| Unit name | Performance |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MUSI30153 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Williams |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
If you have not done MUSI20058, you can demonstrate sufficient ability in musical performance through a short audition. |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Music |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
The unit allows students to take a final-year performance if they do not want to make performance their 40-credit extended study option. The unit offers two pathways along which to study musical performance:
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
The unit builds on MUSI20058 Performance and is suitable for students who want to study performance in their final year but do not want to make it their 40-credit capstone project.
It also allows the choice between the continuation of the solo performance teaching of years 1 and 2 and – for players of suitable instruments – the study of accompaniment, with the aim of making students competent and confident performers.
An overview of content
For solo performers:
The unit aims to develop technical and interpretive abilities to a high level – sufficient for a public solo recital – through a variety of teaching contexts (individual instrumental or vocal lessons, performance seminars and workshops, and masterclasses). Appropriately challenging repertoire will be examined alongside the relevant stylistic considerations for its presentation (including awareness of historically-informed ways of performing); attention will be given to programme building (in individual lessons, but supplemented by discussion in performance seminars). In the seminars, there will be opportunities for informal performance in front of the group, with constructive feedback from the tutor and other students. The seminars also offer an opportunity for defending interpretive approaches, offering and reacting to criticism, experimenting with alternative musical solutions and self-reflection. Occasional masterclasses given by visiting professional performers will enhance the learning experience.
For accompanists:
The unit offers final-year keyboard students (piano, harpsichord, organ) and guitarists – as well as the vocal and instrumental soloists they accompany – the opportunity to develop skills central to their professional development as performers, with a focus on accompanied solo recitals. Rather than focussing on traditional exercises, studies, and repetitive practice, students will have the opportunity to cultivate skills related directly to chamber music performance, especially with regard to sightreading, listening while playing, and rehearsal techniques to arrive at a satisfying musical result together with the soloists they are accompanying.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
For solo performers:
In this unit, students will learn how to develop a programme for a substantial solo recital, develop their own approach to the music and practice it to the point at which they can present it confidently and professionally in public, in the process becoming independent musical performers in their own right.
For accompanists:
By the end of the module, students will have developed your rehearsal technique to a level appropriate for a final-year Music student, will have attained a level of technical skill appropriate to Level H so that they can prepare and fluently execute a formal recital, and will have developed the ability to sightread fluently and respond to each other sensitively under pressure and in real-time.
Learning outcomes
Successful completion of this unit will enable students to:
1. develop and display technical fluency and interpretive insight as musical performers suitable for public performance;
2. work together with other musicians to arrive at a stylistically appropriate and effective interpretation of the music performed.
Additionally for solo performers:
3. select appropriate repertoire and shape it into a coherent recital programme;
4. prepare and present a 20-minute solo public recital with confidence and control the technical/musical requirements, including historically-informed performance styles (where relevant).
Additionally for accompanists:
5. sightread a moderately complex piece;
6. fluently accompany another student;
7. create a constructive rehearsal, so that the performance is significantly improved by the end of the rehearsal;
8. successfully perform a formal and prepared 10-minute recital.
For all students
Additionally for solo performers
One-to-one lessons with an approved instrumental or vocal teacher
Additionally for accompanists
Group coaching in accompaniment skills in regular workshops throughout the academic year, focussing on interactive and applied problem-solving activities.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative)
n/a
Tasks which do not count towards your unit mark but are required for credit (zero-weighted)
Contribution to composers' workshops at the end of TB1 (0%, but required for credit) [ILOs 1 and 2].
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)
Students have a choice of assessment depending on their pathway through the unit. The options are:
A solo recital (20 mins) examined at the end of teaching block (100%) [ILOs 1-4].
or
A rehearsal (10 minutes) (50%) [ILOs 1, 2, 6 and 7]; a recital (10 minutes) (40%) [ILOs 1, 2, 6 and 8], and a sight-reading exercise (10%) [ILO 5].
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete assessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessment required.
Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. MUSI30153).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
