In this assignment, you will gain experience recognizing and describing musical features in a musical example from around the world and music in your own life. Be sure to carefully follow the instructions below and on the course syllabus. (Failure to follow directions will result in a lowered grade.) The minimum length of this paper is 3 full pages, the maximum is 4 full pages.
Select one musical example from the following list. All of these examples come from the Worlds of Music textbook; use MindTap to listen to your selection by navigating to the appropriate chapter.
“Nhemamusasa,” a Shona mbira piece [ALG], see WM Ch. 3
“Devi Niye Tunai,” an Indian Carnatic song [M], see WM Ch. 6
“Kosalia Arini,” an Indonesian piece [ALG], see WM Ch. 7
“Yangguan san die,” a Chinese qin piece [ALG], see WM Ch. 8
“Iluman Tiyu,” a Peruvian sanjuán [ALG], see WM Ch. 9
Listen to the musical example several times. Then, write a 1-page prose description of its musical features.
Be sure you focus on musical features (the internal qualities that can be heard in the sound of music). Do not write about musical functions (what people use music for) as we’ll deal with those in another assignment.
Avoid value judgments: Describing a piece’s musical features is not the same thing as deciding whether you like it, and this paper doesn’t ask whether it’s a “good” piece of music. Do not write about those issues. Instead, your task is simply to describe its sound in terms of musical features, using correct and appropriate musical terminology.
Check the facts: Consult the textbook to make sure you don’t write something factually incorrect about the piece or where it comes from. But don’t just copy the book’s words into your paper — that’s plagiarism. Instead, put your own observations and ideas into your own words, and cite the book (using the Chicago Manual of Style (Links to an external site.) footnotes plus a bibliography, which doesn’t count as one of the pages of your paper) if you use any of its ideas.
Next, select one song from your personal collection. It can come from any genre, style, country, or culture. Listen to it several times and write a 1-page prose description of its musical features. Be sure to continue following the guidelines above.
Finally, write a 1-page prose summary, comparing and contrasting the features of the two pieces you analyzed.
Check that your paper follows all the instructions here and on the course syllabus. Failure to follow directions will result in a lowered grade. Then, save your paper in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF (.pdf) format and submit it via Canvas.