Hello to everyone, and welcome to the course. You will be using this discussion board each week to communicate with your classmates and share what you are learning. It is critical that you check back here regularly for information about due dates and assignment instructions. All course announcements will be posted in this discussion board for you to see, and you will also find other discussion boards for each week's topics. I am excited for you to join this class and grow in your ability to listen to and communicate about music. Please reach out to me at any time with questions!

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One celebration that I anticipate in the future is my wedding. Marriages are important celebrations not just for the couple getting married, but also for the community and family that surround and support the couple. Since music is a good way to help a group of people to all experience the same emotions together, I am picturing a lot of music at my wedding, both during the ceremony and afterwards at the reception.

A song that I would like to hear on my wedding day and share with all the guests is "Let Them Talk" by Hugh Laurie: Let Them Talk - YouTube

I feel that this song would be great for a first dance, and would help everybody share the feeling that as long as the couple is committed to each other, it doesn't matter who or what else stands in their way.

Music is used in celebrations all over the world to express pride, joy, and triumph - whether it is on the Olympic podium, a cultural heritage event, a graduation, or a simple birthday party. Celebratory music can draw us together.

Your task: Think about an important celebration in your life. It could be one that has already happened or one that has yet to happen to you. What is it, and what will the celebration be like? What type of music would create an appropriate mood for the event? Attach a link to a piece of music that you think would be a good fit. After you have posted, comment on THREE of your classmates' posts with additional music ideas for their event, or to ask them more questions about their choices.

Article 1

I believe that the first article I chose "Pat Martino, Jazz Guitarist Who Overcame Amnesia, Dies at 77," would be categorized as a news article. It shares the facts about Martino's life and career, and it contains stories told by those who knew him. The author of the article does not make any judgments about Martino or his performances, only sharing how he was acclaimed and revered by others. Because of this strict adherence to factual information, this article is a news article and not a music review.

Article 4

The second article I chose, "Fidelio review - musically excellent but panopticon staging is overloaded," is definitely a music critic's review. Even though there is a great deal of factual information about the production, on the main photo the performance is given 3 out of 5 stars, and the author writes about how "Herbert is a tremendous Leonore,"…

Fact or Opinion?

Each of the following articles falls into ONE of two categories: a news article (which provides factual information and only reports other people's opinions) and a music review (or critic's review, which reports the opinions of the author).

Your task: CREATE A NEW POST on this discussion board. In it, you will write about any TWO of these articles. For each article, explain whether it is a news article or a music review, and explain why you think so. After you have posted, comment on THREE of your classmates' posts explaining why you agree or disagree with their views.

• Article 1

• Article 2

• Article 3

Levels of Perception

We can devote different amounts of attention to our music listening, and in this course, our goal is to reach higher levels of perception than we might be used to. This develops our critical thinking and communication skills, and can help us enjoy our favorite music even more than we already do. In fact, when we train ourselves to listen for more detail, we can actually begin to articulate why a song or piece of music is our favorite - in great detail.

Levels of Experiencing Music