Any help with Music Appreciation project?

Group Project (160 points)

Due: May 2, 2018

You must write a short group research paper on an assigned composition shown under Announcement

in your Group Homepage (“Groups” in the left side global navigation bar in Canvas). You can

communicate with your group members through Group Discussion Board in your Group Homepage.

I consider the format of your paper to be very important. I want you to imitate my format as closely as

you possibly can. You should examine my sample paper very closely. In some ways, I care more about

the format than about the content. I want this to be an exercise in taking instructions as well an exercise

in analyzing music.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Groups

 There are three to four people per group

 If there are four people in a group, then two people will write on the same topic

separately (two different papers on the same topic – each student needs to write at

least 500 words)

 Your group paper must have three parts (Composer biography, history of work, analysis of the

work)

 Each person is responsible for one part of the paper

 Each part is a minimum of 500 words (footnotes and headings do not count)

 Each part must have at least one footnote.

 If a member of your group cannot finish their portion, then that portion will be omitted from the

paper, and will not affect anyone’s grade

Part One

Composer biography

This biography doesn’t have to be very long, just enough to get an overview of the composer’s life or

importance. Just like in the book.

Researching the composer:

Sources for biographical research

1. New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (this is the best site!)

How to get to New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

• Go to CougarWeb

• Click “Library” tab

• Click “Find Articles” under “Sources for Papers and Projects”

• Choose “O”

• Find “Oxford Music Online” (this contains New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians)

• Here’s a tip: When you find a biography of a composer in New Grove, there’s a “Cite” icon to the

right. It will give you the correct citation to that article. Just choose “Chicago” and then cut and

paste!

2. Allmusic.com (short biographies)

3. Naxos.com (look under “composers”)

4. Classical.net (composer master index)

5. Find a book at library

WARNING: YOU CANNOT USE WIKIPEDIA AS A REFERENCE!

While researching the composer . . .

Many biographies will mention compositions. This is a good source for background information on a

composition.

Part Two

Brief history of genre

I want to see a brief history of the work; when it was written, any interesting facts about its relevance,

connections with the composer’s style, etc.

Part Three

Description/Analysis

I want to see descriptions/analysis of the music. Use the analytical tools that are used in book. For

instance: What is the texture? (monophonic/polyphonic/homophonic)? Is it a dance tune? Are there

word/music relationships? What is the form? Are dynamics used? Is there anything unique about the

melody, rhythm or harmony?

Rules and Regulations

The following format rules are non-negotiable. You will be harshly penalized if you don’t use the

proper format.

1. Use Microsoft Word. Unfortunately, Word remains the most popular word processing software. Get

used to working with it.

2. Use “Times New Roman” with a font size of 12 (footnotes are in size of 10)

3. Place your name, MUSI 1306 (add your section number) and date in upper right corner

4. Center the composer, and the name of piece you’re discussing

• Use bold for this heading

5. Each section MUST be 500 to 1000 words (word count pertains to the body of the paper). Penalty for

anything over or under.

6. Double-spaced

7. Citations

You must include at least one quote in each section from another source. This quote can come from an

internet or print source.

When you are writing for academic use you must cite other people’s work. If you use the exact words

from someone else’s work, you must give that person credit.

• Here’s a tip: Good writers don’t just throw in quotes. They take a quote and refer to it. They

even use quotes to support their own arguments. Check out how I used quotes in my sample

paper.

 You must cite at least 1 source in each part

 They can be from an internet or printed source

 You MUST use “footnote” or “Chicago” style citations, not parenthetical citations

There are different ways to cite other people’s work within your own writing. The way you’re probably

most familiar is parenthetical citations (a parenthesis after the quote with a work cited page). This is not

the style I want. I want you to use the “Chicago” style, in my opinion, is a bit more professional.

Chicago style requires a superscript number and a footnote. There’s no work cited page, just the

footnote. Footnotes are easy to produce in Microsoft Word. Just position your cursor to the end of the

quote, go to “References” and “Insert Footnote.” Then you’ll be able to insert the information. It’s that

easy. There are also videos on youtube.com that can walk you through this process.

• Footnotes should be “Times New Roman” font of 10

• Search Collin College’s library for Kate Turabian: “A Manual for Writers” or “Cite Right” for exact

citation format or go online to http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html.

• If online, choose the “N” format. The “N” means “Note or Footnote”

These format rules are very important (and easy to follow). If there is any deviation from the format . . .

you’ll be penalized.

8. Look at my sample and imitate the entire format exactly.

9. Due Dates:

• Post a message to your group members through Group Discussion Board by Sunday, March 25

(10 points): Introduce yourself, choose your part, and choose a group leader.

• The group leader must email me stating each member’s assignment (part) by Friday, March 30.

• Group Leader: Submit your group project (all three parts together) to “Submit your Group

Project Here” (Group Project under Modules in Canvas) by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, May 2.

• Other Members: Submit your own part to “Submit your Group Project Here” (Group Project

under Modules in Canvas) by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, May 2 so that I can give individual

feedback.

• No late assignments will be accepted (No exceptions).