Australian & Aboriginal Research Task

PAIRS INSTRUCTIONS

Students will be provided with class time to complete this task.

In pairs select and analyse two pieces of Music.

(1) Student A - The first piece needs to represent traditional Aboriginal music.
(2) Student B - The second piece must represent a contemporary Australian Rock, Jazz or World
influenced style by an Australian composer.
Each pair member will choose one song to analyse only and present their findings to the class using PPT.

Refer to the PPT scaffold to assist with the structure of your presentation.

Your presentation needs to include the following information:

● Provide information outlining the context and background for each piece for e.g. a brief
storyline and information about the composer/band, meaning and purpose found within the
song, any additional interesting facts you came across within your research). This should be
summarised on ‘one slide’, averaging 5 sentences.
● Each piece needs to be analysed by discussing at least two out of the six Concepts of Music.
With three points from each concept. For e.g. Duration (3 points) + Tone Colour (3 points) = 6
Concept Points. These points will be formally written in a paragraph (4-5 sentences each
concept).
● For each piece you are to choose one sound excerpt/time stamp from Youtube (maximum 30
seconds) that best represents the musical concepts you have chosen to describe. These are to
be played to the class as part of the presentation. Make sure your analysis points relate to the
excerpt you choose to discuss during your presentation.
● Before playing the timestamp (listening excerpt), you must state to the audience what you want
students to listen for. See PPT scaffold for more examples.
● Engaging and relevant images of the musicians/bands.
● Appealing theme/layout and font.
● Be prepared to answer a question per student in relation to what you have discussed. For e.g.
Can you explain the meaning of melody/harmony?

Present your information/research findings as follows:

● You will present your detailed analysis in a 8-10 minute Oral Presentation and lead the
discussion of these concepts and how they are used and manipulated in your pieces as part of
your presentation. To do this, you may include one or two questions for the class that may help
them to engage with your presentation. A helpful phrase to do this will be “What I want you to
be listening out for is…”
● Present the information using a PowerPoint slide presentation, outlining your main points on
each musical concept. Imbed or provide links to all sound excerpts and/or YouTube clips.
 ● You can compile a script to accompany your slides. If you choose to do this both script/slides
need to be submitted on BenniesNet.

CHOOSING A BAND/MUSICIAN

1. Student A - Choose ONE traditional Aboriginal piece (please see the list below as a starting
point):

Aboriginal Musicians

Archie Roach Kev Carmody Maroochy Baramba

Roger Knox Brenda Webb Christine Anu (Torres Strait)

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu Dan Sultan Baker Boy

Aboriginal Groups

Warumpi Band Kuckles Coloured Stone

The Mills Sisters Tiddas Mixed Relations

No Fixed Address Us Mob Blekbala Mujik

Sunrize Band Yothu Yindi

2. Student B - Choose ONE contemporary Australian Music piece (please see the list below as a
starting point):
Australian Musicians/ Groups

Sia Guy Sebastian Delta Goodrem Vera Blue

Kylie Minogue Missy Higgins Tones & I Meg Mac

John Farnham Cold Chisel Silverchair Ruel

INXS Midnight Oil ACDC Troy Sivan

Gotye Tina Arena Crowded House Matt Corby

Amy Shark Savage Garden Tame Impala Maddy Jane

Angus & Julia Stone Ziggy Alberts Dean Lewis Middle Kids

Jessica Mauboy Spacey Jane Kid Laroi Thirsty Merc

 Vance Joy Ocean Alley Keith Urban Powderfinger

Morgan Evans Sheppard Paul Kelly Gang of Youths

***Or any other Australian musicians you find and consult with your teacher

Concept Analysis Questions

Here are some questions that may help you with your musical observations and focus your analysis of
the music.
Analyse the excerpt you choose ONLY (30 seconds)
A reminder - two out of the six Concepts of Music are to be discussed. With three points from each
concept, therefore 6 points in total. For e.g. Duration (3 points) + Tone Colour (3 points) = 6 Concept
Points. These points will be formally written in a paragraph (4-5 sentences each concept).
Pitch
1. Is it major or minor in tonality?
2. What instrument is playing the melody? Does this change? If yes, when?
3. Is the melody made up of steps, repeated pitch, wave-like, descending, ascending, leaps or a
combination of both?
4. Draw the shape of the melody (it’s contour). Describe the contour in your own words and label
your drawing.
5. Is there an accompaniment to the melody? (harmony - chordal accompaniment or bass line?)
6. What instrument is playing the harmony? Does this change? If yes, when?
7. What chords are being used?
8. Is there any melodic repetition (melodic ostinato)? Describe the features of the ostinato.
9. Does this piece have a bass line? (low pitched single notes often played by a bass guitar)
10. Is there a wide or narrow range of notes used by a specific instrument or within the entire
piece?
11. What is the register of each instrument or the entire piece? (high, middle, low)
12. Do the roles of the instruments change? From melody to harmony or harmony to melody? If
yes, when?

Duration
1. What is the tempo (speed) of the piece?
2. What is the time signature?
3. Does the time signature change or remain the same?
4. Is there a strong or weak beat present?
5. What instrument maintains the beat for the piece? (known as the rhythmic support/role).
6. Is there any use of syncopation?
7. Are there different rhythmic layers? If so, how many and what instrument plays them?
8. Are there any continuous rhythmic ostinatos?
 9. Can you identify any note values from a particular instrument? For e.g. minim, crotchet,
quavers.

Tone Colour
1. Identify the instruments or voices used in the music.
2. How is the sound produced on each instrument? (eg. Strings plucked or bowed, drums hit with
sticks or brushes, brass instrument played with a mute)
3. Explain what the instrument is playing (refer to other concepts here) and use adjectives to
explain the effect from the words below:
Tone Colour Words Glossary:
Bright, clear, dark, mellow, hollow, electric, buzzing, piercing, metallic, brassy, muddy, haunting,
majestic, grand, powerful, strong, warm, smooth, light, airy, rich, somber.
These words above are used to describe the unique sound of each instrument. An example - The
trumpets played fast ascending melodic patterns that created a bright and powerful tone colour. Shorter
examples could sound like… bright sounding trumpet, nasal oboe, mellow sounding clarinet)
4. Do these sounds vary? Describe the changes.
5. Are the instruments acoustic or electric produced?
6. What kind of ensemble is being featured? E.g. jazz, pop, rock, funk, hip-hop.

Texture
1. How many layers of sound (instruments) are there playing in a section or throughout the entire
song?
2. Are the layers of instruments thin or thick? Does this change? If so, describe how? Thick means
a lot of instruments playing at one time and a thin texture is the opposite with minimal
instruments playing at one time.
3. What is the role of each layer for e.g. A low pitched vocalist sings the melody (melodic role),
acoustic guitar plays chords (harmonic role), electric bass plays a bass line (harmonic role).
Which instruments play melody and which play accompaniment? (Roles = melody, harmony or
rhythmic accompaniment).
4. Do some of the instrumental roles change throughout the piece? If yes, when?
5. Can you explore these keywords? Monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic. What
overall texture do you think the song relates to the most?

Structure
1. Can you identify the different sections in a piece of music. For e.g. Verse/chorus, ABA, 12 Bar
Blues, Head/improvised melody (Jazz).
2. Discuss the main features of each section (here you will refer to the other concepts of music to
achieve this) for e.g. who is playing the melody/harmony/rhythm? What is the texture of this
section? How does it differ to the previous section? What are the dynamic levels for this
section?
3. Can you identify any compositional devices? For e.g. call and response, ostinato, unison
sections, staggered entry, imitation.

Dynamics and Expressive Techniques

 1. Is the section or piece loud or soft or moderately loud? Where does the dynamics change? (eg
chorus loud, verse is soft and gradually gets louder towards the chorus, perhaps a particular
sustained not plays from soft to loud)
2. Can you use the following symbols: pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff (pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano, mezzo
forte, forte, fortissimo) and relate them to the volume of each instrument?
3. Are there particular instruments that are playing louder than others? If so how and when?
4. Is there any crescendos or decrescendos used? If yes when?
5. Are there any accented notes, electronically manipulated sounds, bends, glissando, trills,
staccato, legato passages, vibrato, slurs, grace notes or ornaments that you can hear?
1.

Structure of presentation:
Your Presentation could take the following format: See the attached presentation scaffold attached on
this assignment.

1. Title of presentation - Australian & Aboriginal Music Analysis Presentation

2. Student (1) Information Slide – About Artist/Group – Traditional Aboriginal Artist/Group
3. “What I want you to be listening out for is”…… (your 2 chosen Concepts of Music briefly
mentioned)
4. Play your first 30-45 excerpt from your chosen song
5. Show and discuss your analysis of your chosen 2 concepts for that excerpt (2 separate
paragraphs 4-5 sentences each)
Question time - Opportunity for students in the audience to ask any pending questions
6. Student (2) Information Slide – About Artist/Group – Contemporary Australian Artist/Group
7. “What I want you to be listening out for is”…… (your 2 chosen Concepts of Music briefly
mentioned)
8. Play your first 30-45 excerpt from your chosen song
9. Show and discuss your analysis of your chosen 2 concepts for that excerpt ((2 separate
paragraphs 4-5 sentences each)
Question time - Opportunity for students in the audience to ask any pending questions