Question Description
1. Answer ALL of the questions asked below (the order in which you answer them does not matter)
2. Provide in- text, Chicago style citations and a works cited page for ALL sources used
3. Essay must be 500 words at least, or two double- spaced pages (please use Times New Roman 12- point font)
Given the sheet music for a composition (see your choices below), analyze its mathematical structure. What are the key and time signature of the piece? How do those choices affect the piece? How might a change in the key or time signature affect the piece? Does the composer only use scale tones from the given key, or are there accidentals? If there are accidentals, how does their presence affect the tone or sound of the piece? What melodic transformations are used (transposition, retrogression, etc.)? What kind of chords are used most often (triads? I chords, IV chords, etc.? , major/minor?) and how does the choice to use those chords frequently contribute to the tone or sound of the piece? If you were the composer, what choices might you make to cause the piece to sound more interesting? More upbeat? More haunting? More unstable-sounding? More (anything else you can think of)?
Answer these questions in whatever order you like (along with any other commentary you might find interesting) in a typed essay of at least 2 pages. If you use any sources other than the textbook, your classroom notes, and the sheet music of the piece in question, you must cite it properly in some format. MLA, APA, AMA, etc. is irrelevant to me. Some of these pieces contain notation we have not covered in class. Feel free to ignore such notation in your analysis, unless you have a particular desire to address it. Your choices: