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March 29, 2024, 06:51:46 am

Author Topic: AA Club - Week 1  (Read 5477 times)  Share 

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jamonwindeyer

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AA Club - Week 1
« on: September 13, 2017, 03:38:43 pm »
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WEEK 1

The excerpt recording and exam-style response sheet are available right here!

Question (6 Marks)

An excerpt (1 minute 56 seconds) from Game of Thrones (Main Theme) performed by Boyce Avenue, will be played four times, for you to answer the question.

First Playing - Short Pause
Second Playing - 30 Second Pause
Third Playing - 1 Minute Pause
Fourth Playing - 2 Minute Pause

Describe the use of pitch in this excerpt.


Post any responses you have below, be it a proper response under exam conditions or just a handful of things you think would be included in an answer! Give feedback to other people, build on each others answers, and I'll be sure to give feedback as well ;D

Here is the original performance of this excerpt, for those interested!

Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with :)
« Last Edit: September 13, 2017, 04:05:58 pm by jamonwindeyer »

katie,rinos

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2017, 09:31:35 pm »
+1
Hey,
Here are some of my ideas (mainly in dot points).
I'm not great at aural and need to do heaps more practice so any feedback would be really appreciated.
Thanks :)
Class of 2017 (Year 12): Advanced English, General Maths, Legal Studies, Music 1, Ancient History, History Extension, Hospitality
2018-2022: B Music/B Education (Secondary) [UNSW]

jamonwindeyer

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2017, 08:38:49 pm »
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Hey,
Here are some of my ideas (mainly in dot points).
I'm not great at aural and need to do heaps more practice so any feedback would be really appreciated.
Thanks :)

These are good points Katie! Everything you've written is a correct observation and definitely appears in the excerpt. What I'd encourage you to do as you perhaps develop this further is to identify where in the piece these occurred (where it isn't a general observation)! This excerpt can be easily divided into two halves based on when the additional instruments kick in after the brief pause - So you could provide observations based on that as a start, or divide it further based on the number of bars. For example, there is a 4 bar introduction, then 4x8 bar phrases before the pause (etc) - If you could map those observations on melodic shape to specific parts, that would really benefit you. I always structure my responses:

Intro (4 Bars)
---STUFF----
Section A (32 Bars)
---- MORE STUFF ----

Good job spotting tonality - Try and include the specifics of how the second guitar fulfils the harmonic role later in the excerpt. Remember you've also got a mix of definite/indefinitely pitched instruments used, you can discuss that! ;D

Keen to hear other responses!! It's one month until the HSC guys, make sure you are doing a bit of aural practice ;)

caitlinlddouglas

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2017, 11:35:20 am »
+1
hey thanks so much for doing this! Here is my attempt at it, i feel like a ran out of things to say though! thanks heaps:)

jamonwindeyer

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2017, 12:53:54 am »
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hey thanks so much for doing this! Here is my attempt at it, i feel like a ran out of things to say though! thanks heaps:)

You are welcome! Love your response - You picked up on some tricky little things! Great work on describing the shape of the melody - But you could go further, what about the melodic range? Was it all steps? Don't forget you can draw melodic contours in exam scenarios ;D

I'd say the melody is played in the middle register of the instrument too - And to address the difference in yours and Katie's responses in terms of tonality, the piece is in C minor (so, minor, you obviously aren't expected to know it's in C), but there are accidentals. So definitely some major tonality in there too. So you are both correct ;D

My biggest feedback for you Caitlin would be staying on topic - You had stuff in here on structure, dynamics, expressive techniques - Keep it all focused on Pitch!! My suggestion would be to draw mind maps for your concepts with every possible thing you could discuss (so Pitch would have a branch on melody, and harmony, and tonality, and then sub branches and sub-sub branches from those), and plaster them around while you practice to help you remember the cues ;D

caitlinlddouglas

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2017, 11:22:11 am »
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thanks heaps for that:)

jamonwindeyer

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2017, 03:24:28 pm »
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Keen to see some more responses guys!! I know there are more people who do Music 1 around, make sure you are getting your aural practice in ;)

I'll probably get another practice question uploaded over the weekend ;D

liamwindeyer

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #7 on: September 22, 2017, 03:07:42 pm »
+1
keenkeenkeenkeenkeenkeenkeenkeen

If I wasn't lazy rn, I'd do this proper, but from what I've heard I'd talk about these things:
1. Tonality - Got some sicc minor tonality with some accidentals goin on there - yay interest etc. etc.
2. Intro Harmony - Static contours are mint (could probably mention the constant rhythm for brownie points)
3. Section 1 Harmony - Got some contrast happening with them arpeggios
4. Section 2 Harmony - Even more contrast with some strummed chords instead, the cheeky buggers
5. Melody - Constantly harmonises certain notes, maybe mention resulting accents (terraced dynamics maybe, but its a bit of a stretch) - yay more interest
6. 2nd Motif Melody - Higher register, so y'know you got some interest and contrast; I suppose it has a wider range too
7. Section 2 Melody - Uses the 1st Motif, so you got some unity going on
8. Section 2 Percussion - Isn't pitched percussion but the techqniue gives it pitch technically, so maybe mention how the extreme lows and highs accent downbeats and add interest? Idk, its there, so I thought I'd mention it

Theres likely room to talk about the different intervals and the ornamentation in the melodies, but again, I'm lazy and probably naive about that stuff.
Oh and also assign instrumentation, you know the deal

(pretend I did graphic notations plz and thanks)

jamonwindeyer

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #8 on: September 22, 2017, 11:45:35 pm »
+2
keenkeenkeenkeenkeenkeenkeenkeen

All excellent points Liam - Especially the graphic notation, that's an easy way to score marks in a pitch question - Drawing the contour of the melody and even any interesting harmonic parts is going to look great to a marker ;D

Be careful that you aren't including stuff not related to pitch! Musical interest, downbeats, contrast - None of that is relevant here and so is just going to waste time for you! Keep the focus on pitch alone to maximise your efficiency in this question :)

(Oi Liam, mum watched the Bachelorette without you. Not sure if that's important to you or not, just informing) ;)

georgiia

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #9 on: September 23, 2017, 06:17:09 pm »
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Sorry about my writing! I did exam conditions




DalvinT

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #10 on: September 23, 2017, 11:30:00 pm »
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You are welcome! Love your response - You picked up on some tricky little things! Great work on describing the shape of the melody - But you could go further, what about the melodic range? Was it all steps? Don't forget you can draw melodic contours in exam scenarios ;D

I'd say the melody is played in the middle register of the instrument too - And to address the difference in yours and Katie's responses in terms of tonality, the piece is in C minor (so, minor, you obviously aren't expected to know it's in C), but there are accidentals. So definitely some major tonality in there too. So you are both correct ;D

My biggest feedback for you Caitlin would be staying on topic - You had stuff in here on structure, dynamics, expressive techniques - Keep it all focused on Pitch!! My suggestion would be to draw mind maps for your concepts with every possible thing you could discuss (so Pitch would have a branch on melody, and harmony, and tonality, and then sub branches and sub-sub branches from those), and plaster them around while you practice to help you remember the cues ;D


Mmmm welllll, I guess you can add other concepts in to support what you're saying about the pitch.

For example
- In section B when the drums are being played, the guitar plays a melody line that is moving in a conjunct manner at mf. Immediately, the melody from section A, which is the accompaniment, plays in an arpeggio-like style in a minor tonality, rather than the osciliation between major and minor, as seen earlier. Therefore, it is a variation of that melodic line. It is also playing at a p/mp volume. This establishes the call-response phrasing.
So basically you can see that I have mentioned dynamics as well. This is so that I can reinforce the "call-response" phrasing.

- Becuase of the variation of the melody (now the accompaniment) creates contrast between the two sections.
Addedd contrast too! This is due to that variation with the pitch that creates that contrast. 

--> so my main focus was still on pitch, but I added some other concepts in which I think is fine to do.
I was told by my music teacher (pretty sure I mentioned that he is a senior marker in the other forum haha) that it actually enriches the responses when students do this...
These concepts do overlap in some way. For example, certain expressive techniques can change the pitch. Like when you do a guitar glide (not sure what's it called lol) it creates a glissando effect which then alters the pitch.

So I guess, what I'm trying to say is that... YES, you can meniton other concepts but only when relevant and making sure that the concept that the question is asking is the main focus!
« Last Edit: September 23, 2017, 11:43:46 pm by DalvinT »
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jamonwindeyer

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2017, 11:08:32 am »
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Sorry about my writing! I did exam conditions

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

Like your response Georgia!

- Great work trying to notate the melodic shape - Not all your note values were correct, but of course that is okay in a Pitch response. Note that to make it easier for you, you can just use lines to show shape of the melody and rough length of each note - Exact notation of rhythm isn't necessary if you don't want to :)
- I like how you've structured the response by the three main areas. However, it does create some confusion as to how you've defined Intro/Section A/Section B, could be worth adding a phrase that specifies, or even length of each section in bars?
- Great job identifying that distinct descending fifth interval, nice brownie points there. Ditto with noticing the tonal shift in the introduction. Very specific observations, very nicely done!

I think my biggest piece of advice for you would just be organisation of your ideas - I think you are spotting all the right things, but they aren't communicated quite as clearly as they could be :)

jamonwindeyer

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #12 on: September 25, 2017, 11:11:37 am »
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Mmmm welllll, I guess you can add other concepts in to support what you're saying about the pitch.
...

These concepts do overlap in some way. For example, certain expressive techniques can change the pitch. Like when you do a guitar glide (not sure what's it called lol) it creates a glissando effect which then alters the pitch.

So I guess, what I'm trying to say is that... YES, you can meniton other concepts but only when relevant and making sure that the concept that the question is asking is the main focus!

Yep you're absolutely right, would definitely expect overlap (the use of an ascending glissando, for example, yep definitely relevant to how the melody is constructed) :)

I suppose the key is balance - And also that this is a 6 mark question and so only the first thing in the paper. You probably wouldn't want to crowd the fairly limited space you have with more than throwaway references to other concepts - Like, additional analysis of melody/harmony/tonality is always going to be more likely to earn more marks than analysing other concepts, so you want to strike that balance ;D



Awesome to see so many people involved guys! I'll be uploading the next question very soon, but feel free to keep discussing this excerpt too :)

georgiia

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #13 on: September 25, 2017, 01:50:36 pm »
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Like your response Georgia!

- Great work trying to notate the melodic shape - Not all your note values were correct, but of course that is okay in a Pitch response. Note that to make it easier for you, you can just use lines to show shape of the melody and rough length of each note - Exact notation of rhythm isn't necessary if you don't want to :)
- I like how you've structured the response by the three main areas. However, it does create some confusion as to how you've defined Intro/Section A/Section B, could be worth adding a phrase that specifies, or even length of each section in bars?
- Great job identifying that distinct descending fifth interval, nice brownie points there. Ditto with noticing the tonal shift in the introduction. Very specific observations, very nicely done!

I think my biggest piece of advice for you would just be organisation of your ideas - I think you are spotting all the right things, but they aren't communicated quite as clearly as they could be :)

Thanks for the great feedback! I've always had trouble with structuring my answers unless the question is "discuss texture" or "...with reference to performing media" because I find it hard to do things chronologically and sometimes its not suitable to separate things by layers of sound ect. I've done HEAPS of practise but still don't seem to improve on structuring side of things... :(

jamonwindeyer

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Re: AA Club - Week 1
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2017, 06:41:44 pm »
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Thanks for the great feedback! I've always had trouble with structuring my answers unless the question is "discuss texture" or "...with reference to performing media" because I find it hard to do things chronologically and sometimes its not suitable to separate things by layers of sound ect. I've done HEAPS of practise but still don't seem to improve on structuring side of things... :(

Your structure absolutely works, but you need to specify where those section identifiers at the top sit. Even just a quick phrase saying "with chord accompaniment and percussion," for Section B for example, would do wonders to give the markers more clarity in your response.

Ultimately, I do think the chronological structure is going to be the method that gives you the most clarity. You can always still approach it your way, doing the melody observations first then the harmony then the tonality. Just draw lines on your page marking the different sections, and then put your observations into the relevant section as you make them ;D