Columbia College Core · Columbia University
To sum up the class in one word: frustrating. I came into Music Hum with a mixed core experience: I've had some really hard teachers that were great nonetheless, and others who were not so great but were less demanding and relatively easy graders. I figured that Toby would be one or the other. I was wrong. First, let me say that "oh, he's just a grad student" is no excuse. In high school all of my teachers were either getting their masters or had their masters and were competent in teaching thirty-two students. Music Hum is - for all intents and purposes - no different than a high school class in the sense that you only reference one book (Listen). Yet Toby could not teach seventeen students. The greatest flaws in his teaching were attendance and lack of preparedness. On the original syllabus he wrote that missing or coming late to classes would result in a lower grade. Somehow, he didn't apply this to himself. During the course of the semester, Toby failed to attend four classes - and only once gave ample notice of his absence. As a result, the syllabus got really messed up, and he promised to write out a new one while giving us day-to-day assignments for the time being. He then stopped giving us daily assignments but never gave us a new syllabus. He originally also said that he would just add classes during study week. Since he couldn't really add 4 classes during a 2 day we…
If you're looking for a laid-back music-hum class, Toby's is a good choice. Toby is very knowledgable about the material and makes class discussions very comfortable. I don't really know what I was looking for in the class but I ended up really enjoying it - and also learning a good amount about music. Despite having to make the 9 am class, overall Toby was a great teacher. If you can get in his class, go for it.
He's a nice guy, and sometimes makes funny references. That's about the only good thing I can say about him. He missed a bunch of classes... once he didn't give us any warning, once he e-mailed us cancelling after 1am. While that may not be a big deal if the class wasn't at 9am, it was a pain when you'd wake up early (esp if you didn't check your email late at night) for class only to find out it was cancelled. As a result, the syllabus got very messed up and he never made amends to it as he promised. He usually came in late and somewhat unprepared. I felt like I learned nothing in the class, and he was pretty merciless when he came to telling us what we needed to know for the midterm. In addition, he basically gave us his Spring 2002 midterm, when the class was 2 hours long, not 1:15 and we ran out of time when it came to the essay section. He also repeatedly walked out during the midterm which was really unhelpful. Maybe he was good a few years ago, but he clearly did not have the time & didn't make the effort for our class, and it really screwed over our section.
Toby is good instructor overall that is hampered by the poor materials that the Music Hum. course is taught with. He tries to be accessible to students and is pretty funny at times. The learning experience probably varies with your own personal background in music. You will probably meet some people completely unfamiliar with anything he says, and others who dominate the material (this writer included ^_^ ).
What a great professor! He's very knowledgeable, funny, and makes music a fascinating study. I enjoyed that he was down to earth and focused more on the periods of music we were studying than memorizing smaller details. Class lectures are well-prepared, moving more towards student interaction and participation as class moves forward, which can be challenging. Highly recommended.
2 concert reports - make a bluegrass reference and you'll do fine, midterm, final. Nightly reading/listening assignments (sometimes with a written component) although we only had 2 written components all semester and our reading assignments were all off once he missed classes. (Although we were responsible for all of the material minus Jazz on the final).
2 concert reports (1 concert has to be free) ~5-7 pages... not too easily graded although it's possible to get an A. Midterm (about 6 people got in the 90s). Final. Listening exercises which were supposed to go on every week, ended up getting 2 in September and that's it. Daily assignments when he'd assign them (he thought we could read his mind).
A few listening excersizes, Concert Paper, Midterm, Final
Moderate to Full. Normal listening exercises. Tests require Music ID's and some mystery identifications. One essay.