Russell Discusses Musical Mapping
Melinda Russell, Professor of Music, presented “Visualizing Music: Helping Undergraduate Non-Majors Show What They Hear,” in November at the College Music Society Meeting in San Diego. The talk showed how an assignment where students draw a ‘map’ of a piece can help undergraduates demonstrate their understanding of the structure and features of a piece of music. The work grew out of a VIZ grant to explore musical mapping.
Melinda Russell, Professor of Music, presented “Visualizing Music: Helping Undergraduate Non-Majors Show What They Hear,” in November at the College Music Society Meeting in San Diego. The talk showed how an assignment where students draw a ‘map’ of a piece can help undergraduates demonstrate their understanding of the structure and features of a piece of music. The assignment proved especially helpful for those who don’t read or use musical notation, and who don’t feel especially well-versed in technical language describing music. The maps range from using an excel sheet with columns devoted to each instrument to much more sophisticated imagery, including idiosyncratic symbols for musical timbres or events.