Midterm

Resource 1

Title: Isaac Asimov: Voyage to the Outer Planets and Beyond

Description: A musical experience representing the planets in our solar system through music. These pieces use the weather of the planets as well as their Greek/Roman gods to create a musical journey through the solar system.

Reasons why: I really enjoyed the compositions and how it felt as though I was journeying through space. The music was amazing, powerful, and moving, and the overall representation was very clear and vivid.

Resource 2

Title: Tomita: Firebird

Description: Music played on/using a Moog Synthesizer. It has a very electronic and unique feeling to every piece on the CD.

Reasons why: I picked this one simply because everything sounded so outlandish and unique. This resembles what I would imagine space music would be like. The songs sound like they would be on an alien radio station that gets their inspiration from certain genres of "Earth music".

Resource 3

Title: Copland Billy The Kid Rodeo, Bernstein New York Philharmonic

Description: Relaxing orchestral music from the magnificent Aaron Copland. It has a very old west or old American feel to every piece.

Reasons why: I originally picked this just because it showed that Leonard Bernstein conducted it so it grabbed my interest very quickly. After giving it a listen, I realized that it is a very unique and interesting set of music that greatly portrays what most people's minds imagine when they think of music representing old western America. 

Period Project

Concert Review

Content & Midterm Reflection 

Step 1

Provide examples of how technological advances affected the development of music during the Twentieth Century

The genres of music that appeared during the twentieth century greatly relied on what type of technology was being invented. When computers and electronic DJ software came out, a lot of more technical music such as dubstep or techno was invented.

Step 2

Review the Benchmark Goals you set for yourself in Unit 1, what is it that you hope to know and/or be able to do at the conclusion of the course?

To have a better understanding of music and its development over the 20th century and onward.

A.  Comment on your achievements thus far

I have learned how to comprehend music in a more different and technical way, analyzing not just if it sounds pretty or not, but to actually look at the musical elements of pieces. I also learned about a lot of important music and learned the changes it has gone through over time.

B.  Are you making good progress toward your goal?

Yes, I have learned lots of things about music over time that I have never known before taking this class.

C.  Have you been able to stretch yourself to learn more or do you find that you rely only on what you already knew prior to the course?

I did not know too much prior to this course when it comes to the music we are listening to and analyzing. I knew maybe 1-2 pieces that we listened to throughout all of the past units. As for musical elements, I knew about them because of band and other experiences, but I never really used them in this manner up until taking this course.

D.  What has been the greatest benefit/most rewarding aspect of your learning experience this semester?

I have definitely benefitted from learning how to look at a musical piece and analyze every single little element that makes the piece what it is. It helps me feel more at-ease while listening to other music, and I have developed a habit of listening to every single little thing in almost every piece and trying to determine what dynamic it is or what the pitch is. I feel like this will benefit me a lot in the future when analyzing other music or creating my own music.

E.  What might interfere with your progress and how can you prevent this interference?

My extreme level of procrastination may prevent me from making much progress, but I can just force myself to focus on the work and get it done so that my progress is not delayed in any way, shape, or form.

Step 3

A.  Comment on the outcome of these self assessments as it relates to the quality of your work flow thus far

Self-assessments sort of made me very self-conscious of my work and the quality of the work that I was producing. I believe completing the self assessments has made me pay attention to smaller details and work on improving in those areas so that my work is the best quality that I can produce.

B.   What has been your greatest strength?

I believe my strengths are in organizing my Jimdo and making is easy to find the answers to questions and every section of the unit. I also think I am good at analyzing the musical elements of music.

C.   How can you compensate for weaknesses?

Force myself to work hard and get my work done so procrastination doesn't prevent me from finishing my work when it's due.

D.   In what ways might you modify your approach to the class during the second part of the semester?

Maybe try to work on the units earlier in the week instead of starting them on Wed. or later than that. Getting the work done earlier would lead to less stress of trying to rush the work to get it done later in the week.

Step 5

A.  Comment on the quality of work reflected in your ePortfolio relating to areas of strengths as well as areas of needed improvement

My notes were very strong in the beginning but really fell off towards the end. As for answers, I seemed to include only a select few of the musical elements instead of using all of the musical elements that we were told to use. At the very end (unit 6) I started including visuals such as pictures and videos. This made that unit very appealing to look at and I may start doing that more often in future units.

B.  Will you continue to sculpt the work reflected in your ePortfolio as you did for the first half of the course or do you plan on making changes for the second part of the semester?

I'm hoping to make changes to my work quality and its overall presentation in Jimdo. I feel as though I'm probably going to procrastinate again so my work is just going to resemble how it looked last semester. But I am just hoping that maybe I can improve my overall work quality that will be shown this semester.

Step 6

Please help us sculpt the next phase of the course by providing feedback, suggestions, etc. related to Unit Content, Listen, Launchpad, Wix, Whipple Hill, ePortfolio, Work Flow, etc. 

The overall setup of this course was very enjoyable to me, and I wouldn't change too much about it. I only think that maybe the course should include more questions or work within the beginner units so that unit 6 doesn't feel has heavy. Basically what I'm saying is even out the work so each unit has roughly the same amount of work required for it. Now, obviously this does not apply to things such as the midterm or final, but just making the units more even in workload would definitely make it easier for students to plan out how they're going to work the week and develop a regular schedule or work routine that they could stick with throughout the semester.