Description
Each unit, you will be asked to submit a reflection of an online performance and make appropriate notes and observations as they relate to the class. A folder on Blackboard will be labeled Event Assignments and contain a number of links for approved video performances. After you watch the video, you will be required to prepare a report on some aspect of the performance and post it to the corresponding Assignment tab through this courses Blackboard site. Reports should be approximately five hundred (550-750) words in length.
Together with the third event report, students must submit a brief paper reflecting on the event report assignment, comparing and contrasting the three experiences, highlighting specific things they learned in completing their reports, and contemplating connections between these assignments and other course material. This assignment should run about 750 words and will carry a weight equivalent to one event report for your final grade.
Some things you might write about
Describe the venue in which the performance is being held, the arrangement/decoration/lighting of the space, and the position of the musicians relative to the audience (i.e. in the center of the room, on a stage, in the corner, etc.) Describe the audience. How do the people attending this performance interact with one another and with the musicians? (Is silence encouraged during the performance? If so, how? Do listeners applaud and cheer after each piece? During the performance? Do people talk among themselves, dance, sing along, etc, while the music is playing? Do the interactions, clothing choices, etc. seem formal or informal? Why/how so?) Be extremely careful not to over-generalize when you describe the audience. Qualify statements by: a) being as specific as possible (ex: After the conclusion of the piece, the audience burst into loud and vigorous applause that lasted over a minute, would be better than, The audience loved the show.) b) framing assertions in a way that makes it clear that they are your own observations and not inarguable facts (ex: Most of the people sitting in my immediate vicinity were dressed formally. Waiting in line for a coffee at the intermission, I saw that this was also true for a larger number of the concertgoers, would be better than saying, Everyone was dressed very formally. Write about the music itself. Although we have gone to great lengths in this class to interrogate the relationship between music and context, part of the objective of this assignment is for you to use the vocabulary we discuss in class to describe the sounds you hear at events. Show that you can correctly describe textures, meters, instrumental ensembles, etc. in addition to the stylistic parameters specific to the genres we study in this class. Back up your statements with examples
LINKS: (Pick one link below on youtube to use for the assignment)
https://youtu.be/46TyJXgt7AM