Aims

• To develop group performance skills and encourage creativity and collaboration between students working in areas of contemporary music performance not associated with conventional notated composition
• 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 I 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 five 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). This might take place as an online live stream which students prepare as a video file in advance.

Ahead of semester two, students are potentially reorganised into new groups in order to prepare for the final assessments before Easter and in May, which comprise of 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 (before Easter - which might be as live streamed event) and the packing of original material into a demo 'tape' or digital online release (May).

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; 1:1 instrumental lessons 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.

The portfolio or recorded and packaged material in the form of a ‘demo tape’ or digital online release will demonstrate skills acquired in critical contextualization and product development introduced and discussed in class and applied to the specific requirements of the actual material each group has prepared for their performance and portfolio. 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.