How do people gather in and through music? What kinds of social relations does music make possible and impossible? What do shifting forms of musical collectivity tell us about the political antagonisms of particular times and places? This course traverses questions such as these by studying a variety of musical ensembles in their historical contexts. Orchestras, marching bands, string quartets, drum lines, community choruses, jazz combos, girl groups, boy bands, and hip hop cyphers all have one thing in common: they are groups of people making music as a social unit. By investigating forms of musical collectivity, the course approaches music-making as a fundamentally relational and social practice. Students will listen to music, read critical texts, write short essays, and create ensemble music projects, all in an effort to build their understanding of how the politics of class, nation, race, gender, and sexuality constitute forms of musical sociability, and also how musical relationships re-negotiate and contest political forces in a variety of historical contexts.