Overview
In this unit you will study the popular music styles that have emerged from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century. You will examine the role of prominent performers, composers, lyricists, and music producers in the development of these styles. You will also explore the social, political and technological events that have shaped popular music styles through this period. Your studies will give particular attention to the study and analysis of primary source materials in the form of musical analysis of the musical forms relevant to the style.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student Evaluations
Update YouTube videos.
Remove all broken video links and continue to update YouTube sources, providing better quality videos (where possible) and relevance.
Feedback from Student Evaluations
Promote inclusivity.
Review content to ensure there is more female and bipoc representation in each topic covered.
- Identify the stylistic features of popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Describe the influence of prominent performers, composers, lyricists and producers in the development of popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Discuss the social, political and technological events that shaped popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Analyse the structure and musical style of selected popular music compositions from the 19th century through to the early 21st century.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Annotated bibliography - 25% | ||||
| 2 - Essay - 35% | ||||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) - 40% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - First Nations Knowledges | ||||
| 11 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |
| 1 - Annotated bibliography - 25% | |||||||||||
| 2 - Essay - 35% | |||||||||||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) - 40% | |||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Microsoft Office
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.rozekrans@cqu.edu.au
e.blackler@cqu.edu.au
Week 1
Begin Date: 09 Mar 2026Module/Topic
Introduction to MUSC11411
Topic 1: Early jazz to the end of the 1920s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 2
Begin Date: 16 Mar 2026Module/Topic
Topic 1 (cont): Early jazz to the end of the 1920s
Topic 2: Theatre music to the end of the 1920s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 3
Begin Date: 23 Mar 2026Module/Topic
Topic 2: Theatre music to the end of the 1920s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 4
Begin Date: 30 Mar 2026Module/Topic
Topic 3: The 1930s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 5
Begin Date: 06 Apr 2026Module/Topic
Topic 4: The 1940s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 6
Begin Date: 13 Apr 2026Module/Topic
Topic 5: The 1950s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Annotated Bibliography Due
Friday 25th April, 11:45pm
Annotated Bibliography Due: Week 6 Tuesday (14 Apr 2026) 11:45 pm AEST
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 20 Apr 2026Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 7
Begin Date: 27 Apr 2026Module/Topic
Topic 6: The 1960s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 8
Begin Date: 04 May 2026Module/Topic
Topic 6: The 1960s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 9
Begin Date: 11 May 2026Module/Topic
Topic 7: The 1970s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 10
Begin Date: 18 May 2026Module/Topic
Topic 7: The 1970s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Research Essay Due
Monday 23rd May, 11:45pm
Research Essay Due: Week 10 Tuesday (19 May 2026) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 11
Begin Date: 25 May 2026Module/Topic
Topic 8: The 1980s
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 12
Begin Date: 01 Jun 2026Module/Topic
Topic 9: The 1990s to the present day
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Exam Week
Begin Date: 08 Jun 2026Module/Topic
Online Moodle Exam
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Music Exam:
Monday 15th June, 9:00am (Open)
Tuesday 16th June, 9:00am (Closes)
Vacation/Exam Week
Begin Date: 15 Jun 2026Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Annotated bibliography
Length: 1200 - 1500 words
Task:
Prepare an annotated bibliography based on one of Assessment 2's essay topics. Your annotated bibliography should comprise of 12 different sources, consisting of:
1. Four books (these can be hard copy, online books or e-books)
2. Two articles from Oxford Music Online (this database can be accessed through the CQUniversity library - you must be signed in to gain full access)
3. Two articles from Rock's Back Pages (this database can be accessed through the CQUniversity library - you must be signed in to gain full access)
4. Four academic journal articles (these can be accessed through the CQUniversity library - you must be signed in to gain full access)
Further information on how to compile an Annotated Bibliography, as well as an exemplar of an annotation can be found on the Moodle website for this unit.
Presentation:
- Submit your assignment online as a Word document.
- Use size 12 Times New Roman Font
- Double line spacing throughout
- Arrange annotations in groupings
- four books
- two articles from Oxford Music Online
- two articles from Rock's Back Pages
- four academic journal articles
- Include your name and student number in the header of the document
- Include page numbers in the footer of the document
AI Assessment Scale: Level 2 - You may use AI for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas. Any misuse or lack of disclosure regarding AI tools will be considered a breach of academic integrity.
Please note: The 72-Hour grace period applies to Assessment 1 - Annotated Bibliography. If you need longer than 72 hours, you'll still need to use the normal Assessment Extension System process.
Week 6 Tuesday (14 Apr 2026) 11:45 pm AEST
Submit via Moodle.
Week 8 Friday (8 May 2026)
Results and feedback will be on Moodle.
- Correct number and type of annotations (10%)
- Correct presentation of each reference in APA style, 7th edition (20%)
- Appropriate length of each annotation (10%)
- Appropriate depth for each annotation (60%)
- Identify the stylistic features of popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Describe the influence of prominent performers, composers, lyricists and producers in the development of popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Discuss the social, political and technological events that shaped popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Communication
- Information Literacy
2 Essay
Length: 2000 - 2500 words
The word count is considered from the first word of the introduction to the last word of the conclusion. It excludes the cover page, abstract, contents pages, reference page and appendices. It includes in-text references and direct quotations.
Task: Choose one of the following essay topics and complete an essay using the guidelines shown below:
· Investigate the origins of The Great American Songbook and its influence on popular music throughout the 20th century up to the present day. As part of your discussion include an analysis five songs by different composers/lyricists, looking at their musical structure, the style and content of the lyrics as well as their performance/recording history up to the present day. For each song that you discuss, find an appropriate performance of this song on YouTube and include the URL for these songs in the body of your assignment and also include in the Reference List.
· Investigate the characteristics of movie musicals from the early 1930s to the present day. Choose five different landmark movie musicals from early 1930s to the present day. Focus only on musicals that were first written for film, and not musicals that started as a stage version. Do not include animated musicals in your discussion. Discuss why you would consider these musicals to be landmark musicals. Discuss the contribution from the directors, composers, lyricists, choreographers, producers and star performers. Discuss the technology and cinematography that has contributed to their success. For each movie musical that you discuss, find appropriate YouTube clips to support your discussion. Include the URL for these clips in the body of your assignment and also include in the Reference List.
· Investigate the origins and development of soul music from the 1950s through to the present day. Discuss important artists, the related recording studios and the early distribution of this style of music through radio and television. Also discuss the role of soul music in the Civil Rights movement in America. Include an analysis of five songs by different artists by commenting on the musical style, content of the lyrics, the performance history/recording history, as well as the contribution of the composers, lyricists and producers of these songs. For each song that you discuss, find an appropriate performance of this song on YouTube and include the URL for these songs in the body of your assignment and also include in the Reference List.
· Investigate the influence of the blues on the development of rock and roll in the late 20th century by providing an overview of blues-based music and influential artists/bands from the 1950s to the end of the 20th century. Choose one blues-based song from each decade: the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and discuss how each artist/band has interpreted the blues form in this song, how they have made use of various instruments and voices, the way improvisation is incorporated and how it is similar or different to the traditional blues forms of the early 20th century. For each song that you discuss, find an appropriate performance of this song on YouTube and include the URL for these songs in the body of your assignment and also include in the Reference List.
· One characteristic of the progressive rock genre that emerged in the late 1960s, was the concept album. In this topic, you are to investigate the development of the concept album with reference to at least five different albums by different artists/bands. For every album you discuss, you will need to make reference to the artwork and specific songs/tracks, in order to demonstrate how the artists used instrumentation, stylistic choices, and technology afforded by the recording studio, to convey their chosen theme of the album. Include appropriate images and links to recordings to support you research and include within the in-text referencing and Reference List.
Assignment Presentation:
- Use size 12 Times New Roman font for the body of the essay.
- Double line spacing throughout.
- You may use subheadings to organise your assignment. These may be in a different colour or different size font.
- Include in-text references (citations) throughout the assignment.
- Include a Reference List at the end of the assignment in APA style, 7th edition.
- You should have a minimum of 15 references for this assignment.
- Do NOT cite from Wikipedia or other websites that do not have an acknowledged author.
- Include in your reference list all music scores used, CD and DVD recordings, YouTube sources, books, academic journal articles, articles from Oxford Music Online and Rocks Back Pages.
AI Assessment Scale: Level 2 - You may use AI for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas. Any misuse or lack of disclosure regarding AI tools will be considered a breach of academic integrity.
Please note: The 72-Hour grace period applies to Assessment 2 - Research Essay. If you need longer than 72 hours, you'll still need to use the normal Assessment Extension System process.
Week 10 Tuesday (19 May 2026) 11:45 pm AEST
Submit via Moodle.
Week 12 Friday (5 June 2026)
Results and feedback will be available via Moodle.
- Clear introduction and conclusion (10%)
- Accuracy of information and depth of treatment of the topic (25%)
- Detailed discussion on the music and lyrics of the music examples provided (25%)
- Ability to write clearly and logically (15%)
- Correct spelling, grammar, punctuation and clear lay-out (10%)
- Correct use of APA 7th ed. style for the in-text referencing and reference list and quality of references used(15%)
- Identify the stylistic features of popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Describe the influence of prominent performers, composers, lyricists and producers in the development of popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Discuss the social, political and technological events that shaped popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Analyse the structure and musical style of selected popular music compositions from the 19th century through to the early 21st century.
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
3 In-class Test(s)
Complete an online exam on Moodle with short-answer responses. This will be based on the learning materials presented in each of the topics in this unit.
Vacation/Exam Week Tuesday (16 June 2026) 9:00 am AEST
Exam will be open to complete 24hrs prior (LIVE: Mon 15 June at 9am AEST)
Vacation/Exam Week Friday (19 June 2026)
Results via Moodle.
- Accuracy of information for each response
- Depth of treatment of each response
- Identify the stylistic features of popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Describe the influence of prominent performers, composers, lyricists and producers in the development of popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Discuss the social, political and technological events that shaped popular music styles from the late 19th century through to the early 21st century
- Analyse the structure and musical style of selected popular music compositions from the 19th century through to the early 21st century.
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
