Professor
M Tramo
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - This class definitely has upsides and downsides. On the ups - it's an easy A as long as you show up and put a small amount of effort in. The TAs were SUPER lenient with grading, it was split between attendance/participation, homework sets, and a final paper. The homework sets are from the textbook and super straightforward. As someone who learned zero (0) things from the class, I still had no trouble faking my way through the homework lol. Downsides - Professor Tramo was really brutal in my opinion. He is completely disorganized, he would frequently send out homework a few days before it was due at random (sometimes on a Monday due Thursday, other times on a Friday due Tuesday morning - very inconsistent). There's no assigned reading or assignment schedule included in the syllabus, so it really felt to me like he was making it up as we went. And, it made it a pain to do homework only when he assigned it, I found myself annoyed with not knowing when I would need to dedicate time to this class. Attendance is also mandatory. He does not record lectures. He does not post slides. He is VERY strict about this and I found that to be extremely frustrating (especially during COVID). I actually had to leave town for a death in the family and he refused to give me the slides from the class I missed and made me send "proof" of my family emergency to get credit. I found this to be insensitive... I understand he needs to do due diligence and make sure I'm not lying, but he went about it in an extremely rude. Prof. Tramo is also so unclear. I would go to lecture and literally not write a single thing down because I didn't even know what he was talking about or what to take notes on. You can get an A in this class without listening to a single lecture (because the final paper is based on a topic of your choosing, very broad), BUT you have to be there anyway so I really just felt like I was wasting my own time by taking this class... But we did have some dope guest professors (like the guy who did surgery on John Mayer's vocal cords, etc.) and that was entertaining. All in all it isn't horrible and is a good GE to take especially if you aren't looking for heavy science concepts, but be prepared to be frustrated/annoyed.
Spring 2021 - This class definitely has upsides and downsides. On the ups - it's an easy A as long as you show up and put a small amount of effort in. The TAs were SUPER lenient with grading, it was split between attendance/participation, homework sets, and a final paper. The homework sets are from the textbook and super straightforward. As someone who learned zero (0) things from the class, I still had no trouble faking my way through the homework lol. Downsides - Professor Tramo was really brutal in my opinion. He is completely disorganized, he would frequently send out homework a few days before it was due at random (sometimes on a Monday due Thursday, other times on a Friday due Tuesday morning - very inconsistent). There's no assigned reading or assignment schedule included in the syllabus, so it really felt to me like he was making it up as we went. And, it made it a pain to do homework only when he assigned it, I found myself annoyed with not knowing when I would need to dedicate time to this class. Attendance is also mandatory. He does not record lectures. He does not post slides. He is VERY strict about this and I found that to be extremely frustrating (especially during COVID). I actually had to leave town for a death in the family and he refused to give me the slides from the class I missed and made me send "proof" of my family emergency to get credit. I found this to be insensitive... I understand he needs to do due diligence and make sure I'm not lying, but he went about it in an extremely rude. Prof. Tramo is also so unclear. I would go to lecture and literally not write a single thing down because I didn't even know what he was talking about or what to take notes on. You can get an A in this class without listening to a single lecture (because the final paper is based on a topic of your choosing, very broad), BUT you have to be there anyway so I really just felt like I was wasting my own time by taking this class... But we did have some dope guest professors (like the guy who did surgery on John Mayer's vocal cords, etc.) and that was entertaining. All in all it isn't horrible and is a good GE to take especially if you aren't looking for heavy science concepts, but be prepared to be frustrated/annoyed.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2017 - NOTE: a background in music theory does help in understanding some concepts for class but isn't completely necessary Dr. Tramo is a pretty fun professor to have, can go on and on on tangents occasionally but for one seminar a week it isnt bad. Dr. tramo likes to bring in professionals from the industry which make lectures fairly interesting, and the majority of the class involves reviewing studies on the cognition of all aspects of music from rhythm and pitch all the way to creativity. Exam was not difficult (he usually gives question/answers out during the seminars)
Spring 2017 - NOTE: a background in music theory does help in understanding some concepts for class but isn't completely necessary Dr. Tramo is a pretty fun professor to have, can go on and on on tangents occasionally but for one seminar a week it isnt bad. Dr. tramo likes to bring in professionals from the industry which make lectures fairly interesting, and the majority of the class involves reviewing studies on the cognition of all aspects of music from rhythm and pitch all the way to creativity. Exam was not difficult (he usually gives question/answers out during the seminars)
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Tramo is the worst professor ever. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! It sounds interesting, yes????? BUT SOMEHOW IT'S NOT. HE SOMEHOW MANAGES TO MAKE IT AWFUL. It's a 3 hour seminar 630-930 on a Thursday and he ALWAYS goes over, completely ignores the syllabus and rambles about the Beatles incoherently for hours. I would do anything to go back in time and not take this class.
Fall 2020 - Tramo is the worst professor ever. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! It sounds interesting, yes????? BUT SOMEHOW IT'S NOT. HE SOMEHOW MANAGES TO MAKE IT AWFUL. It's a 3 hour seminar 630-930 on a Thursday and he ALWAYS goes over, completely ignores the syllabus and rambles about the Beatles incoherently for hours. I would do anything to go back in time and not take this class.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - This is for the music and the brain seminar for Cluster 73. Tramo is terrible – he did not have a syllabus until week 6, never created slides, and he didn't know the class was a writing 2 course. This class was supposed to be seminar style, but instead he lectured for three hours straight every day. Usually the lectures were about how great he was (once he mentioned that he went to Harvard 14 times in 30 minutes). He's more interested in telling first years how great he is as opposed to actually teaching them. This guy is smart, he just doesn't know (or doesn't want to ) teach. I can't stress this enough – do. not. take. this. class. No matter what requirement you need filled, no matter how interesting it sounds, don't do it. You will hate yourself if you take this class.
Spring 2019 - This is for the music and the brain seminar for Cluster 73. Tramo is terrible – he did not have a syllabus until week 6, never created slides, and he didn't know the class was a writing 2 course. This class was supposed to be seminar style, but instead he lectured for three hours straight every day. Usually the lectures were about how great he was (once he mentioned that he went to Harvard 14 times in 30 minutes). He's more interested in telling first years how great he is as opposed to actually teaching them. This guy is smart, he just doesn't know (or doesn't want to ) teach. I can't stress this enough – do. not. take. this. class. No matter what requirement you need filled, no matter how interesting it sounds, don't do it. You will hate yourself if you take this class.
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Most Helpful Review
Music Industry 103 Ditto the person below me. The syllabus description seemed cool and the professor seemed to know his shit at the beginning. Turns out there is no rhyme or reason to his teachings, the lectures are long and boring. The man just likes to hear himself drone on and on. Additionally: warning to all students interested in this class. You may think its an "easy A". There is a cost. He is rude, inappropriate, abuser of his power, hostile, and totally unprofessional. He has publicly shamed students in the classroom for "not looking at him" when he speaks. And when I asked for a grade breakdown so I could know what I got on the final and the presentation, he sent an email back accusing me of being too interested in my grade (well he used worse words than that) and refused to tell me... What the actual fuck? Is it against the law to know your grade? I took this up with the Dean of Students and the department chair. UCLA is great but the bureacratic nonsense is bullshit. Nobody could do anything to discipline him, nor investigate on my behalf. Bullshit class with a fucked up man who will abuse his power if you appear to "challenge" him. Consider yourselves warned.
Music Industry 103 Ditto the person below me. The syllabus description seemed cool and the professor seemed to know his shit at the beginning. Turns out there is no rhyme or reason to his teachings, the lectures are long and boring. The man just likes to hear himself drone on and on. Additionally: warning to all students interested in this class. You may think its an "easy A". There is a cost. He is rude, inappropriate, abuser of his power, hostile, and totally unprofessional. He has publicly shamed students in the classroom for "not looking at him" when he speaks. And when I asked for a grade breakdown so I could know what I got on the final and the presentation, he sent an email back accusing me of being too interested in my grade (well he used worse words than that) and refused to tell me... What the actual fuck? Is it against the law to know your grade? I took this up with the Dean of Students and the department chair. UCLA is great but the bureacratic nonsense is bullshit. Nobody could do anything to discipline him, nor investigate on my behalf. Bullshit class with a fucked up man who will abuse his power if you appear to "challenge" him. Consider yourselves warned.
Most Helpful Review
THIS IS FOR MUSIC INDUSTRY 103 - MUSIC & BRAIN At first, I thought he was a really awesome guy with a super interesting class. The class was small so I really was expecting to learn a lot. However, he tried to fit too much random things into the class, such as physics of music and the definition of creativity. The class was very unorganized and most of the time I had difficulty following because of the lack of a real base for the info. That being said, there are MANY really interesting moments to this class also (be cautious, he avoids all topics of psychology of emotions in music and focuses on the neuroscience behind listening to music). Also, the homework and grading is very easy... take home multiple choice test. My friends and I got A-'s however. I was expecting an A because I attended all the classes.
THIS IS FOR MUSIC INDUSTRY 103 - MUSIC & BRAIN At first, I thought he was a really awesome guy with a super interesting class. The class was small so I really was expecting to learn a lot. However, he tried to fit too much random things into the class, such as physics of music and the definition of creativity. The class was very unorganized and most of the time I had difficulty following because of the lack of a real base for the info. That being said, there are MANY really interesting moments to this class also (be cautious, he avoids all topics of psychology of emotions in music and focuses on the neuroscience behind listening to music). Also, the homework and grading is very easy... take home multiple choice test. My friends and I got A-'s however. I was expecting an A because I attended all the classes.
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