Music-Graphic Transcription Assignment

by / On April 12, 2021 / In Art, Undergraduate

Assignment: Choose a one-minute segment from one of the following works: Noname, Self; tUnE-yArDs, Bizness; Delta 5, Mind Your Own Business; and Nina Simone, I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free. To insure that your TA can precisely follow the timings in your score, please use the versions of these songs that are in our Spotify playlist: Username: sharkstooth / playlist: Lively Arts Graphic Transcription (there is also a link to the playlist on Moodle). You do not have to pay for a Spotify account to access this playlist. If you dont have an account, youll just have to sit through some ads.

Listen to the whole song first, before you choose the minute you want to notateyour one-minute segment can be taken from anywhere in the song; it does NOT have to be the first minute!!!! Find the part that interests you most. Make up your own graphic notation to create a score that reflects what you hear in this minute of music. Then write a short essay describing your transcription: what decisions did you make, and why? What aspects of the song most interested you, and how did you depict them visually? What was most challenging or interesting about making your score? etc.

Specific Requirements and Directions:
1. Once youve chosen your one-minute segment, listen to it carefully many, many times, making note of what you notice about the melody(ies), rhythm, and texture. These three elements will be the foundation of your score, although you will add others as well.
2. Create symbols (lines, shapes, dots, whatever works for your understanding of the music) that you will use to denote pitch and rhythm. Also, create a way to indicate texture (each individual instrument or voice), and melody (every sound has a pitch; but some pitches strung together make a melody that your ear grasps and follows; a song can have more than one melody going on at once).
3. Once you have decided on your basic framework, add colors to symbolize aspects of the song that you think are important or interesting. Colors could be used to indicate timbre, mood, texture, consonance/dissonance, melody, etc. Please use at least two colors, although feel free to use more than two!
4. If you like, you could create a key for your scorea chart breaking down which symbols/colors you used to indicate which elements. Only do this if it seems like it would help you stay organized. If you do make a key, please turn it in along with the score and essay.
5. Create your score. You may use the template provided on the course website (print out the template, then draw your score by hand onto it). The template contains four rectangles with each rectangle representing 15 seconds of your one-minute excerpt. Please time stamp above each bar to indicate the section of music you are notating, e.g. 0:25-0:55. (Remember, you must use the version that is in my Spotify playlist)
a. You are welcome to use this template; but you are also welcome to envision a different way of notating your minute of music. If you want to come up with a different format for your scoreif you dont like the time-stamped rectangles of the provided templateplease feel free to do so! Any way you choose to realize your score is fine, so long as your score includes all the above requirements, is time-stamped in some way so that we can follow along, and you explain your choices clearly in your essay.
6. Write a short (minimum 2 pages, 12 pt. font, double spaced) essay explaining how the shapes, figures, and colors you chose to use in your score reflect the specific musical elements you heard in your selection. Be sure to refer to the Music Portfolio Project grading rubric (on Moodle) to make sure all criteria are met.
7. Email the whole thing to your TAyour score (if you did it by hand, take a picture of it or scan it), your essay, and a key if you made one.

Note: Feel free to be very creative with your score. You can be very free with this assignment, so long as we are able to follow your score, and youre able to clearly describe why you took the approach you took, and why you chose the symbols/colors/etc. you chose. Students have come up with all kinds of really interesting, creative approaches to this assignmentif you have a cool idea but are unsure whether its okay or not, just check with your section instructor!