Modules

Core Module Information
Module title: Score Interpretation
SCQF level: 07:
SCQF credit value: 20.00
ECTS credit value: 10
Module code: MUS07143
Module leader: Ken Dempster
School School of Arts and Creative Industries
Subject area group: Screen and Performance
Prerequisites

N/A
Description of module content:

In this module you will take a performative and experimental approach to musical composition. By focusing principally on creativity manifested through alternative notations such as graphic and text scores, you will focus on musical expression and its relationship to gesture and instruction in a very direct way. The performative and creative aspects of this module have clear application to the wider practical music making you will engage in throughout the programme, and the compositional aspects lay the groundwork for further study of music composition and the analytical study of music. Sessions on musical notation software will improve your technical skills in laying out scores, parts, and musical examples.
Learning Outcomes for module:

Upon completion of this module you will be able to
LO1: respond creatively to a brief employing your musical imagination;
LO2: demonstrate an appreciation of specific musical elements (including pitch, line, harmony, sonority, rhythm, and texture);
LO3: recognise structural shapes that demonstrate effective musical pacing;
LO4: relate notational decisions to musical expression;
LO5: duplicate appropriate idiomatic and genre-based strategies;
LO6: reproduce standard classical musical notation.
Full Details of Teaching and Assessment
2022/3, Trimester 1, FACE-TO-FACE, Edinburgh Napier University
VIEW FULL DETAILS
Occurrence: 001
Primary mode of delivery: FACE-TO-FACE
Location of delivery: MERCHISTON
Partner: Edinburgh Napier University
Member of staff responsible for delivering module: Ken Dempster
Module Organiser:


Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) Approach:
Learning & Teaching Methods (including their alignment to Learning Outcomes) At the start of the
module (weeks 3 & 5), two practical classes on aural skills will develop and refine your abilities to
recognise, identify, and reproduce specific musical elements (LO2). This will be followed by a series of
composition lectures in two blocks (weeks 9 and 11, 18 and 20) each of which will be related to a
specific brief (LO1) for a group composition employing a specific form of notation (which may include
either graphic or text elements) (LO4). You will be assigned to a small collaborative composition group,
and these lectures are supported by workshops for each composing group (weeks 12, 22) which will
allow you to experiment and refine your compositional strategies and their performance (LO3,5). A final
composition lecture and workshop (weeks 26 and 27) will bring together the work of the entire module
and develop your formative assessments for their final summative performance. Alongside these practical
and performative tasks, ten one-hour workshops on the use of notation software will enhance your ability
to notate traditional staff-based notation for use in composition and arranging (LO4,6), as well as for
musical examples embedded in essays.

Formative Assessment:
There will be an initial formative assessment of the aural skills covered in the first five weeks of the
module which will focus on your awareness of specific musical elements. Twice during the module and in
the context of an informal class-based session, each of the composing groups will perform their
composition, following which they will receive verbal feedback from their peers and the class tutor, and
written feedback from the class tutor. These sessions will be videoed or the sound recorded and shared
with the composing group for further formative development as appropriate. At the end of the first
trimester, you will submit a portfolio of assignments set during the workshops on notation software. The
feedback provided on this portfolio will not only enable you to revise and refine them for summative
submission at the end of the module, but also provide insight into ways in which your use of the software
and attention to detail can be improved.

Summative Assessment:
In the final teaching week, each of the composing groups will perform their work in front of peers and the
class tutor. This will be a refined version of the compositions developed throughout the module and
assessed formatively. A final portfolio of exercises in using the notation software will also be submitted
which will comprise revised elements from the formative submission as well as additional exercises set
during the second trimester.

Student Activity (Notional Equivalent Study Hours (NESH))
Mode of activityLearning & Teaching ActivityNESH (Study Hours)
Face To Face Lecture 14
Face To Face Practical classes and workshops 10
Independent Learning Groupwork (Independent Study) 70
Independent Learning Guided independent study 103
Face To Face Seminar 3
Total Study Hours200
Expected Total Study Hours for Module200


Assessment
Type of Assessment Weighting % LOs covered Week due Length in Hours/Words
Project - Practical 60 1,2,3,4,5 28 HOURS= 02.00
Portfolio 40 4,6 29 HOURS= 00.10
Component 1 subtotal: 60
Component 2 subtotal: 40
Module subtotal: 100

Indicative References and Reading List - URL:
Contact your module leader
 

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