Did he/she begin music lessons at a young age? What is their primary instrument? With whom did they study? Did they attend a music conservatory or other university?

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RESEARCH PAPER GUIDELINES


Each student will successfully complete a brief, 5-PARAGRAPH research paper on a Western classical
composer. The student should follow the following outline:

PARAGRAPH 1: INTRODUCTION
In this paragraph, you should introduce the composer to their audience by giving basic background information
(DOB, where they are from, and their overall reputation as a composer). This paragraph should end with a
THESIS STATEMENT, outlining the rest of your research paper.

PARAGRAPH 2: EDUCATION AND EARLY CAREER
This paragraph should illustrate the musical education and early career of your composer.
Focus on their formal training.
Did he/she begin music lessons at a young age?
What is their primary instrument?
With whom did they study?
Did they attend a music conservatory or other university?

You should also discuss the early composition career of your composer.
When did he/she begin composing?
Where did they study composition and with whom?
What are a few of their early pieces?

PARAGRAPH 3: MAJOR WORKS (minimum of 3) AND STYLE
In this paragraph, you need to examine at least THREE major composition so f your composer. These can be
long or short in duration and written for any medium/instrument(s); but each piece should be IMPORTANT in
the composer’s overall output. Make sure to describe your composer’s STYLE, and explain why the pieces you
chose are famous/influential.

PARAGRAPH 4: PERSONAL REFLECTION ON MAJOR WORKS
In order to successfully write this paragraph, you will be expected to LISTEN to the major works you discussed
in paragraph 3. This can be done in a variety of ways (YouTube, iTunes, etc.). After listening (more than
once!), please describe your personal opinions/reflections of each composition, making sure to use proper
musical terminology when appropriate (and as best you can).

PARAGRAPH 5: CONCLUSION
This paragraph will server as your conclusion for this research paper, allowing you to collect your final thoughts
on your composer. Make sure to restate your THESIS at the beginning of this paragraph

WORKS CITED
You will be expected to use no less than 3 scholarly sources (no unsubstantiated sources such as Wikipedia or
allmusic.com will be accepted). Your textbook may be used as a starting point but will not count toward one of
your number of required sources. All sources must be cited using MLA format (in-text citations).

A SEPARATE WORKS CITED PAGE IS REQUIRED

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Joker (2019)

Watch and listen to Joker (2019), with the goal of discussing how the music enhances the drama.

Choose from two to four specific scenes (which could include the beginning or ending of the film). Discuss specifically the MUSIC over the action. Description of the scene is perfectly fine, but try to keep that to its essentials, and realize that this paper about music, and describing music as best you can. Try to go deeper than just saying, “The character is sad because of the music” or something equally uninformative!! Try to focus on the film “score” (the music that the characters do NOT hear). This is also called “non-diagetic” music.

Why do you think this symphony, arguably the most famous in musical history, has such a profound effect on so many people?

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Music 5

Listen to all of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. In your journal, describe the effect each movement of this symphony has on you–that is, your emotional as well as intellectual reaction. Why do you think this symphony, arguably the most famous in musical history, has such a profound effect on so many people?

Identify one social problem the artist speaks about through his lyrics. Discuss this problem’s impact on American culture.

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SS Candles in the Sun

Popular music has brought national attention to social problems, such as war, poverty, and wrongful death. With that in mind, please do the following:

Watch R&B artist Miguel’s music video, “Candles in the Sun” and:
Identify one social problem the artist speaks about through his lyrics.
Discuss this problem’s impact on American culture.
100 word minimum.

What year was the song created? Where was the song created? Who is the musician/group of musicians? What instruments were used in the song? What background details can I find about the group/musicians?

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Non-Western and Western Music

Using YouTube, select one non-Western musical example and one Western musical example.

The critical thinking checklist will help you gather the evidence to support your assertion that you have chosen a Western or a non-Western musical style/choice. For each piece of music, write at least 1 paragraph that fully explains all of the items on the critical thinking checklist. Be sure to provide the link to the piece in your explanation and use complete sentences.

Critical thinking checklist:

What year was the song created? Where was the song created?
Who is the musician/group of musicians?
What instruments were used in the song?
What background details can I find about the group/musicians?
Is there any cultural or religious significance to the song?
What elements of music are present? (for example: Rhythm, Tempo, Pitch and Scale, Melody, Harmony, Dynamics, Tone Color/Timbre)
What do I hear?
What similarities and differences can I hear between my two choices?
Note: You will not be able to view or respond to any of your classmates’ posts until AFTER you have posted your initial response. Post your own response earlier in the week, so that other students can have the benefit of viewing your thoughts and providing a reply to you before the deadline.

Tell a subjectively framed story ;focus in on one or two things about that life and work you find especially interesting?

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Obituary

An “obituary” of a figure in film history. Anyone at all: an actor, writer, director, producer, costume designer, etc. It could be someone who worked during the silent era, or someone who made their first film last year. This is, above all, a creative writing exercise. tell a subjectively framed story ;focus in on one or two things about that life and work you find especially interesting?

Share a piece of music that tells a story that is a bit spooky, sinister, creepy or scary  (but can be from movie)

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Spooky Music Discussion

As we come into the end of October, we have reached the “Romantic” era of music. Much of the music you will be learning about this week is much more dramatic and written to tell a story.

This week we will have a music share discussion worth 10 points:

Share a piece of music that tells a story that is a bit spooky, sinister, creepy or scary  (but can be from movie)

What about this take by Nicolas Godin (Links to an external site.)? Metal, zombies, surfing… how is Godin using Bach to speak to himself or the present?

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Bach Cantata BWW 54

1. Use Google to find text and the translation. Write about how the music and the performance reflect the meaning. See if you can feel what Gould means about: “… and both of the outer movements of this cantata are full of that wonderful and torturous art of intense cross-relation and suspension which Bach always reserved for those subjects
…[music]… on which he felt most keenly, most deeply.”This piece was written around 1711-1714. Though it was more than 300 years ago,Bach is revered by musicians of all genres. Musicians often bring Bach alive in their own ways.

2. What does this arrangement and performance by Frankfurt Radio Band (Links to an external site.) do with the same cantata?

3. What about this take by Nicolas Godin (Links to an external site.)? Metal, zombies, surfing… how is Godin using Bach to speak to himself or the present?

How did television play a role in the rock and pop music industry How did television play a role in the rock and pop music industry from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s? How was the music industry tied to this medium, and what were the musical results of such a relationship?

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Role television played in the rock and pop music industry

How did television play a role in the rock and pop music industry How did television play a role in the rock and pop music industry from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s?

How was the music industry tied to this medium, and what were the musical results of such a relationship? Do you think TV had a negative impact on radio and the record industry? Include a brief discussion of a group whose trajectory was impacted by TV from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s?

How was the music industry tied to this medium, and what were the musical results of such a relationship? Do you think TV had a negative impact on radio and the record industry? Include a brief discussion of a group whose trajectory was impacted by TV

Compare and contrast Smith’s recording of “Crazy Blues” with the “Robert Charles” song. Is “Crazy Blues” a “safer” version of the Robert Charles story?

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Week 7 response

You all listened to “Crazy Blues” as recorded by Mamie Smith for last week’s unit on The Blues. The article you’ll be reading for this week is based on this song. It mentions various factors that contributed to the huge success of “Crazy Blues” while also discussing reasons “serious” Blues musicians were dismissive of the song. The author of this article proposes that the song has been underestimated and that it is an important “insurrectionary social text” that contributes to the conversation about Black revolutionary violence as a way of resisting white violence and “unsettling a repressive social order.”
For this week, please write a short response essay based on the theme of “Black versus White” as it is explored in this article. Using specific quotes and moments from the article, write 3-4 paragraphs about whether you agree or disagree with Gussow’s assertions and why. Are there things you think he misinterprets? Are there things you think he should have considered but did not? Feel free to link to modern music examples that might support your argument.
Moments you might consider (you can feel free to choose others, though):
1) “Crazy Blues” as a part of the genealogy of songs such as “Cop Killer” and “Squeeze the Trigger.”
2) Smith’s words as commentary on the “growing alienation between Harlem’s restive citizenry and its white occupying force.”
3) Compare and contrast Smith’s recording of “Crazy Blues” with the “Robert Charles” song. Is “Crazy Blues” a “safer” version of the Robert Charles story?
4) The countless forms of “bad news” that threaten to take away the “Black male lover whose absence she bemoans.”
5) The use of a female voice instead of a male voice.
6) “Crazy Blues” as an emotional purge for newly transplanted Southerners.
7) The coded meaning, rooted in American history, of the use of the word “Crazy.”
8) “Crazy Blues” as psychological preparation to meet race-based dangers emerging in the North.
9) Mourning of romantic loss in music as a stand-in for mourning cultural loss.
10) Blues singers as reporters.