Help! Tips for SL Music Exam

[Utah IB Student]

Hi. My teacher has just given me some music from different cultures at the last minute (well, week). I can do some analysis with musical and structural features, but how do I analyze the context of songs? What are some significant features of music from different time periods? Also, I noticed that a couple of the past tests ask what places certain pieces in the Baroque era (or whatever musical period they come from). How do I answer this?

Thanks.

[Koura]

The context of different pieces can only really be learnt by listening for different key features in pieces of music. For example, the types of instruments used, different uses of tonality (e.g. Chinese music's use of pentatonic scales) or texture. Once identified, you have to provide context for the culture (for example, if the piece was an African piece, you could talk about how African music is used in celebration, but also in teaching children. You could also talk about how drums are taught to 'speak', and how it is an oral tradition carried on from generation to generation).

Your whole analysis of elements and structural features is the reason why a piece is placed in a certain era- for example, you could state that a piece was in the Baroque era and talk about all the context that surrounds it, and then go on to support your point by saying that the piece uses extensive polyphony and ornamentation (as these are key features of baroque music).

Our teacher told us to lay our essay out like this:

WHERE or WHEN the piece was written and a little bit about the time period/culture (Criterion D)

STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS (Criterion B&C)

OTHER FEATURES (Criterion A&C)

CONCLUSION (Linking back to the question and proving that the piece is from the era/culture that you said it was from at the beginning).

I hope that makes sense and helps a little bit!