This course introduces students to selected musical sounds and practices from cultural groups around the world. Through exposure to distinct musical cultures, from traditional to transnational, students learn to define and apply musical concepts such as rhythm, timbre, melody, and form. The socio-cultural context and relevance of musical practices are also examined, touching on issues such as race, gender, embodied participation, technologies of production and circulation, and relationship to religion, the state, and other social structures.