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Paper Topic Choice Advice

Choose a topic you’ve been assigned from another class this semester.

Choose something from the following list or something following one of these
models.

It is better to focus on a how or why or answer a question or suggest a solution to

a problem.

Most paper topics are too broad. Your topic needs to be very narrowly focused on
something extremely specific.

Ask yourself how to choose something that would interest Dr. Dolata, in
particular, something he hasn’t seen at least a hundred times before—see
Prohibited Paper Topics below.

Sample Paper Topics That Would Interest Dr. Dolata

Why do we need transposing instruments, and how do they work?

Why is some Renaissance vocal music is written in a clef that indicates the vocal
part is to be transposed and how does this work?

What is the best way to overcome performance anxiety?

How is ear training best taught to those who began music late?

Is there such a thing as perfect pitch? Is it nature or nurture? What about pitch
level? What about temperament?

What are the working methods of the 20th century’s most prolific composers?

In which ways do children listen to music differently than adults?

How do musicians make money from YouTube, Spotify, and other internet
outlets?

What is the most effective way for an artist’s agent to help an artist become
known?

Who pays attention to concert (or recording) reviews anymore.

Is there any future for hard copy CDs? Is that format still viable? Or have iTunes,
etc. made it obsolete?

Explain cammerton and chorton in German baroque music with an emphasis on

Bach.
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Describe some type of tablature (lute, keyboard, vihuela, violin, vocal, etc.) and
assess its use and influence.

How can the Miami Bach Society increase interest in its mission? What role does
its web page have in this and how can it be more relevant?

What is the history of jazz audiences clapping after each player solos. Why don’t
classical audiences applaud after the oboe solo?

How did classical music evolve form the more circus-like atmosphere as depicted
in Amadeus to the staid quiet audience we are now accustomed to?

How did early performance situations differ from standard fare today?

Discuss the trend of classical music concerts in clubs.

In your specific field, discuss how you can best prepare yourself for a successful
career in music.

Make an argument to keep music in your local school.

Does music education get short shrift in the USA compared to other countries,
and if so, why?

How has classical music gotten to be so irrelevant?

Why is it so difficult to get audiences to classical music events in Miami?

Why is it so difficult to get audiences to classical music events at FIU?

What do you think about the number of ensembles you are required to take at FIU
and what do you think would make more sense. Be sure to examine other schools
of music and make recommendations.

Vocal vibrato. Why is it such a contentious topic? Why don’t string, brass, and
woodwind get so riled up about it?

What is the future of classical music in your area?

Describe the history of multiple impression printing in music.

Describe the history of engraving in music.

Write about the most important pre-20th-c. songwriters who wrote both the music
and lyrics. Could also narrow by geographical area or era.

Describe Mozart’s relationship with his father.

How well known was Bach in his lifetime? Handel? Vivaldi? Telemann?
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How did Stravinsky attain his meteoric rise to fame over such a short period of
time?

How did Beethoven’s personality affect his work?

Describe the relationship among Robert and Clara Schumann and Brahms.

What were Brahms’ work habits?

How were Stephen Foster’s songs disseminated?

What is the early history of college music education in the USA?

Compare the main music writing software programs: Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, etc.

The history of music in a particular location. If you don’t have a city in mind,
Buffalo, Cincinnati, would work. If you choose an old European city, you must
narrow your focus significantly. Or choose your native country if not the USA,
but remember that you’ll probably need to narrow the topic considerably. You
could also discuss something very specific like Music in Montmartre from 1900–
1930

Discuss the ramifications of autotune.

Discuss some aspect of printing such as multiple impression, single impression,

engraving, or the business of printing music either historically in some locale such
as Venice or Lyon, or focus on an important printer such as Petrucci or
Attaingnant. If you choose the printers, keep bio to a minimum and focus on their
work.

Trace the evolution of a genre or in the case of a genre such as the motet, limited
to a time or composer.

Compare for instance Schubert’s approach to the symphony with Beethoven’s.

Focus on a composer’s style.

Prohibited Paper Topics

Ornamentation

Music instrument history

Biography