Discuss your background as a music listener. What styles have you enjoyed in the past and why? Have your musical tastes evolved in any way? What do you enjoy about this music?
After discussing the above choose a 30 minute musical example to listen to. You will probably want to listen to it more than once, so pick something that interests you. Any musical style is acceptable but it should be from the same work (several movements of a symphony, the first half of a rock or pop album, ext).
While taking the experience of listening to music and putting your ideas and impressions into words can be difficult, there are some steps you can take to make the process relevant and create a good product. Writing is a way of communicating, so formulating ideas and understanding of the material is the first step. Carefully listening and picking out musical details, listening to a selection once for instruments and once for lyrics is a good way to familiarize yourself with the material before you begin to write.
Make sure to cover the materials of music that are covered in the required reading. Since we’ll be covering many musical terms throughout the course, making yourself familiar with them and using them in your writing will be important. Also recognizing when it is appropriate to use these terms. This includes names of instruments but also terms like melody, harmony, rhythm, tempo, ensemble, and improvisation. While there is nothing wrong with using words like “relaxing”, “exciting”, “flowing” or “pretty”, understanding and describing what it is about the music that gives it these qualities will enhance your writing.
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