Before Class

Choose a song you want us all to listen to. The reasons you want us to listen are completely up to you.

During Class

Arrive a few minutes early, so we can get you set up. You’ll choose “Share Screen.” Then you’ll choose “Advanced Screen Sharing Options” and select “Share Sound Only.” Have your song cued up. We’ll share right at the start of class. We’ll all listen in silence, hopefully with headphones.

Once the song finishes, you’ll say a few words about why you chose it. Then the rest of the group will comment on observations that occurred to us while we listened.

After Class

You’ll post your song to our blog. To do that, you just need to create a post and paste a YouTube link into it. The video should appear embedded. If you have any trouble, go back to YouTube, choose share and then “embed code.” Switch to “Text” mode in the Editing box and paste the embed code in.

Include two or three short paragraphs, using at least two to help you describe the music, or your experience of the music. See our Music Terms page for a list of terms. Feel free to choose a term that’s not on the list. You can use the glossaries listed there to find definitions of the terms, or you can find the definitions on your own.

After your commentary, include a list of the terms you used, along with definitions cut and pasted from the source you’re using. Include a link to the source page and credit it at the end of the entry. See my Record Club post for format.

Important: When you save your post, choose “Categories” and click the “Record Club” box. That way it will appear in the Record Club menu, and we can always find it. You’ll use categories for most of the assignments you post.

After You Post: Responders

Two or three students will be assigned to respond to your post. If you are a responder, your job is to bring a song to the discussion that involves related features to the one posted by that day’s Record Club host. You’ll want a song that can be illuminated by some of the same terms the host uses in the description of the song.

Note: You can embed a YouTube video into a comment. When you’re looking at your YouTube clip, choose “Share” and then “Embed Code.” Copy the embed code and post it into your comment. It should appear. It’s much better to embed than to include a link! Include the clip and little discussion of why you chose it and how the terms apply.

After this, I encourage everybody to join the discussion, though that’s not a requirement.