Compare your listening skills now to what they were at the beginning of the semester.
After reading Chapter 4 of Take Note and listening to the examples by Debussy, Ives, Stravinsky, and Basie (you can search these through google), please respond to at least 3 of the following questions (please don’t try to respond to all of them).
1. Is there a piece you particularly did or did not enjoy? Please explain why in your own words (you don’t need to use musical vocabulary).
2. What was your impression of “Madonna” by Schoenberg, which was included in the narrated Powerpoint about the Modern period? Do you agree that this piece is ugly? If not, how would you describe it? In either case, do you find the music appropriate to the topic of the piece? (If you really want to impress me, you’ll google the text and translation before responding.)
3. Does the first movement of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms remind you of traditional church music? Why or why not? Please feel free to describe your impressions of the music in detail.
4. Describe the experience of listening to Basie’s Lester Leaps In all the way through. Did you find it confusing? Were you able to follow the AABA pattern, either with or without the listening guide? Did listening to this piece increase your confidence in your ability to listen to an extended piece of music in its entirety?
5. Compare your listening skills now to what they were at the beginning of the semester. Do you find yourself listening better? If not, what could help improve your listening in the future?