Grade 12 Repertoire: Assignment #1 – “The Sound of Music”

Grade 12 Repertoire: Assignment #1 – “The Sound of Music”

This assignment is very unusual, and requires that you open your mind a bit past what you normally would consider “music”.

In this assignment you will need to spend some time just listening to and recording the sounds around you. Find a time and a place where you can just listen for about 5 minutes. This could be at home, at the mall, or even here at school. However, your job is simply to listen and record your sounds, so you can’t do this while having a conversation. (It is a very good idea to do this while you’re on your own).

While listening, list as many sounds as you can in the next five minutes. Once you’re finished choose 10 sounds that you consider to be distinct and diverse, and record them on the attached table.

Next, create a set of criteria that you can use to distinguish these sounds. For example, one way of distinguishing the difference between one sound and another is to use volume. Some sounds are loud, while others are soft. So, in the chart, under “Criteria #1” you could have “volume”, and then if sound #1 was soft you would write that in the cell underneath. Come up with 5 different ways that sounds can be distinguished from one another. Using your chart, fill in the criteria at the top, and the description for each sound underneath.

Now, give your chart to someone with the sounds (the “answers”) themselves missing. Give them a random list of your 10 sounds, and ask them to match the sounds with the five descriptions of each. Do not help them! Once they have attempted this once, then you may clarify any concerns they may have.

Finally, respond to the following:
1. Comment on the sounds you heard. (What sounds did you hear that were unusual? What sounds did you hear that you normally take for granted and don’t really pay attention to or hear? Were there any naturally occurring sounds around you that were almost musical in nature? How so?)
2. Comment on the criteria you used to distinguish between sounds. (Did you have trouble coming up with 5 different criteria? What difficulties are there in describing the criteria using music terminology?)
3. Comment on how well another person was able to match the sound and the descriptions. (Were they able to correctly match all the sounds with the descriptions without your help? Did they need any clarification of your criteria or the descriptions for each sound?)
4. Your final thoughts overall. (Was this a worthwhile task? What things did you notice about the sounds around you? Let a music and non-music student do the exercise. Is there a difference in their abilities to match sounds with their descriptions?)

Please respond to each question in sentence and paragraph form as fully as you are able. Questions (above) in brackets are only there to guide you, and do not need to be answered individually. Along with the response to these questions, be sure to hand in your initial list of sounds, as well as the completed chart containing the ten sounds you chose.

Evaluation

Completeness (all questions fully answered, your initial list of sounds, and the completed chart typed up)5 marks

Quality of responses (all answers are in sentence and paragraph form, and show intelligent thought)5 marks each = 20 marks total.

Total: 25 marks

» Grade 9 Repertoire: Listening Assignment Chart