The study investigates criteria chosen by music students for peer and self assessment of both the rehearsal process and performance outcome of their rock groups. The student-chosen criteria and their explanations of these criteria were analysed in relation to Birkett's skills taxonomy of 'soft' and 'hard' skills. In the rehearsal process, students placed an emphasis on 'soft' skill issues, and in the performance outcome, on 'hard' skill issues. For students and staff, challenges raised include understanding how and whether to assess 'soft' skills; that there is a continuum of 'soft' and 'hard' skills rather than a binary; and ensuring clear understanding of criteria terms. I n t r o d u c t i o nGroup activity is an integral part of music-making and popular, classical and folk musicians play in groups for the larger part of their repertoires. In tertiary music institutions, group music-making can occur in improvisation, classical vocal and instrumental ensembles, and jazz and popular music groups (with or without a vocalist). The teaching and assessment of group music-making, and the learning that takes place, can be a significant element of a higher education music curriculum.While literature has discussed issues that arise in solo and group performance, this has been predominantly about classical music and few studies focus on assessing group musicmaking. One recent exception is Pulman's (2009) study of the rehearsal process of tertiarylevel popular music groups which finds that 'personal attributes' (p. 121) of individuals (such as punctuality, commitment, reliability, decision-making, organisational skills and feelings of artistic worth) and their impact on the dynamics of the group are emphasised when students contribute criteria as assessment parameters. Our study investigates what criteria tertiary music students choose for peer and self assessment of both the rehearsal process and performance outcome of their rock groups. In doing so, the study also works towards filling gaps in music education literature, where there has been an emphasis on (i) the performance of classical, rather than other types, of repertoire, (ii) solo, rather than group performance, (iii) the performance event, rather than the rehearsal process, and (iv) technical, or specifically musical skills over what the literature calls social or non-musical skills. While the research engaged students with peer and self assessment, this paper places Correspondence to Diana Blom. 25

No abstract

No abstract

Ed Kuepper’s history as a rock pioneer with The Saints and Laughing Clowns means that his albums of the early 1990s represent a remapping of the singer-songwriter concept. His classic Honey Steel’s Gold shares a looseness with blues and folk recordings of the 1940s and 1950s, capturing performances that take detours, stretch and contract, wax and wane, such as the album’s hit “The Way I Made You Feel." Honey Steel’s Gold is a landscape to be immersed in, to get lost in. It provides a space not where questions are answered but where we might stop and get a drink; an environment that provides solace, but not platitudes; where we can share a wry smile about the downsides of the human condition rather than attempt the illusion of blocking them out completely. This study incorporates a consideration of Kuepper’s iconoclastic career, at odds with the music industry and the grunge era into which the album was released. Beyond the apparent facts, though, there is interpretation, speculation, and attempts to meet Honey Steel’s Gold on its own terms in some imaginary place.

No abstract