Instructions: The objective of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to do a focused musical analysis on one Artist/Band from one of the musical genres that we studied in this course. You will be required to view a performance (with real musicians/singers) via Youtube (May not be a “music video”). Ideally, you should select a genre that is outside of your normal playlist (try not to pick Selena!) The goal is to have you venture outside of your “comfort zone” so to speak and experience a musical performance that you might not otherwise listen to/view.
Requirements: Attend (View) 1 live music performance (at least 1-2 full songs of a recorded live musical performance and submit a 2-3 page critical reflection along with a LINK to the performance. Your written reflection will be based on your analysis of the musical performance. Your Essay will need to address the following:
- Timbre, Pitch, Rhythm, Dynamics, (refer to Module 2) (6 points)
- Types of Instruments (Sachs-Hornbostel system-Module 2) (6 points)
- Cultural Context including Etic vs. Emic (See Module 1) (6points)
- Brief history of Artist/Band-When was group formed? Who were the influences? How did they contribute to the musical genre? (6 points)
- Analysis- How do you assess this artist/group in terms of their relationship to the music industry? Mass Culture? Traditional, Folk, popular? Are they outside of mainstream? Is their music a form of resistance to dominant society or has it conformed to outside influence? How does the group or artist identify themselves? (6 points)
Evaluation: Your written reflection will be graded based on how thoroughly youve integrated our key concepts and your ability to apply these concepts appropriately to your written analysis.
Criteria Checklist:
The following is a checklist that can help you make sure you have all required elements:
My paper is/has:
- A cover page with my name, class/section, assignment, professor names, and date
- List the performance event by including a working LINK to the performance.
- Formatted with 1 margins all around
- Doublespaced
- Typed in 12point Times New Roman
- Numbered on all pages
- Spellchecked
- Carefully edited and proofread
- A clear thesis, supporting evidence from readings/lecture
- A clear introduction, body and conclusion and clear paragraph structure.
- Coherent and follows a clear structure that addresses all 5 requirements.
- Self-Evaluation typed at the end of your essay.
- Uploaded to Canvas by due date (as PDF or Word Doc, docx, doc.)
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