Dr. Katz is honestly one of the nicest professors I've met so far. Not a music major, but his classes are engaging, entertaining, and although there are weekly writing assignments, the prompts are fairly thought-provoking. Class is enjoyable and is honestly a nice break from my other classes.

Professor Katz is a great instructor for this course. You can tell he is really passionate about this class and is very accessible for feedback. He's just a really nice guy and wants everyone in this class to do well.

Everyone on here is full of it! Katz is definitely a nice guy but his lectures are so confusing with lots of strung out information. The listening quizzes aren't too bad but the midterm/final essays were nonsense. It's an interesting class if you want to learn about composers but other than that I had no idea what was going on most of the time.

Dr. Katz is by far my favorite professor at this school. He is the biggest music history nerd on the planet and has a lot of cool stories. Definitely pay attention during lecture and take super detailed notes!!! He doesn't grade anything personally, so grading depends on your TA, but include the stuff he talks about in essays and youll be fine.

Easy for a student with prior music experience, but a tough class for someone with none. Overall, the class is pretty straightforward. I had a great TA who was very accessible outside of class. Attendance is mandatory and is graded for both lectures and sections which can help boost your grade. Weekly assignments which are relevant to lecture.

This professor is so nice but the lectures are mandatory and insufferable. I did choir all of high school and can read music and I was literally lost in this class. Attendance is worth some of your grade, and there is a ton of homework. Spare yourself and take Music 15 instead.

This is the second course I've had with Professor Jurkowski. His classes are very easy and he wants you to succeed. I recommend his courses for GEs, even if the lectures can be boring at times.

Music 1 was a P/NP course for 1 unit so a lot of conventional things don't apply here. The entire class was an 1 hour lecture before a concert, but the lecture was incredibly informative and it really impacted my experience at the concert in a positive way. It relies in no way on music theory, and the paper afterwards was a simple reflection.

Professor Katz's class was my favorite class to attend last quarter. He is so passionate about his subject and his classes are a joy to attend after my other classes beat what little stuffing I had left in my brain. The workload is very manageable too and not harsh on grading at all.

Fun class, a few readings and discussions. Sometimes he brings in guest speakers or musical groups on campus. Weekly short responses that are graded complete/incomplete, then longer ones (2 pages double spaced) that are graded. Very informative and easy course.

Very low coursework and overall enjoyable GE. Not a very clear grading scale, the only items letter graded are 3 short papers (650 words) that are graded by the TA. My TA graded generously. Lectures can be quite boring at times.

Prof. Katz is the best! His lectures (especially those on patronage) were mind-blowing. He's also the best at getting students to participate without making it awkward when nobody wants to. He makes a big effort to know his students; he knew many students' names from week 1! The workload is light, and the grading system is perfectly reasonable.

It's such a fun class and super easy too. I had a great TA and we only had 3 short papers for the entire class. 10/10

he is sooooo hot

Dr. Katz is an amazing professor. He makes the class interesting and manageable. There is no final, and the class is graded by 3 papers and weekly discussions. The TA's are all so passionate and want to help students succeed. The class is an amazing Gen Ed, and everyone should take it. They bring in performers, and student go to a concert.

Very accessible outside of class and very approachable. Just not a very helpful professor, assigns a lot of homework as if we don't have other courses we are taking, and then grades very harshly on it. Doesn't post any lectures, so if you miss class your are simply screwed. Just overall doesn't give you the tools you need to succeed normally.

Really easy class. Said in the syllabus that attendance was required but I never went to class once and got an A. All you have to do is take an online weekly 5 question quiz and alternate between a 300 word and 600 word response based on the weekly reading. The weekly reading is short and discussed in section too, sort of interesting, good GE.

Interesting lectures if you're interested in musical history at all! It doesn't stay on like 18th century guys the whole time, gets real interesting when it gets to the 20th century. Professor is enthusiastic and his lectures are great. Lots of short/informal papers.

No Final/Midterm Exam! Just a big paper to be honest. Material in class was interesting as we worked through many time periods and many styles of music from different regions of the world. He made class very interesting and constantly tried switching it up all the way from guest speakers, to guest performers. Super sweet!

I cannot express how much I LOVE this man. Dr. Jurkowski is extremely knowledgeable about this subject and very passionate as well. The beginning of the class can seem a little bit slow (especially if you have prior experience with music) but is very interesting towards the end. Easiest class I've ever taken at UCSB, def recommend for ur arts cred!

Passionate professor. Pretentious, but actually very knowledgeable of his field and of the history of music. He would sometimes get heated during lectures, but in general, he is very understanding. There is a written assignment every week, but most of them are easy and can be completed in an hour for with little effort. I recommend this class.

Jurkowski definitely takes pride in what he teaches, but his class has a heavier workload than what I was expecting. The work itself isn't particularly hard, but I've done more writing for this class than I've done for ENG10 and PHIL1 combined. Definitely takes up a good chunk of time, so if you're looking for a light and east GE, this isn't it

This is a very easy GE! The professor is really nice and sometimes there are in-lecture performances. There is also a weekly writing assignment, but it is totally doable as long as you go to lecture.

His lectures were pretty boring to me but he is very pleasant person and is clearly passionate about his teaching. There are writing assignments that you have to do every week but they're really easy and fast. The papers that make up your whole grade are two pages double spaced and don't take long at all. Can't recommend more for a GE.