Q21

[jiyoonsim]

The question asks about what each passage links positive musical experience with. I read it as

Passage A's positive musical experience
- Tied together (sequenstially and rhythmically)
- continuous and rhythmic

Passage B's positive musical experience
- Matching with expectation
- Familiarity (Complexity)

So when tackling #21, I first chose B) for my answer, but it turns out that the correct answer is E). Could somebody please explain?

[demetri.blaisdell]

Here's a summary of how I read each paragraph:

Passage A:

Paragraph 1 begins with some background information on the complexity of music. We are told that music should be complicated enough to excite the listener, but not so complicated that it overwhelms. We need something to unify the sound so we can understand it.

Paragraph 2 compares music to language and reiterates the need for a unifying theme in music.

Paragraph 3 provides a deeper analysis of music and emotions by discussing the reactions to different sounds. It tells us that relaxing sounds are continuous and rhythmical while disturbing sounds are discontinuous and erratic.

Passage B:

Paragraph 1 establishes the idea of "musical emotions," which are manipulated by building up and releasing tension in the audience (through creating and satisfying expectations).

Paragraph 2 further explains this idea; positive emotions come when the listener expects something and gets it while negative emotions come when the listener doesn’t get what they are expecting.

Paragraph 3 introduces two new ideas; the first is that familiarity is a factor in our enjoyment of music. We like music more and more as we hear it until we "know" it and then it decreases. Finally, trained listeners prefer more complex music because they can deal with the emotions it produces.


Question 21:

21. (E)
Question type: Identification (1-5, 50-53, 60-63)

We know that each author focused on different aspects of good music. Is there some positive trait of music that they both discuss? Working wrong to right leaves us with (E), which is discussed explicitly in the lines above. If you think 50-53 doesn’t go far enough, think about the first two paragraphs of Passage B that describe what could only be complex music. Could all that tension and release be called simple? The last sentence also describes a greater preference by the trained ear for complex melodies.

(A) is a half scope answer. It is something that Passage A discusses but it is not mentioned in Passage B. B focuses on expectations and tension/release, not the characteristics of relaxing music.

(B) is very tempting, but is also a half scope answer. Tension is a big part of Passage B, but Passage A does not discuss tension as eliciting positive reactions. Instead, Passage A links it to negative reactions!

(C) is also half scope (seeing a trend?). Language is an analogy used only in Passage A. We need something from both passages.

(D) is out of scope. Improvisation is not discussed in either passage.

Let me know if that clears things up for you. If you have any questions, fire away.

Demetri

[jimmy902o]

Demetri, you are the man

[maria.k.rafael]

Here's a summary of how I read each paragraph:

Passage A:

Paragraph 1 begins with some background information on the complexity of music. We are told that music should be complicated enough to excite the listener, but not so complicated that it overwhelms. We need something to unify the sound so we can understand it.

Paragraph 2 compares music to language and reiterates the need for a unifying theme in music.

Paragraph 3 provides a deeper analysis of music and emotions by discussing the reactions to different sounds. It tells us that relaxing sounds are continuous and rhythmical while disturbing sounds are discontinuous and erratic.

Passage B:

Paragraph 1 establishes the idea of "musical emotions," which are manipulated by building up and releasing tension in the audience (through creating and satisfying expectations).

Paragraph 2 further explains this idea; positive emotions come when the listener expects something and gets it while negative emotions come when the listener doesn’t get what they are expecting.

Paragraph 3 introduces two new ideas; the first is that familiarity is a factor in our enjoyment of music. We like music more and more as we hear it until we "know" it and then it decreases. Finally, trained listeners prefer more complex music because they can deal with the emotions it produces.


Question 21:

21. (E)
Question type: Identification (1-5, 50-53, 60-63)

We know that each author focused on different aspects of good music. Is there some positive trait of music that they both discuss? Working wrong to right leaves us with (E), which is discussed explicitly in the lines above. If you think 50-53 doesn’t go far enough, think about the first two paragraphs of Passage B that describe what could only be complex music. Could all that tension and release be called simple? The last sentence also describes a greater preference by the trained ear for complex melodies.

(A) is a half scope answer. It is something that Passage A discusses but it is not mentioned in Passage B. B focuses on expectations and tension/release, not the characteristics of relaxing music.

(B) is very tempting, but is also a half scope answer. Tension is a big part of Passage B, but Passage A does not discuss tension as eliciting positive reactions. Instead, Passage A links it to negative reactions!

(C) is also half scope (seeing a trend?). Language is an analogy used only in Passage A. We need something from both passages.

(D) is out of scope. Improvisation is not discussed in either passage.

Let me know if that clears things up for you. If you have any questions, fire away.

Demetri

Hi,

So I chose A for this question and am still having trouble seeing why it's incorrect. I too was working "from wrong to right" for this question and came down to a choice between A and E. I ended up going with A specifically because I was able to identify the concepts in both passages. I, therefore, found it interesting that you characterized that answer choice as having a "half scope." I found the reference to "continuous sound" in Passage B in the last sentence of the second paragraph. It reads, "positive emotions result if the converse happens," the antecedent of converse meaning what I gathered to be "continuous sound" (based off of the context of the preceding sentences in that paragraph).

Would you or someone else be able to help explain further why A is incorrect and why E is correct?

Thanks!!

[maryadkins]

I actually don't think "the converse" in line 49 is referring to continuity of sound. It's referring to what happens with people's expectations match their experience. That's not about how continuous the sound is. What if they expect dramatic pauses, and then those pauses happen? They're fulfilled, but not because the sound was continuous.

Passage B doesn't actually discuss continuity of sound. It does, however, highlight the importance of complexity in line 51. Passage A brings up complexity in line 1.

[VendelaG465]

I see how complexity is mentioned in Passage B but 21 is asking which concept is linked to positive musical experience ? Complexity was mentioned but not specifically as positive, just that it's taken into account when listening to music in general. How would one be able to determine if its taken into consideration as a positive/negative? I'm having a hard time seeing how E is correct or supported by the text & in the previous paragraph lines 45-49 correlates positive to "musical expectation" vs. "actual course of music".

[ohthatpatrick]

Right, you wouldn't get a link to positive experiences from the line reference you quoted (45-49).

Rather, the support seems to come from the end of psg B.

58-61indicates that trained listeners will prefer complex melodies. If I prefer complex melodies, as a trained listener, then complexity is linked to my preferred (positive) musical experience.

[VendelaG465]

got it thank you !