Category: Music

MUS1030: Music Appreciation
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Writing Assignment 1: Bach, Beethoven, and Bugs Bunny?
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Description
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This is an NPR story focusing on classical music in cartoons. Read the summary of “Classical Masterpieces Turn Up in Cartoons” from NPR. Then, click on “Listen Now” in the top left corner to open the 9 minute program. Listen carefully to the interview — hopefully you will remember some of the examples.
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Weekend Edition Sunday. Classical Masterpieces Turn Up in Cartoons. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17854152
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Assignment
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Go to the NPR story on their website.
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Weekend Edition Sunday. Classical Masterpieces Turn up in Cartoons. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17854152
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Read the summary
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Click “Listen Now” in the top left corner to open the program
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Listen to the entire interview
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Respond to the following prompts:
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Do you remember any of the cartoons mentioned? If so, explain which ones and what your experiences of these cartoons and the music were.
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Whose “Ave Maria” is mentioned in the interview? Have you heard this piece before? What are your reactions to this piece?
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Do you think children today experience classical music as much as people in your generation did?
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Do you think exposing children to a wide variety of music is important? Why?
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What is your prior experience playing, reading, and listening to music?
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What is your favorite type of music? Why? What draws you to this genre?
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All answers should be written in proper formal style. This means that responses should be written in complete sentences with no spelling or grammatical errors. Try to expand on your ideas as much as possible — one-word responses are never acceptable.
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Please create your response in a Word document file that you will submit under the Assignments tab. It needs to be at least 1 page, double-spaced, 12-point font. Do not list your name, class title, date, etc. on the paper in the corners nor list the questions again in your final submission.
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You can either write your answers in essay format with each question being a new paragraph, or you can number them and answer accordingly.
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When saving and submitting your writing assignments, please use the following naming convention:
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Lastname Firstname WA1.docx
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This example is obviously for Writing Assignment 1 [WA1], so change the number accordingly in subsequent assignments. The example is also for a recent version of Word that saves with a .docx file extension — .doc extensions from older versions of Word are fine too. .pdf extensions are acceptable as well, but please do not submit .odt or .rtf files — your word processing program should allow you to save as a .pdf.
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Do NOT use symbols (#,&,@, etc.) when creating filenames — this often makes files harder to open (and this applies in work settings as well; stick to letters, numbers, and spaces only).
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Please address all of the prompts in your response. Any response that requires your opinion on the music should be extensive; this is always the most important aspect of the assignment. Do not settle for a simple, surface-level answer; music is complex as are human feelings and reactions to it. You must work to articulate your ideas and opinions clearly and completely. You will not be graded based on your opinions — you will be graded based on your ability to communicate your ideas.
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Do not cut and paste any of your answer from another source. Plagiarism includes any copying of the words, structure, or ideas of another author without clear citation of that source. If you use the ideas of another author, put these in your own words.

Writing Assignment 2: Music of the Sistine Chapel
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Description
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This is an NPR story focusing on music in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City. Read the summary of “Composing for the Pope: A Church Music Primer.” Then, click on “Listen Now” in the top left corner to open the 11 minute program. Listen carefully to the interview.
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Weekend Edition Sunday. Composing for the Pope. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89775986
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Assignment
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Go to the NPR story on their website.
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Read the summary
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Click “Listen Now” in the top left corner to open the program
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Listen to the entire interview
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Respond to the following prompts:
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How many singers made up the Sistine Chapel Choir? What was the breakdown by voice part?
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What was the “ideal” church music according to Catholic liturgical tradition?
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Which two great composers were strongly associated with the Sistine Chapel Choir? Describe the music of these composers in detail.
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What are your personal reactions to this type of music? Would you like to hear this type of music more often?
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How is this music different from the church music you are accustomed to?
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All answers should be written in proper formal style. This means that responses should be written in complete sentences with no spelling or grammatical errors. Try to expand on your ideas as much as possible — one-word responses are never acceptable.
<
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Please create your response in a Word document file that you will submit under the Assignments tab. It needs to be at least 1 page, double-spaced, 12-point font. Do not list your name, class title, date, etc. on the paper in the corners nor list the questions again in your final submission.
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You can either write your answers in essay format with each question being a new paragraph, or you can number them and answer accordingly.
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When saving and submitting your writing assignments, please use the following naming convention:
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Lastname Firstname WA2.docx
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Please address all of the prompts in your response. Any response that requires your opinion on the music should be extensive; this is always the most important aspect of the assignment. Do not settle for a simple, surface-level answer; music is complex as are human feelings and reactions to it. You must work to articulate your ideas and opinions clearly and completely. You will not be graded based on your opinions — you will be graded based on your ability to communicate your ideas.
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Do not cut and paste any of your answer from another source. Plagiarism includes any copying of the words, structure, or ideas of another author without clear citation of that source. If you use the ideas of another author, put these in your own words.

A five-page MLAL to an external site. formatted typed paper over a specific person in jazz will be due on the final day of class. This will be the most challenging. For this paper you have to find a recording of a single jazz artist from any of the periods covered in the book and write a critical analysis of his or her recording (s). The paper guidelines are flexible. You may do your analysis over one CD, or one period in the artist’s life. You could do a comparative analysis over several periods of an artist’s life, for example, Miles Davis immersed himself in Bebop / Cool / Modal / Electric Jazz / and even Hip-Hop. There are many ways to do the paper and most of it will be up to you. You may include ONE page of biographical information to an external site. information. The other four pages will be your analysis of the artist’s recordings that you choose to listen to. This paper should be done after you have taken the quizzes and participated in the other assignments. By the end of the class you should have better verbal skills for descriiptive writing about jazz and thus be able to produce a better paper.

The Performance Report will be 1 page, single-spaced, critique over a recorded performance. You can find a performance on YouTube of your favorite jazz artist or use an Artist from the book. This critique is up to you. You can write about any aspect of the performance you choose.
Video Link: https://youtu.be/-DBGpSWBdT0?si=HVCR-o3X42YMDtsQ

This essay must be at least 500 words to receive full credit.
Female musicians have always played a significant role in popular music. Choose one of the following three female musicians and complete the task and questions below:
Memphis Minnie (born Lizzie Douglas)
Carole King
Patti Smith
Briefly discuss her career and musical contributions. In what genres of music did she (or does she still) perform? What instrument(s) does she play? In interviews, has she discussed her female identity and how it affects her career?
Please make sure to use wording that a highschooler would use. “dumb-down” the language

pretend you went to the Early Music Ensemble Concert: Winds of the Past. and answer the following questions as if you went to it and watched it:
How did your little bit of research help you to experience it? Are you disappointed? Is it what you expected?
Have you heard something that you’ve never heard before? Have you listened in this way at a concert before? How does the fact that the music is played live contribute to the experience?
Think about the venue of the performance. Is the performance space conducive to live music? Does anything enhance or distract from the performance?
How does the physical positioning of the performers affect the performance? Does the performers’ body language suggest anything about their engagement with the music? If there is a conductor, does he or she make much eye contact with the ensemble? If there is a conductor and a soloist, who is in charge?
What kind of information, if any, is provided in the program notes? Do you find this information useful for appreciating the performance?
How would you describe the behavior of the audience? Is there a code of etiquette that they seem to be observing?
Description
celebrate music of the renaissance and baroque periods, featuring woodwinds. All works on this program include recorders, baroque flute, baroque oboe, or their modern cousins, along with our usual team of harpsichords, viola da gamba, singers, and strings. Works by Vivaldi, Telemann, Quantz, Susato, Willaert, and more!

Students will select a composer of Western Art Music and write a 10-12 page (2 500-3 000 word) research paper on that individual composer. Students should follow APA guidelines for their research and writing formatting. This paper should include 10-12 different academic references. The paper needs to include a title page, an abstract, a body (including headings and sub-headings as needed), and a references page. This paper is biographical in nature and should include information regarding the life, the works, and the legacy of the selected composer. Your paper must include the following elements: APA Formatted Title Page Abstract (250-300 words)* Body of the paper* Including headings and sub-headings Don’t forget to use intext citations APA formatted References Page With at least 10-12 references All references must be Academic in nature Word Count: 2 500-3 000 words *Only the content form the Abstract and the Body of the paper count towards the document word count.

MUEL 3642 – History of Jazz
Unit 4 Writing Assignment
Watch the following videos. Use the first two as reference, the third and fourth will be the topic for the performance response.
Weather Report – Birdland (1978) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqashW66D7o&nohtml5=False
Herbie Hancock Chameleon Live (1975)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hmVHhH96es
Chris Potter’s Underground (2009) – watch first performance (10ish minutes)Links to an external site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xLG9l_cpuk
Reinier Baas & Ben Van Gelder – the 2nd coming of Homunculus (2016)Links to an external site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJb6Dy5Qs84
Provide a paragraph of your general impressions (a minimum of 75 words) for the 3rd and 4th videos each. Consider what you’ve learned about jazz rock, jazz funk fusion, and identify these characteristics. Make note of general observations about instrumentation, rhythm, harmony, tempo, who soloed, etc.
Provide a final paragraph answering the following question (minimum of 75 words): compared to the first two videos, in what ways have these modern fusion performances departed from the jazz fusion tradition? In what ways are they similar? Would you still call this jazz? Explain your reasoning as to why or why not.

Double-spaced, 1-inch margins on all sides, 12-point Times New Roman font
approximately 3.5 to 4 pages in length
A title on the first page, aligned in the center, which reflects the content of your essay
Clearly stated arguments with evidence provided from the film
Timestamps may be referenced in brackets, e.g. [12:47] or [57:21-59:02]
Your name, section number, and page number in the header of each page
Terminology and ideas from lectures, discussion sections, and readings (using citations provided in the syllabus)

CONCERT REPORT REQUIREMENTS:
The concert report should be at least 2 pages in length double spaced. (Singular for extra 50 points)!! The report should contain:
1. Names of all the performers if it is a small ensemble, or the name of the band director if listening to a jazz band.
2. Names of pieces that were played and who they were written by if available.
3. The style of the tunes they are playing, i.e. blues, swing, hard bop, bebop, fusion, etc. If you are unsure, give me your best guess as to what style you think they are playing.
4. Your reactions to the performance using your own words. You will not be graded on your reaction to the performance, so be honest. List both positive and negative aspects of the performance when appropriate. Talk about the soloists and what they were doing during the performance. Were they creative? Boring? Personable? Discuss the balance of the ensemble. Could you hear all of the instruments? Were they in tune? Too loud? Too soft? You are the jazz critic here, so based on what you have gathered from the course, give me your reaction to the performance.
Concert: Miles Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_JZRhffYxE&list=PLLfKOAE-mk1fNGBlLxWRfTHAY0GG1jk8g&index=5