Thomas Payne - College of William and Mary

Professor: Thomas Payne

Department: TBD

College: College of William and Mary

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MUSC381
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Prof. Payne is awesome! I've taken two classes with him and enjoyed both. He is so passionate and very knowledgeable about music. He is also super sweet. On the last day of classes he brought my class brownies freshman year. He was also super understanding with COVID-19. As a senior, I'm so glad I took classes with him in college!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MUSC213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Payne is a very good professor. As someone who has never taken a music class before he was very helpful. I hated the subject matter of this class but he made it okay.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MUSC100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Payne is incredibly passionate about what he teaches, so attending class was always interesting.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MUSC100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Thomas Payne is such a delightful man! He is so passionate, so thoughtful, and so interested in hearing other's opinions about music, it's delightful. He made a COLL 100 an interesting time and a fun bop. Even if you don't totally get the readings (which can be dense), he is always happy to hear from you!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MUSC150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Prof. Payne was a great professor in the sense that you could tell the he really cared for the topic he was presenting on. He was very engaging and made a 930 class not feel so tough. You're graded mainly on the papers since its a Coll150 class, so just make sure to spend quality time on them and everything will be ok.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MUSC365
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Payne is so passionate about the Beatles and music in general. There's only a midterm, term paper, and final exam that you are graded on. Fail the class if you miss more than 3 lectures but they're fun/interesting so I wouldn't skip anyway. His passion really makes the class more enjoyable and fun 100% recommend

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MUSC224
• Grade Received: Audit/No Grade
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I took his Bach & The Baroque class pass fail and without prior knowledge on musical theory. I didn't understand a lot of the vocab so it was difficult to recognize patterns in the music. Otherwise he's really passionate and you learn a LOT. He fails you if you skip more than 3 times

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MUSC365
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Believe the hype, Beatles Music is phenomenal. I'm not a morning person, but even at 9:30am, Payne makes the class engaging and informative. You go through the entire discography in chronological order. He really uses every bit of class time, so get there on time. There's a bit of music theory, but it doesn't hugely affect your graded assignments.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MUSC365
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Prof Payne is a fantastic teacher, and really wants his students to enjoy the material. He doesn't expect much musical background, but that helps with participating in discussions. Reading assigned weekly, but I never did the reading and was totally fine. Show up, study, give effort, and you'll do fine. 1 exam, 1 paper, 1 final: none are hard.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MUSC365
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

One of my favorite professors. Lots of reading, standard amount of writing, attendance is crucial. No tests, just response papers and a final individual research paper. Take the Notre-Dame senior seminar with him-he's one of the leading researchers in the field. Incredibly smart, very funny, very approachable.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MUSC365
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

"Music of the Beatles" is easily the best class I've taken over the course of my college career. I knew so much about the Beatles coming in, but I still learned a lot and my passion for the band has only grown. He's more enthusiastic than any other professor. His grading isn't too hard, and the reading is totally unnecessary. Just take good notes!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MUSC365
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Prof. Payne's "Music of the Beatles" class was one of the best classes I've taken at W&M. He is so enthusiastic, half the joy is just watching him respond to questions and comments in a jovial manner. He is so knowledgeable about every aspect of the Beatles and their history that I learned more than I thought there was to know. Highly recommended.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MUSC365
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor Payne is one of my favorite professors of all time. He is enthusiastic, understanding and just wonderful! He's also easy to talk to and willing to help you out.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MUSIC150W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Music of the Beatles was amazing. Very enthusiastic, not a ton of work, highly interesting and informative. Very highly recommend this course and this professor. Critical and informative in essay grading. Fair. Plus, his name is T-Payne.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MUSC150W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I highly recommend taking something from Prof. Payne. The class was on "The Music of The Beatles" and he was really enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the material. He seemed to make an 80 minute class go by in a flash and he's really funny. He can be a little vague on paper assignments but he really shows you how to improve your musical writing.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MUSIC213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Incredible class. Incredible professor. You will love it if you like music at all. It definitley helps to have some background in a music instrument. I never read or did anything except right before the Midterm and Final. You also write 2 other 5 pg papers. I got an A- no problem. (4 credits too)

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MUSIC213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The best professor I've had at W&M. I took the class for the GERs, and I enjoyed it more than any other class I've taken.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MUS213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Prof. Payne is clearly the best professor I have ever had. He is absolutely amazing! A must-have before leaving W&M! He is so into music and so dedicated to his students and he really understands and responds to his students' needs and concerns. Very approachable, fascinating classes, fair tests and papers. His energy is limitless and I love him!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MUSC213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I walked into his class the first day, saw him do his Rite of Spring dance, and knew I'd love this teacher. Easily one of the best professors I've had at WM - clear, organized, hilarious, and very, very enthusiastic. Also, you will get an A if you put in the effort and use his office hours to your advantage.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MIDREN
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I took both is Intro to Western Music and Medieval & Renaissnace music classes. He was one of my favorite professors at W&M. You find very few people so sincerely enthusiastic both about what they study and about teaching it. The classes were challenging but especially if you are into music history, he i9s a great prof and you learn a lot.