'The Beatles' class spreads love of music

All you need is love -- and maybe a little help from your friends -- to be successful in Z401: The Music of The Beatles.\nThe class of about 360 students meets from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. By the end of the semester, students will have listened to every Beatles song, seen clips from The Beatles' movies and witnessed a variety of documentary and archival footage put together by IU School of Music professor Glenn Gass, who normally teaches the course.\nProfessor Andy Hollinden, who is teaching the class this semester because Gass is on sabbatical, said the study of The Beatles' music is essential to becoming a better music consumer.\nStudents' grades are based on four tests, but to succeed in his class, Hollinden said he reminds students they must display some of the admirable work ethic exuded by the musicians being studied.\n"You get what you settle for," Hollinden said. "The biggest lesson I want students to get is these people did not settle for mediocrity. The Beatles were more hardworking and more dedicated than any band in history."\nMany students in the class said they like to study The Beatles not only because of their music, but also because they liked learning about the individual group members. \n"The thing I like most is learning about the things they did besides just putting out albums," said sophomore Marcos Flores. "To see them as people before musicians gives their music perspective."\nSenior Jessica Mullins said she appreciates gaining more insight into the history of the band. \n"Learning about the lives and the stories of the artists makes the class much more enjoyable," Mullins said. \nHollinden, an accomplished musician himself, usually pounds out chords of a song on his piano to aid his students' learning process and stimulate discussion. \n"Andy (Hollinden) is very knowledgeable and a talented musician, so he can tell us what The Beatles are doing musically, which makes it a lot more interesting to get a musician's perspective," Flores said. "If you really want to know how music came to be the way it is today, you should take Z401."\nHollinden said the class doesn't just teach students about the music of The Beatles; it also teaches students about music in general and how to talk about it.\n"Discussion of the music is essential," Hollinden said. "I want a student to not only tell me what they like or dislike; I want them to tell me why. That's why I do what I do. I want to mold my students into educated consumers."\nHollinden said he believes a society full of educated music consumers could improve the quality of mainstream music as a whole. Instead of record companies putting out albums with two or three "good" songs, he said, educated consumers would challenge the industry to give them more groups similar to The Beatles. \n"What I've learned about pop song writing, I've learned the most from The Beatles," Hollinden said. "They are the complete package. The songwriting is as good as it gets. They are great musicians and good singers."\nCurrently, Z401 is only offered during the fall semester. However, Hollinden is teaching three other rock classes in the spring -- Z202: The History of Rock Music II, Z301: Rock Music in the '70s and '80s and Z403: The Music of Jimi Hendrix.