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Writing About Music… �Analytically

Elizabeth Pineo

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Build on Existing Skills

Evaluate
Deconstruct
Elaborate
Terminology
What’s interesting?
So What?

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Stuff You Already Do

Evaluate
Deconstruct
Elaborate
Terminology
What’s interesting?
So What?

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A THESIS STATEMENT!

Yay!

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The Thesis Statement

Situate it in your introduction paragraph
Guide and specify
The Three Cs:

Confident
Concise
Controvertible

Body/Conclusion
Tell your reader what’s so important/interesting/awesome about this particular piece according to you

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Figures

Introduce your figure before you provide it
Insert the figure, and give it a number (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.)
Examples

Auckland University of Technology. 2020. “What are tables and figures?” Chicago/Turabian Referencing Guide. Last modified Februrary 5, 2020. https://aut.ac.nz.libguides.com/turabian/tables-figures.

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Introduction

Evidence

Conclusion

Menu

Summary Sandwich……………………..…$0.99

Analysis Sandwich…………………………$priceless

Analysis Sandwich

Summary Sandwich

Description

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To Avoid Summary…

Start with a detailed outline
Formulate a strong thesis before you start to write
Use clear, specific topic sentences in every paragraph
To find summary, ask yourself:

Am I stating something that would be obvious to an initiated reader?
Does my essay move through the piece in chronological order?
Am I simply describing the piece? (chord progressions, phrase structures, etc.)

To generate analysis, ask yourself:

Am I making an original argument about the piece?
Am I explaining why or how an aspect of the piece is significant?
Do I have a conclusion sentence?

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And now…� an EXERCISE!

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Compare and Contrast

On a fresh sheet of paper, respond to the following:

What was similar?
What was different?
Take a stance!

What do the similarities and differences between these two Ave Marias reveal?
Why is that important?

Now, trade papers with a neighbor:

What do you notice?

Return the papers to their owners:

Underline the summary.
Highlight the analysis.

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If there’s one thing you need to do while writing, it’s…

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ENJOY YOURSELF!

Writing is fun!!