#a level music

[inkcoveredpoet]

The updated version of what i want to do for a levels

(Biology, English and Music)

All images are from Pinterest

[adrianvarelablog]

Reflections on an interdisciplinary composition workshop

Connections across time and genres: in a recent composition workshop, The Cure informed students’ understanding of Bach’s counterpoint, and the structure underlying Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ was revealed to stretch, via Beethoven and da Vinci, all the way back to ancient Greece. External tools show us more clearly who we are, and can make us better composers and performers.

What is the approach?

I was recently invited by the head of music in a secondary school to lead a composition workshop for A-level music students.

My practice is based on reframing the object of study within new, different parameters: specifically, how the contemporary popular music the students are familiar with, has deep roots reaching hundreds and thousands of years back, and conversely, how aspects of historical music that are studied in depth in the classroom, are applied ubiquitously without them realising it, in the music of today. This exploration is undertaken through a re-, or de-contextualisation, of the issue at hand, which allows for individual aspects of music to be analysed more clearly, as well as through other tools, such as drawing parallels from tropes from the Arts and Sciences to elucidate musical analysis and practices. In this setting, interaction with the students and their invaluable input, are vital components in navigating the intersections of these disparate, albeit connected, musical worlds, and of the issues this cross-pollination uncovers. The seeds of this approach as a practice were planted during my Master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music, and have since evolved into these rewarding workshops.

How does it work?

The Composition Workshop I refer to here took the shape of a 3-session, 5-hour day. Session 1 was in turn split into three parts, where students were guided through three large areas of music: texture, development, and structure.

In the first, textural portion, they were introduced, through their own performance, to a reframing of the concept of counterpoint through contemporary pop music. Stripped of its historical baggage, students garnered a deeper, more immediate understanding of counterpoint, how it works, what works and doesn’t, and how to make a texture intentionally clearer or murkier. Then, we analysed a deceptively simple developmental device free from its historical context, used exclusively -albeit ubiquitously- by Beethoven, as a potential tool for their own compositional toolkits, applied specifically to narrative development. Finally, we applied certain well-known tropes in the visual arts and mathematics to the analysis of musical structure, discovering how these ideas, hiding in plain sight, underpin the vast majority of both small and large-scale structure of most Western popular and art music of the last 400 years.­ This was done through a famous musical number, tracing its structural blueprint forwards from current popular music and film, all the way back to the Classical period and beyond, with roots in ancient Greek mathematics, drama, and philosophy; in a word, our common heritage, and a clear show of why the musical works we value -past, present and our own- are as they are.

Having opened the space with these alternative materials, Session 2 was left more open, for the students to bring their concerns to the table. I offered several options including an open forum, ranging from the most technical to the abstract, a ‘harmony lab’, and even an ‘intervals boot camp’ -this session was left entirely up to them. The head proposed critiquing each student’s work at their computers, going from one to the next like a simultaneous chess exhibition. Because of recurring issues in their work and time constraints, after looking at 3 or 4 of their pieces, one piece was selected to be put up on the main board to be analysed, critiqued, and worked on in depth. We saw how some of the issues of Session 1 were at play underneath the surface of their compositions, and how through clearly identifying them with the aid of these re-contextualising prisms, their work could be made stronger and more organic -in a word, better compositions.  

For the third and final session, I had originally planned to return to further compositional techniques, by looking at some non-digital means, to explore creativity free from the restraints of sequencer-based software. But the head made an interesting suggestion: in order to demonstrate the challenges of the actual process of composition, could I please there and then, compose something new, in front of the whole class? I took on this unexpected challenge, talking through the brief, the compositional process, questions, challenges, and potential artistic and technical solutions to the task at hand while I wrote, with the aid of student input, a passage of music to accompany a theoretical ‘chase scene in a film’.

How did the students respond?

For me, creating and thinking about stronger, and new, connections between past and present, and between art and popular music, and being to be able to convey to the students, the power and potential of this type of cross-genre, pan-temporal virtuosity, are challenges that make pedagogy, composition, and performance hugely rewarding. But even more rewarding, is hearing audible gasps, ‘Whoah!’s, watching jaws and pennies drop, and other expressions of amazement in the room, as the students suddenly hear, or realise, that something exquisite is happening inside music they’ve known all their lives, or how Tchaikowsky and Queen both knew how to manage and subvert expectations in the exact same way, yet none of this had registered with them before.

Is it really necessary to step outside classical music to study it?

Recontextualization, decontextualization, and cross-fertilising resources from other types of music and from other disciplines in and outside art, such as mathematics- are powerful tools, when wanting to analyse music, and when analysing it with a view to developing students’ composition and performance skills, as well as one’s own. It is a way to bring theory, history, and all society together, in order to contextualise contemporary and historical music; and to understand ourselves and what we are doing, better, by spotting ourselves in the past.

From a purely practical standpoint, I find it handy to have a vast, perpetually growing, arsenal of technical, musical, cultural, and philosophical weaponry, so that when the workshop -like a river- takes whichever direction it does in the moment, it can be followed and supported by a wide cultural, cross-fertilising foundation, both contemporary and/or historical, and via popular and/or ‘art’ music.

Is this a one-size-fits-all workshop?

On reflection, one five-hour workshop day for an A-level group, is just enough time to introduce these concepts at entry level, and to then follow the teacher’s lead, but no more. Perhaps focussing on just one or two of these concepts per workshop would enable students to get to grips with them, and actually be able to begin to explore their application.

Undergraduate and post-graduate-level students have more maturity to grapple with these ideas and run with them; they are also a bit more aware of the world around them, and of the need to explore outside the constraints of the ever-narrowing bubbles their social media, streaming, etc. algorithms so effectively -and unwaveringly- seek to isolate them in.

For GCSE, only one of the ideas above, per workshop, would likely be more than enough.

Another alternative, for all age groups, could be to plan more than one workshop over one or two school years. This would enable students to absorb some of these powerful techniques and apply them to their course requirements, ideas that could then continue to be developed on their own, further down the line.

Any final thoughts?

I found it hugely rewarding to work as a team with the professionals in charge of the youths, as they are in the best position to select, out of this cornucopia-come-toolbox, what would better suit the students in their charge at this stage.­­­ There are tons of ideas to exchange. I’ll be returning soon.

[rosieuv]

College started

I had to wake up at 6:30 for the first time in like 2 months and dug up my blazer jacket that I bought for prom and paired it with a white summer shirt, a yellow hoodie, light grey jeans and a tie I nicked from my dad and had to watch a youtube video just to figure out how to tie it. I don't know why the blazer looks grey and crumpled in the photo, in real life it's turquoise and has less noticeable creases in it. Mum now sees what I mean when I say that hoodies, ties and blazers go well together. God it got hot while walking though but it was worth it in the name of style.

I also had a packed lunch for the first time as keyboard lessons were more expensive due to them being twice as long so buying hot lunches was chucked out of the budget. I made a cheese bagel sandwich with mozzarella slices and packed it in a bag with a little pancake, 4 crackers, a little brownie and a banana that I didn't eat because it had been waiting for so long that it was going brown. I didn't think about how all the food would sit so everything that wasn't in the sandwich bag (the sandwich) had a faint taste of banana. I also bought a packet of crisps at the college's cafe as I was still a bit hungry afterwards so maybe I should figure that out.

I walked 20 minutes and across a roundabout to reach my new bus stop and a new bus came every 15 minutes so I didn't bother mesmerising the timetable. Luckily I live quite close so the journey only took like 35 minutes and I was an hour early and didn't know what to do. Very few students were there and I was mostly looking for the library so I could vibe until I had A-Level Music. After a google search I found the building but turns out it's being moved to some other building (there's like 8 buildings across 2 sides of a road and it resembles a uni campus) so I just drew in the study centre by myself for about half an hour. Someone I knew (kinda) from my old school came up to me to say hello. I walked over to the building with music in but ended up a couple minutes late as I was washing my hands when the bell went off and I though "oh it's the warning bell" when no, no it wasn't. The teacher didn't seem to care considering it's the first day.

The lessons are so much longer here. So long that in the middle there was a 15 minute break. I didn't really have anywhere better to be so I remained in the classroom drawing. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on performance but I kinda suck at preforming. At least A-Level also has composition. I had to leave in the last half hour though to go to an orthodontist appointment and I left when they were talking about intervals and intervals are cool and now I have to do catch up work just because my teeth jewellery needed tightening.

I ate my lunch at a table all by myself in the student commons room and I don't know if all the groups already knew each other or if this was a case of extroverts having good social skills, but almost everyone was sitting in a group. One of the teachers talked to me when I was eating my bagel. Nothing deep just general new school small talk. He said I'll find new friends due to the way classes are structured around A-levels, which you choose yourself so there's a common interest, but tbh I'm probably just going to be known as that weird quiet kid that knows way too much on video game consoles. I don't mind not having any friends my entire time there, but when you've been stuck in an all girls private school since you were a toddler to now, it shelters you and I want to not be that as I'll have one hell of a shock once I enter the real world and/or act like a snob unintentionally. Eh, whatever. I bought the aforementioned crisps in beef flavoured and it was mostly air dammit. I then did my music homework in one of the practice rooms so I could test the musical dictation on the piano. I then just started playing whatever and some girl hovered around my door so I let her in and apparently she could hear me blasting my music because I have no dynamic control on a piano and she said that she really liked it. Then my music teacher appeared and I said I was doing my homework, and then they both left. Someone was playing some ballad piano song (I assume it's the girl as it sounds like it's coming from the other room) which would occasionally change to fur elise. Then I still had some time left but I was bored so after asking a history teacher for directions on where the mac lab is, I went into Music Technology like 10 minutes early and was just fiddling with the mac until everyone else came in. (Music tech is a BTEC which is a different exam board and is more DAW stuff while Music A-Level is performance and theory. I was supposed to be doing Computer Science but I fucked up my exam because OCR sucks the devil's ass while marking so I didn't have the qualifications so the careers people suggested music tech as the 3rd subject and oh god I'm so thankful as I'm certain my college uses OCR for it's A Levels and I would rip my wrists open and develop a caffeine addiction if I had to deal with OCR again).

The actual lesson was interesting but I was the only one putting my hand up most of the time and also I've already used a DAW before (LMMS) so I picked up on how to use Logic Pro quicker than the others (I think, idk I was sitting by myself on an empty row) but Logic Pro has cool sounds that I want in a soundfont, but is full of little things that makes it a bit annoying. And mac. Mac OS is annoying. I wasn't really following the instructions and was mostly doing my own thing in Logic Pro. Use this plugin to automatically augment a bassline? Nah I'm going to keep pressing keys with this acoustic bass sound until I get a cool bassline. I stayed for half an hour afterwards to finish the song as it was cool and this is what I did:

There was also theory stuff too. In groups we had to type out a list of places you find music and I just ignored the people in my group and wrote my own list. Also music kept randomly playing and the teacher couldn't figure out where it was coming from so I listed "the poltergeist from the mac lab" as one place music comes from. After that I took the bus home and now I'm going to watch the 2nd Deadpool film because I'm tired and don't feel like doing anything but sit in my chair and morph into it.

[catmask]

does anyone have like an anti aesthetic. like something you look at and can recognize as a complete fashion/interior design/artistic movement and understand it but it makes you shudder seeing it. i am not talking like “its morally bad” “its poorly structured” like just sheerly devoid of joy for you actually invites a repulse response.

[gent-illmatic]

👑 👑

[knifeforkspooncup]

The comedic potential of Aziraphale loving Christmas in theory but hating it in reality, which gives him catholic guilt/bad angel feelings, so he triples down on Christmas spirit to compensate. He's decking the halls like no tomorrow, he's partidging that pear tree, ohhh he's jingling those bells alright and cooing over the love in the air and isn't it wonderful Crowley, the spirit of christmas my dear, i may have done a little miracle and made it snow in Tadfield, Crowley. Meanwhile he's holed himself up in the bookshop like its under seige from guerilla christmas shoppers, he can't seem to get a single cup of cocoa that doesn't have peppermint in it, 4 children this week have poked him in the belly and asked him if he's santa clause, and to top it all off Mr. Brown has asked him to play the role of Gabriel in the Whickber street Nativity Play.

Crowley's in the corner watching the angel's eye get progressively twitchier and using up his entire demonic miracle quota to make sure Aziraphale's cup never empties of blindingly acoholic eggnog.

[raointean]

[khruschevshoe]

Starkid is one of the absolute best arguments for supprting independent art. The fact that the shows you're invested in can't get canceled by Big Daddy Streaming, the quality is always amazing, the love of the cast and crew doesn't get squeezed out by surprise budget reductions, the fact that since crowd funding provides almost all costs up front (plus the presence of voluntary digital ticket/in person tickets for additional funding), the fan base can access the full material for whatever cost they can contribute (even if you can give nothing monetarily, you will still get a professionally shot version of the material eventually, without surprise fees or password crackdowns, AND with captions/completely accesible regardless of location). The same goes for Tin Can Bros, Shipwrecked, and all the other associated theater and web series companies loosely connected to Starkid. Like, I cannot believe the amazing content provided to us at the same level as Broadway or streaming services with billion dollars at hand, with almost none of the catches that come with others. Like, I cannot believe that we get all of this right at our hands.

[kaleidoscopiccc]

oh you hate musicals? oh so youre allergic to all fun and whimsy then? youre against all joy and giddiness brought in front of you huh? you just hate any and all happiness and silly times dont you?

[starry-bi-sky]

i think i'm hilarious -- aka i made blood blossom danny au memes

all of these come from my DpxDC prompt "i am pushing the batdad agenda--" and it's corresponding additions in the reblogs ksdjlf.

i am. rotating them in my head. forever and always. personally i think there should be more batdad aus in dpxdc, their dynamic could be neat. :)

[rocketrouquine]

Are you telling me that the Loustat love theme was inspired by Sam and Jacob relationship ?

……

[hunshine-styles]

Thank you, for everything.

[luna-loveboop]

Had the dumbest conversation with my sister and it reminded me of these two. Sending a resume including SCUBA ocean diving certifications without context while applying for a job seems like something Wind would do.

:)

[a-a-lost-munchkin]

I’m such a fool.

I just realized- when Telemachus sings, “If I fight this monster is it you I’ll find?” he’s saying “If I fight this monster, will I find you in myself?”

And I’m ??? So emotional ???

[ninacarstairss]

i can’t believe that no one prepared me for the amount of gay text — nothing sub about it but elphaba in that bed dommed by glinda — in this movie. like glinda and elphie longingly staring at each other on a bed, glinda and elphaba laying awake thinking about each other, glinda brushing that tear off elphaba’s cheek while they danced, the constant hand holding and touching. and then on top of this, fiyero comes in and winks once and my bi ass really cannot take all of this