Pitch, scales, melody and texturePaper details:
This second short assignment is designed to provide you with the opportunity to analyze pitch, scales, melody and texture with respect to a piece of your choice in order to demonstrate your listening and musical analysis skills.

Choose EITHER a single piece of your choice OR two versions of the same song (e.g., “Hound Dog” by Big Mama Thornton and Elvis Presley, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana and Tori Amos). You may choose any pieces you wish, from any musical culture and/or from any genre. However, you may not write about the same piece more than once, you may not write about any pieces discussed in depth in the textbook, or any pieces previously discussed in-depth in this course (e.g., in discussion forums).

TIP: think carefully about the piece(s) you want to analyze. Don’t pick the first piece you think of, or your favourite piece just because it’s your favourite piece. Pick a piece that will give you lots to talk about. For this assignment, for example, you might choose a piece with several distinct melodies (either at different times or at the same time, such as between two voices), or a piece that uses a lot of different melodic motion (a combination of stepwise motion and leaps). Otherwise, you’re going to struggle to come up with much to say.

Format

3-4 pages (750-1000 words)
double-spaced
12 point Times New Roman font
1”/2.5 cm margins
provide a link to a recording of the piece(s) you write about or send me an mp3 or mp4 file
Requirements

Describe the piece using as many of the concepts and ideas from the course and textbook as possible. This assignment should focus on pitch, scales, melody and texture, but can also reference other concepts.

Please use specific timer markings when referring to particular moments in the music, rather than descriptive terms and phrases. For example, write “At 1’15″ [this means “one minute and fifteen seconds”], the singer begins a new melody.” This is much easier for me to find than if you write, “After the first melody, the singer sings a new melody.” In the second example, I may have a different idea about what constitutes the first melody or where it ends than you do, making it hard for me to hear exactly what you’re hearing.

It is important that you provide me with the exact same recording that you used to analyze the piece. Otherwise, the timer markings are likely to be incorrect. So, if you analyze an MP3 file on your iPod, don’t send me a link for the piece on youtube! You’ll need to find a way to get a copy of the MP3 file to me.

Although these are not research assignments, it’s a good idea to get into the habit of citing sources properly. You may also choose to do additional research, although it’s not required. Many of you will wind up using at least a website (e.g., artist website), as well as the recordings you analyze. You are free to use any citation method you wish, as long as it is a recognized citation format and consistently applied. If you’re not sure what citation method to use, use Turabian, which is the method ethnomusicologists use. Sample citations are listed below. If you have questions or need additional citation formats, please see me or a librarian or consult a citation guide (available in the library).

Remember, these assignments are meant to exercise your listening skills, musical vocabulary, and musical analysis. Do NOT provide a biography of the performers. Avoid giving an emotional response and avoid vague adjectives and descriptions, such as “nice,” “great,” “emotional,” “honest,” “authentic,” or “from the heart.”

If you are struggling, please, please, PLEASE ask for help.

Sample Citation Formats

CD

Artist [if it’s a band, list the name as normal; if it’s an individual’s name, list by last name first]. Year of release. Title of track. Title of CD. Compact disc. Distribution company: Catalogue number [this is usually found on the spine of a CD, printed on the CD itself, and/or sometimes on the last page of the liner notes].

Grant, Colin. 2009. Thanks Howie. Fun for the Whole Family. Compact disc. Colin Grant: CDG002.

Youtube video

Poster’s name.* Year of posting. Title of video. Youtube video: URL. Accessed on [access date].

*The “author” name gets complicated here. If you’re posting a music video or recording of an artist, it probably makes more sense to cite the band or artist’s name rather than the poster’s name (assuming the band/artist didn’t post the video). Other times, however, it makes more sense to cite by the poster’s name, if known (list last name first). If the poster’s name is not known, use a term like “Anonymous” or “Unknown author.” Use common sense to make a judgment call here.

Radiohead. 2008. Radiohead: National Anthem (+ Lyrics). Youtube video: http://bit.ly/1MAwARN. Accessed on Aug 20, 2015.

Website

Author name [this could be a company or an individual]. Year of posting [or last updated date]. Title of website. Website: URL. Accessed on [access date].

Anggun. N.d.* Anggun: Je Partirai. Website: http://www.anggun.com/. Accessed on Sep 19, 2011.

*Since no date is listed on the website, I used “N.d.” to mean “no date.”
Comments from Support Team: I hope you can tell the writer that I have no background about music, writer should not use anything that too professional word to explain, and plz do not plagiarize at all!