Music 1A: Introduction to Music - Western Culture
dan mitchell | music department | creative arts division | de anza college |

Concert Report Format

Please follow this overall format for your concert report. This outline is the required format for the assignment. (Note that this paper does not use the familiar essay format.) If you believe that there are reasons to depart from this format based on the unusual nature of the concert you attended you should consult with the teacher before finalizing the paper to determine what to do.

The report must be double-spaced. Please do not add additional unnecessary space between paragraphs or between sections of the report. Not counting any cover page or other attachments, a typical concert report will have a length of between three and six pages. It is difficult to imagine an excellent concert report that would be shorter than this, and if your paper is longer you should make sure that your writing is concise and carefully edited.

You are required to include the original (not a copy) of the program page from the concert program and the ticket stub. (If no tickets were provided at your concert you must discuss how to handle this with the instructor well before the assignment deadline.) All support materials (e.g. - program and ticket stub) must be securely attached to the concert report, preferably by securely stapling them to the back of the report. To ensure that these materials do not become separated from the report you should also write your name on the program and the ticket stub.

Note that the most important material in your report is that which is contained in your objective descriptions. In a typical paper the objective descriptions will comprise the majority of the report and the subjective reaction and quality of performance sections should be much shorter. If the amount of subjective material approaches the amount of objective description material you should consider shortening the subjective descriptions and/or including more details in your objective descriptions. A useful rule of thumb might be that, roughly speaking, the objective descriptions might comprise about 75% or more of your writing in the report, though some variations are to be expected.

Format Outline

Your name Name of group and/or soloist(s) Date of performance Title of the First Piece Objective Description: This is your description of what you heard at the concert. Describe each movement of the piece; write a separate paragraph for each movement. Provide a narrative of your observations concerning such elements as melody, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, instrumentation, texture, form, etc. Describe the major musical characteristics of the piece, including the solos, tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, or themes, etc. You must write about every piece on the concert. You must describe all movements of each piece. You should write a separate paragraph of objective description for each movement of multiple movement pieces. You should cover a wide range of important features of the music - avoid focusing obsessively on only one or two aspects too much. Keep in mind that the primary content of your paper is the objective description material. Other required components such as the subjective reaction and quality of performance sections should normally comprise a much smaller portion of the overall report. (The objective descriptions must consist solely of your own observations about the music as performed at the concert you attended. Your paper should not include facts about the music from other sources including: program notes, the web, liner notes, other students, the text, etc. Including uncredited material from outside sources in your objective descriptions will result in consequences as described in the greensheet Policy on Copying and Cheating. Please note carefully that this an individual project, not a collaborative project.) Subjective Reaction: This brief paragraph describes your emotional response to the music. Did you like it or dislike it and, most importantly, why did you react as you did? What about the performance affected you? Express your opinion, but don't forget to explain your reasons. Write a single short paragraph of subjective reaction for each piece on the concert even if the piece has more than one movement. Do not write a separate subjective reaction for each movement in multiple-movement pieces. Titles of Additional Pieces Objective Descriptions and Subjective Reactions for each additional piece on the concert follow here. Write on each piece performed. (If you attend an unusually long concert you may discuss this with the instructor before submitting your paper, but normally you will still be required to report on all pieces performed at the concert you attended.) Quality of Performance The final Quality of Performance paragraph is the brief conclusion of your report. It focuses on the concert as a whole, rather than on the individual pieces. What were the notable features of the overall performance? Were there far too many wrong notes? If you know the pieces, were there some different or even incorrect interpretations? Were there distracting elements in the performance? Or was this the most inspired and inspiring performance that you have ever heard? Were you emotionally moved by the concert? Were some parts of the concert better/worse than others? Were there aspects that you found especially pleasing? Were there any surprises at the concert? Would you go again? Remember that "music criticism" is not only looking for faults, but is also recognizing the especially good things which happen during a performance.