Music Question Thread

[sunflowah]

Hello!

What would be considered primary and secondary sources? Would interviews and quotes from the internet or own score annotations count as primary sources?

[angewina_naguen]

Hello!

What would be considered primary and secondary sources? Would interviews and quotes from the internet or own score annotations count as primary sources?

Hey, sunflowah!

Great question! When I was trying to differentiate between primary and secondary sources, I found that this website was really helpful! Your own score annotations, listening logs and annotations of the works you're analysing are your best primary sources.  I'd definitely recommend listening to your works at different stages in the year and completing separate annotations for them because you'll always hear something new each time! You can look at the logs I did for my Music 2 essay at the end in the appendix if you want a good reference on how to potentially structure yours.

You could also potentially interview a scholar who might know a bit about your composer. I can't think of anyone at the top of my head but perhaps Rachel Campbell from the Con might be worth emailing? She runs Music in Modern Times at my uni and she's very interesting  Otherwise, it's totally cool if your primary sources are mainly annotations and independent analysis so long as you've got plenty there and they're backed with secondary sources. Hope that helps!

Angelina 

[sunflowah]

Hi all!

I'm having trouble with answering this question: 'How has the 6 concepts of music been used together to create an effective musical outcome'? (p.s. not exactly certain on what 'effective musical outcome' means)

[jamonwindeyer]

Hi all!

I'm having trouble with answering this question: 'How has the 6 concepts of music been used together to create an effective musical outcome'? (p.s. not exactly certain on what 'effective musical outcome' means)

Hey!

I'm going to assume this is a Music 1 musicology listening question. So you've nailed the important bit of this question - What the hell is an 'effective musical outcome'? Best bit is you define this yourself - Is it musical interest? Is it creation of tension? It may depend on the context of the piece, but you can effectively define what the effective outcome is and run with that then you just provide your evidence, using the concepts of music, as you normally would choose to do for a listening question

[sunflowah]

  Thanks a lot Jamon!

[sunflowah]

Hello all,

Which music software is best for notating music?

[angewina_naguen]

Hello all,

Which music software is best for notating music?

Hey, sunflowah!

I could go on for hours about which software you should/should not use. Personally, I prefer using Sibelius since it has an amazing playback (the oboes actually sound like oboes) and it's quite easy to navigate once you're used to it but it is ridiculously expensive for students. In my HSC, I used NoteFlight which was free and super easy to use and got by with it for my composition. It has a terrible playback though so if you're using the notation software for composition, I'd recommend finding people to record a live of it instead of using their audio file. A few people I know also really recommend MuseScore but I'm not a huge fan since it's not as comprehensive as Sibelius and NoteFlight, and I have heard decent things about Finale despite never using it. Try them all out and see what works best for you! It really is all a trial and error process 

Angelina 

[sunflowah]

Thanks Angelina! 

If I were to record my composition live, where/how could I find people to play my composition?

[angewina_naguen]

Thanks Angelina! 

If I were to record my composition live, where/how could I find people to play my composition?

Hey, sunflowah!

You could ask your teachers for any recommendations or any of your classmates if they can play the parts you have (if you've got a violist in your class, use them)! You can also post to different Facebook pages and ask if anyone would be interested in recording your composition. Usually people will expect a monetary compensation so just source from people around you first before you reach out to others! Good luck with finding people 

Angelina 

[svnflower]

Hello,

How do we plan out & structure a Q4 in the Music 2 paper?
Is it like an English essay where we need a brief introduction (thesis statement, introduce the piece/s to be discussed, composition date of pieces, etc.) and how many score references are recommended?

Thanks in advance

[angewina_naguen]

Hello,

How do we plan out & structure a Q4 in the Music 2 paper?
Is it like an English essay where we need a brief introduction (thesis statement, introduce the piece/s to be discussed, composition date of pieces, etc.) and how many score references are recommended?

Thanks in advance

Hey, svnflower!

Great question! I would structure the essay question similar to a mini-essay (introduction, number of bodies dependent on how many works you are required to discuss, conclusion). Your introduction needs to really answer the question because Music 2 is notorious for never having predictable ones. The key words and concepts mentioned in the question should be integrated throughout the response for you to write an effective response 

It's also really important you can recall enough examples to satisfy your arguments. When making your notes, aim to have three score references per concept for the work (so you should have in total around 18 excerpts). If you can find score references that overlap across concepts, that can also save you from having to memorise an excessive amount; for example, I used the same three bars for both pitch and tone colour for one of my set works. In the actual essay, each body should have three score references but do ask your teachers what they think would be sufficient (mine said three but I know a few of my friends at the Con had less/more per body so it's more about quality and relevance to the concept in discussion, rather than quantity). Hope that helps!

Angelina 

[CallumPike16]

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!

[CallumPike16]

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!

[angewina_naguen]

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 

[svnflower]

  Hello,

How do I distinguish between a theme and a motif?
Also, what do I look out for when the question asks for "treatment of thematic material"?

Thanks in advance!