Fall 2026

Survey of the History of Western Music

Introduces the development of music in the European tradition prior to 1750.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Ilana Schroeder3.7/5Jordan Kowalski

Summary

1 / 7

The course involves significant reading and three to four essays, though quizzes and writing assignments are described as low pressure and engaging.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

MUSIC 122 and 172

MUSIC 211

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.50/5 from 2 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Ilana Schroeder is described as kind, accommodating, and a reasonable grader who cares about students. Reviewers note that while there is significant reading, the quizzes and writing assignments are low pressure and engaging.

Schroeder is praised as a fantastic lecturer who makes topics interesting. However, one reviewer reports that despite claims of no rubric, points are deducted if instructions are not followed precisely.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.57 GPA, 84.4% A/AB (n=45 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.67 GPA, 84.6% A/AB (n=39 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.53 GPA, 74.3% A/AB (n=70 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical review of David Crook describes engaging lectures with humor and clear history explanations. Success requires studying correctly and listening to the music. The reviewer rated the course highly and found it moderately difficult.

DAVID CROOK is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ILANA SCHROEDER is recorded teaching in Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction66 / 750
DIS 303Classroom Instruction21 / 220
DIS 304Classroom Instruction20 / 220
DIS 302Classroom Instruction21 / 220
DIS 305Classroom Instruction4 / 00

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Ilana Schroeder is a kind, engaging lecturer who makes topics interesting, though students should carefully follow essay instructions to avoid point deductions.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.57 GPA, 84.4% A/AB (n=45 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.67 GPA, 84.6% A/AB (n=39 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.53 GPA, 74.3% A/AB (n=70 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course involves significant reading and three to four essays, though quizzes and writing assignments are described as low pressure and engaging.

While the professor claims there is no rubric, reviewers note that points are docked if specific instructions are not explicitly mentioned in essays.

Topics

  • European music history before 1750

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.14 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1320 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
MUSIC 211 · Fall 2026

Survey of the History of Western Music

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:660:012949",
    "course_id": "MUSIC 211",
    "course_uid": "course_d6ebab6c9ef8cf269a4e8543",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "012949",
    "source_subject_id": "660",
    "title": "Survey of the History of Western Music",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "a0b9f14c8b72cf34605de1d45daca32a5eb2a9c602c2338119022582fae9fcc5",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}