STEPS
Step 1. Pick a topic
First, you will pick a music culture that you’re interested in learning more about. It should be something we have not covered in class, and it should also be something from outside the Euro-American mainstream. Include your topic at the top of your project.
Here are some example of music topics from around the world:
Haitian kompa, Dominican merengue típico or merengue urbano, Tuvan throat-singing, Galician gaita music, Beijing opera, Japanese taiko drumming, the Kolombia music in Mexico (cumbia rebajada), Mexican narcocorridos, marimba music from Nicaragua or Guatemala, Brazilian samba-reggae, soca from Trinidad, gwoka music from Guadeloupe, azan (Islamic) singing, Arabic “classical” music, Kpop, Rom music in eastern Europe, banda music from Sinaloa, mariachi, Bollywood music, bhangra, Puerto Rican bomba, Cuban timba, Honduran punta, Arabic dabke/dabka, Ugandan embaire music, Argentinian tango, Haitian rara, Cuban tumba francesa, etc, etc.
Step 2. Find a scholarly article and submit your topic and article citation to professor for approval
You will find a scholarly article you’d like to read that deals with the topic you chose. You can find an article by searching on Google Scholar via the FIU Library’s page. I encourage you to contact me if you need help finding a good article, or if you are unsure about what is considered a scholarly article.
I recommend accessing Google Scholar through the FIU Library page, because that way you can enter your FIU credentials (if prompted) in order to access an article. If you go straight to Google Scholar, you might not be able to access the article(s) directly.
Link to Google Scholar via FIU Library’s Research Page: https://scholar.google.com/?inst=8267673907839919011 (Links to an external site.)
*Be sure to submit your topic and article citation to the professor in order to get them approved (see calendar in syllabus for topic/article approval due date). To submit, go to the “Assignments” link on Canvas, then find “Topic and Article for Final Project.”
Step 3. Discussion of article (undergraduates: 300-500 words) (graduate students: 500-700 words)
Here’s where the writing for your final project submission starts. First, you will briefly summarize and reflect on the main information presented in the article. Aside from a brief summary, I want to hear your own thoughts. For example, you might write about your reaction to the article, or discuss why you do (or do not) agree with the author’s argument(s). You can also relate it to your own experiences and discuss what draws you to this kind of music.
*Be sure to remember to provide a full citation of the scholarly article you use. Include this at the top of this section (use the “Chicago author-date” style for your citation).
Example citation:
Manuel, Peter. 1998. “Chutney and Indo-Trinidadian Cultural Identity,” Popular Music 17/1: 21-43.
Step 4. Two YouTube examples
Choose two YouTube videos to serve as examples of the type of music you’re discussing (these YouTube videos can be audio tracks like from an album, or a music video, or a live performance, but not a workshop or demonstration). Copy and paste the links for each of the videos under section 3 (analysis/discussion section), that way I can easily click on them. Do not just use a YouTube playlist that already exists on YouTube; choose your own videos.
Step 5. Discussion of YouTube examples (undergraduates: 400-500 words) (graduate students: 500-700 words)
Last, briefly discuss the two examples you selected from YouTube, considering the following questions:
- What made you choose these examples?
- How do these examples relate to what you learned in the article?
- Briefly discuss the music and instruments and relate it to what we’ve learned in class this semester. Include some of the following: What instruments or instrument groups are present? Is the rhythm metrical or non-metrical? Can you pick out the harmonic texture(s)? Are there other features we’ve discussed in class, like polyrhythms, call-and-response singing, cyclic organization, etc? What are the roles of each instrument (and/or voices) or instrument group? You can also discuss whatever else interests you about the music.
Step 6. Submission on Canvas
Go to the “Final Project (Undergraduates)” page on Canvas under Modules (Module 3). The page is set up the same as the Journals, so just enter (or copy/paste) all your sections into the text entry box, making sure the format is correct, and submit. You can edit and re-submit if you need to. For an example of how the sections should be structured, see the example layout below.
GRADING
Points earned will be based on following proper format, guidelines, and staying within the word counts, as well as on organization, effort, and engagement with your topic. You should show me that you have read and comprehended the information/arguments laid out in the article. You should also demonstrate that you are able to thoroughly discuss the YouTube examples you choose.
EXAMPLE LAYOUT OF PROJECT
Below, please find a general example of the structure you should use. Notice that I have not completed the full written sections, but I did try to give you an example of what I’d like to see.
REGGAETON IN CUBA
Article:
Gámez Torres, Nora. 2012. “Hearing the change: Reggaeton and Emergent Values in Contemporary Cuba.” Latin American Music Review
33(2): 227-260.
Analysis:
In this article, Nora Gámez Torres discusses the changing values in Cuba through the lens of Cuban reggaeton artists. She show how their lyrics, song themes, style of dress, and content of music videos reflect an embrace of values associated with capitalism, which conflicts with the anti-capitalist values of the Revolutionary government and the Cuban Communist Party. I definitely agree with this because . . . . . . . . . . . .
YouTube Examples:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf8xoMhV8pI(Links to an external site.)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRp3-D3SMwI(Links to an external site.)
Discussion of Videos:
These videos are all from reggaeton artists from the 2000s to the present and contain many references to the values that Gámez Torres discusses, including glorification of materialism and money, objectification of women, . . . .
We can hear call and response singing, as well as the presence of polyrhythms (and clave) in the music . . . .
Some of the instrument groups include electrophones, idiophones, membranophones, and aerophones. The rhythm is metrical throughout, as the main purpose of the music is definitely for dancing. . . .
