it's not that hard of a class, just a lot of work. there's lots of performance and song reviews. it's interesting if you're into jazz. if you're not, don't take it, you won't enjoy the time spent.

If you love any kind of music, you'll love this class and appreciate jazz.It's not hard at all. Just do the work like performance reviews and journals. You get to watch a lot of videos/ movies and just listen to music. The tests are easy, I barely studied and still got an A on all of them.

If you like jazz you'll really appreciate this class and him. It is obvious he really knows his stuff. I found him extremely helpful whenever I asked him questions. His personality in class seems a bit dry but that didn't affect me. You get out of this class what you put in. I highly reccomend this teacher.

The class is really fun. We watch a lot of movies and listen to music! The reading is minimal and easy. He's an intelligent professor but can be a bit socially awkward. It's a good class.

This guy is really cool and very mellow.

If you want to learn anything about Music he is the one to teach you

The most he made us do was analyze music, and it could have been more specific than he asked for. As long as you can identify a few important aspects in a jazz piece you really should be fine. They don't penalize you that bad as long as you TRY. Also, there were up to 26 extra credit points offered, so curve isn't necessary. He's not THAT bad.

this guy knows his stuff. the assignments are clear and he keeps things interesting using film and audio recordings. there must have been some lazy people in the other classes. sometimes i have trouble paying attention, but that's cause he's built.

this dude is smart and jazzy.

Why is everyone ragging on this guy? Stop crying cause you are all lazy. The class is not that bad. He is very passionate about the topic of jazz. If you do the work on time, study for quizzes/the 2 exams, go to the EC movies, you'll most likely get an A. I liked Pawlak...believe it or not. Sparked an interest in jazz for me.

Pawlak loves what he does. He expects nothing less than using your brain to actually accomplish what any jazz enthusiast would expect: stop whining and learn the material. If you have a problem, work it out and stop whining. He Knows his stuff and either respect and learn, or take your sorry ass to mommy's house and cry for your warm milk. Grow up.

I don't know what on earth people are talking about because this class was an easy A if you did the work. We watched awesome cartoons and listened to some groovy jazz (even a couple of live performances). It was DEFINITELY jazz history, he gave power points with a jazz musician/group per slide with HISTORICAL facts, come on people!

One of my first classes at U of A and was not hard. He included lots of great video/music clips in his lectures. He nor the class was all that hard to follow.

Whoever says this class was hard is being a baby. Was an easy A if you simply did the work and went to all of the extra credit movies. Pawlak is a cool guy, and certainly knowledgeable. For those who are complaining, grow up. Your professors aren't going to spoon feed you, so just do the work.

He knows his stuff. His class is easy if you just attend every lecture and take decent notes.

Pretty easy general music class. I do struggle a bit with analyzing the music, but you really aren't graded much on that. Papers are graded more on your writing ability than musical knowledge. Stick to the specific guidelines given when writing your paper and you'll do fine.

I was not interested in jazz until I took this class. He definitely knows his stuff. We watch interesting movie clips, watch funny cartoons and listen to music more than half the time, what is there to complain about? The work load is minimal compared to many other classes and if you go to every lecture & follow his directions its an easy A.

I liked this class and the teacher. He is kind of uptight at times but he is usually pretty laid back. His TA is pretty easy-going too. Attendance is a must since he doesn't post notes online but if you copy the slides word for word and extra credit assignments, you should be fine.

Attendance is definitely important, but I felt he was a lenient grader when it came to most assignments. I got an A in the class. The exams aren't easy, but isn't that part of college? I wouldn't recommend this class if you don't have at least a few basic music skills - that'll make it much easier.

Class notes for quiz / midterms / in-class assignments. The midterm and final are similar to the lecture/listening quizzes. After the first quiz, you get the idea and now how to study (1 quiz dropped). Extra credit was worth ~6%. Actually read for KT quiz. Do the work and it will be fine. Reminded me of the guy that plays Spiderman. That is all.

Class wasn't too hard, professor is a little pretentious but an overall nice guy. It isn't hard to get an A but you have to want it Only issues are the unannounced discussion groups and the fact that until you take each type of assignment the first time you have no idea what they want or expect our of you. It sparked a mild interest in jazz as well

The class was not that hard as long as you did everything on time and didn't miss any discussion days. The essays were simple and all you had to do was answer the prompt and use relevant quotes. Hardest part was the test because there were listening sections where you have to identify instruments. HE DOES'T WANT EVERYONE TO GET A C. And he rounded.

This class is hard. Do not take this if you have no musical background. You will just find this class useless and unimportant. Pawlak doesn't give useful feedback on anything (especially the essays). Don't take this as an easy A kind of class. Must memorize jazz songs for listening quizzes and tests.

Stop Hating on Professor Keith Pawlak. Yes his class is extremely difficult and will not be agreeable to disinterested students, I submit that. However, he cares about his HARDWORKING students and recognizes talent.

This class is very interesting and not that hard. Just go to class, take notes, and turn in all the assignments based on the rubric. No musical knowledge is necessary to do well. Keith is very passionate about jazz and it shows in his teaching.

Many of the people that have rated him on here probably just went here to hate on him after they got a bad grade. I messed up my final which brought me down to a 78%, but he just bumped me up to a 90%... The whole class was a blast with very interesting lectures. I would recommend this gen ed to anyone looking for an easyfun one.

Mr. Pawlak is an awesome professor. When I first was planning to take this class I was skeptical due to all the negative reviews on here. But after taking the class it's clear that anyone giving a negative review just went to class to warm the seat. Listen to the audios, get to know the songs, artists, you'll do great. I loved this class!

Very interesting class. Be prepared to think and learn a thing or two. Pay attention in class and follow the listening selections through the semester. Always follow Keith's directions in class and dont forget to take notes. He's a cool guy and really knows his stuff.

I really enjoyed the class and the lectures, even though Keith can be boring or dry sometimes. He really cares about the content and jazz in general, and it shows when you talk one-on-one with him. I would recommend this class to anyone who is interested in the subject and wants to learn a thing or two about the people who influenced jazz culture.

I'd recommend this class to anyone wants to know about jazz history and how to appreciate real jazz music. This instructor is very knowledgeable and he cares about the subject matter. He encourages critical thinking. Although it was challenging at the beginning as I had no music training, it has been rewarding throughout after the first two weeks.

This is an enjoyable class. A challenging yet rewarding class is much better than a dull subject. I truly feel I could appreciate some real jazz now. He opened my ears. As far as the reading going, they are all interesting and mostly short pieces, which help with the understanding of class materials. Keith encourages critical thinking.

As to the writing, my advice would be, think out of the box. Keith encourages critical thinking and independent mindset. Do not take essays in this class as writings for writings sake. Step back and look at the prompts, the background information, and ask yourself why. When you get that ah-ha moment, it's quite rewarding. He cares about the class.

He shows a lot of pictures and tells stories for the lectures. But to prepare for the listening quiz and written exams, what I did was to put all the slides with words together in a notebook. It did help also to see a timeline how history evolved. It's really not bad comparing to other major classes with nearly 200 pages to read before each exam.

Don't think an easy GenEd as no work required. This class is 1 example. I wanted an easy one to take a nap and rest from hard major classes too. But firing different parts of brain might be a better rest. Stay in tune, listen to the music and enjoy, and read, it will be fine. Better than the kind of classes after final nothing left to ponder about.