Aims

- To develop individual and group composition and performance skills, encouraging creativity and collaboration between students working in multiple, cross-disciplinary areas of contemporary music
- To develop individual abilities in performance and arranging
- To prepare students for specialist study in popular music performance where appropriate (subject to module leader approval) MUS3014/3018 and Composition MUS3012/3016.
- To develop skills working within a contemporary performance and distribution environment that is constantly reconfigured through advancements in production technology and dissemination/publication

Outline Of Syllabus

During semester one students will work in various collaborative settings designed to introduce key concepts in contemporary performance and expression. After two weeks students will be assigned specific groups in which they will work for the remainder of semester one in preparation for a directed and devised, assessed performance during the last week before the Christmas vacation, which takes the form of a collaborative live score for a cinematic film presentation.

Ahead of semester two, students are generally reorganised into new groups in order to prepare for the final assessments before Easter and in May, a public performance and/or public presentation of a collaborative work (possibly multimedia depending on the direction taken by a given group). This is assessed by a live performance

After the Easter vacation, students prepare individual critical reflective written submissions worth 10% of the overall mark,

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Seminars introduce and develop performance, arranging and collaboration skills; this is reinforced by group learning where students practise and improve these skills; lectures introduce vernacular (predominantly non-notated) music skills, contextualize repertoire and critical frameworks for situating practice; off-campus gig nights, which are student-run, allow students to gain experience presenting new work in a professional setting; 1:1 instrumental lessons are available to students also taking MUS2058 and allow students to work intensively on their own technical skills on their instrument or voice.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The first (semester 1) public performance (film soundtrack) demonstrates musical, creative and collaborative skills in a finished professional level of group performance within an audiovisual context. The group mark is the same for all members of the band, reflecting the collaborative aspect of the performance.

The second (semester 2) public performance demonstrates musical, creative and collaborative skills in a finished professional level of group performance or collective presentation of collaborative multi-media work. Students receive individual marks for this component: individual marks are arrived at through a combination of assessing a student’s contribution within the performance itself and regular observation by teaching staff during group tutorials (in rehearsal) providing a more established view of a given participant’s role and contribution.