Course Coordinator:Briony Luttrell (bluttrel@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries
UniSC Sunshine Coast |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
In this course, you will study the foundations of songwriting, live sound, and staged performance. You will be guided by lecturers and industry practitioners as you engage in the basics of songwriting for live performance. You will apply these skills in a number of modes including live sound, stage presence, performance practice and collaborative music making. This course will culminate in a live group performance of original songs. Students are expected to make themselves available for autonomous group rehearsals outside of workshop time. Students must therefore consider their availability on evenings and weekends, as well as normal working hours.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Online Learning Materials | 1hr | Week 1 | 11 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – In-class face to face workshop | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
100 Level (Introductory)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Develop a shared musical vocabulary led by 21st Century popular approaches to music creation | Creative and critical thinker |
| 2 | Build a knowledge of the key elements of songwriting and lyric writing informed by both artistic and industry practice. | Knowledgeable |
| 3 | Produce music and lyrical works of your own creation as part of an ongoing process of development for a portfolio of creative works. | Engaged |
| 4 | Explore songwriting theory in an industry best practice framework according to intellectual property considerations. | Ethical |
| 5 | Develop critical listening and self-analysis skills essential to songwriting practice in the 21st Century. | Creative and critical thinker |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
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Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
An opportunity exists in every workshop to produce and perform creative pieces individually and/or in small peer groups and receive feedback from peers and teaching staff.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece | Individual | 40% | 2-4 minute song plus written lyric sheet |
Week 5 | Online Submission |
| All | 3 | Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece | Individual and Group | 60% | A set of band songs (2-3 minutes per song) Plus a 500 word individual critical reflective written work |
Week 12 | In Class |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Song Sketch: Performance of Original Song | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The purpose of this assessment is to develop skills in basic songwriting and performance. |
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| Product: | Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | In this task you will engage in industry-led practices in professional songwriting to write a new song in the form of a 'song sketch'. It must consider the ‘campfire rule’ as discussed in this course and show evidence of lyrics, melody, harmony, and popular song form. The 'song sketch' is delivered as recorded video artefact featuring your basic performance ideas and as a written lyric sheet. You may be asked to provide evidence of songwriting (e.g. DAW session). |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Collaboration, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Live Band Performance | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The purpose of this assessment is an industry-reflective collaborative process of developing and delivering a set of songs for live amplified performance. |
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| Product: | Artefact - Creative, and Written Piece | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | In this task, you will collaborate with a band to develop your set of songs into a set delivered in a live “gig” amplified performance environment. You are required to develop the songwriting, arrangements and performance of the set of songs in response to feedback and the different skillsets and levels of musicianship of band members. You also need to demonstrate an applied understanding live sound basics in relation to your set, including fluency with chosen tech and supplying technical documentation. You will be required to demonstrate work-in-progress of the set in the lead up to the live “gig” performance. The “gig” performance will be an industry-reflective mini festival environment where your band performs your set. Professionalism and collaboration will be monitored throughout the entire process. You will also submit a written critical reflective work that details your choices and learning. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Collaboration, Organisation |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Students are expected to make themselves available for autonomous group rehearsals. Students must therefore consider their availability on evenings and weekends as well as normal working hours.
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
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For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.
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