Undergraduate Course: Ways of Listening (MUSI08063)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This is a course in alternative musical analysis. When we listen to music we hear an organisation of sounds. These sounds are brought forth not only through composition, but also through performance, recording, production, and reproduction. These factors and numerous others are therefore relevant to an understanding of the way music works.
We will discuss the concepts used to analyse, to construct, and to deconstruct musical 'texts' from many sources, and we will examine how these concepts differ according to who is doing the listening, and where (and why) they are doing it. Which descriptive terms are used? Where do these concepts come from, and what are they actually describing? What is the scope of this description? How much can it tell us about how the musical text works? What else needs to be taken into account besides what we hear to get at what we are actually listening to? |
| Course description |
This course addresses the jointly creative and critical act of analysing musical 'texts' (sound, score, performance, imagination), providing a common conceptual vocabulary for further music scholarship.
LECTURE TOPICS
1. What is 'musical appreciation'?
2. What is a musical 'text'?
3. Analysing music as historical object
4. Analysing music as performance
5. Analysing music as technological object
6. Analysing music as television score
7. Analysing music as ethnomusicological object
8. Analysing music as psychological object
9. Making sense of musical listening
LISTENING SEMINARS
1. A track of electronic music
2. A traditional Gaelic song
3. A jazz improvisation
4. A contemporary composition of chamber music
5. A Beatles song
6. A Romantic symphonic work
7. A North Indian raga
8. A live amateur operatic, choral or orchestra performance
9. A twentieth-century work of art music
The course is taught during Semester 1. There are weekly lectures and separate weekly listening seminars. Lectures and seminars are all led by the Course Organiser, Dr Nikki Moran. Specialist staff from the Reid School of Music contribute to some lectures, and each listening seminar features an invited expert listener.
Small group tutorials take place every fortnight, supporting the main group teaching by focusing on assignment preparation.
Lectures (11.10-12.00, Tuesdays except Week 6). Lecture Room A, Alison House.
Listening seminars (9.00-9.50, Thursdays except Week 6). Lecture Room A, Alison House.
Tutorials (50 mins, weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10). TBA (noureen.ehsan@ed.ac.uk).
Prioritised reading (and listening) lists are available. You are required to prepare for lectures and listening seminars by completing at least the Essential reading and listening material. Preparation for tutorials involves specific study and writing tasks (see schedule). If you wish to receive effective feedback on your progress and to progress well, it is wise to complete them.
This course is designed to help you acquire skills in critical and analytical music scholarship. You should also benefit from greater insight and enjoyment of your own musical listening and engagement. See Learning Outcomes.
There are three components of assessed work. Two take place concurrently with teaching (in weeks 5 and 7). The final component is submitted in the December exam diet, after teaching finishes.
1. ESSAY: Critical listening and analysis of a chosen musical text (1500 words, week 5, 30%).
2. PRESENTATION: Critical commentary on a published piece of musical analysis (Group presentation, week 7, 10%).
3. TAKE-AWAY EXAM PAPER: Comparison of two contrasting music performance critiques, from a given selection (3000 words, December examination diet, 60%). These may include, for example:
a) Two printed reviews of live music of different sorts (e.g. classical and jazz), or
b) Two video excerpts of judges' comments after televised performances in competitions, or
c) Two programme or sleeve notes from different genres (e.g. rock and choral music)
The most successful assignments show evidence of study, reading and listening that exceeds the Essential reading list... past Recommended... into Further Reading territory and - in the best cases - beyond!
The small-group tutorials provide the most effective opportunity for feedback. Two tutorials are scheduled ahead of the first submission; your tutor may set you writing tasks in preparation for this submission, as well as advice on preparing the essay, presentation and final submission. Tutorials also provide space to reflect on the formal feedback you receive for assessed work.
All listening seminars involve discussion and interaction with staff and other students as a part of the teaching format; the lectures also offer plenty of scope for questions and discussion. These are all important forms of feedback, which you will make the most of when you are well prepared. Preparation means spending time studying ahead of the class, completing at least the Essential reading and listening.
Essays are submitted electronically (both the first submission, and also the essay prepared for the final take away exam paper). Graded essays are returned electronically. The first essay will include formative feedback; the second is summative. The group presentations receive immediate informal feedback and responses from staff and peers, followed by an agreed grade and summary written feedback.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should seek permission for entry via the Course Organiser. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 50 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 15,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
171 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
10 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1. ESSAY: Critical listening and analysis based on a chosen musical 'text' (1500 words, week 5, 30%)
The essay should present an organised and insightful description of chosen text (composition, performance, recording), using well-selected conceptual terms that are understood and applied accurately in the context. The essay should be written with critical distance, presenting an argument that acknowledges one or more specific, scholarly perspectives. Submit electronically via Learn. Marked essays and feedback are discussed in small group tutorials.
2. PRESENTATION: Critical commentary on a published piece of musical analysis (Group presentation, week 7, 10%)
Presentations should identify some of the specific concepts used in the analysis, and offer an account of the source of those concepts within a particular scholarly perspective. Presentations should communicate a clear summary of the analytical insights offered by the chosen analysis.
Group presentations are assigned a single mark.
However, important preparation for the presentation takes place in Tutorial #3. Five percentage points are allocated individually for proper preparation and participation in the tutorial.
3. TAKE-AWAY EXAM PAPER: Comparison of two contrasting music performance critiques, from a given selection (3000 words, December examination diet, 60%)
These may include, for example:
a) Two printed reviews of live music of different sorts (e.g. classical and jazz), or
b) Two video excerpts of judges' comments after televised performances in competitions, or
c) Two programme or sleeve notes from different genres (e.g. rock and choral music)
The written submission should specify the insights described by the selected pair of critiques. It should identify the analytical concepts that the two critiques draw upon and deliberately compare these, observing the different values that are applied in each case.
Submit electronically via Learn.
For guidance on all written work, please see the MA Music (Hons) Guide to Academic Writing, included on the Learn course page. |
| Feedback |
The small-group tutorials provide the most effective opportunity for feedback. Two tutorials are scheduled ahead of the first submission; your tutor may set you writing tasks in preparation for this submission, as well as advice on preparing the essay, presentation and final submission. Tutorials also provide space to reflect on the formal feedback you receive for assessed work.
All listening seminars involve discussion and interaction with staff and other students as a part of the teaching format; the lectures also offer plenty of scope for questions and discussion. These are all important forms of feedback, which you will make the most of when you are well prepared. Preparation means spending time studying ahead of the class, completing at least the ¿Essential¿ reading and listening.
Essays are submitted electronically (both the first submission, and also the essay prepared for the final ¿take away¿ exam paper). Graded essays are returned electronically. The first essay will include formative feedback; the second is summative. The group presentations receive immediate informal feedback and responses from staff and peers, followed by an agreed grade and summary written feedback. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Draw on a wide range of terms and concepts to articulate your own analytical responses when listening to music.
- Recognise that different forms of critical listening are undertaken in different ways by different groups of people (e.g. historical musicologists; amateur and professional journalists; music psychologists; ethnomusicologists; everyday listeners; performing musicians, etc .)
- Identify the specific ways in which these groups 'listen' differently to one another by identifying the different values and concepts that each applies.
- Compare the critical insights and limitations of various practitioner and scholarly approaches to analytical music listening.
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Learning Resources
| http://resourcelists.ed.ac.uk/lists/8FE2E4C6-7E03-29EE-8251-F2A1A5A1D1E7.html |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical/analytical listening skills. Communication skills (describing unseen objects using abstract concepts).
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| Special Arrangements |
After you have discussed taking one of our courses with your Personal Tutor/ School Student Support Office, please contact us to enquire if a place is available at: eca-sso@ed.ac.uk |
| Keywords | Music,Listening,Analysis,Critical,Alternative |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Nikki Moran
Tel: (0131 6)50 2423
Email: n.moran@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Noureen Ehsan
Tel: (0131 6)50 9179
Email: Noureen.Ehsan@ed.ac.uk |
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