GRADES

It will be Thursday before the grades get posted into Banner (I have a funeral to attend this afternoon).

HOWEVER:

1. All the grades - even the Kamien Connect grades, are in the Vista gradebook. You can type them into the downloadable gradebook [an excel spreadsheet I've placed in Vista]
2. The final exam has been graded as well.
3. The concert reports that were turned in have been graded - they are all in my mailbox in the MCA office, inside a folder. Ask the secretary about them - and be nice. She has a difficult week this week with all the end-of-semester stuff she has to handle! 

THE LISTENING:

1. Slow Ride in a fast machine by John Adams - on your CDs. 20th C. The syncopation and instrumentation were clues, as was the use of the synth [but that's a bit tricky to hear] .
2. "Great is Thy Faithfulness" on piano - JAZZ. I mentioned to someone that it was my recording, but that is NOT true [ I forgot which file I'd uploaded]. This is a recording by a phenomenal pianist named Cyrus Chestnut. Check him out @ http://www.cyruschestnut.net!
3. Concerto Grosso #1 1985 by Zwilich-Taffe. 20th C, built around a theme by Haydn... so is a mix of 20th C. and Baroque [a.k.a. "quotation music"].
4. "Mars", from THE PLANETS by Holst. This is late Romantic orchestral music, but does foreshadow some 20th C techniques, as some of you heard. Many of you saw it as a movie score - a very programmatic thing!
5. Minimalism #2, by.......THIS CLASS! This was the recording we did the other day. I was a bit surprised at the number of people who DIDN'T catch that. See http://www.last.fm/music/Tom+Rule/Music+Appreciation+Experiments to listen to all we recorded that day.

More news later.........

Our Recordings - online!

The Aleatoric and Minimalism pieces we recorded the other day have [finally!] been edited and posted online.

Surf over to

http://www.last.fm/music/Tom+Rule/Music+Appreciation+Experiments

This semester's tracks are at the top of the album. You can download them, stash them wherever, use them to annoy siblings/pets, etc. Share the links with your family/neighbors/pet hamster/favorite enemy......!

Feel free to compare your version with other class' versions!

Some notes regarding Vista, Final Exam

Some tidbits:

1. After signing into Vista, click on Assessments. You should see a  list of the exams. Click on one, and you can see the questions, your answer, plus the correct answer.
2. This is also how you'll see how you did on the Final Exam listening - I'll be adding text in the comment box for each listening question.
3. The gradebook in Vista is a bit annoying for you guys - it shows spaces for several years worth of previous tests. Basically, just look for items [tests, scores, etc] that have a number beside them. Ignore everything else.
4. I'd explain why it's that way, but you'd be bored, and we're dropping Vista in another week anyway!
5. There is a grade spreadsheet available in Vista where you can manually type in your grade and it will calculate it for you.
6. Final Exam: new questions from 20th Century after 1945 section, plus jazz, plus the Music Biz/Tech stuff covered over the semester.....between 1 and 34,745 questions.
1. 
   
7. Final Exam listening: Could be anything on the planet that has ever been recorded. This is the question you'll see on each one: "What era is this piece from? Why do you think so?"
8. Get a handle on the basic musical characteristics of each period - that will be a good starting place. More information about your thinking is MUCH better than less.
9. In other words: Longer answers are probably a better choice, unless you can positively identify the piece. That automatically gets you the points.
10. DO NOT PANIC!

See you Monday.

Vista Grades

I just updated the Vista gradebook with Concert Report scores, Presentation Scores, and number of absences.

Check them - if something is missing or incorrect, it is YOUR responsibility to let me know!

Concert Report Deadlines

Concert Reports are due at today's class [Wed]
EXCEPT:

1. If you attended Tuesday's MSC Chamber Singers concert, turn in your concert report NO LATER THAN 11:59pm Friday night [12/7/12]. Put in my mailbox in the MCA office, OR email it to me.

2. If you attend the Thursday night Joey Stuckey Band thing at the Sports Hall of Fame [$10/ticket, starts @ 7:30] turn in your concert reports at the Final Exam Monday.