Jonathan Shaw
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DAY 1 : Class Listening Activity

??? What are Some Differences between these two performances ??????

??????  Why do you think the original example was the one chosen to be released on the radio   ?????

????? In Which of these examples do we see more ' Musical Skill ' ???????

HOMEWORK:

In the previous activity we were looking at an Original Version of a song (I.E. The one that was released on the radio that we all know and have heard), then right next to it, we heard a New Version of the Same song (Same song, but something has changed, in this case : instrumentation). This new version of the song is sometimes called a Cover or Remake .

Your assignment is to find a song that you will use as your Original Version , And 2 New/Cover/Remake Versions of that same song. 

The Catch is that these new versions have to fit a specific criteria:
  • For one of the new versions, find a song that you think is VERY DIFFERENT than the original version. Challenge yourself to find the craziest version of your original. It still has to be the same song / called the same thing, but it should sound completely different. 
  • For your second new version, find a version where you think the artist did a really good job covering the song (this could mean a lot of different things, be ready to explain why !)
We will listen to some of these in class and you should be prepared to explain your examples!

You will turn in:  a Sheet with 3 links for your original example, new versions, and for each of your new versions a short explaination for why it fits the criteria

Original Version

Buy You A Drank
Drankin Patna

Up Down
Cover Version

​T-Pain Tiny Desk Concert NPR
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Judging / Comparing Music

One of the most useful ways to examine different examples of music
​is to examine their differences
Example: 
We are trying to discover something about someone's taste in music (i.e. why you like what you like'): 
If we listen to something they like, and immediately  after play something they hate, 
The differences between those songs can give us some information about their musical preferences 
Think about it in terms of Food Preferences (or movies...books... etc):
Jon Loves Steak, but hates Baby Carrots.  

Think about the different characteristics these foods have: 
Steak:  Cooked, Meaty, Salty, Crispy
Carrot:  Raw,  cold, crunchy, tastes earth/dirt, 

Chances are good that  I am probably going to like other foods that are cooked, meaty, salty, Crispy 
Chances are also good that I will DISLIKE things that are raw, cold, crunchy (broccoli)
For Music
Let's say you hate Beethoven but love The Roots,
if we examine the 

differences between those artists and their songs, 
we can make some discoveries about

Wh
at type of thing you like to listen to 

Judging / Comparing Music

Judge = Form an opinion or Conclusion

If we are going to judge or form an opinion,  we need some
Judgment Criteria

When Judging a song, it is really insufficient to simply say , "This is a good song" or " That song sucked" .....   

What is it good for? 
What is good about it?  
The lyrics? The Instruments? The Singers Voice? The guitar solo? The drum groove?

What Specifically Sucked about the song?    
It didn't keep you entertained?  You couldn't understand the lyrics?  There Were no lyrics? 

AND..

It's totally possible that you enjoy certain parts of the song more than others...

Examples:  Maybe a song has great guitar solo and great lyrics but the singer has a terrible voice  (Neil Young)

​Maybe a song has Funny lyrics, but the music is simple and there is no depth to the content (Weird Al / Tenacious D)

Maybe the Lyrics contain a message that you like but you hate the genre of the song (Country-pop)




1. Artistic/Musical Skill:
This is a rating of how much musical Skill you think it took for the artist to create the song 

Very Musical
Stevie Wonder
Wynton Marsallis  

Bohemian Rhapsody
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Un-Musical
 Whip/NaeNae  
Shots 
Wobble Song
,

2. Social Value:
Is this song Socially Accepted? Is it generally accepted in a Social Setting?
Think of this: if this song were to 
come on at the party/bar/club/wedding etc. would people like it or hate it?
Very Social
-------------------------------------
Not Social
3. Monetary Value
Simply put, How much money would this song make in the music industry. How many Copies would this song sell?
Monetary Success
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Monetary Failure

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