Embedded Files
There are many different ways for you to organize your music journal. Start by asking yourselves these questions below and see if you could answer them under the pieces you're going to explore.
What is the full title of the music of the selected piece? (artist, title, instrumentation)
Include a complete discography/bibliography entry of the primary source (recording and/or sheet music).
What context does this music come from?
You should include a brief description of why they have categorized it as such. Consider that context is always uniquely personal
What area of inquiry will you examine this music through?
Remember that the area of inquiry functions as the lens through which you will perceive the musical features of the selection.
Effective journaling practices will always include:
specific references (eg. include the timings in minutes and seconds and/or bar numbers) to recordings and scores
identification of key musical elements
structural notes
new theoretical knowledge and terminology
complete links/citations for later reference
You may want to try taking these steps below and/or ask these questions to yourself as a guide on journaling in the Exploring music in context.
Step 1: Investigating the musical material
How is this music made? (Record initial impressions of performance conventions.)
Who is playing the music?
What distinctive musical attributes do you hear right away? (use musical elements)
During the exploration part of the course, it is especially important to exercise musical analysis skills both through aural perception and score analysis. If you have no access to notation for the piece, try first extracting information based entirely on your listening skills. As score reading skills are developed, try first extracting information based on reading skills.
Step 2: Investigating non-musical information
Inquiry questions (debatable and conceptual) may include the following:
What is the purpose of this music?
What is the cultural relevance of the instruments, musicians or study of this music?
Where is this music performed, and who is the audience?
Step 3: Listen, analyze and respond
Through aural awareness and/or score study, identify the key musical elements of the music (such as melody, harmony, texture, tonality, form/structure, articulation, dynamics). Identify which features of the music could potentially be used for a practical exploration. Highlight this within the journal entry.
Step 4: Annotation of musical extracts
Using either a score or an audio or audio-visual excerpt, select a passage to annotate with their musical findings using specific music terminology.
What is the significance of the passage or section?
What is the purpose and use of the particular conventions, practices or techniques?
Step 5: Identify potential practical explorations
What ideas can I use for practical work?
Does the identified work(s) lend itself more to a performance exercise or a creating exercise?
Performed adaptation guiding questions
Performed adaptation guiding questions
Is the music notated traditionally? If not, how can it be adapted to familiar notation?
If it is notated traditionally, are there aspects of the music notation that are unfamiliar? (eg. techniques, clefs, pitch alterations or inflections, ornamentation)
What technical challenges will have to be resolved as the music is adapted to a different instrument or voice? (eg. range/tessitura, texture (piano/harp music that is adapted for a monophonic instrument), articulation (bowings adapted to piano))
What were the biggest challenges and successes during this process?
Creating exercise guiding quetsions
Creating exercise guiding quetsions
What type of notation and what media will be most effective to create this exercise?
What are the stylistic conventions that will be implemented and what "rules" or theoretical understandings will be applied in the exercise?
Is the writing or notation idiomatic for the chosen media/instrumentation, and does it meet the identified musical intention of the exercise?
Organizing materials for final assessment
Organizing materials for final assessment
You should have a broad range of material, research and practical explorations from which to draw when assembling the final exploration submission.
For submission, covering personal, local and global contexts that are clearly identified and grouped within at least two areas of inquiry (AOI) will help you to evidence your engagement with a breadth of knowledge and demonstrate understanding of a diverse range of music.
Note: Throughout the course, it is important that material from all areas of inquiry will be encountered and collected in the journal. This allows you to have a wide range of material and musical experiences to draw from for the submission in this, and other, components, and forms the basis for all the learning in the course. It is your responsibility as curator to select and identify at least two areas of inquiry for your assessment submission to evidence that you have engaged with a diverse range of material in this component.
When selecting material for submission, you need to consider how effectively the following points have been addressed.
Criterion A: Selection of evidence
The evidence selected needs to show diversity, breadth and balance. You should consider whether the submission covers the following:
Personal, local and global contexts
At least two areas of inquiry
Consideration of musical and extra-musical information
Each area and context are treated with equal focus and quality
Criterion B1: Conducting musical research
Effective musical research will be demonstrated through the quality of musical and extra-musical findings. Effective findings are explained and purposeful. Findings should be precisely located and discussed using specific and precise music terminology.
Criterion B2: Implications
The implications of your research are directly connected to the musical choices made in the creating exercise and performed adaptation and evaluate the outcomes of those choices.
Criterion C1: Understanding creating conventions
An effective creating exercise clearly and effectively shows your ability to practically utilize musical conventions and stylistic understanding to create new musical material.
Criterion C2: Understanding performing practices
The performed adaptation clearly identifies the global context and synthesizes the learning and findings into a cohesive performed adaptation for your instrument.
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