Identify Musical Ideas
As we have learned, all music compositions are made up of musical ideas. Your task in this assignment is to identify the two music ideas that make up the piece you will hear and see performed in the video.
First, listen to the entire work from beginning to end—it only lasts one minute and a half. There is no substitute for repeated, attentive listening to become fully familiar with a piece of music.
Once you have listened to the full piece, listen to the two ideas that the composer used to build it. Before the ideas come into play, however, there is a very short two-second introduction. This is not a full musical idea yet. Here are the two ideas that the composer uses throughout the piece:
Listen to both ideas until you are thoroughly familiar with them. That will help you identify them as the piece progresses.
Heads up: There is a short section at end of the piece where neither Idea A or B happens—if needed, compare this section with Idea A and Idea B to hear the difference. While entering your answer for this section at the end of the piece, please address the following: How would you characterize this section? What do you think is its function?
How To Enter Your Answers
- Click ‘Add submission’ at the bottom of the page (You may need to scroll down.) The page will reload, and you will see a comment box on the right hand side of the video. This is where you will input your answers.
- Click Play to start the video and wait until you hear the beginning of a musical idea (A or B).
- Click Pause and use the Comment Box (to the right of the video) to write “Beginning of idea ___” (Fill the blank with “A” or “B”). Click ‘Post’ to record your comment at that point in the video.
- Click Play again to continue.
- Toggle between Play and Pause to continue writing down the beginning of each musical idea (A or B) throughout the entire piece. Note: You will need to click the ‘Post’ button after each comment you enter to ensure that each comment is associated with the correct timing within the piece.
- Optional: If you are familiar with the instruments that play each of the two ideas, go ahead and write their names after identifying the ideas, e.g., Idea B played by the violins.
- Remember to address the two questions about the short section at the end of the piece where neither A or B happens: How would you characterize this section? What do you think is its function?
Submission Instructions
- Once you have finished inputting your comments in the Comment Box to the right of the video, click ‘Save changes.’ You will have the option to ‘Edit submission’ after you have saved your changes to continue working on your assignment.
- Click ‘Submit assignment’ when you are ready to submit your assignment to your instructor.
- Click ‘Continue’ at the prompt “Are you sure you want to submit your work for grading? You will not be able to make any more changes.“
Please Note: If your instructor has set deadlines for the submission of this Written Assignment, you may not receive credit or may be penalized for submitting your work after the deadline.
