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Lecture 1:

This lecture covered phrases, motives, and sentences.

A phrase was defined as a musical segment that has a clear beginning, a clear continuation, and a clear cadence to end.

We explored the motive, a small section of distinctive music that is often repeated with variations, it was interesting to see how motives can be manipulated whilst keeping memorable qualities.

A sentence was defined as a phrase made up of an initial motive, a repetition, potentially varied, a new, somewhat related, idea, and a cadence.

Lecture 2:

This lecture covered the musical period.

A musical period consists of two phrases, the first of which ends without a resolution, typically on an imperfect cadence, and the second is resolved.

In ‘Four Impressions No.4’, both phrases share lots of the same melody, with the first ending with an imperfect cadence and the second ending with a perfect cadence.

The repetition helps reinforce the melody whilst the open and closed phrases help move the piece forward.

Lecture 3:

This lecture covered how modal harmony can be used in folk and classical music.

Covered how to construct modes by starting with a standard major or natural minor scale and flattening or sharpening specific degrees.

Modes with more minor intervals will sound ‘darker’ than those with more major intervals, meaning that modulating through different modes can vary the emotions evoked by a piece.

When composing with modes, it is important to regularly use chords containing the altered degrees of the scale to maintain the modal feel.

Lecture 4:

This lecture covered how modal harmony can be used in pop and rock music.

Modal pop songs often remain in the same mode throughout; however, some will change modes between verse and chorus.

The spacing between notes in a chord, the voicing, can alter the quality of the sound.

Use of different voicings in important for voice leading.

In jazz progressions, each chord may imply a different mode depending on the type of chord.

The altered degrees of the implied modes can be used as ‘colour tones’ to reinforce the modal feel of each chord.

Lecture 5:

This lecture covered some common methods of modulation.

Two keys are closely related if both of their tonic triads are present in both keys, this makes them easier to modulate between.

‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ by The Beach Boys demonstrated a sectional modulation between A major and F major. These keys are not closely related as F major is not a triad in A major, meaning the sudden change was abrupt but worked for the genre.

‘Deep River’ by Samuel Coleridge demonstrated pivot chord modulation when modulating from E major to C# minor by using an F# minor chord that is common to both keys.

Other modulation methods such as moving straight to the V7 chord of a new key and changing the harmony around a common note to both keys were explored.

Lecture 6:

This lecture covered modulation within sections.

Modulation during sections tends to be more gradual than sectional modulation, i.e. in the Joni Mitchell example, the tonic of the new key is not used immediately to ensure a smooth key change.

Sequences in the melody can be used to keep a recognisable tune whilst the key is changing underneath.

Multiple keys may be visited during a section to reach a target key.

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Seminar 1 – Sentence form:

My composition for this seminar was written on guitar. I started off by figuring out a chord progression using extended/jazz chords and then looped the progression and played over the top to find a melody that fit the sentence structure.

After my piece was played, it was suggested that I alter the final bar of the piece as the melody and harmony both finishing on the tonic was a bit of a forced ending.

General feedback for the class was that we should include dynamics and articulation in our scores as it can help give shape and character to a piece.

Seminar 2 – Period form:

My composition for this seminar was written on guitar. I started off by figuring out a folk-like chord progression and then looped the progression and played over the top to find a melody. Some alterations to the melody were made to make sure the phrases fit the closed – open pattern.

Whilst my composition wasn’t played, feedback that others received was to make sure that their melody consisted of an antecedent and consequent phrase.

From others’ compositions, I learned that fully written accompaniment parts as opposed to chord symbols can elevate a piece.

Seminar 3 – Modal classical/folk:

For this composition, I chose the C dorian mode and figured out a waltz-like chord progression on guitar that emphasised the altered degrees of the scale. I then wrote the modulation to C aeolian within musescore as well as the melody.

Hearing feedback on others’ compositions showed me the importance of maintaining the modal feel of a piece without it straying into the major or minor as well as the importance of keeping the melody engaging throughout.

Seminar 4 – Modal pop/rock:

For this composition, I composed a jazz progression of eight chords on guitar. For each chord I found the mode that it was implying and added extensions based on the mode’s colour tones.

In the seminar the compositions, mainly modal pop songs, were played by a live pop/rock band.

The arrangement of the songs, particularly the balance of different rhythms between guitars, drums, and bass, had a big impact on the effectiveness of the chord progression.

Seminar 5 – Portfolio item 5:

My composition for this seminar was a development of my modal melody from seminar 3. I kept the C aeolian section and added a modulation to Eb major. I exported the midi from musescore and played it with virtual violin and piano plugins so I could have more control of the dynamics.

It was suggested that I develop the Eb major section during the piece as opposed to composing a whole new section.

I was also advised to improve the rhythmic notation in my score and work with a violinist to make sure the melody was playable.

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1.

Lunchtime Recital – Cellist, Dr. Iagoba Fanlo & pianist, Dr. Inja Stanović

05/03/25

PATS Studio 1

L. van Beethoven: Sonata for Piano and Cello in A Major No. 3, Op. 69

J. Brahms: Sonata for Piano and Cello in e minor No. 1, Op. 38

Beethoven’s 3rd Cello sonata was written in 1808 [IMSLP n.d.] during the classical period and Brahm’s 1st Cello sonata was written later in 1862-65 [IMSLP n.d.] during the romantic period.

Both Fanlo and Stanović acknowledged the audience when they came onto the stage and left a pause before beginning the performance to allow them and the audience to settle. At the beginning of the performance, Fanlo’s intonation was slightly off but he was able to build into the performance; this showed the importance of confidence when trying to get across the message of the music. Fanlo was physically expressive during the performance which helped invite the audience into the music. Both Fanlo and Stanović wore concert blacks.

2.

Guildford Jazz Concert – Huw Warren “Choro Choro Choro”

27/03/25

PATS Studio 1

Choro is a genre of music that originated in Brazil in the late 19th century. Traditionally choro was played with flute, guitar, and cavaquinho, a Brazilian string instrument, and often featured recognisable melodies as well as improvisation [Spitzer 2017].

Huw Warren’s band featured piano, flute, bass, and drums. They played a mixture of classic and modern choro tunes, with Huw Warren introducing each piece to the audience before they played it. This was useful as the focus of the performance was to take the audience on a journey through choro. Each piece had lots of improvisation, meaning there was communication between the members of the band, as well as feedback (clapping) from the audience at the end of each solo. All members of the band were physically quite expressive whilst playing, especially during solos.

3.

INTRASPECT VII - Cath Roberts & Tullis Rennie, Dolphin Assassin

03/04/25

PATS Studio 1

4.

Bleep at Westival

04/05/25

The Star

5.

Surrey University JazzO

11/04/25

PATS Studio 1

6.

Surrey University Big Band – Lakeside Jam Night

16/05/25

Surrey University Lake

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I was not on the rota for concert assistance, so I have written about my assistant duty tonmeister experience.

Date/Time:   26/03/25 13:10

Performers:

Xinyun Zhang, piano

Seth Lyons, guitar

James Bateman, piano

Arthur Chan, violin

Jonah Briggs, piano

Charlotte Ray, flute

Amelie Bradley, voice

Tonmeister Team:

Becca Sheppard

Sophie Hillier

George Hopper

Activities

Set up microphones and plugged them in.

Helped test different microphone positions for each performance during the rehearsals so that they would sound good and not intrude on the performers.

Moved chairs and music stands between performances as well as opened and closed the piano lid.

Between performances we had to move the mics into the correct positions; this was challenging as we had to predict where performers would be to ensure a good sound.

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Departmental Ensemble – University Choir:

During semester 2 I was part of the university choir. We spent the semester learning and rehearsing Faure’s ‘Requiem’ and Rachmaninov’s ‘Bogoroditse Devo’ that we then performed with the university orchestra at Holy Trinity Church. Each weekly rehearsal began with a warmup; these mainly featured vocal exercises to relax the vocal muscles but also included the choir harmonising as a group to improve our synergy as an ensemble. In the first few rehearsals, we learned the pieces by listening to and singing back small phrases, this helped build memory and learn how to pronounce the individual words. Later, we focused on the dynamics and phrasing of the pieces which helped me develop my ear for these details, especially in the unaccompanied ‘Bogoroditse Devo’. This experience also helped improve my ensemble skills as I had to listen to closely to the rest of the choir to make sure I was breathing and enunciating consonants in the right places.

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Spitzer, Peter. (2017) Review: "Choro: A Social History of a Brazilian Popular Music", Available at: https://peterspitzer.blogspot.com/2017/09/review-choro-social-history-of.html (Accessed: 28/05/25)

IMSLP (n.d.) Cello Sonata No.3, Op.69 (Beethoven, Ludwig Van), Available at: https://imslp.org/wiki/Cello_Sonata_No.3%2C_Op.69_(Beethoven%2C_Ludwig_van) (Accessed: 28/05/25)

IMSLP (n.d.) Cello Sonata No.1, Op.38 (Brahms, Johannes), Available at: https://imslp.org/wiki/Cello_Sonata_No.1,_Op.38_(Brahms,_Johannes) (Accessed: 28/05/25)