Teacher Feedback

Name Sidratul Muntaha

Marking Date 20/05/18
Unit/Criteria Listening to Music (209) 1.2
Assessor Zoe Green

Task 2/1.2
Compare your initial reaction to two pieces of music with the
reactions of two friends

Describe the influence of the following

1) Initial reaction
Pass
2) Emotional circumstance- the mood they were in at the
time they first heard it
3) Musical background and experience
4) Musical preference

Have you done the above with detail, accuracy and clarity? Merit

Have you done the above with detail, accuracy, clarity, and with
Distinction
insight?

Strengths
 For Blackstar and Living for the City you have explained how you and two friends reacted
differently to the music.
 You have explained how your emotional circumstance and musical backgrounds played a
part in influencing your reactions to Blackstar
 For Living for the City you have explained how your emotional circumstance and musical
backgrounds played a part in influencing your reactions

Improvements
 Can you explain how musical background (the instruments you play) influences your
reactions to the music?

Current Grade Fail Pass Merit Distinction

Student Comments

Imaan was also irritated at the beginning on the song but towards the end she felt
sleepy.Overall , though, the music creeped her out. She thought the mood of the
music was energetic and upbeat because it had a really fast beat, She guessed
that the tempo was 100 BPM and the vocals spooked her out a bit, so she gave this
piece 3 out of 10. She liked the beat of the music because it was fast and she really
liked the way the music changed throughout the song. Like me, she didn’t like the
lyrics and voice of the performer because it freaked her out. She has never heard of
it either and thought the song came under pop as a genre because of the use of
electronic instruments.

Sandy’s initial response was that the song made him feel quite tired and sleepy
because he didn’t really like it and also because it was such a long song (9:59 long).
He thought that the mood was an energetic mood because the tempo was quite
fast and there was lots of layers. He liked it because the beat was quite fast but he
didn’t like the fact that it wasn’t catchy and something he wouldn’t listen to,
therefore he rated it 5/10. He has never heard it and thought the song came under
the pop/ country genre because of the beat and style of the song.

My response to BlackStar was clearly different to Sandy and Imaan’s. Imaan, like me
felt annoyed, but for different reasons and both Sandy and Imaan felt sleepy
whereas a song like this would keep me agitated and annoy me to the point where
my tiredness is gone. The pair also thought the music was upbeat because of the
fast beat whereas as I thought it was rather depressing because of the style of the
vocals and the way it made me feel. This may be due to the fact that they are more
accustomed to a faster tempo and rhythm, and also because they were listening to
the frequency of the percussion and mistaking it for the beat/tempo. I clearly liked
the song more than Sandy and Imaan. None of us had heard it before and when it
came to deciding what genre it was, Sandy and Imaan thought it fit into the Pop
category, whereas I thought it was more fit to be under the Blues or R’n’B category. I
thought this because the song was melancholic but still soulful. Also, I thought that
the lyrics of Blackstar were a way for Bowie to cope with the fact that he was dying -
leave the world with something soulful and positive, which is something the Blues
genre is noted for.

An explanation for the way the three of us reacted differently is that our
musical backgrounds differ from each other; I prefer acoustic and
unplugged music whereas Sandy and Imaan don’t mind both, but because
I’m more open to different styles of songs, I gave it higher rating. Also, while
we were listening to it, all of us were really tired from our general school day,
so our emotions and the way we listened to the song were really put under
the strain of trying to make sense of the heavily complex and serious track.

Imaan’s initial reaction to “living through the city” was that the music made her feel
happy, relaxed and joyful at the beginning but not towards the end, probably
because the mood shifted to be more serious by then. She thought the mood of the
music was upbeat and energetic and gave the music a 7/10. She liked the music
because it was chilling and easy to relax to and also because the voice was very
relaxing. She didn’t like the tempo as she prefered a faster tempo (such as those in
modern pop songs). She didn’t like how the song changed as she enjoyed the
beginning more. She has never heard the song before and thought it came under
the genre of country/ protest music because of the lyrics.

Sandy’s response was that he thought it sounded very calm and relaxing. The vocals
and music sound really soft (although I disagree with this) and went together well.
He thought that the mood was a happy mood and makes you want to just relax or
dance to the music. He probably thought this because the beat was really clear
and you could just feel yourself moving along anyways. He gave it a 7.5/10 because
It sounds really positive and catchy and puts you in a good mood but he thought it
sounded too simple as the music sounds the same the whole way through. He
thought that the genre was country/jazz because the music sounded the same
throughout the duration of the song. I think, he thought that the song didn’t really
change because or that it was simple because there were no electronic
modifications made (such as autotune, electronic instruments or distortion)

My response to ‘Living For The City’ was similar to Sandy and Imaan’s as the three of
us liked it and for similar reasons as well. We all thought that the song was upbeat
and relaxing. Sandy didn’t like the “simpleness” of the music, probably because the
texture and instrumentation weren’t heavily layered and because he usually listens
to music that has quite a lot of layers embedded. I think because he’s used to
electronic music, he may not have heard the many layers going on in the
background.

An explanation for the way the three of us reacted differently is that I think
the main reason that Sandy didn’t like it while me and Imaan did was
because of the layers; According to Sandy, he’s more used to heavily
layered electrical music, whereas Imaan prefers more mainstream pop songs
(which can vary in texture) and I prefer unplugged and non-electronic layers
(i.e orchestras and music that has a lot of acapella and use of acoustic
instruments). Also, Imaan and Sandy aren’t used to a range of music styles,
whereas some of my favourite bands come from the late 70s-early 80s, so I
think that this really impacted our reactions. Furthermore, I personally was
really annoyed at the previous song (Blackstar) so this song really lifted my
mood up. This was also the case for Imaan since she also liked the song,
however I think Sandy was more annoyed as this kind of music isn’t usually
what he listens to or likes.