Performance/Composition
THE WONKY DONKEY’S FROM ACU!
Sarah Candusso, Rachel Cam, Paul Bratt and Robert Clark.
Our group’s performance comprised of four musical genres inclusive of Bluegrass, Caribbean music, Contemporary Latin and World Music ‘Drinking songs’. To aid this, our central theme for the performance was identified as ‘mystery’.
Over a period of six weeks, we explored a number of common musical themes, attributes, motifs, instruments and cultural influences that are typically indicative of those that shaped the music styles within our genres. These formed the basis of our formal presentation where we identified both common and uncommon elements from each genre and aimed to present them in a live audio and visual performance. Elements included, but were not limited to the types of musical instruments used in each genre including voice, ukulele/guitar, percussion both instrumental (drums and egg shakers) and body, rhythmic patterns and tones and timbers relevant to each genre.
With each member having considerably more exposure to Western style music and it’s compositional techniques, this influenced our original composition heavily, however through the exploration of non-western genres, we were able to adapt a sound and expression that included some attributes from each genre. This in turn provided a greater understanding and appreciation for music of other genres but also the similarities between them.
Upon creating our presentation, we aimed to create a performance with elements that that could be developed within a formal classroom setting and expanded upon. In doing so, we aimed to both educate and enhance a students’ appreciation for music and their overall basic understanding of musical elements and parameters.
Our original composition included a number of techniques that often we subconsciously don’t recognize, even though we hear them daily both in everyday activities and when listening to music. Improvisation was also included within the presentation to enable more freedom within the expression and we added stylized movement or choreography to create a more aesthetic visual image and also to demonstrate how other forms of art are influenced within cultural expression. This was particularly evident within the contemporary Latin genre.
Each instrument or style was introduced gradually and rhythmic patterns were introduced at each stage in a very loose-layered effect to create a musical composition. Commencing with the ukulele, progressing to a rhythmic drumming pattern, followed by the egg shakers and finalising the layers with a vocal melodic line, this then culminated in the overall composition. The melodic line was based around the Dorian mode and began on the first measure of C however we decided to naturalise the third measure of 'e' for effect.
Within the presentation and composition, of the techniques explored a few of the key elements that we identified included;
Ø Tempo using fast slow and medium paced rhythmic patterns.
Ø Dynamics, where we increased and decreased the volume to demonstrate loud and soft sounds.
Ø Harmonies were used within the final section of the original composition
Ø Rounds were added to the composition, where one group would commence the rhythmic vocal melody and the second group would commence on the third beat of the first bar, giving an effect of a continual loop pattern within the line.
Ø Subdivision of notes was used within rhythmic patterns between the percussion instruments. The drum would play a standard quaver beat with the egg shaker identifying the same rhythmic pattern but in semiquavers.
Ø Accents were used in the first beat of each rhythmic pattern to identify the underlying rhythm.
In addition to the above techniques to structure the entire presentation, we used an overarching form; Rondo. This form typically follows the pattern of ABACA Additional insertions can be added to create a longer composition (e.g. ABACADA) and in our performance we chose to do this. Through this we were able to incorporate a central theme and demonstrate the layering technique of adding instruments and rhythmic patterns prior to revealing our final original composition.
Our presentation allowed for audience inclusion, which enabled a rounder and fuller sound. It also emphatically demonstrated the inclusive nature of music and performance.
Music Curriculum
The current Arts curriculum includes five art disciplines; Visual Art, Dance, Drama, Media and Music. From years Foundation to Year 6 The Arts have two main stages:
Foundation – Year 4: Laying the Foundations
Year 5 – Year 8: Building breadth and depth
Throughout all five of The Art disciplines student should be engaging in these stages of learning. During a students’ arts education in primary school they should be developing knowledge and skills, increasing their exploration and application abilities, and using these combinations of skills to develop their own deeper understanding of techniques, products and performances.
The dimensions in the AusVELS curriculum is organised into two dimensions:
Creating and making
Exploring and responding
When creating our group performance we really thought about the curriculum and how our piece and the task could be used in a classroom setting.
We believe that different aspects of the task could be used with all primary school year levels, including Foundation. Based on both AusVELS and the Australian curriculum, below are parts of the task that we believe would be suited to each year level.
Foundation – Year 2:
Year 3 – Year 4:
Year 5 – Year 6:
References
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015). The Australian Curriculum: The Arts. Sydney, NSW: ACARA
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (AusVELS). (2013). AusVELS: The Arts. Retrieved from: http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/The-Arts/Curriculum
Foundation – Year 4: Laying the Foundations
Year 5 – Year 8: Building breadth and depth
Throughout all five of The Art disciplines student should be engaging in these stages of learning. During a students’ arts education in primary school they should be developing knowledge and skills, increasing their exploration and application abilities, and using these combinations of skills to develop their own deeper understanding of techniques, products and performances.
The dimensions in the AusVELS curriculum is organised into two dimensions:
Creating and making
Exploring and responding
When creating our group performance we really thought about the curriculum and how our piece and the task could be used in a classroom setting.
We believe that different aspects of the task could be used with all primary school year levels, including Foundation. Based on both AusVELS and the Australian curriculum, below are parts of the task that we believe would be suited to each year level.
Foundation – Year 2:
- Student in these year levels learn how to listen to music and understand rhythm, pitch, dynamics, tempo and structure.
- Students should also be learning that songs and music are used by different cultures for different purposes, as seen in the performance. (ACARA)
- During these year levels students are encourage to use body percussion, we chose to include body percussion in our performance for this reason. To demonstrate how important and how versatile it could be (AusVELS)
- Students can “Create compositions and perform music to communicate ideas to an audience (ACAMUM082)”
- For this task these students could begin with making their composition and being able to create a composition that has different tempo, structure and rhythm.
Year 3 – Year 4:
- By the end of Year 4, students should be able to discuss how they and others use elements of music in performance and composition (ACARA).
- Students can “Create, perform and record compositions by selecting and organising sounds, silence, tempo and volume (ACAMUM086)”
- Therefore this type of task would be perfect to enhance student knowledge about how we can use different elements such as dynamics and tempo (as discussed in the performance) to change and arrange a composition. Students at this level should also be able to sing with accurate pitch, rhythm and expression (ACARA). Singing was an important component of the performance and we believed that our composition clearly incorporated this aspect.
Year 5 – Year 6:
- In our performance we demonstrated a ‘round’, this required each of us to sing different parts against contrasting parts and recognise the sound, this is included in the ACARA curriculum for students in years 5 to 6, and therefore something similar (perhaps watching the performance and carrying on with the round) could be used in a music lesson
- Students can:
- · Explore dynamics and expression, using aural skills to identify and perform rhythm and pitch patterns (ACAMUM088)
- · Develop technical and expressive skills in singing and playing instruments with understanding of rhythm, pitch and form in a range or pieces, including in music and from the community (ACAMUM089)
- · Rehearse and perform music including music they have composed by improvising, sourcing and arranging ideas and making decisions to engage an audience (ACAMUM090)
- Students at this year level could definitely benefit from a task similar to the one that we were given and performed. This could be done very similar to how we developed it, over a few weeks, and could demonstrate a students understanding of music in both dimensions; creating and making, and exploring and responding.
References
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015). The Australian Curriculum: The Arts. Sydney, NSW: ACARA
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (AusVELS). (2013). AusVELS: The Arts. Retrieved from: http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/The-Arts/Curriculum