Exploring: How to Do It

Reference
Assessment
Exploring
A step-by-step guide through the Exploring Music in Context component.

See also: Checklist · Assessment Rubrics → Exploring

The Exploring component asks you to do three things: research diverse music, create a short piece in a style you explored, and adapt music from an unfamiliar context for your own instrument. These three parts are connected — your research must directly inform both exercises.

What you submit:

Step 1: Choose your repertoire

Choose 3–4 pieces early. They must collectively cover:

  • At least two areas of inquiry (AOI 1, 2, 3, or 4)
  • All three contexts: one personal, at least one local, at least one global

At the same time, decide which piece will anchor each exercise:

Exercise Source AOI requirement Context requirement
Creating exercise Any piece from your Section 1 research — —
Performed adaptation Music from a local or global context Different AOI from the creating exercise Local or global only — NOT personal

Step 2: Research and write Section 1

Section 1 is your exploration of the music — roughly 1800 words of the 2,400 total.

For each piece, produce two types of findings:

Musical findings — from the music itself (score, recording):

  • What musical elements and devices define this piece?
  • What makes this style distinctive — what conventions does it use?
  • How are these things used to create meaning or effect?

Extra-musical findings — from sources about the music (articles, interviews, documentaries):

  • When and where was this music made? What was its context?
  • What was the composer’s or performer’s intention?
  • How does the context explain the musical choices?

Write analytically, not descriptively. Don’t narrate what you hear. Explain why the music works the way it does. Connect every finding to the style, the AOI, and/or the creative intention.

Every musical observation needs a bar number and/or timestamp pointing to Upload 3. Every claim drawn from a source needs an in-text citation.

Step 3: Creating exercise and Section 2 statement

Compose a short piece (max 32 bars, or 1 min audio) in the style of one of your explored pieces. This is a sketch, not a polished work. The goal is to demonstrate that you understand the style’s conventions.

Write a brief statement (~300 words) that explains:

  • Which specific creating conventions you applied and where in the exercise
  • How your Section 1 research directly informed your choices
  • Any challenges you encountered

Include the score or notation embedded in the document. If the style doesn’t use staff notation, use an appropriate form (tablature, graphic notation, DAW screenshot). Include an audio track (max 1 min) in Upload 2.

Step 4: Performed adaptation and Section 3 statement

Record yourself adapting music from a local or global context for your own instrument. The stimulus (the original music you worked from) goes into Upload 2 (max 1 min). Your performed adaptation follows (max 2 min).

The exercise is not a transcription. You are identifying the performing practices of the original style and finding ways to realize them on your instrument — which may require extended techniques or creative solutions.

Write a brief statement (~300 words) that explains:

  • Which performing conventions or practices you identified in the original style
  • How you adapted them for your instrument, including where it worked and where it didn’t
  • Any challenges and how you resolved them

Step 5: Compile the submission

Upload 1 — Written document (max 2,400 words):

Compile in this order:

  1. Section 1: Exploration of diverse musical material
  2. Section 2: Statement on the creating exercise (with score embedded)
  3. Section 3: Statement on the performed adaptation
  4. Bibliography (not counted in the word limit)

Visual evidence (score excerpts, annotated screenshots, diagrams) must be embedded in the text — not appended. Maximum 5 pages of visual material in total.

Upload 2 — Practical work (max 4 min total):

Compile in this order:

  1. Creating exercise audio (max 1 min)
  2. Stimulus for the performed adaptation (max 1 min)
  3. Performed adaptation (max 2 min)

Upload 3 — Reference material (max 3 min total):

Excerpts of the music you analyzed in Section 1, in the order they appear in your writing.

Connection Between Sections

Every part of the submission should connect logically:

Section 1 research → identifies conventions and practices → Section 2 creating exercise applies the creating conventions; Section 3 performed adaptation applies the performance practices

flowchart TD
    S1("**Section 1**<br>Research"):::section
    S2("**Section 2**<br>Creating exercise"):::section
    S3("**Section 3**<br>Performed adaptation"):::section
    CONV["Identify conventions<br>& practices"]
    CREA["apply creating<br>conventions"]
    PERF["apply performance<br>practices"]
        
    CONV --> S1
    S1 --> CREA 
    CREA --> S2
    S1 --> PERF 
    PERF --> S3
    
    classDef section fill:#4a90d9,stroke:#2c5f8a,color:#fff

If the practical exercises do not grow from the research, Criterion B2 (Implications) cannot be awarded. If the research is superficial, there is nothing meaningful to apply.