American Popular Music
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this survey of popular music in the United States over the last two hundred years, tracing how immigration and ethnic mixing shaped genres from minstrelsy and ragtime through jazz, blues, country, rock, and hip hop. The course sets each style in its historical and sociological context, looking at how migration, technology, and the music industry itself pushed styles to change and cross-pollinate. Students build a working vocabulary for describing rhythm, form, and instrumentation so they can talk about a song's style with some precision rather than just liking or disliking it. Materials include the syllabus, lecture outlines, listening assignments, and readings drawn from historical and musicological sources, all free to access through MIT's OpenCourseWare platform. There is no certificate, since OCW publishes course materials for self-study rather than as a credentialed program.