Hey everyone!
Currently doing Music 1. I chose 3 Viva Voce for my electives alongside my core performance. I was just wondering what kinds of topics I could do? Or is it different for every school/year?
Additionally, does anyone have any tips for a viva voce?
Thanks all!
Hey, CallumPike16!
Welcome to the forums! It makes me so happy to hear you're interested in doing vivas for all your electives
The great thing about musicology is that you can pretty much discuss anything and everything, so long as you do two things. Firstly, you'll need to make sure the topic fits under one of the NESA prescribed topics available for study. You can find that in the downloadable syllabus
here. It would be ideal to have three contrasting topics to broaden your engagement in musicology and for the markers see you demonstrate an eagerness to appreciate a variety of musical genres and subjects.
You also need to make sure you discuss the topic with the six concepts of music in mind. These concepts are the basis of Music 1 and musicology in the course so it's really important that your vivas emerge from them (or at least use them for analysis and discussion). If you were to choose, for example, music of a culture, a topic you could look at is how sound and silence are key stylistic considerations in the performance of Japanese shakuhachi music. In this hypothetical topic, I have picked a music of a culture and chosen to explore it through the concepts of timbre and duration. To get inspired, listen to the music you enjoy and see what interpretations or ideas you can bring to the table and formulate topics around. It all starts with a brainstorm!
I would also recommend reading
this article which has tips for the Viva Voce from someone who was selected for Encore
Hope this helps and looking forward to hearing what you decide to pursue!
Angelina