I'm currently doing my D of E gold level, and am thinking about doing Listening to and analysing music for my skill. How would I be able to analyse the music, would looking at the lyrics and the meaning be a good place to start, as I am not the most musically adept? Obviously as I progress I could hopefully start to analyse the instrumental music better, but if I begin with looking at music I listen to regularly, would that be the best place to start? Thank You
I'm not sure what D of E is (something in British education?) but I've written some papers on similar topics. I would very much suggest starting with a song you absolutely love and just determining what makes it special. Lyrics are important, but how they're sung is also a powerful influence. What words are getting emphasis? Is it generally smooth and flowing, Frank Sinatra style, or more accented and forceful, like modern pop or punk? How are the vocal rhythms interacting with instruments? For vocal styles and how they affect tone, I'd check out John Lennon's original "Imagine" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVg2EJvvlF8), then listen to A Perfect Circle's much darker cover (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dunKAwRN3P8). Look at what the drum and rhythms are doing. Are they setting up frantic chaos, a somber vigil, or a dancing beat somewhere in between? Are they simple, constant and catchy, or complex, shifting, and off balance? Look at the difference between any classic rock and, say, something more strange and ambient like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tcW-j7KFgY). There's always more, but I hope this gets you a good start.
Well, if you want a structure to analyse, this is the standard high level IB music analysis thingy, its basically only 3 parts and they can intertwine a bit: Elements: this consists of things such as the melody, harmony, the rhythm, the tonality (is it major or minor or something 100% different) and texture/timbre. Structure mainly consists on the form of the piece, that aligns with what parts are in it, eg verse chorus verse bridge chorus ect Context is explaining how, why and where the piece came about, eg the composer, the year, the country, the time the place the culture. those sort of things. with those things accounted for, you would have a pretty awesome analysis of whatever your listening to.