An examination of the significant trends and the major figures of American popular music from the eighteenth century to the present. The course will cover vocal and instrumental traditions from the British legacy of the eighteenth century, through the home, stage, and ballroom music of the nineteenth century, to the rise of Tin Pan Alley and Rock and Roll in the twentieth century. Emphasis will be placed not only on the composers, performers, and the music itself, but also on the social and cultural forces as they have related to America's popular traditions. Offered every spring