Fundamentals of Western Music · Music
Two tests, final. Lots of extra credit. Very liberal with time limits on tests. You won't regret taking his class.
Fair amount of work. Lots of assignments but each can be completed quickly.
3 5-page papers, 3 listening quizzez(the songs are so great), final. Very doable and very enjoyable - not kidding
Very light homework (less than 30 minutes), and he only gives it out on occasion. A straightforward (and pretty easy) midterm and a straightforward (and slightly less easy) final.
The occasional homework assignment (reading just repeats class lecture but reading it and doing his suggested exercises was hugely helpful for internalizing the material). Two midterms, plus a final. Exactly what you'd expect on a test, no trick questions. If you study hard, or more importantly if you learn and memorize/understand the concepts he lays out, there is no reason not the excel in the class.
Several homework assignments (especially at the beginning of the semester). min. 3 hrs of music to KNOW for each exam + lots of vocab terms, BUT he gives you a review sheet that has all of the non-music that you need to know; midterm, final + 2 concerts + 1 opera... we didn't have to write a review on our concerts...
Extremely light workload (approx 20-30 mins of work per class), but difficult to do well on the examinations.
Workload: At least 4 quizzes. 2 Concert reports, a midterm and a final. With this said, he is never clear as to what he wants you to do. One example, during all my life I have understood extra credits to mean more than the actual total. not in his case. if a problem is graded 20/20. Extra credits means to him that 15/20 is the maximum points you can get and the 5 remaining points are the extra credits. Students even wrote a letter complaining about this teacher.
Professor Zimmerli is one of the best teachers I have had at Columbia. It's not every semester that you get to sing, listen to, and conduct music as part of your academic day. Having played an instrument before, I came into the class with a good understanding of music, however I believe that my classmates with less musical experience handled the workload just fine. He makes a point of calling on EVERYONE in the class to answer questions, write on the board, and count rhythms aloud, which generally kept everyone engaged and attentive, if nervous. That being said, in order to call on everyone, Zimmerli needed to learn everyone's name, which is pretty exceptional for an instructor in an introductory class. I've seen Prof. Zimmerli a couple of times outside class (once in Riverside Park decked out in his tennis gear) and he always stops to talk and see how everything is going...he is truly the nicest professor I've had at this school. His tests were not terribly challenging and covered exactly what he talked about in class. In addition to being a great teacher, he is also an amazing composer and musician. You should definitely check out some of his original works at http://www.myspace.com/patrickzimmerli
Professor McCoy is very passionate about the subject. However she is a bit frazzled. I still wait for 5 of the most heavily weighted assignments of mine to be graded and therefore have no idea where I stand in the class. Further she is contradictory. She asks to hear our voice shine in our papers and how we can’t interpret music wrong but will criticize and take needless points off when we, for example, take a different meaning from the music than what she intended. She’s also short tempered.