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Module

MUS2014 : Beginning Folk Tunes: The Slow Session (Inactive)

  • Inactive for Year: 2024/25
  • Module Leader(s): Prof. Simon McKerrell
  • Owning School: Arts & Cultures
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Semester 1 Credit Value: 10
Semester 2 Credit Value: 10
ECTS Credits: 10.0
European Credit Transfer System

Aims

At the end of the module, a student should be able to demonstrate:
1.       a knowledge of the major genres and forms folk tunes in the British Isles and Ireland
2.       an ability to perform to at least a basic standard, several instrumental tunes and airs in recognisable sets that take account of traditional genres and styles of performance.
3.       familiarity with the etiquette and structure of folk performance and tune sessions.
4.       an ability to compare genres, themes and content across a number of British and Irish genres of melodic traditional music.
5.       the ability to recognise and identify by ear essential components of a musical style
6.       the ability to recognise and describe musical organisation, style, genre or tradition in a tightly defined musical tradition

Outline Of Syllabus

Students will be guided through learning folk tunes and selected critical listening of several key English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh musical traditions taking account of some key concepts and their manifestation in traditional music performance:
•       Key genres: jigs, reels, hornpipes, slow airs, Gaelic airs, marches, waltzes, Highlands, strathspeys, slides, polkas etc.will be learnt every week and will be arranged across the year into sets
•       Phrase structure and repetition
•       Melodic variation and contour in traditional tunes and airs
•       Regional style
•       Dance music genres
•       Improvisation within traditional music and the boundaries of aesthetic practice
•       Notational systems in British/Irish traditional music (Great Stave, ABC, canntaireachd, mnemonics, The Sliabh Luachra ‘Code’ etc.)

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture32:006:00Introductory lectures to the musical field
Guided Independent StudyDirected research and reading401:0040:00Individual guided listening and reading
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesPractical11:001:00Final Module Performance Event
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesPractical182:0036:00Guided and taught performance sessions
Guided Independent StudySkills practice771:0077:00Private Practice
Guided Independent StudyProject work401:0040:00Work on performance project across the year individually and in pairs or small groups
Total200:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Ensemble session teaching provides the core of students’ practical learning. Lectures provide fora in which students learn key concepts surrounding traditional music performance, transcription, tradition and wider issues of aesthetics and performance practice.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Exams
Description Length Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Performance602A70Peer assessed performance
Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Portfolio1M30Written portfolio of critical listening commentaries on albums and recordings
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Traditional tunes and airs performance evaluates basic practical foundation, social music making, absorption of performative knowledge and overall level of progress and application in core practical study. The written portfolio of critical listening commentaries on albums and recordings evaluates your ability to conduct individual research into a topic informing your practice.

Reading Lists

Timetable