Final Project Headquarters (1)
Project Overview
Throughout this course you have experienced that reading, thinking and writing about music enhance your appreciation of it. You have developed techniques such as careful observation and music analysis, which consequently has helped you to build a deeper relationship with music then that experienced by a casual listener. Finally, the purpose of this course was to show you how music can enrich our lives when we pay attention to its contexts and when we understand the way cultural expectations affect the way we listen and appreciate it. For your final project you are asked to make use of all the techniques and historical perspective you have developed/acquired in this course to write a thoughtful and convincing paper which builds a case of how to appreciate one of the two musical genres below. (Each genre has a dedicated page with genre-specific questions and research prompts, selected sound files links, lyrical content, and other research resources)
Country music:
Country Music Specific Information
Links to a collection of selected Country Music works can be found here:
Jimmie Rodgers, Blue Yodel, no.11 (1929)
Blue Yodel Number Eleven by Jimmie Rodgers (1929)
Carter Family, Wildwood Flower (1950)
The Carter Family – Wildwood Flower
Hank Williams, I’m So Lonely I Could Cry (1949)
I’M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY (1949) by Hank Williams
Kitty Wells, It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (1952)
Kitty Wells – It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
Patsy Cline, Crazy (1961)
Tammy Wynette, Stand By Your Man (1961)
Tammy Wynette – Stand By Your Man (Audio) (Pseudo Video)
Merle Haggard, Mama Tried (1968)
Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner’s Daughter (1970)
Lyrics for each selected Country Music song can be found here: Final Project: Country Music Option Song Lyrics
I. Introduction [One paragraph]
Opening thoughts on Country Music from 1929-1970. Why did you choose this option? Were you familiar with Country Music before this paper? If so, please elaborate.
II. Country Music Overview [Two to Three Paragraphs]
- What is Country Music? Please do not include modern country music hybrids in the description [i.e. Country Rock, Country Pop,…]
- Who are the key figures in the development of Country Music from 1929-1970? Let the selected song list guide your research.
- What areas of the U.S.A. were hot beds for the development of Country Music?
- What demographic traditionally connects with Country music? Has it remained constant through the years?
III. Musical Observations [Three to Four paragraphs]
- After listening to the selected collection of Country Music songs describe the connecting stylistic attributes. Try to make connections between two or three of the selected songs. Be specific and use music terminology
- Discuss the lyrical content of the collected songs (reference al least four songs in your answer.) [Song lyrics can be found here: Final Project: Country Music Option Song Lyrics ] Do find any conflicts between the lyrics and the instrumental sounds?
- How is Country Music different or similar to the music we’ve studied in MUSC&105 thus far? [Think about melody, harmony, goal-directed harmonic progressions, rhythm, tempo, dynamics, song form, etc…]
- Describe the instrumentation/timbre of the selected Country Music works? Are there any obvious trends of instrument choice and the role of the instruments in the accompanying texture? What mood or atmosphere do you think these timbres/textures provide the music?
- Where is Country Music experienced? In your estimation, which mode of/location for listening to Country Music is the best?
- Does Country Music have a distinctive following? If so, please describe.
IV. Appreciating Country Music [One to Two Paragraphs]
In a paragraph or two make a case for appreciating Country Music.
- Describe what the listener should focus on in the Country Music. Be specific, let your research inform this section.
- In order to truly appreciate what makes Country Music special, what attributes associated with other genres of music should be de-emphasized? Meaning, what common musical expectations will not be met for a “new” listener of Country Music?
- How should the listener approach the lyrical content in Country Music? Are the lyrics in general too specific to be universal or can any person relate to average message of a Country Music song? [Focus on the selected song collection to support this portion of your “appreciation case.”
- Describe the optimal mindset and location for successfully experiencing Country Music
- Are there mis-conceptions of Country Music? Explain.
V. Concluding Thoughts [One Paragraph]
In a paragraph:
- describe your personal thoughts on Country Music and the process of researching and describing appreciation of the Country Music genre.
- describe the process of gaining appreciation in general. Please provide a life experience. What have you gained an appreciation for in other areas of your life?
Bibliography
Cite all resources…websites and all.
*OR*
Ambient Music:
Ambient Music Specific Information
Links to selected Ambient Music works can be found here:
Brian Eno, Music for Airports (1978)
Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music for Airports [Full Album]
Brian Eno, Apollo (1983)
- An Ending (Ascent)
- Under the Stars
Thomas Koner, Permafrost (1993)
Thomas Köner – Permafrost (Full Album)
Aphex Twin, Selected Ambient Works, Vol.II (1985-1992) [Full Album]
Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II
Eliane Eadigue, Islas resonantes (2005)
Islas resonantes, Eliane Radigue
Some Resources…
A Conversation With Brian Eno on Ambient Music
PAPER OUTLINE
I. Introduction [One paragraph]
Opening thoughts on Ambient Music. First, define ambiance. Why did you choose this genre? Were you familiar with Ambient Music before this paper?
II. Ambient Music Overview [Two Paragraphs]
- What is Ambient Music?
- Who is/are the key figures in the development of Ambient Music?
- What is Muzak (Links to an external site.)
Links to an external site.
? Why is the corporation Muzak important to the development of Ambient Music? - Why is the work Music for Airports so important to the genre of Ambient Music?
- How has Ambient music evolved from its origin in early 1970’s?
III. Musical Observations [Three to Four paragraphs]
- After listening to the four examples of Ambient Music (especially the entirety of Music for Airports) describe the connecting stylistic attributes. Try to make connections between two or three of the selected pieces. Be specific and use music terminology
- Describe the differences between three of the selected Ambient works
- How is Ambient Music different from musical we’ve studied in MUSC&105 thus far? Describe the obvious and not-so-obvious differences. [Think about melody, harmony, goal-directed harmonic progressions, rhythm, tempo, dynamics, music length, etc…]
- Describe the instrumentation/timbre of the selected Ambient works? Any similarities?
- How and where is Ambient Music experienced? Why is location important to consider when discussing Ambient Music?
- Does Ambient Music have a distinctive following? If so, please describe.
IV. Appreciating Ambient Music [One to Two Paragraphs]
In a paragraph or two make a case for appreciating Ambient Music.
- How does Ambient Music upend the traditional mode of music listening? Is this mode of listening more relevant in today’s culture? If so, explain.
- Describe what the listener should focus on in the Ambient Music. Be specific, let your research inform this section.
- In order to truly appreciate what makes Ambient Music special, you need to consider musical attributes and the potential for foreground/background listening. What attributes associated with other genres of music should be de-emphasized? Meaning, what common musical expectations will not be met for a “new” listener of Ambient music?
- Describe the optimal location, mindset for experiencing Ambient Music.
- Are there misconceptions of what Ambient Music is? Explain. Do you see any potential misconceptions?
V. Concluding Thoughts [One Paragraph]
In a paragraph describe:
- your personal thoughts on Ambient Music and the process of researching and describing appreciation of the Ambient Music genre.
- the process of gaining appreciation in general. Please provide a life experience. What have you gained an appreciation for in other areas of your life?
Bibliography
Cite all resources…websites and all.
Your paper criteria:
Your paper needs to have a plausible and interesting main argument, a coherent structure, convincing evidence, and an elegant style with your voice in it. The arguments that you will be making in your paper should primarily be based on specific and concrete musical elements that support the path to true appreciation of your selected genre. In the process of creating your paper, you will need to build an understanding of your selected genre’s history, experience important works/songs (instructor selected), stylistic attributes, and socio/economic/cultural connections. This means that you are not expected to LIKE or ENJOY either of stylistic choices, but you will need to ponder and express how to appreciate the music of your selected genre to the reader. To be clear, you can’t simply write that the genre or the song or musical performance is “good or bad” or that “you liked it or didn’t.” This paper is not about opinion but how to objectively approach music that is new to you or outside the realm of your musical tastes. Ultimately you need to reference specific elements of the music to make a strong arguable claim that you can support with evidence. Each genre option will have genre-specific questions, selected music to help you built your paper. An outline of the paper structure will be found below.
Before you start writing your paper and developing your thesis you need to observe and analyze the music.
Observe
As you listen to the music for the first time, pay attention to your first impression and your reactions. Focus on the moments that leap out at you, jolt your senses or seem to be important to you. Try to hone in on what makes the genre sound the way it does. What do you hear in the music that specifically leads to a stylistic attribute? Listen to the selected music several times and focus on a different attribute in the music with each hearing. Try to build a list of various musical elements to help you find the key attributes that are essential to building appreciate of your selected genre.
Analyze
After you have made your careful observations you can start organizing them in order that is important to you. When you are analyzing, ask yourself how do aspects of the piece’s form, lyrics, repetitions, and other musical attributes (instrumentation, timbre, etc.) that you noticed in your observation, contribute to the work’s meaning or function and in how you understand the work.
Use of Terminology
In your writing make sure to make use of the musical terminology that you have learned in this course. However, don’t use them just for sake of using them. Use them if you think it would help to make your points clear. Also, don’t be afraid of using metaphorical or poetic language to describe a passage in the music.
PAPER OUTLINE
I. Introduction
II. Selected Genre Overview (see Genre-Specific Page for details)
III. Musical Observations (see Genre-Specific Page for details)
IV. Appreciating Your Selected Genre
V. Concluding Thoughts
Bibliography
PROJECT RUBRIC:
Good grammar and spelling: 10pts
Correct use of music terminology: 10pts
Basic background information about the genre, songs(s) and composer(s)/performer(s): 20pts
Strength of musical observations: 20pts
Balance between descriptive analysis and personal reactions: 10pts
Overall quality of the appreciation argument: 30pts
Plagiarism policy
Your paper must be your own original work. Papers which are found to contain material copied from other sources will receive a grade of zero. All submissions will be checked for plagiarized material using VeriCite.
