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Begin by reading the Art Song and Piano Solo chapters and listening to the music videos

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Begin by reading the Art Song and Piano Solo chapters and listening to the music videos. To widen the discussion, I added a World Beat number from the Wind Instruments chapter. Once you have some background under your belt, choose one of three topics:

1. Der Erlkönig | Listen to Schubert's Der Erlkönig in the Art Song chapter and share your thoughts on this performance. What did you think of the overall performance and vocal quality? Be specific about the how and why of your observations and reasoning. For example, what was the song about? Did the piano accompaniment help or distract from the story and vocal lines? Did the singer portray the different characters of the poem effectively? How did this music make you feel? What did you think about the video animation? Did the animation help connect you to the song or was it distracting?
2. Liszt and Chopin piano etudes | Listen to piano solos in the Piano Solo chapter—Transcendental Étude No. 10 in F Minor by Franz Liszt and Étude in C Minor, Op. 10 No.12 "Revolutionary" by Fréderic Chopin—and share your thoughts on these performances. Compare and contrast the styles of these two composers with music you're familiar with. For example, which composer's music is more technically and musically demanding? How do the backgrounds and careers of the composers differ? Do you think their careers had significant influence on the resulting musical styles? How did their music make you feel? And so on. Be specific about the how and why of observations and opinions.
3. Wake Me Up | Listen to Wake Me Up by Avicii and the Inamauri Panpipers in the Wind Instruments chapter (scroll to the Panpipe section) and share your thoughts on this performance. What did you think of the mix of vocals, panpipes, guitar and bamboo percussion? Enlighten us with the how and why of your observations and reasoning. For example, what was the song about? Did the panpipe choir, percussion and dancing help or distract from the story and vocal lines? Did the singer portray the meaning of the lyrics effectively? How did this music make you feel? What did you think about the videography, audio quality and use of rural scenes from Australia?