1. Run your titles for each piece in your portfolio by your group. Do some collective brainstorming to see if you can improve your titles. Remember, a title should do some combination of informing and exciting readers.
2. Talk about what your portfolio will show about your writing? About your take on music? About what you’ve learned in this course? What do you hope readers will gain from it?
3. Read the first sentences of each piece out loud. Are they sharp? Are they interesting? Do they make people want to keep reading? How might you revised them, either with slight editing and coming up with something new?
4. Are you using music terms like they belong to you–like they’re part of your vocabulary? Do they feel organic? Do they add meaning? Are there places where adding terms would help you expand your ideas?
5. Are there places where you can expand your thinking by adding quotations from some of our readings–Ann Powers, Hanif Abdurraqib, our shorter readings–or from a podcast like Song Exploder?
6. Choose the piece you think needs the most revision. Talk about why. Where might you expand? Where might you cut?
7. Choose a description of sound you think you got right. Talk about why it works, what it helps readers understand.
8. Choose a moment where you think you can improve description. What can be improved? Are your verbs strong and distinctive? Do you use interesting adjectives? Are the lengths of your sentences varied?

For this workshop, you’ll be making basic decisions about your portfolios. For Thursday’s workshop, we’ll dig more into the details.

1. Describe for your group what you’re thinking you’ll include–and why. If you’re still working that out, have a conversation about it.
2. Summarize the feedback you’ve received–from me, from workshops, or any other source–on pieces you think you’ll include. Do this out loud. Make it a conversation. Note any feedback that stands out as helpful. Ask your group what they think of the feedback. Ask them if they have any other suggestions.
3. Discuss the genres you plan to include. What are some key hallmarks of each genre? What’s the aim of the genre? What are variations on it? Challenges with it?
4. Based on what you plan to include, talk through your ideas for formatting your portfolio.
5. On Thursday, you’ll discuss particular elements of each of your portfolio items. Send these items to your group so they can review them before we meet that day.

When you meet in your groups to workshop you pieces tomorrow, you should use the following questions to guide the conversation. I suggest thinking about them as you read too.

1. Does the piece have a hook? Does it open with a detail, quote, image or statement that makes you want to keep reading? Does it need a hook?
2. What is the angle? It clear, interesting, and focused? How might it be clarified or strengthened?
3. Do the details in the piece–descriptions of music, personal narrative, cultural observations–develop the angle in interesting ways? Are there any details that feel extraneous? Is there anything missing?
4. Do the sentences vary in structure and length?
5. Choose two moments where the language could be improved? Might the verbs or adjectives be stronger or more distinctive? Might the writer use fewer words to express the same idea more effectively? Might punctuation changes improve the writing?
6. Does the piece end in a satisfying way? Does it add a twist or surprise? Does it wrap things up without being repetitious?

1. Define the term for the rest of us—in accessible language (in your own words).
2. Be prepared to play us 30 seconds to 1 minute from a song to illustrate how the term works in an actual piece of music—and explain what effect it has in that piece of music.
3. Talk about how you might use the term in a piece of writing.

Syncopation, Vocal Phrasing: Johnny, Salia, Jimmy

Vocal Phrasing, Counterpoint: Sabina, Victoria, Pete

Counterpoint, Melody / Harmony: Nathalie, Erik, Corey

Double-tracking, Timbre / Tone: Muniba, Tati, Jonathan, Erynn

Timbre / Tone, Dynamics: Ryan, Turtle, Dominique

Bridge, Groove: Mahpara, Allison, Jarybel

Write a mini-play featuring at least three characters. Here are the rules.

1. Your play must feature Nicholas Groggon and James Parker and one musical artist. (Note: Combine Groggin and Parker into one character, in whatever way you want)
2. Your play should also feature Matt Melis or one of the writers we read for Tuesday’s class (Jason King, Sasha Frere-Jones, Tracey Thorn).
3. You must create some conflict  between characters and find at least partial resolution by the end.
4. If you want to add another character, it’s up to you. Just don’t make it too complicated.
5. Each of the other characters must ask Groggon-Parker one challenging question.
6. Groggin-Parker should ask a challenging question of one of the other characters.
7. The characters’ interactions should reflect the ideas and points of views of their writing. If you can include some of their actual words, all the better.
8. The rest—setting, tone, dialogue—is up to you.
9. You have thirty minutes to wirte your play. Then you will perform it for the class.

1. Revisit questions from last week. How does your infographic help us hear the music or understand the artists in a new way? Do your graphic elements make meaning? Are they more than decorative? Do you have any new insights on these questions?
2. Textual elements: How much text do you need in the graphic itself? How much belongs there? (This will be different for everybody.)
3. How does the the written portion outside the graphic complement or extend what’s in the graphic? Have you struck a good balance between the graphic and written sections? Does the written portion help explain what the graphic helps us hear or understand?
4. Is there any important information missing from the written portion? Is there any unnecessary information?
5. Are you using strong verbs and interesting adjectives? Are your sentences concise? Where might you be able to insert a short sentence that packs a punch?
6. Choose one sentence to revise with the group. Might you be able to make your point more effectively using fewer words? What words can be cut? Where can you find stronger verbs and more distinctive adjectives to make the sentence say more and feel more confident?
7. Make a list of elements you want to revise if you decide to use your infographic for your portfolio.

1. What stands out to you as strongest or most promising about the infographic—and the accompanying explanation of what it reveals?
   
2.  The main question: What does the infographic show you that you didn’t realize you were hearing otherwise? What does it reveal about the song or artist? As Kyle Venhemert writes about Alexander Chen’s infographic about the harmonies in The Beach Boys’s “God Only Knows,” “it shows you things you didn’t even realize you were hearing.” Do your infographics do a version of this? If they are not visualizing sound, then what do they show you that you didn’t realize about some other aspect of the artist? What do they reveal about the artist’s music? 
3. Do the visual elements of the infographic make meaning? Are they more than decorative? How might they be revised so that they do more work to create meaning? 
4. What are two or three takeaways from the infographic? What did you learn from it? 
5. What questions do you have for me when I visit your group? Try to be specific.

INSTRUCTIONS

Everybody’s infographics will be a little different. That means posting them will be a little different. So here are some considerations:

1. If you’ve got an image or images to post, jpeg files are your best bet.
2. If you’re uploading video or audio, be sure to embed it. That means you need to get the embed code from the platform or source. Then, in your post, choose “Text” mode (the default is visual) in the upper right corner of the editing window.) Then paste the code in.
3. Do your best to integrate your text and your visual elements in a way that feels organic and professions. Note that you can choose various type styles–“Paragraph,” “Heading,” etc.–in the upper left of the editing window. Play around with these to see what works best. You can also choose type colors.
4. If you’re not sure how best to format your post, get in touch with me and I’ll help you figure it out.
5. Before you publish, choose “Infographics” from the category menu on the right.