Original Listening Guide

Instructions

• This is an individual assignment, do not work in groups:  Submit this document to the Dropbox on Canvas (pages 2-3 are the worksheet that you will fill out).  Files must be submitted in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.

• Selecting a piece:  For your Original Listening Guide, you may select a piece from any genre, style or time period as long as a recording is readily available on Napster or YouTube (iTunes, CDs, and mp3s are not acceptable).

• Completing the worksheet:

o Background information and questions:  On the first page of your worksheet, you will provide background information about the piece and answer some questions about its basic structure.  Always try to explain your rationale (this is monophonic because…).  For your research:

▪ Popular music is probably best researched in Google, and related search engines, although there are excellent resources available in the Music Library (in the Music Building, 3rd floor).

▪ For Classical Music of the Western Tradition and Jazz, see Grove Music Online (database). As noted in the “Music Research Guide” on Chinook “Grove Music Online comprises the full text of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers, and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz.”

▪ For World Music, see The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online. These online resources are readily available in Chinook while using an internet connection on campus. To get access to these online resources off campus, be sure to use a VPN connection (see http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/research/offcampusaccess.htm).

o Identify, describe, and discuss significant events in the piece:  On the second page of your worksheet, you will identify at least 10 significant events in the piece by their timestamps, each of which you will describe and discuss in full sentences. Timestamps are written in minutes and seconds such as 3:42 or 0:35. Please write in complete sentences for each of your entries in this section. 

▪ These events may be changes in tempo or meter, changes in instrumentation and/or texture, mood shifts (such as a change from major to minor mode), the entrance of a soloist, appearance or recurrence of a motive, and so on.

▪ Provide a brief discussion and/or description of each one.  These should include terminology and concepts covered in the textbook chapters on rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics, timbre, and form, as well as non-technical descriptions to make your ideas as clear as possible.