Stan
Breckenridge is a versatile academician with a proven track record of
excellence. He holds a Ph.D. in musicology from the presitgious Claremont
Graduate University in Claremont, CA. He is on the faculty in the department
of Afro-Ethnic Studies at California State University, Fullerton. Dr.
Breckenridge believes that everyone should arm himself or herself with
the breast plate of education. With education one becomes
closer to attaining knowledge, and hopefully, in time, wisdom.
In 2005 Stan Breckenridge was selected as a United States Fulbright Scholar where he taught at the University of Marie Curie Sklodowska in Lublin, Poland. While there he also presented lecture-demonstrations in cities like Poznan, Torun, Warsaw, Pulawy and Krakow.
By clicking the Fulbright link (see sub-heading under Academia), you can read various newsletters that Dr. Breckenridge published as a way to chronicle his activities while in Poland.
Dr. Breckenridge has written three textbooks. His most
recent book Music Taste or Waste: Critical Listening Skills for Students, Teachers, and Parents is scheduld for publication December 2011. A second edition of Popular Music in America:
Forging the American Spirit will appear in January 2012. Another book
now in its second edition, titled African
American Music for Everyone (published 2004) examines music styles and types, such as spirituals,
ragtime, blues, jazz, rhythm & blues, hip-hop, and many others. All books are published by Kendall-Hunt Publications.
Musing About Musicology
Afro-ethnic Studies Lecturer-Alumnus Discusses Courses, Career
By MIMI KO CRUZ (photo:
Karen Tapia, Public Affairs, CSUF)
STAN L. BRECKENRIDGE was in
grammar school when he took his first percussion class. The Cal State
Fullerton alumnus (B.A. music-music education ’75) remembers
walking by a piano decades ago and feeling its irresistible pull.
“I was drawn to the piano and needed to play it in order to
soothe my musical urge,” he said.
By junior high, Breckenridge and several friends
had formed The Sematics, a vocal performance group that in 1969 won
a big televised talent
contest — the Super Pepsi Battle of the Bands at the Greek Theatre
in Los Angeles. Then came record contracts, and Breckenridge was fueled
with the desire to continue studying music and performing.
After completing his undergraduate degree, he earned master’s
and doctoral degrees in musicology from Claremont Graduate University.
In 2005, he was named a Fulbright Scholar and spent a semester teaching
music courses at Marie Curie Sklodowska University in Poland.
Today, he marks his 23rd year
as a lecturer of Afro-ethnic studies at Cal State Fullerton. He’s about to release his eighth album, “Humanity,” and
he produces albums for other recording artists.
Breckenridge recently reflected on his career and answered a few questions.
Soul, vocal and instrumental jazz, blues and rhythm and blues are
my favored styles of music to compose and perform.
Q:
Why did you decide to become a teacher, and what courses do you teach?
I was inspired by my high school
choir director, Lawrence Shore, and wanted to become a high school
choral director as well. After high school, I left The Sematics to
pursue a college education. I attended CSUF from 1970-1974 and graduated
with a B. A. degree in music, with an emphasis in music education.
As a music major, I developed lasting friendships with colleagues
Andy Boettner and Melisa Tennile-Boettner (successful vocal coaches),
Gary Murphy (music minister at a church in Palos Verde), Tom Ranier
(well-known jazz composer and pianist) and Jubilant Sykes (successful
vocalist and master of ceremony for this year’s Front & Center). Some of my memorable music professors
at CSUF include Rita Fusek, Lloyd Rodgers, Gary Mass, Jane Paul, Howard
Swan and David Thorsen. Following graduation, I had many opportunities
as a performer and became fairly successful performing as a soloist
(piano and voice) and with a number of funk and disco bands. After
years of performing, I felt drawn to further my education and the need
to articulate aspects of music through academia and performance. … Courses
I teach include “African American Music Appreciation,” “Blacks
in the Performing Arts” and “Pan-African Dance and Movement.”
Q:
What do you want your students to get out of your classes?
Today, scholars often ponder
whether African American music would have been more exuberant if
Africans had journeyed to the New World of their own accord rather
than as slaves. Were it not for the hideous conditions that Africans
faced during the transatlantic slave trade, would styles such as
spirituals, blues, and soul even exist? Perhaps not, since vocal
expressions such as field hollers/cries, moaning, and groaning as
protestations of harsh working conditions are all embedded in spirituals,
blues, and soul. On the other hand, these sorts of expressions were
commonplace in Africa. For instance, it was a common practice to
invoke similar vocal articulations as a way to communicate emotions
of great intensity. So, whether Africans arrived in the New World
on their own accord or through slavery, these vocal articulations
would probably have occurred. This quandary will perhaps never
be answered. It is a fact that the early formation of American folk
music was affected by the inheritance of African culture, dance,
and musical activities during the African Diaspora.
African American music or music among African Americans is rooted
and grounded within the fabric of American society. When one engages
in a study of American society, and more specifically in American music,
perhaps African American music would be a good point of departure.
My goal is to inform students about the history, substance, character,
and functionality of African American music, and music in general,
so they can make informed decisions about African American music.
Q: Why do you love music?
Similar to what many of us have
experienced with relationships, my response is: It took me a while
to fully understand, but I soon realized that music loved me first.
To surprisingly discover you are loved by someone/something yet unaware
of your personal feeling for him, her or it can be quite an emotional
and life-changing experience. And, indeed it certainly was and still
is one of the most remarkable experiences in my life. To know that
music — a force that has received discourse
relative to arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, grammar, logic and rhetoric
since antiquity; and is a phenomenon that can affect people spiritually,
psychologically, physiologically, emotionally and even physically — chose
me to be one of its "instruments" for expression of humanity
is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest gifts anyone can receive.
Q: What’s
Next?
I am in negotiations for a 12- to 15-day tour in Poland that will
occur between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I am also organizing
another benefit concert that will occur in February 2012. I am indebted
to individuals and organizations that provided financial support for
me during my undergraduate years at CSUF. As a result, I make it a
point to offer at least two concerts a year in order to raise scholarship
support for CSUF students. In the past, these scholarships have benefited
music majors (any student) and African American students.
February 2, 2011
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* Past Lecture-Demonstrations
- African American Music. Conference titled “Bridges Across Nations: African-American Culture
in the 21st Century.” Sponsored by the Collegium for African American Research, Pulawy, Poland..
- African American music: A representation of American identity. Conference titled “What Does It Mean to Be American.” Co-Sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland and Torun Teacher College, Torun, Poland (presented in Torun). The paper was also presented at UMCS (university), Lublin, Poland.
- Grooving Body Movements Through Bass Lines: A Tradition in African American Music (a referred article) . . .Read More
- 2005 International Education Week, Polish-U.S. Academic Cooperation and Its Role in
Science Development, held at the Biblioteka Uniwersytetu in Warszawa, Poland: Paper titled “The Process as Euphoria in Free Jazz: A Similar Case in Higher Education and the Role of Intercultural and International Exchange.” Sponsored by the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission
- An Index to African American Spirituals For Solo Voice (Reviewed by Breckenridge). . .Read More
- Corroborating or parroting: Lyrical principles and gender dialogue in mixed gender groups of African American music. Conference titled “Le Texte Dans La Musique Populaire Afro-Americane (The Lyrics in Popular African American Music),” University of Metz, France. This was also presented to faculty, staff, and students of Cal State Fullerton; sponsored by The Women's Center.
- Exposing emotions utilizing the bass and rhythm as continuum: A tradition in African American music performance. The Hungarian Society for the Study of English. Budapest, Hungary.
- Choral Arrangements of the African-American Spiritual: Historical Overview and Annotated Listings (Reviewed by Breckenridge). . .Read More
- From Slavery To Civil Rights: Resilience and
Perseverance, Past and Present, of African American Culture, Musicological Inquiries Through Song and Performance Practices. Faculty Lecture Series at Irvine Valley College. This was also presented to the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, sponsored by FIRST.
- A history of gospel music: Melodic, harmonic, and
rhythmic propensities. Anaheim: Disneyland Entertainment.
- Rhythmic Gestures as Definitive Attributes of African American Music styles. Keynote Address. Presented by the office of the President, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Pollack Library, Public Affairs, and the Faculty Development Center.
- William Grant Still: A Bio-Bibliography (Reviewed by Breckenridge). . .Read More
- Musical Influences of Family, Friends, and Events: A Model for Investigating Social Traits and Psychological Aspects Within One’s Social Structure. Sociology and Music: Two Engaging Projects. Chapman University.
- Breckenridge, Stan. (2004). Black Sabbath to Sesame Street: Musical tastes within four identified stages of a family structure. Sociology and Music: Two Engaging Projects. Chapman University.
- Vocalities, vocables and nuances: A demonstration through styles of African American music. Sponsored by The Women’s Center, California State University, Fullerton.
- The music of Duke Ellington: A lecture and demonstration. Sponsored by African Students Alliance, Cal Poly, Pomona.
- Ragtime, blues, stride, vocal standards, boogie-woogie, and cool jazz: Techniques for a successful solo piano performance. Concert Hour at Saddleback College.
- Singing with attitude: Harmonic and rhythmic reflections of women vocalists, 1955-95. Sponsored by The Women’s Center. California State University, Fullerton.
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*December 2011! Critical Listening Book for Students, Teachers and Parents - 
