Music appreciation

The term “appreciation” has roots in philosophy, where it is described in a musical sense as a “kind of formal analogue of emotional experience”.

Pitch governs melody and harmony, and is established by observing the order of notes in a work relative to a given musical scale.

Duration, also referred to as rhythm, assesses the meter (or time signature), and the values of notes and rests and their accents or stresses.

Some instruments, predominantly strings, have unique or non-traditional methods of producing these differing sounds, (also referred to as expressive or extended techniques).

How “thin” or “thick” the individual layers of tempo, melody, and harmony are in an overall piece of music, e.g. homophony versus polyphony.

Students should consider what makes music memorable, and establish links between compositional techniques in a film score and the intended accompanying narrative.

They delve into the compositional process by observing musical relevance within the context of a larger work and learn to examine how musicians develop unique style or meaning.

Students learn to consider the significance and interpretation of lyrics or musical similarities as a greater whole and discuss meaning for the intended audience.