Many people know Philadelphia for the Declaration of Independence, Rocky, and cheesesteaks. Philly’s deep musical history is less familiar, but its influence continues to inspire audiences and artists across the globe. 

For Carol Muller’s graduate-level ethnomusicology field methods class, students focused on documenting the city’s Black music history, interviewing figures ranging from Grammy-award winning hip-hop producer Jahlil Beats to Mark Christman and Anthony Tidd of the Ars Nova Worskhop to radio icon Dyana Williams. The class also produced a podcast based on the book There’s that Beat Guide to The Philly Sound by Dave Moore. Each student created an episode based on a chapter of the book, including music samples to make the material more accessible to all audiences. 

The class was part of the Paideia program at Penn, which is focused on educating the whole student. Paideia funded some of the guests, and other research interviews were supported by a Klein Family Social Justice Grant. 

Muller, a professor of music, has been teaching the field methods class since 2001. Supported by the Penn Global program, she recently has spent time in Australia working with aboriginal leaders— an experience that she says has helped her re-think the focus of her field methods class. The course now centers around deep listening and working to understand the relationships between humans, non-human animals, and the environment. “To fully grasp human sound production, we need to expand how we see, hear, and know the world,” she wrote in the course description. 

Hear from Muller and graduate students Kwame Ocran and Yuri Seung about the experience, and listen to some of the material they created, in this episode of the Omnia podcast.

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Produced, Narrated, and Edited by Alex Schein

Podcast Logo by Hemani Kapoor

Music excerpts by the O’Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, Meek Mill (Pr.  Jahlil Beats), Chris Brown and Tyra (Pr. Jahlil Beats), Big Pun (Pr. Minnesota), Bobby Byrd, Jay-Z (Pr. Just Blaze), Marian Anderson, James Mtume, Rasheed Ali Quintet, Mahal Richard Abrams, Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Soul Brothers Six, and Barbara Mason.

Additional Music by Blue Dot Sessions 

Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu