Unit A: Conducting 2
The aim of this unit is to further develop the fundamentals of conducting technique, with increased attention to style, interpretation and rehearsal technique. Learning will take place within a workshop-style environment in which the class becomes a performance group (singers and/or instrumentalists) conducted by each student in turn. The unit’s primary benefits are a carefully structured foundation in the skills needed to conduct with competence and confidence and an intense development in musicianship, helping all singers and instrumentalists to perform with greater insight and to listen with deeper understanding.
Unit B: Improvisation 2
Building on the Learning Outcomes of Improvisation 1, students will learn to create and develop ideas both within a structured and unstructured framework. Improvisation will be based on more complex musical structures and will include spontaneous improvisation within tonal and atonal styles. Students will develop confidence and versatility in a broader performance context.
Core: No
Option: Yes – available in Stage 3 or Stage 4
Unit A: Conducting 2
- Posture and demeanour
- Understanding and control of tension
- Beat patterns of 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, irregular patterns
- Cut-off gesture and pause
- Cueing entries on the downbeat and upbeat
- Expression
- Score preparation and analysis
- Ensemble management skills
- Vocal technique
Unit B: Improvisation 2
- Structured harmonic progressions in popular, blues and classical styles
- Major scale modes, pentatonic and blues scale, dominant and melodic minor pentatonic scales and harmonic minor V mode
- Tonal and atonal spontaneous improvisation
- Lead sheets nomenclature
Unit A: Conducting 2 The approach is demonstration followed by active participation: learning by doing. The module is taught through weekly lecture/workshops featuring the students in a laboratory-style ensemble. The course follows a carefully calibrated sequence of artistic musical material with which the students are expected to be fully familiar.
Unit B: Improvisation 2 The unit will be delivered through lectures/workshops. The following teaching methods will be used: Exercises to build rhythmic confidence and develop aural response Active listening, analysis and imitation Use of classical, baroque and 20th-Century source material Editing and creating personal lead sheets using the electronic iReal Pro application Use of lead sheets as an improvisatory score
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Other Assessment(s) | 50 |