LISTENING CHECKLIST

Below are some general guidelines to help you focus on various elements of musical design and performance while you listen to different musical examples. As you study each of the assigned selections, consider the following characteristics.. 

MEDIA-  sound delivery.

• Is the work instrumental, vocal or electronically generated?

• What combination or ensemble of forces do you hear?

• What specific instruments do you hear?  Are they typical for this kind of music?

•  Can you identify patterns of interaction [may relate to texture and form]        

MELODY -  the coherent succession of pitches; the tune of the piece.

•  Is it easy to identify a tune?  Is a main tune prominent, unstressed or absent?

•  Does the melody feature stepwise pitch arrangements (conjunct motion) or leaps from low to high pitches or vice versa (disjunct motion)?

•  Is the melody simply stated or does it feature secondary, decorative notes (ornamented)?

•  Are the phrases of the melody long in duration or short? [see form category]

SCALE or MODE -  the choice and arrangement of pitches

• Does the underlying scale sound familiar or unfamiliar?

•  Try to identify it in a specific way.  Is it major, minor, pentatonic, chromatic, blues, other (check documentation for names)?

RHYTHM – pertaining to the arrangement of sound in time

• Is there a discernible or stressed pulse?

• What is the tempo (rate of speed): of the piece.  Would you characterize it as  fast, slow, of moderate speed, or fluctuating in tempo?

•  Is the piece metrical? Is there a regular duple or triple feel? Does asymmetrical or free rhythm better describe the rhythmic flow?

• What characteristic patterns of  accent and duration do you note;  for example, can you identify the rhythm with a specific dance types such as waltz, or  jaropo?

TEXTURE – the nature of contributing parts to the whole; the "fabric" of the music

• Is the selection monophonic (one main melody - solo or unison performance)?

• Do you hear parallel harmony - (all parts follow the same melodic contour at equidistant intervals)?

• Is the selection polyphonic (overlapping layering of several distinct melodies)?

• Is the selection homophonic (melody with harmonic accompaniment),

• Is the selection  heterophonic (simultaneous presentations of variants of same basic melody)?

FORMAL CHARACTERISTICS -  overall design; large scale patterns of repetition and contrast

• Look for identifiable relationships between melodic phrases.

• Note large scale patterns of repetition and contrast.

•  Look for internal patterns of design such as call and response, décima, or couplet forms.

•  Try to outline the overall form using a standard descriptor or schematic summary. Common choices include: call and response, ABA form, stropic form [verse form], verse-refrain form, rondo form, sonata form, cyclic form.

TIMBRE - the quality of the instrumental or vocal sound

• To help distinguish various instruments or the nature of vocal delivery, practice describing the character of the sound produced. Descriptions might include: nasal, smooth, bright, rough, breathy, piercing (while conventional associations exist, here's your chance to be poetic)

GENRE – category of music, determined by criteria of style and function

•  What kind of music is the selection (category)? Be as specific as possible. For example: "dance music" is an ok description of genre  - "waltz" is more precise and better; "concert music" is ok – "sankyoku" (a specific kind of Japanese chamber music) is better

TEXT – observations regarding language and design of lyrics

• What language is used?

• What is the general meaning of the lyrics?

• How do the lyrics relate to the music?

• What other connections arise from the lyrics?

CONTEXT – the frame of performance

•  When would you hear the selection, in what setting, for what purpose?

• How has recording determined the nature of the performance?

• What contexts are permitted by recording; do they conflict with customary performance expectations?

PERSONNEL -  the people involved with the recording or performance

•  Who performs?

• Who composed the piece?

• Who is represented by the music?

• Who listens?

• Who responds?

BEHAVIOR

            How do people act  while performing, while listening?