Find an original song and a cover version of it by a different artist. Listen to and examine the two versions of the song. How are they similar? How are they different? Has the instrumentati
music report
Term papers are to be 1500 to 2000 words in length (which is about six to eight typed,
double-spaced pages in 12-point Times New Roman font). This word count does not
include the reference list and discography at the end.
Choose one of the three questions below for your term paper:
1. Find an original song and a cover version of it by a different artist. Listen to and
examine the two versions of the song. How are they similar? How are they
different? Has the instrumentation changed? Are the dynamics, rhythms, tempo,
form, melody, or timbre of the singer’s voice different? Is there a different mood
to the piece? Consider the larger context: why might the artist have covered the
song? Are there similarities between the two artists styles? Provide some
background from scholarly sources on these styles and their history. How was the
cover received by audiences? Are issues of authenticity raised with the cover
song?
2. Find a song from the early part of an artists career, and then a different song from
a later period by the same artist. The two songs must be at least ten years apart
(for example: Bob Dylan, Blowin in the Wind (1963) and Gotta Serve
Somebody (1979). Listen to/examine the two songs. How are they similar? How
are they different? Has the instrumentation changed? Are the dynamics, rhythms,
tempo, form, or melody different? How does the timbre of the singers voice
change? Is there a different mood to the piece? Has the artist shifted styles
significantly, or adopted a new approach to songwriting? Now look at the piece in
a larger contextwhy did the artist change styles, or keep recording the same
kind of material? Is the artist responding to audience demand? Has the artist
worked with different producers, band members, or record labels? What elements
of the earlier period have carried over to the later period? Did the artist gain or
lose popularity in that time? What can the changes between the two songs (or lack
thereof) tell us about the longevity of the artist or what is meaningful about their
music? Provide some background from scholarly sources on the history of the
genre(s) the artist uses, and ground your musical discussion in that.
3. Discuss the history and development of a specific sub-genre of American (or
American-derived) popular music. You will need to be specific: for example,
delta blues rather than blues; bebop rather than jazz; honky tonk rather than
country music; death metal rather than heavy metal; 1970s British punk rather
than punk; gangsta rap rather than hip-hop. Who are the prominent artists and/or
composers in this sub-genre? What are its general musical parameters ? like
instrumentation, timbral profile, lyrical content ? and how do these distinguish it
from other similar sub-genres? When did this sub-genre thrive? Who was/is its
audience? Did it have any lasting effect on subsequent genres? Consider the ways
in which the music reflects its place and time historically, socio-economically,
technologically, and so on. Pick one recording that best represents your chosen
sub-genre and discuss it using the musical terminology from class, as explained in
the Term Paper Writing Guide.
SOURCES
Use at least four peer-reviewed sources.
Possible starting sources (available through Ryersons library): Oxford Music Online and
Bloomsburys Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World for short articles, or JSTOR
for longer articles from refereed journals. You may also find e-books available through the
library catalogue.
For recordings, you might try Spotify, iTunes, or Torontos public libraries (for physical
and digital music). In the case of YouTube, only music from authenticated accounts is
allowed, since, like Wikipedia, there is often no way to verify the accuracy of the
information from most content posters.
**Recordings discussed in class, in the text, or listed on your listening lists are not
permitted for discussion in your paper.
Citation Requirements
This is a research paper, so the quality and variety of your sources is important. Students
are expected to use reference materials from the library (books, journals, Academic
encyclopedias {i.e., NOT Britannica, or other high school-level sources}, on-line data
bases, recordings). You may use more than one article or entry from the same peer-reviewed
journal, but a maximum of one entry each from the Oxford Music Onlines encyclopediae
and Bloomsburys Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World will count towards your
four peer-reviewed sources. Reliable online sources, such as the official website for an artist,
may be consulted for additional information. Official biographic monographs and non-peer-
reviewed books and magazine articles on popular music in general are also acceptable
secondary sources. Authors must be cited for all websites used, and proper bibliographic
format must be used. The use of Wikipedia, Biography.com, song lyric or chord sites, and
other unreliable, non-academic, or general interest sites is prohibited. Students must use a
minimum of four peer-reviewed sources in addition to recordings, and must cite all
directly or indirectly quoted and paraphrased material, including the professors notes or
lectures.
Term papers with citations, reference pages, and discographies that do not meet the
formatting requirements will lose 10%. Reference pages and discographies must be
single-spaced, with second and subsequent lines of each entry indented and all
punctuation in the correct place. For this term paper you must use the Author-date-page
format for in-text citations (see section III In-text Citation, Reference Page and
Discography in the Term Paper Writing Guide on D2L). You may put your written
references and discography on the same page. Be sure that that the entries are in
alphabetical order (by author whenever one is given), and free of spelling mistakes and
other errors, as this part of the term paper is worth a full 10% of the mark.
Term Papers that do not use the minimum four peer-reviewed sources will lose 5% per
missing source.
It is possible to lose a total of 30% of the term paper grade with a combination of no
peer-reviewed sources and an incorrectly formatted reference page or citations. Please
take care in all of your citation practices.
Requirements: 1500-2000words
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