University of Sydney Handbooks - 2017 Archive

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Elective units of study

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Graduate Electives

Different seminar options are offered each year normally on a rotating basis in the Graduate Seminar units of study. These may include - Psychology of Music, Musical Ability, Music Analysis, Music Performance: Perception Evaluation and Analysis, Postgraduate Music Technology and Multicultural Studies in Music Education. Please see the Postgraduate Coordinator for further details.
CMPN5006 Recording Portfolio

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Ivan Zavada Session: Semester 1 Classes: 3 to 5 hours per week of recording projects, consultations with Supervisor and participation in seminar workshops. Assessment: Recording projects and class presentation (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit provides a practical introduction to recording projects. Aspects of creative production are examined alongside project planning, management and the professional delivery of master recordings to appropriate standards. The student, in consultation with their supervisor, will devise a program of practical recording projects. This program will integrate into the existing musical activities that occur at the Conservatorium and as such the hours will be flexible and may include, evening and weekend projects. In addition students will be required to attend and participate in a number of seminars/workshops.
EMUS5600 Historical Performance Practice

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Assoc Prof Neal Peres Da Costa Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2hr/week Prerequisites: MCGY5610 Assessment: Attendance and class participation (20%), Short class presentation (20%), Lecture/Demonstration (40%), Written work (based on Lecture/Demonstration-3,000 words) (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This course examines historical performing practices up to the present day aiming to widen understanding of the extent to which musical notation and written evidence preserve the performing practices of past eras. The wealth of sound recordings from the turn of the twentieth century provides a window into the near past. Issues to explore include: sound production (vibrato, non-vibrato and portamento in the case of string and wind playing and singing), expressive keyboard techniques (manual asynchrony and arpeggiation), and more general issues such as tempo rubato, tempo modification, ornamentation, articulation, and phrasing. The course will introduce students to varying performance styles, some of which are no longer generally in fashion, increasing the palette of musical choices and solutions and increasing the dimensions of understanding of specific repertoire.
MCGY5600 Critical Discourses in Music

This unit of study is not available in 2017

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Rachel Campbell & David Larkin Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 2-hour seminar per week Assessment: Summaries of allocated readings (40%), critical evaluations of readings (20%), application of a theoretical approach (40%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores some of the most important theories on music and culture. It will introduce students to scholarly discourses and critical thinking potentially relevant to their own research. It will address questions such as what are we doing when we analyse music; how does our view of history shape our hearing and understanding; does music articulate collective human experience; etc. Topics covered include historiography, memory, musical analysis, semiotics, narrative theory, gender and sexuality, national identity, genre theory and hermeneutics.
MCGY5602 Opera and Society

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Alan Maddox Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 2hr seminar per week Assessment: Class Presentation (20%); Critical Evaluation of Readings (30%); Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Opera has a unique capacity to capture the imagination by grappling with enduring cultural and social concerns. This graduate seminar examines opera's engagement with themes including politics, history, myth, sexuality, national identity, popular culture, film, otherness, social class and power, religion, and the supernatural. Selected operas engaging with these themes will form the basis of each weekly session. Students can then choose to focus on a selected area, or choose to offer a broader perspective for assessment.
MCGY5603 Music as Social Science

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Helen Mitchell Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1 x 2hr lecture per week Assessment: Readings and Class Discussions (20%); Research Method Design and Pilot (20%); Poster Presentation (20%); Written Report (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Empirical research in music performance employs a variety of innovative methods to investigate music teaching, performing and perception. Knowledge of current areas of research and the techniques used to investigate them is relevant to all music researchers. This unit of study will focus on recent social science methods to investigate music practice with an emphasis on musically and pedagogically driven research. Students will be introduced to different types of experimental study designs, methods of data capture, perceptual and acoustic techniques and acquire new skills and knowledge to approach interdisciplinary studies in music performance.
MCGY5604 Researching Creative Process

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Christopher Coady Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1 x 2hr seminar per week Assessment: Tutorial Participation/Demonstrated Knowledge of Required Reading (20%); Seminar Presentations (30%); Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study aims to provide students with an overview of the intellectual and methodological trends underpinning artistic research in music - a field composed of both practice-based and practice-led research projects. Participating in this course will enable students to participate productively in artistic research by increasing their familiarity with current debates surrounding research integrity, the strengths and weaknesses of various methodological approaches and the narrative strategies artists employ in order to demonstrate research significance to a spectrum of stakeholders.
PERF5023 Graduate Aural Perception

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Lewis Cornwell Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 hr/wk. Assessment: Class tests (60%), assignments (40%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit of study aims to promote aural understanding of the elements of music and the ways in which these elements function in musical structures. It aims to develop already acquired skills of aural perception to the level requisite of a music professional through exercises in aural analysis and aural imagination. A range of musical styles will provide the focus for study with emphasis on melodic, harmonic and rhythmic features, as well as tonal design.
PERF5031 Methods of Music Analysis

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: David Larkin Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2 hour seminar/week. Assessment: Analysis portfolio (60%), Research essay 2,000 words (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit is designed to introduce students to the current state of music analysis, and to enable them to develop expertise in analytical methodologies relevant to their research interests. A range of analytical approaches to Western Art Music 1700-1945 will be explored in the seminars, including systematic consideration of chromatic harmony; Formenlehre theories and their recent offshoot, 'deformation' theory; pitch-based analysis of (post-tonal music); and narrative and semiotic approaches. The focus of the course will be balanced between theoretical exposition of the principles involved, and practical applications of the various methods to relevant repertoire.
PERF5600 Graduate Research Methods

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Helen Mitchell Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2-hour seminar/week or equivalent Assessment: Assignments include reading review, literature review, seminar presentation and, written project proposal (or other written task agreed with lecturer) (100%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This course is designed to prepare students for undertaking their own research projects in music. It will introduce and develop students' awareness of recent musical scholarship and research methodologies and equip students with skills to design and conduct research across a wide variety of musical topics. Students will begin exploration of the topic area that is the intended focus for their research during their degree. The seminars culminate with a series of student presentations, in which students present their research proposals to students and staff for discussion.
PERF5603 Wind Conducting

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Associate Professor Dr John Lynch Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 3 hr lecture per wk Assessment: Participation (20%); Short Assignments (20%); Semester projects (20%); Mid-term exam (20%); Final presentation (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit is designed for professional conductors, postgraduate conducting majors and other postgraduates with conducting experience, and undergraduates who have successfully completed the undergraduate sequence. Topics will include expressive gesture, advanced conducting technique, body awareness and movement; advanced score study, analytical and aural skills, wind band repertoire; rehearsal techniques and strategies; wind band history and current topics of interest for conductors/musicians.
PERF5611 Graduate Seminar 1

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Kathleen Nelson Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 2-hour seminar per week or equivalent Assessment: Written work normally including an essay and seminar presentation (100%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Students will take a postgraduate seminar, normally drawn from the list of electives on offer in each semester. Note that some instrumental or research areas may have particular requirements or recommendations for choice of seminars. Subject to approval, a postgraduate unit of study offered by another faculty may also be taken.
PERF5612 Graduate Seminar 2

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Anna Reid Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2-hour seminar/week or equivalent. Assessment: A small written task (25%), poster preparation and presentation (75%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This seminar focuses on the epistemology of research in music and the practical applications of such knowledge to students' own developing research project. The aim is to develop a breadth of understanding in music research through a 'cohort' experience. The seminar includes presentations and discussion from senior researchers at the SCM, attendance at the SCM Musicology Colloquium Series, active participation in class activities, and presentation of a research poster suitable for a conference relevant to the students' research areas.
PERF6613 Graduate Seminar 3

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Kathleen Nelson Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 2-hour seminar/week or equivalent. Assessment: Written work normally including an essay and seminar presentation (100%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Students will take a postgraduate seminar, normally drawn from the list of electives on offer in each semester. Note that some instrumental or research areas may have particular requirements or recommendations for choice of seminars. Subject to approval, a postgraduate unit of study offered by another faculty may also be taken.
PERF6614 Graduate Seminar 4

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Prof Kathleen Nelson Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 2-hour seminar/week or equivalent. Assessment: Written work normally including an essay and seminar presentation (100%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Students will take a postgraduate seminar, normally drawn from the list of electives on offer in each semester. Note that some instrumental or research areas may have particular requirements or recommendations for choice of seminars. Subject to approval, a postgraduate unit of study offered by another faculty may also be taken.
VSAO5022 Principles of Studio Pedagogy

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: A/Professor Jennifer Rowley Session: Semester 1 Assessment: Oral presentation and case study report 40%, Micro lesson plan and 2000 word critical analysis report 40%, Portfolio task self reflection 20% Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The unit promotes dialogue across teaching specialisations and focuses on three broad areas related to studio pedagogy. First, aspects of educational psychology, such as the cognition, motivation, and self-regulation will be examined within a developmental context. Second, the psychology of music will be applied to the development of musical performance and perceptual skills. Third, research on effective teaching within and beyond the music studio will be addressed, including aspects of cultural context, curriculum, and assessment. A critical engagement in a range of research literature and scholarly writing skills are developed throughout the unit of study. Online reading and research tasks through the LMS will be a part of this unit in preparation for students' electronic portfolio development. A practical implementation of pedagogical principles is practised through peer-teaching.