Jonathan Shaw
  • Music Appreciation Spring 2020 (Blackwood)
    • Homework
    • Syllabus & Defining Music Appreciation >
      • Activity : Judging Music
    • 1/30 Instrumentation Class 1 >
      • Instrumentation Follow-Up
    • 2/11 >
      • Texture
    • 2/13
    • 2/18
    • Melody >
      • Evolution of a Genre : Example Assignment >
        • Week 5 Assignment : Evolution of a Genre Assignment
    • 2/25
    • Quiz
    • Rhythm
    • 3/10
    • Virtual Week 1: Harmony >
      • Extra Harmony Material
    • Film Music
    • Sampling
    • Sampling Follow Up
    • The Blues
  • ONLINE Music Appreciation Fall 2020
    • Week 1
    • Week 2
    • Week 3
    • Week 4
    • Week 5 >
      • Evolution of a Genre : Example Assignment
      • Week 5 Assignment : Evolution of a Genre Assignment
    • Week 6 >
      • Film Music
      • Sampling
    • Week 7 >
      • Sampling Follow Up
      • Survey
  • Brass Methods
    • Fingering/Position Test
  • Fall 2019 Honors Appreciation
    • Day 1 >
      • Syllabus & Defining Music Appreciation >
        • Activity : Judging Music
    • Day 2
    • Characteristics of Music - Part 1
    • Instrumentation
    • Texture
    • Melody >
      • Isn't She Lovely
    • Harmony
    • Rhythm
    • Song Meaning / Analysis
    • Artistic Intention
    • Evolution of a Genre : Example Assignment >
      • Assignment : Evolution of a Genre Assignment
    • Song Form
    • Genre Thoughts
    • Sampling
    • Film Music
    • Movie Projects (Examples)
    • Early Blues
    • New Page
  • Biography
    • Resume/C.V.
  • Aural Theory II
    • Page 2
    • Practice Test
    • Final Days
  • Aural Theory I
    • Reading Material
    • Tuesday 9/4
    • Class 2 : 9/11
    • Class 3 : 9/13
    • 9/18
    • 9/20 >
      • Matching the Pitch Homework
    • Quiz Listening
    • Class 10/2 & 10/4
    • 10/9
    • 10/11
    • 10/18
    • Dictation Practice
    • 6/8 Piece
    • BassLine Singing
    • FINAL MATERIALS
  • Music Fundamentals
    • Homework
    • Class 2 : 9/11 >
      • Melody
      • Harmony
      • Intro to Rhythm
      • Instrumentation
      • Instrumentation Chart / Song Map
    • Class 3 : 9/18 >
      • Quiz
      • Matching Pitches
      • Matching the Pitch Homework
    • Class #4 : 9/25 >
      • Rhythm
      • More Rhythm....
      • Song Form
    • Class #5 : 10/2
    • Class #6 : 10/9
    • Class #7 : 10/17
    • Class #8 : 10/23 >
      • ID'ing Basslines
    • Class 9 : 10/30
    • Class #10 11/6
    • Mid Term Project
    • Mid Term Project Due Dates
    • Class 12 : 11/13
    • Class #13 : 11/20
    • Class 14 - 11/26
    • Class 15 : 12/4
    • Class 16 : FINAL
  • Music Fundamentals for Sound Engineers
    • Week 1
    • Week 2
    • Week 3
    • Week 4
    • Week 5
    • Week 6
    • Week 7
    • Week 8 >
      • Notation Practice - Test
    • Week 9
    • Week 10
    • Week 12
    • Week 13
    • Week 14
    • Week 15
  • Materials
  • Recordings/Links
  • Education
  • Contact

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:

FIND AN EXAMPLE OF A NEW VERSION OF AN OLD SONG, WHERE THE NEW ARTIST HAS CHANGED THE INSTRUMENTATION IN SOME WAY .  

**** THE CATCH ***** :
FIND AN EXAMPLE WHERE YOU THINK THE NEW VERSION IS BETTER SOMEHOW , AND BE ABLE TO SAY WHY

Class Activity

Description:
For this activity , we will listen to 2 different version of 3 songs.  The First version is the original record / released version. The second is a cover version from NPRs tiny desk concerts.  Many things have changed in regard to genre/style/instrumental ETC.

We will compare them based on the criteria above -  of course we could use a much wider range of criteria, but for simplicity we will use the 3 shown above. 

Instructions:
​For each example, decide which side of the scale you think it lands on
Original Version

Buy You A Drank
Drankin Patna

Up Down
Cover Version

​T-Pain Tiny Desk Concert NPR
​
T Pain Worksheet
File Size: 28 kb
File Type: t-pain video activity
Download File

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
-------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------
Monetary Failure

​

Judgment Criteria Homework

Examples:  Find examples of songs that you think fit to following Criteria.  Give an explanation about why you think it fits (i.e. give proof for your opinion - if you think it has low social value tell why you think so, if you think it has high musical value tell what it musically impressive about it)
1.   High Social Value    VS    Low monetary value

2.   Low Social Value     VS   High Monetary Value

3.   High Musical Value    VS   High Monetary Value

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