music question
Write a 3-4 page (1,000 words) paper that incorporates two contrasting live performances following the guidelines found in the Live Performance papers. The two examples chosen must be accessible but could also challenge the students’ regular listening habits by writing about performances in venues outside of the students’ cultural milieu. Successful essays should follow any compelling arguments that use descriptive, comparative, or argumentative points of view. The length of the overall paper will be greatly enhanced through the choice of the thesis presented in the outline that includes the following points:
1) use of any theoretical frameworks discussed in the text or lectures that define the importance of the chosen genre in the culture of the people performing and listening to the music. (Students should use the Rubric A as a guideline to gather evidence and include the answer to questions shown there);
2) properly identified components in an aural analysis of the first and second examples;
3) at least one properly situated characteristic of African/African derived musics as described by Torino or another other scholar whose theory applies to your research; and
4) critical statements about the quality of the “scene” of the performance, that includes where, who performed and the audience.
DIAGRAM
RUBRIC (A)
Live Performance Rubric
Questions for Preparation
At your live performance formal or informal, choose one composition then write a 1-2 page paper by answering the following questions:
Describe the genre: (30%)
- What is the name and composer of the composition you choose to write about? Give the full name of the composition/piece. Do not choose the entire concert but focus on one work.
- Explain who, when and where you heard the performances. Must be dated within the time span of June 7 through July 11, 2021. Record the performance and upload your video to ePortfolio (digication.com; direction will be posted)
3) Define the name of the genre? Most musics discussed in the course can be found in RESEARCH tab on Blackboard divided by geographic location. You may also find scholarly definitions in the Garland Encylopedia of World Music (link to Library resource found in RESEARCH). For example, the composition you choose to hear could be one of the following: a spiritual; the blues; jazz; R&B; rap (or hip hop); gospel; an oratorio; a symphony; an opera; Calypso; Soca; Compas; etc.
Then define your components (aural analysis): (50%)
3) What is the rhythm in your specific composition?
4) Describe something about the pitch.
5) Describe something about the melody.
6) Describe something about the harmony.
7) Describe the timbre.
Finally, aesthetically, what do you think? (20%)
8) What are your aesthetic preferences for choosing to write about your example? Now you can make statements subjective viewpoints, i.e., something that makes you like the music you have chosen to write about, i.e., the harmony or the melody? Explain why you like it using terminology from the text.
RUBRIC (B) Final Paper Rubric
| % | A | B | C | D |
| Thesis 15%
Explain the performances |
Thesis statement involves combining two Live Performance; followed Rubric (A) for Live Performance in both | Thesis statement involves combining two Live Performance; but 75% of the answers to analytical questions not included | Thesis statement involves only one Live Performance; 50% of the answers to analytical questions not included | Thesis statement involves no Live Performance, (evidence of recorded material has been submitted as live performance papers) and less than 25% of the answers to analytical questions included |
| Evidence 25%
Provide two paragraphs of aural analysis (see Aural Analysis paragraph in Rubric A) |
Narrative demonstrates mastery of terms from the text combined with proper description and analysis of the scenes | Narrative demonstrates a 75% mastery of terms from the text combined with proper description and analysis of the scenes | Narrative demonstrates a 50% mastery of terms from the text combined with proper description and analysis of the scenes | Narrative demonstrates only one Live Performance, (evidence of recorded material has been submitted as live performance papers) and less than 25% of the answers to analytical questions included in Rubric (A) |
| Your position 25%
Combine the two performances with student’s choice of point of view |
Demonstrated choice of type a paper (comparative, descriptive or argumentative) is clearly developed and explained in outline | Demonstrated 50% choice of type a paper (comparative, descriptive or argumentative) not clearly developed and explained and presented in the outline | Demonstrated 25% type a paper (comparative, descriptive or argumentative) not developed or explained; no outline presented | Demonstrated little or no choice of type a paper (comparative, descriptive or argumentative) explained or developed; failed to present outline |
| Conclusion 25%
Provide critically thought concepts about the fieldwork |
Conclusion demonstrates organization logical flow of using an outline as previously presented; followed Rubric (B) | Conclusion demonstrates 50% organization logical flow of using an outline as previously presented | Conclusion demonstrates 25% organization logical flow of using an outline as previously presented | Lacks conclusive statement because paper is disorganized; outline not previously presented |
| Presentation 10%
Accurately follow Netiquette for writing |
Demonstrated proper grammatical, editing, and citation skills | Demonstrated evidence of some but not all proper grammatical editing problems, and citation skills | Demonstrated evidence of lack of proper grammatical errors, editing problems, and citation skills | Demonstrated no evidence of poor grammatical errors, editing problems, and citation skills |
AURAL ANALYSIS RUBRIC FORMATTING
Use the following template to organize your analysis:
The composition “(Name of the composition will be given IN QUOTES)” by the (who ever wrote the composition) is from the genre of ______________. (research the definition of the genre you are writing about)
[Place the research you use to support your narrative here. It must be offset with a scholar definition that did not come from Wikipedia. You can use research from the text but you a footnote in the paper and in the Works Cited page. Use the CTRL+ALT+F shortcut for the quick Word footnote feature][1]
The rhythmic pattern is _____ beats (must be a number). There is a high pitch in the _________ and low pitch heard in the ________. (maybe more than one answer and described using Sachs-Hornbostel’s categories). The melody is in the __________ [use the Sachs-Hornbostel classification] and the harmony can be heard in the ________________ [use the Sachs-Hornbostel classification]. (harmony must be more than one medium [unless it is chordal, i.e., guitar or piano] and described by discussing Sachs-Hornbostel’s category) The timbre (choose the phonic structure) heard is __________. The most prominent characteristic is ______________ because I hear (explain the medium(s) you hear this characteristic after the chapter on Sub-Sahara Africa). Aesthetically, I __________ this composition because of its __________. [the last sentence should be only use of a subjective statement]
There are five terms (rhythm, pitch, melody, harmony and timbre) that must be properly situated from live performances selected by the student. Each correct statement receives 20 points. You will practice this in the three quizzes given before the midterm essay is due. This rubric can be expanded to include conceptual ideas that are objectively based.
Students must use this format each time they are asked for the aural analysis of a composition. If you have questions, please send me an email or come and show up during announced virtual lecture hours.
[1] Notice the formatting given here. Using the shortcut feature will reduce the need for you to alter the document with superscripts. Be sure to maintain the use of Times New Roman font and 12pt. pitch.
