This is definitely an ESAY A GE, and it is the EASIEST CLASS I've ever taken at UCLA.
Let me put it in this way: I only went to the lecture ONCE this quarter, and I literally didn't study for this class throughout the entire quarter, and I end up with an A+. You can find answers very easily for the quizzes and the exams. You DONT NEED TO STUDY FOR THIS CLASS, literally! The only time-consuming thing is the paper, but should take you less than three nights. Overall, this class is a guaranteed A class and you dont need to spend a single minute on the material. Easiest class ever, and absolutely worthy to take!

This class is easy...but gosh is it boring material. I recommend listening to the songs consistently for a couple of weeks leading up to the midterm and continuing until the final because the songs WILL all sound the same at one point. To differentiate between the songs I recommend listening and distinguishing for certain instruments. Professor De Castro's lectures are boring but I did attend them all and take some notes because he covers material outside the book that can show up on a quiz or exam.

EASIEST GE IVE EVER TAKEN IN MY LIFE. I took it fall 2020 online during covid. From what I remember, we had open note midterm and final. It was mostly the notes, which you had right there with a few questions from the textbook. It also had questions where you had to listen to a song and identify which song it was. But, as long as you listen to them a lot, they're pretty good, you'll do more than okay. He also gave us practice questions in class before each which were on the midterm and final. You have to buy the course textbook and materials as that is how you take required weekly quizzes. These quizzes were so so easy. He let you take it without a limit; so you could retake it over and over and get 100%. TAKE THIS CLASS FOR THE EASIEST GE EVER.

I highly recommend this class! I took this course as a G.E having no music background, yet the professor made me learn a lot about the music industry. The history of Jazz is quite interesting actually, and the professor knows A LOT about the artists, songs, and history! He cares about the students and gives various hints on what may come up on the midterm and final which are very easy if you listen to the songs daily and briefly review lecture slides. Overall, what makes this class interesting is not only the content itself but also since the professor truly enjoys teaching the material and sharing his knowledge of jazz.

Love this class, was so easy and interesting. Professor De Castro is nice and engaging. Highly recommend!

Prof. De Castro was a very friendly and helpful instructor. He brought very good and interesting material to each discussion section, often using great videos and pictures to supplement his information. There was no music background required. If a student was curious and asked, he would go more in depth on any subject, and he seemed to be very knowledgeable on particular subjects, especially relating to Latin jazz and big band leaders. He shared with us the must-knows of early American Jazz history, was well as sharing lesser-known, but fascinating, stories of particular musicians and songs. Listening to all the music, and learning the backstories behind the composers and performers was fun, and I could tell Prof. De Castro was passionate about his subject. Overall, it was a fun and informative quarter!