Livs Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 Hey! So, basically today i decided that i am going to do an 'EPQ' which stands for 'Extended Project Qualification', and it is an AS Level spread over 1 and a bit years, that looks good on your UCAS form. And today, i went to a meeting to discuss it, and what it is, is a course, that lets you decide what you study(it can be anything, from cake decorating to history, to music to art), and you have to come up with a question on your chosen topic, and answer it in 5000 words+. So i have decided that i want to do mine on something to do with Muse! I have thought of a few questions, but i wondered if anyone else can help me out with a question that i can research on and answer! At the end of it, on my CV i can put 'AS level in Muse' HA! Here are my ideas so far: Are Muse really the greatest live band around? Jimi Hendrix Vs Matt Bellamy: How their roles as guitar icons have influenced guitarists in the past and in the present? Are bands such as Muse and McFly, who formed in their early teenage years good role models for teenagers in this day and age? Your help would be much appreciated! Olivia x ps, does anyone know how i could get hold of muse managment to find out more about the band? i have Out of this world: the story of Muse, and that gives lots of info about them in their old days, but i would need more if i were to do Muse as my topic!
Zaphod Chizzlebrox Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 Before you look at this, shouldn't you consider looking at studying something that you will be able to use in the working world? What you're considering probably isn't enough to warrant an AS level qualification, you'd be much better studying music in general if you're interested in it. Just my personal opinion, but I never got why people would want to do academic study of something so limited.
Anxyous Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 5000 words on Muse? Wouldn't you rather study something beefier?
Livs Posted October 11, 2010 Author Posted October 11, 2010 Before you look at this, shouldn't you consider looking at studying something that you will be able to use in the working world? What you're considering probably isn't enough to warrant an AS level qualification, you'd be much better studying music in general if you're interested in it. Just my personal opinion, but I never got why people would want to do academic study of something so limited. Im already doing History, Geography, English Literature and English language, this is on top- it gives lots of UCAS points and showd that you can do independant research. I love Muse, and doing it on a topic that i enjoy that shows i have other interests will lookk good on CV.
Zaphod Chizzlebrox Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 Im already doing History, Geography, English Literature and English language, this is on top- it gives lots of UCAS points and showd that you can do independant research. I love Muse, and doing it on a topic that i enjoy that shows i have other interests will lookk good on CV. It may do, but to be honest, it will be very difficult for you to stretch a course studying Muse over a year. All I'm saying is it's probably better to look at something more substantial. Why not do something like studying the effect the secondary ticket market is having on initial ticket sales in the general music industry.
Livs Posted October 11, 2010 Author Posted October 11, 2010 It may do, but to be honest, it will be very difficult for you to stretch a course studying Muse over a year. All I'm saying is it's probably better to look at something more substantial. Why not do something like studying the effect the secondary ticket market is having on initial ticket sales in the general music industry. True, but its basically writting an essay on a muse related topic. And becuase that would not keep me intersted for a year. I already know plenty about Muse, and i just think i should put all my knowledge to use instead of it taking over my life!
Clunge Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 To be honest, as an employer, something like that on a CV looks a bit crappy if it's about something as trivial as a rock band. Srsly, re-think the idea, do it about something more substantial/important like Chizzle suggested.
Livs Posted October 11, 2010 Author Posted October 11, 2010 To be honest, as an employer, something like that on a CV looks a bit crappy if it's about something as trivial as a rock band. Srsly, re-think the idea, do it about something more substantial/important like Chizzle suggested. geeez alright, but i was the one in that meeting today and my teacher said it would be fine :|
Mizutsu Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 Ah what prats. If it's what you want, then go for it, don't let them stop you.
Zaphod Chizzlebrox Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 geeez alright, but i was the one in that meeting today and my teacher said it would be fine :| Well if you've thought it through, then fair enough. Just remember you'll have to be 100% impartial and consider positive and negative sides of any answers, and consider if you can really stretch out 5000 words from one question. University students usually have much beefier topics and still struggle to find that many words in essays.
Zaphod Chizzlebrox Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 Ah what prats. If it's what you want, then go for it, don't let them stop you. I don't see anyone being prats, just offering impartial advice from experience.
WutDaFucksy Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 It would be fun and interesting to do and I agree with Chizzle and Clunge but if your teacher said it is fine go for it! If it puts more points on your UCAS why not? Just make sure it is something about the band that you can stretch to that length without repeating yourself!
Sloosh Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 It might be easier/ more interesting to do something a bit wider, like looking at the effect of rock music on popular culture or something, using Muse as case study.
Livs Posted October 11, 2010 Author Posted October 11, 2010 It would be fun and interesting to do and I agree with Chizzle and Clunge but if your teacher said it is fine go for it! If it puts more points on your UCAS why not? Just make sure it is something about the band that you can stretch to that length without repeating yourself! I know! hmmm thats why i was asking for ideas. I may do 'how have different genres of music influenced our culture', using Muse as an example
Zaphod Chizzlebrox Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 I know! hmmm thats why i was asking for ideas. I may do 'how have different genres of music influenced our culture', using Muse as an example You see, now that's a brilliant subject to look at. It has a wide scope and you can still include Muse in it. I didn't want to seem too negative on your original idea, just to offer some advice.
Caff Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 I know! hmmm thats why i was asking for ideas. I may do 'how have different genres of music influenced our culture', using Muse as an example Would probably be better and would help from the secondary material POV as books on a specific band can often be limited to unofficial ones that are riddled with mistakes and errors (they're also not given much credibility as an academic source.) So if you need to use books/articles/etc then you can read general ones that relate to certain genres or movements and apply those models to Muse.
Livs Posted October 11, 2010 Author Posted October 11, 2010 You see, now that's a brilliant subject to look at. It has a wide scope and you can still include Muse in it. I didn't want to seem too negative on your original idea, just to offer some advice. Thanks, and its alright, constructive critisism
mrskopite Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 You could try Muse's twitter account @muse. Last week someone posted this "@muse chris please please some help for a fan site! we need some info and no one provides it pleasee" Chris replied "what would you like to know" worth a try
Livs Posted October 11, 2010 Author Posted October 11, 2010 You could try Muse's twitter account @muse. Last week someone posted this "@muse chris please please some help for a fan site! we need some info and no one provides it pleasee" Chris replied "what would you like to know" worth a try yeah i saw that, i might give that a go, but its highly unlikley they will see my tweets;(
Moonshoes Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 Now, being a 13 year old idiot, I don't know much about this kind of thing, but, as awsome as Muse are, would this really be a good subject to study to help you in later life? Well, it depends on what job you want, doesn't it? If you want to be, say, an architect for example, I don't think it would be of much use. If you wan't to persue some kind of career in the music industry however, knowing about how life in the music industry works by studying a band might help. So it depends. Of course, who wouldn't want the epic lolz of being able to put 'AS level in Muse' on their CV? Just sayin'. And that's my two cents.
mrskopite Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 yeah i saw that, i might give that a go, but its highly unlikley they will see my tweets;( have faith & talk a bit about football to Chris. He always seems to answer those tweets
haze015 Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 Hey! So, basically today i decided that i am going to do an 'EPQ' which stands for 'Extended Project Qualification', and it is an AS Level spread over 1 and a bit years, that looks good on your UCAS form. And today, i went to a meeting to discuss it, and what it is, is a course, that lets you decide what you study(it can be anything, from cake decorating to history, to music to art), and you have to come up with a question on your chosen topic, and answer it in 5000 words+. So i have decided that i want to do mine on something to do with Muse! I have thought of a few questions, but i wondered if anyone else can help me out with a question that i can research on and answer! At the end of it, on my CV i can put 'AS level in Muse' HA! Here are my ideas so far: Are Muse really the greatest live band around? Jimi Hendrix Vs Matt Bellamy: How their roles as guitar icons have influenced guitarists in the past and in the present? Are bands such as Muse and McFly, who formed in their early teenage years good role models for teenagers in this day and age? Your help would be much appreciated! Olivia x ps, does anyone know how i could get hold of muse managment to find out more about the band? i have Out of this world: the story of Muse, and that gives lots of info about them in their old days, but i would need more if i were to do Muse as my topic! I wouldn't do any of the questions you've mentioned, as they seem mostly about your own opinion (Especially the greatest live band one!) and sound like exam questions rather a year long study. So I'd agree with the others about doing something where you can use Muse as a case study. But yeah, it's a cool idea, because it's good to learn about something you're into. I often used Muse songs when I was doing Music Tech at college. As for the "later in life" stuff, a good mark in any subject is better than a mediocre one in a "proper" subject, so do what you want or at least do what'll help you get to where you want to go in life. The music tech A-level I mentioned is ironically the one that gets brought up most when I'm going for jobs, despite not being a "proper" subject. Standing out is better than fitting in.
Bliss :) Posted October 11, 2010 Posted October 11, 2010 I did an EPQ on dark matter, and I found it very useful as I want to do physics at uni and it gave me some good stuff to talk about in my personal statement - showing that I read around the syllabus and have an interest in the subject for example. Just a point - doing an EPQ is very stressful, especially while you have other important exams. A lot of people in my year dropped out because it was so much work. Unless you think that will be useful for uni applications etc., you may want to think carefully about it. But it is your decision obviously, and no one can tell you what to do.
Lewis Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 I'm deciding on EPQ at the moment, I'm gonna do Muse but it sounds good (Y) And it doesn't have to be fun, just interesting. At my college someone built a canoe for it
Kazy-Babie Posted February 12, 2011 Posted February 12, 2011 I agree with using Muse as a case study for a broader topic, rather than doing it specifically on the band, for my HSC (the Aussie equivilent of the a-Levels) I studied 20th and 21st Century popular music and used The Beatles as my case study and I was told by former HSC students that not only is it easier to focus on a broader topic and use a few artists as case studies, it also shows that you have a broader musical knowledge and that you can link a variety of artists through a particular topic. Maybe you could do the "Power of Music in protest and rebellion" and use Muse and maybe other bands like Rage Against The Machine as case studies? Hope my ramble helps and good luck with your studies
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