinema, particularly ways music is used to produce meanings in conjunction with visual image.
Formerly numbered Music History 7. Lecture, four hours; discussion, one hour. P/NP or letter grading. Credit for both courses 7 and 177 not allowed. GE-approved Course. MUSCLG 7
Summer Session C
Meets from August 2- September 9, 2022
Instructor: TBD
Summer Session C
Meets from August 2- September 9, 2022
Instructor: TBD
Music and Religion in Popular Culture
In this course, you will survey popular music in religious traditions since the 1970s. You will also examine the growth of music in Jewish denominations, including Orthodox, Reform and Conservative, and Christian contemporary music, from evangelical to cross-over artists performing in the mainstream.
ETHNMUS M73
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 39, 2022
Instructor: W. Yeung
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 39, 2022
Instructor: W. Yeung
Music Around the World
Overview of world's musical traditions by selecting one or two case studies from each of nine musical world regions: Pacific, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and U.S. and Canada.
ETHNMUS 5
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Rivera
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Rivera
Music Making, Digital Technologies, and Macroeconomics
An exploration of how technology and economics have effected music making and musicians historically, and how modern digital technologies have disrupted that economy and practice today, with an emphasis on what that means for the music-making of the future.
Music 188 (Special Topics)
Summer Session A
Meets June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: B. Phelps
Summer Session A
Meets June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: B. Phelps
Music of China
Performance of specializations in traditional vocal and instrumental music of China.
ETHNMUS 68A
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: C. Li
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: C. Li
Music of Latin America
In this course you will study traditional and contemporary musical culture in Latin America; Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean Isles. Course M108A is not requisite to 108B. Same as Chicana/o and Central American Studies M108A Fulfills the Visual and Performance Arts Analysis and Practice requirement. GE-approved course.
ETHNMUS M108A
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Rivera
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Rivera
Preparatory Music Theory
This course will discuss music fundamentals, including musicianship, theory and terminology. Letter grading.
MUSC 3
Summer Session C
Meets August 2 – September 9, 2022
Instructor: B. Phelps
Summer Session C
Meets August 2 – September 9, 2022
Instructor: B. Phelps
The Art of Listening
Acquisition of listening skills through direct interaction with live performance, performers, and composers. Relationship of listening to theoretical, analytical, historical, and cultural frameworks. Music as aesthetic experience and cultural practice.
MUSC 15
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: D. De Silva
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: D. De Silva
Songwriters on Songwriting
In this course, we will cover songwriting, arrangement and record production, music publishing, and the recording business in the 20th and 21st centuries. The class experience features in-depth interviews with music industry songwriting professionals who will demonstrate individual creative processes, discuss their paths to songwriting and their place in the world of music. Note: this course is not a workshop or tutorial on how to write songs. If that’s your goal, please check out Music Industry 112A.
MSC IND 55
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: D. Leaf
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: D. Leaf
Seminar in Music Industry
Introduction to intellectual and theoretical frameworks that form Music Industry minor and that scholars of music and music industries have developed to analyze, understand, and perhaps judge what happens out there, including how music business works in financial, legal, global, and artistic terms, how music technologies of recording, reproduction, and consumption operate, and how basic music science from acoustics to brain biology to music perception affects how music is produced and heard. Required of Music Industry minors. Letter grading.
MSC IND 101
Summer Session A
Meets from June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: Stein
Summer Session C
Meets from August 2 – September 9, 2022
Instructor: Gonzalez
Summer Session A
Meets from June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: Stein
Summer Session C
Meets from August 2 – September 9, 2022
Instructor: Gonzalez
The Art of Music Production
Explore techniques, methods, and processes of music production and larger issues in the art of making music. You will learn how to foster and capture performance and emotion in music using a variety of methods and tools, including artistic direction in studio and choices made in sound, arrangement, and application of technology. Letter grading.
MSC IND 115
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Moseley
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: A. Moseley
Understanding Movie Music
This course provides a brief historical survey of film music, with strong emphasis on recent development: Japanese animation, advertising, and MTV, as well as computer tools and digital scoring methods. This course is designed to inspire and inform those interested in movie music. P/NP or letter grading. Offered in summer only. Musical experience helpful, but not required.
MUSC 7
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: M. Guo
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: M. Guo
Vocal Technique for Beginners
This course provides voice instruction for singers at the beginner to intermediate level. You will explore the fundamentals of vocal technique, including an overview of the basics of proper breath control, resonance, care of voice, diction and interpretation. Beginning vocal repertoire will be used as a vehicle for understanding these concepts. May be repeated for credit without limitation. P/NP or letter grading. Offered in summer only.
MUSC 80V
Summer Session A
Meets June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: T. Franklin
Summer Session C
Meets August 2 – September 9, 2022
Instructor: J. Chamberlin
Summer Session A
Meets June 21 – July 29, 2022
Instructor: T. Franklin
Summer Session C
Meets August 2 – September 9, 2022
Instructor: J. Chamberlin
Writing about Music
In this course you will learn specific skills, incorporating technical description, historical contextualization, subjective reaction, and the certain stylistic conventions necessary in writing about music. Formerly numbered Music History 12W. Letter grading. Enforced requisite: English Composition 3 or 3H or English as a Second Language 36. Satisfies Writing II requirement.
MUSCLG 12W
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: Brunson, TBA
Summer Session C
Meets August 2 – September 9, 2022
Instructor: Fitzpatrick, Hugh Sam
Summer Session A
Meets June 21-July 29, 2022
Instructor: Brunson, TBA
Summer Session C
Meets August 2 – September 9, 2022
Instructor: Fitzpatrick, Hugh Sam
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