Eidsheim and this class are one of a kind. I can say for certain that I would absolutely take this class again if I had the opportunity, especially since I had a helpful TA that made her lectures clearer. Everything in this class- the syllabus, daily assignments (both in class and at home) and readings, are online on a shared Google Drive that they make for you when the class starts. This is honestly super confusing at first (she makes you copy documents from one drive to another and format them with specific titles), but after about a week the Google Drive becomes your best friend and super easy to access.

DISCLAIMER: if you aren't pretty passionate about music or love listening to music, this class may seem super repetitive and may feel like busy work.

There are no tests, just lots of reading and writing that comprise pretty much all your homework and in class stuff. Eidsheim is super accessible with office hours and wants to help you truly understand the assignments and reading. This class is totally a hidden gem, and a great way to knock out both a music history class and your Writing II. Easy A or B if you are consistent with your homework and if you go to class and communicate with your TA.

This class consists of a few reading logs showing that you've done the reading, a solo paper (broken up into three parts) and a group paper which uses pieces of your cumulative solo paper. This class is fairly easy if you can just keep up and stay involved. You don't need to know anything about music to take this class, as it's focused on being a music listener and not someone that plays music.

Nina is incredibly passionate about her students and I can't think of any other professor that is as involved or engaged in making sure their students understand the material. I loved how she personally looks over everyone's work and starts off many lectures with a bright smile. She's always incredibly encouraging and at times she sounded more like a life coach than a professor.

I only wish she was more organized in her presentations and was more clear in communicating her expectations. I often was unsure of what I was supposed to achieve with an assignment and guessed at what I thought was correct.

However, this class was invaluable in learning how to become a better writer. This class built my writing skills in an environment that was positive and encouraging, and I can't ask for much more than that. If you're looking to develop your writing ability in a positive environment, this class is for you. I would definitely recommend this class for a Writing II or a GE and wouldn't mind taking it again.

I took Music History 5 (History of Rock and Roll). Her accent is horrible, it's nearly impossible to understand her, especially since every other word she says is "EM..." Her online quizzes are ridiculously easy, since you can take each one 3 times, and most of them tell you which ones you get wrong after each try. The online discussions are a pain in the butt because she requires two a week, so it's very easy to forget. The midterm and final are multiple choice, and the questions are verbatim from the online quizzes. To study for these tests, all you need to do is memorize the online quizzes. Between that and the extra credit, this class is pretty much a guaranteed A.

Fall 08. Music History 5: History or Rock and Roll. Eidsheim's accent is rather impossible at times. Most of my notes are filled with mispellings because of her mispronounciations. As a person, she is very kind and easy to approach. As a professor, there is quite a bit to be desired. Admittedly, it was her first time teaching the course, so perhaps she will get better. The course is, as stated by other reviews, an easy A. It may not seem that way at first, with the ridiculous amounts of readings and online discussions, but it is. Looking back, I am glad to have taken the course even though I dreaded each class during the quarter. Perhaps the saving grace of the class was the fact that Eidshiem brought in guest lecturers and live performers for many of the lectures. With the very generous extra credit offerings and awesome exam curves, an A or A+ is easily in reach.

I took Music History 5 with Professor Eidsheim. The class is incredibly easy, definitely a GE to look into. Eidsheim isn't a terrible lecturer, her accent is somewhat difficult to wrap your head around but she was a really nice lady. Guest speakers were interesting as well, and overall, the class really gave me a greater interest in rock music and I expanded my iTunes library by a lot. The textbook (American Popular Music) is unnecessary.

On the other hand, I would watch out for TA Sam Baltimore. He'll talk about you on his blog and criticize your poor (or overly amazing) writing ability (I did not have him, but I have firsthand knowledge of this occurring). Other TA's seemed chill, Alexandra was cool, although I had little interaction with her.

MUSIC HIST. 5: History of Rock and Roll

Professor Eidsheim was a pretty mediocre lecturer. Her accent was certainly entertaining, but she seemed uninformed on a lot of what she was presenting. I got the feeling that Rock and Roll was not her forte, as she often mixed up artists, etc., and had to change them the next lecture because students had emailed her with corrections. She held office hours, but normally there were about 10 people standing in line, so it was hard to talk to her. Her tests were challenging, but if you review the quizzes you're guaranteed at least a C on the midterm and final. Extra Credit counted for 8% of our grade, which was a little bit ridiculous for a school of UCLA's caliber in my opinion. My TA was good, and the workload was pretty light but there was a decent amount of reading, which, in retrospect, was unnecessary anyway. Hopefully you don't get Sam Baltimore as a TA; he goes off on tangents about sexual orientation in society at times when it's just completely unnecessary.

If you show up, you won't get anything lower than a B+; minor work probably an A-, and moderate studying will get you an A or A+

MUSIC HISTORY 5

Dude, this class was so easy. She assigns readings but don't read them unless it is for the final. Memorize online quizzes. Online discussions are super duper easy. Online quizzes were easy. Study online quizzes for midterm.

EC is 10% of grade.
that means if you have an 80, you can get a 90 with EC. and it is easy. so basically you can go from a B- to an A-.

--Music History 5: History of Rock n' Roll--

I don't understand why people are complaining. Its the perfect GE to take, especially if you are a non-music major. To get a good grade all you have to do is put in some effort. It does require some reading, but if you want to skip that just go to her office hours. Ask her any question on the quiz and she'll give you the answer. She is a great professor and cares about what she teaches. Her accent is heavy but understandable. All the TA's are great except Alexandra, stay away from her section. This is the PERFECT GE course. Take it for a breezy quarter!

***MUSIC HISTORY 5***

This was the most bullshit class ever. Apparently she found out how easy her students thought the class was, so she decided to make it harder. She assigns readings, but I never read a single chapter. She assigns weekly quizzes, which you could take 3 times and the best score counts, but the quizzes are ridiculous. Not only are the questions not related to the book, but they focus on minute details from lecture, and some are so vague that you can't decide. Also, most answer are "pick at least one answer" or "a & b" or "b & c", just to throw you off.

Also, she makes attending discussion mandatory, since 20% of your grade is participation (2 pts per week). Discussion wasn't so bad. Make sure to get Hyun as a TA, she was awesome.

Also, she lectures a LOT on pre-1955 rock history, and totally skims over the important decades of the 60s and 70s. She basically lectures on what she likes (and her taste is horrible), and goes to punk and gruge in week 8. Her accent is wierd, sense of humor sucks, and lectures are boring and very incoherent.

The only good things about this class were the online midterm and final, where you can pretty much get a group in a lounge and take the midterm together and get almost 100%.

3 pts extra credit are offered. 90-93 is an A-, so make sure to do that extra credit.

*****MUSIC HISTORY 5, NOT MUSICOLOGY 599*****

Okay, seriously, this class was ridiculously easy. People like the person below me are only complaining because the class was not a complete walk in the park for them. Seriously, complaining about having to go to section? Heaven forbid you actually have to go to section.

But really, the professor assigns readings that take about an hour and a half a week, if you're a slow reader like me. I never read over them more then once. I got anywhere from B+'s to A+'s on the weekly quizzes, which you're allowed to take 3 times with only your best grade counted. With minimal studying (just reading the online outlines and memorizing the quiz questions), I got a 90 on the midterm and a 98 on the final, and got an A+ in the class, indicating that the professor did bump up the grades just a little.

Honestly, the workload in this class is super manageable. an hour and a half of reading a week, and maybe an hour or two on quizzes per week. But, the way I see it, the quizzes are your way of studying for exams, since two thirds of the questions (exactly) are on the final and midterm, and you won't need to do any extra studying for the exams.

If you're looking for an easy A, or want to learn more about the history of rock and roll, take this class. But, don't expect to just never show up to lecture or discussion and still get an A. If you're not going to have an open mind, don't take the class, simple as that. I was so annoyed with students complaining about things like the "quizzes having questions from lecture" or "having to actually go to section". Seriously, it's UCLA. I know it's a GE course, but let's not come crying to bruinwalk just because we put no work in and didn't get an A.