Sing along

Assignment 2

Writing Assignment: Performance Evaluation

On the previous two pages you were given a series of questions and suggestions (see below) on what areas to focus on as you evaluate various performances.

What areas should you focus on?

1. Technique – breathing, embouchure (if applicable), posture, support, tone, dexterity, and agility

2. Musicality – ability to play with sensitivity to the emotion of the music, and interpretation of the meaning of the music

3. Accuracy – ability to play every single note, dynamic, tempo, and other directives with precision

4. Interpretation of the music – researching the composer, what the music was written for, and personal reflection on what the music is saying to the audience

5. Physical connectedness to the music – Do you feel it when you play? Is your posture representative of the message presented and for good technique?

What areas should you focus on?

1. Technique – Does the musician(s) clearly demonstrate good technique? Is technique important for this genre of music? What would the consumer find important about technique?

2. Musicality – Does the musician(s) have the ability to play with sensitivity to the emotion of the music, the interpretation of the meaning of the music? Does this kind of music require musicality? What would the consumer find important about musicality?

3. Accuracy – Does the musician(s) have the ability to play every single note, dynamic, tempo, and other directives with precision? Is this the kind of music that requires precision? Does lack of precision make this music more enjoyable or less enjoyable? What would the consumer find important about accuracy?

4. Interpretation of the music – Does the musician(s) appear to be well versed on the composer, what the music was written for, and do they have their own personal reflection on what the music should be saying to the audience? Is that important to this type of music? What would the consumer find important about musical interpretation?

5. Physical connectedness to the music – Does the musician(s) look connected to the music? Is it obvious that they actually feel what the music is saying? Does their body language demonstrate this connectedness? Is connection to the music important? What would the consumer find important about the musician’s ability to connect with the music?

Use these questions (ABOVE) to create your own evaluation tool focusing on the areas of technique, musicality, accuracy, interpretation, and physical connectedness. You can assign values like 1-5 or A-F for each area,  just like a rubric.

Once you have created the evaluation tool, choose a performance to evaluate. If you are a musician, you may want to evaluate one of your own performances. You could also go see a live performance or watch one on TV or the Internet.

Submit both the evaluation tool and a written explanation of your evaluation, including a brief description of the performance evaluated. If you watched a performance on the Internet, be sure to include the appropriate web link.