Music Evaluation: Deconstructing Musical Elements and Compositional Devices | Summaries Music

MUSICAL(ANALYSIS(WRITING(GUIDE(

(

THE(CRITERIA(

(

In(writing(your(essay,(the(only(thing(you(really(need(to(do(is(fulfill(the(marking(criteria.((Let’s(look(closely(at(what(the(

criteria(says.(((

The(student(evaluates(music(by(thoroughly(deconstructing(the(repertoire,(and(determining(the(

manipulation(of,(and(relationships(between,(identified(musical(elements(and(compositional(devices,(

communicating(detailed(and(substantiated(judgments(about(how(these(relate(to(context(and(genre(and(

the(expressed(style.(

(

That’s(a(bit(wordy(isn’t(it?((Sometimes(educational(language(is(a(bit(more(complicated(than(it(needs(to(be.((Let’s(try(and(

simplify(it.(((

(

The(two(most(important(words(here(are(deconstruction(and(evaluation,(in(fact,(that’s(the(only(two(things(required(of(

your(essay.((You(need(to(deconstruct(the(repertoire(and(then(evaluated(it.(

(

To(DECONSTRUCT(means(to(identify:((

• musical(elements(and(how(they’ve(been(used(by(the(artist((pitch,(rhythm,(timbre(etc)(

• compositional(devices((repetition,(sequence,(inversion,(randomness,(serialism,(etc)(

(

You(should(also(identify(if/how(these(two(things(relate(to(each(other((for(instance,(maybe(each(time(the(music(repeats(

the(artist(plays(more(softly?)((

(

To(EVALUATE(means(to(make(judgments(about(how(everything(above(relates(to:(

• The(songs(context((time/place/history/production(values(etc)(

• The(songs(genre((pop,(rock(etc)(

• The(songs(or(composers(style((fun,(sexy,(epic,(silly,(carefree,(intense(etc)(

(

DECONSTRUCTION((Don’t(just(listen…(“listen”)(

(

Usually(when(we(listen(to(music,(we(listen(passively.((In(other(words,(we’re(just(letting(the(music(soak(in(slowly(the(

more(often(we(hear(it.((We’re(not(listening(for(anything(in(particular,(just(enjoying(it.((That’s(fine,(but(it(won’t(help(you(

write(an(essay.((In(order(to(deconstruct(the(music,(you(need(to(listen(actively.((That(means(you(need(to(know(what(

you’re(looking(for(before(you(begin(listening.(

(

A(good(method(is(to(pick(one(musical(element((pitch(for(instance)(and(listen(to(the(entire(song(focusing(on(just(that.((

Then(listen(again(focusing(on(a(different(musical(element.((Make(a(list(of(everything(you(notice.((By(the(time(you’ve(

written(notes(on(all(the(elements,(you(will(have(listened(to(the(music(heaps(of(times(and(will(have(hopefully(started(to(

form(more(complex(opinions.((These(opinions(will(be(the(basis(for(your(evaluations.(

(

Unfortunately,(a(list(of(observations(about(the(musical(elements(isn’t(an(essay.((Don’t(fall(into(the(trap(of(simply(making(

lists(of(musical(facts.((Eg:(The(key(is(G,(the(melody(notes(are(from(G(major,(it(is(in(4/4,(The(tempo(is(130bpm.((Unless(you(

explain(why(those(things(are(significant,(why(they(contribute(to(the(artist’s(vision(or(the(listener’s(experience,(they(are(

meaningless(facts.(

(

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MUSICAL ANALYSIS WRITING GUIDE

THE CRITERIA

In writing your essay, the only thing you really need to do is fulfill the marking criteria. Let’s look closely at what the

criteria says.

The student evaluates music by thoroughly deconstructing the repertoire, and determining the

manipulation of, and relationships between, identified musical elements and compositional devices,

communicating detailed and substantiated judgments about how these relate to context and genre and

the expressed style.

That’s a bit wordy isn’t it? Sometimes educational language is a bit more complicated than it needs to be. Let’s try and

simplify it.

The two most important words here are deconstruction and evaluation, in fact, that’s the only two things required of

your essay. You need to deconstruct the repertoire and then evaluated it.

To DECONSTRUCT means to identify:

musical elements and how they’ve been used by the artist (pitch, rhythm, timbre etc)
compositional devices (repetition, sequence, inversion, randomness, serialism, etc)

You should also identify if/how these two things relate to each other (for instance, maybe each time the music repeats

the artist plays more softly?)

To EVALUATE means to make judgments about how everything above relates to:

The songs context (time/place/history/production values etc)
The songs genre (pop, rock etc)
The songs or composers style (fun, sexy, epic, silly, carefree, intense etc)

DECONSTRUCTION (Don’t just listen… “listen”)

Usually when we listen to music, we listen passively. In other words, we’re just letting the music soak in slowly the

more often we hear it. We’re not listening for anything in particular, just enjoying it. That’s fine, but it won’t help you

write an essay. In order to deconstruct the music, you need to listen actively. That means you need to know what

you’re looking for before you begin listening.

A good method is to pick one musical element (pitch for instance) and listen to the entire song focusing on just that.

Then listen again focusing on a different musical element. Make a list of everything you notice. By the time you’ve

written notes on all the elements, you will have listened to the music heaps of times and will have hopefully started to

form more complex opinions. These opinions will be the basis for your evaluations.

Unfortunately, a list of observations about the musical elements isn’t an essay. Don’t fall into the trap of simply making

lists of musical facts. Eg: The key is G, the melody notes are from G major, it is in 4/4, The tempo is 130bpm. Unless you

explain why those things are significant, why they contribute to the artist’s vision or the listener’s experience, they are

meaningless facts.

EVALUATION (Find an angle)

To evaluate effectively, you need an angle , just like a journalist. You need to have opinions and be able to justify them.

Here’s an example of a raw opinion.

“The harmonic structure in Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand shows more complexity than punk or grunge”

This statement might be true, but why? Where’s the evidence? Without identifying musical elements, compositional

devices and their relationships, this opinion carries no weight. Let’s try again.

The following excerpt from the Franz Ferdinand exemplar paper (available on the MIC website) shows the same opinion

but in this case it’s been properly fleshed out and justified with evidence:

Harmonically the song (Take me out) stays in the key of Em, which is one thing that ties the two halves of the

song together. All the chords are partial triads such as Em, D and G (see Figure #1) however some of them are

“slash” chords with different bass notes such as Em/A and D/B in the first verse (0:07-‐0:33). The A major chords

in the Prechorus don’t belong in the key but when grouped with “Em” and “G” form a combination of chords that

are quite common in rock. I should mention however that Em/A (A, E, G) could be interpreted as Am7, and that

D/B (B, D, A) could be interpreted as Bm7. But most charts show them as slash chords, which probably reflects

the simpler approach of many guitarists. However you name them, the way those chords are voiced between

the instruments is a little more creative. Each guitar (including the bass) is playing single notes which blend

together to create wider chord voicings that no single guitar could really play on it’s own (see figure #2). This

can probably be heard best in the first verse (bars 5 to 20) with big leaps. Cleverly thought out guitar parts like

this are definitely a step beyond what you’d normally hear in Punk or Grunge.

Figure #1 – Take me out chords chart excerpt

(based on chords from www.ultimateguitar.com and aural transcription)

INTRO

|Em | | | |

VERSE 1

|Em/A |D |G D/B |Em |

PRECHORUS

|G A |Em |G A |Em |

|G A |Em | | |

Figure #2 – Take me out Verse tablature; guitars 1 & 2 (from www.ultimateguitar.com)

Em/A D G D/B Em Gtr 1 |-----------------|-----------------|---------------------|-------------------------|

-----------------	-----------------	---------------------	-------------------------
- 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 -	- 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4S	= 9 -- 9 -- 9 -- 9 - - 7 - 7 - 7 - 5 -	- 5 - - 5 - - 5 - - 5 - - 5 -----------
-----------------	-----------------	---------------------	---------------- 5 - - 5 - - 7 - -
-----------------	-----------------	---------------------	-------------------------

Gtr 2	-----------------	-----------------	---------------------	-------------------------
-----------------	-----------------	---------------------	-------------------------
-----------------	-----------------	---------------------	-------------------------
-----------------	-----------------	---------------------	-------------------------
- 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 -	- 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 -	- 10 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 -	- 7 - - 7 - - 7 - - 7 - - 7 - - 7 - - 7 - - 7 - -
-----------------	-----------------	---------------------	-------------------------

Bass	-----------------	- 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 -	---------------------	-------------------------
- 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 7 -	-----------------	- 5 -- 5 -- 5 -- 5 -- 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 -	- 14 - 14 - 14 - 14 - 14 - 14 - 14 - 14 -
-----------------	-----------------	---------------------	-------------------------
-----------------	-----------------	---------------------	-------------------------

Patterns such as phrases, riffs, sequences, motifs
Ornamentation or Embellishment
Modulation
Pitch bends, slides or electronic pitch adjustment
Range and register
Intonation
Melodic features that belong with particular genres and styles

HARMONY is all about the vertical arrangement of sound. It can refer to:

Chords such as triads, 7ths, 9ths, 11ths or 13ths
Diatonic tonality such as major, minor and dominant
Tension and resolution, consonance and dissonance
Atonality
Countermelodies
Modal harmony
Accompaniment styles
Modulation
Intonation
Harmonic features that belong to particular genres and styles

STRUCTURE is all about sections of the music. It could refer to:

Intro, Verse, Pre-‐Chorus, Chorus, Bridge, Middle eight, Collision, Instrumental solo, Ad lib, AABA form, Theme

and Variation, Compound AABA form (A1, A2, B1, A3 etc..)

Repetition, variety, contrast, development or unification
Treatment of material such as samples and sequencing
Well known forms such as 12 bar blues, verse and chorus, through composed, theme and variation
The design of particular musical works such as rock opera or musicals
Structural features that belong to particular genres and styles

TEXTURE is all about density. It may refer to:

The number of instruments or tracks
The way a recording has been mixed using effects such as reverb and delay
Musical voicings
The way an instrument’s tone affects it’s timbre (distorted vs clean guitar)
Musical textures such as monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic,
Textural features that belong to a particular genre and style

TIMBRE is all about tone. It may refer to:

The way particular instruments or voices sound
Different tonal techniques used on an instrument (muting, fingertips, picks, bowing, scratching, tapping)
Electronic altering of tone using EQ, effects, pedals etc.
Tonal features that belong to particular genres and styles

COMPOSITIONAL DEVICES

Compositional devices are words or phrases that describe how the music was put together. They can describe common

tricks or techniques used by composers, patterns that exist between parts or any meaningful structures that you might

observe. While there are lots of existing terms for compositional devices, it’s also OK to make up your own as long as

it’s well communicated.

Terms Definitions Canon Where one or more voices imitate a leading melody/voice. The two or more parts will overlap. Eg frère Jacques Call and response Where one voice initiate an idea and another follows in a similar or slightly varied way melodically/rhythmically Countermelody A second melody (directly) above or below the main melody Similar motion Melody notes going in the same direction Contrary motion Melody notes going in the opposite direction Cross rhythm/polyrhythm/hemiola Two different rhythms used at the same time, eg 2 quavers in the melody and triplet quavers in the bass Development Changes/variations of motif and themes (imitation, sequence, inversion, fragmentation, augmentation, diminution) Fragmentation Breaking a theme into little bits in order to develop it Extension Developing a phrase or motif by making it longer Imitation Repetition by one or more different voices/instruments of a phrase Inversion Turning melody, rhythm, harmony, phrase, theme, motif upside down (reverse the order) Sequence Repetition of a musical phrase at a higher or lower pitch Ostinato A repeated accompaniment pattern that can be rhythmic or melodic, maintained throughout the section/piece Repetition Where a phrase is repeated immediately (exact) Variation Repetition with a slight change Motif A short theme that can be manipulated using other devices Riff Jazz/rock equivalent of ostinato Voice leading The technique of changing smoothly from one chord to another with as little movement as possible between the chord tones. Often used in Jazz, choir harmonies and string ensembles. Transition The shift from one musical idea or section to another. Transitions can be smooth or abrupt depending on what the composer is trying to achieve.

Music Evaluation: Deconstructing Musical Elements and Compositional Devices, Summaries of Music

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Partial preview of the text

Download Music Evaluation: Deconstructing Musical Elements and Compositional Devices and more Summaries Music in PDF only on Docsity!

MUSICAL ANALYSIS WRITING GUIDE

THE CRITERIA

In writing your essay, the only thing you really need to do is fulfill the marking criteria. Let’s look closely at what the

criteria says.

The student evaluates music by thoroughly deconstructing the repertoire, and determining the

manipulation of, and relationships between, identified musical elements and compositional devices,

communicating detailed and substantiated judgments about how these relate to context and genre and

the expressed style.

That’s a bit wordy isn’t it? Sometimes educational language is a bit more complicated than it needs to be. Let’s try and

simplify it.

The two most important words here are deconstruction and evaluation, in fact, that’s the only two things required of

your essay. You need to deconstruct the repertoire and then evaluated it.

To DECONSTRUCT means to identify:

You should also identify if/how these two things relate to each other (for instance, maybe each time the music repeats

the artist plays more softly?)

To EVALUATE means to make judgments about how everything above relates to:

DECONSTRUCTION (Don’t just listen… “listen”)

Usually when we listen to music, we listen passively. In other words, we’re just letting the music soak in slowly the

more often we hear it. We’re not listening for anything in particular, just enjoying it. That’s fine, but it won’t help you

write an essay. In order to deconstruct the music, you need to listen actively. That means you need to know what

you’re looking for before you begin listening.

A good method is to pick one musical element (pitch for instance) and listen to the entire song focusing on just that.

Then listen again focusing on a different musical element. Make a list of everything you notice. By the time you’ve

written notes on all the elements, you will have listened to the music heaps of times and will have hopefully started to

form more complex opinions. These opinions will be the basis for your evaluations.

Unfortunately, a list of observations about the musical elements isn’t an essay. Don’t fall into the trap of simply making

lists of musical facts. Eg: The key is G, the melody notes are from G major, it is in 4/4, The tempo is 130bpm. Unless you

explain why those things are significant, why they contribute to the artist’s vision or the listener’s experience, they are

meaningless facts.

To evaluate effectively, you need an angle , just like a journalist. You need to have opinions and be able to justify them.

Here’s an example of a raw opinion.

“The harmonic structure in Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand shows more complexity than punk or grunge”

This statement might be true, but why? Where’s the evidence? Without identifying musical elements, compositional

devices and their relationships, this opinion carries no weight. Let’s try again.

The following excerpt from the Franz Ferdinand exemplar paper (available on the MIC website) shows the same opinion

but in this case it’s been properly fleshed out and justified with evidence:

Harmonically the song (Take me out) stays in the key of Em, which is one thing that ties the two halves of the

song together. All the chords are partial triads such as Em, D and G (see Figure #1) however some of them are

“slash” chords with different bass notes such as Em/A and D/B in the first verse (0:07-­‐0:33). The A major chords

in the Prechorus don’t belong in the key but when grouped with “Em” and “G” form a combination of chords that

are quite common in rock. I should mention however that Em/A (A, E, G) could be interpreted as Am7, and that

D/B (B, D, A) could be interpreted as Bm7. But most charts show them as slash chords, which probably reflects

the simpler approach of many guitarists. However you name them, the way those chords are voiced between

the instruments is a little more creative. Each guitar (including the bass) is playing single notes which blend

together to create wider chord voicings that no single guitar could really play on it’s own (see figure #2). This

can probably be heard best in the first verse (bars 5 to 20) with big leaps. Cleverly thought out guitar parts like

this are definitely a step beyond what you’d normally hear in Punk or Grunge.

Figure #1 – Take me out chords chart excerpt

(based on chords from www.ultimateguitar.com and aural transcription)

INTRO

|Em | | | |

VERSE 1

|Em/A |D |G D/B |Em |

|Em/A |D |G D/B |Em |

|Em/A |D |G D/B |Em |

|Em/A |D |G D/B |Em |

PRECHORUS

|G A |Em |G A |Em |

|G A |Em | | |

Figure #2 – Take me out Verse tablature; guitars 1 & 2 (from www.ultimateguitar.com)

HARMONY is all about the vertical arrangement of sound. It can refer to:

STRUCTURE is all about sections of the music. It could refer to:

and Variation, Compound AABA form (A1, A2, B1, A3 etc..)

TEXTURE is all about density. It may refer to:

TIMBRE is all about tone. It may refer to:

Compositional devices are words or phrases that describe how the music was put together. They can describe common

tricks or techniques used by composers, patterns that exist between parts or any meaningful structures that you might

observe. While there are lots of existing terms for compositional devices, it’s also OK to make up your own as long as

it’s well communicated.

“slash” chords with different bass notes such as Em/A and D/B in the first verse (0:07-‐0:33). The A major chords