Music plays a vital role in human society. Good music provides entertainment and emotional release, and it accompanies activities ranging from dances to religious ceremonies. Music is heard everywhere; in auditoriums, homes, elevators, schools, sports arenas and on the streets. Recorded performance is a sensational innovation elevation of the twentieth century. Thanks to modern technology like compact disc (CD) digital video disc (DVD) and the MP 3 player, music can now be heard in divers places. Such places include living rooms and cars, jogging paths can also function as new kinds of concert halls where we can hear what we want as often as we want.
Live performances provide a special excitement. In a live performance artistes put themselves on the line. To avoid embarrassment, the artiste must train before hand and ensure that technical difficulties are avoided and that the listeners are actively involved. What is performed, how it sounds to the excitement of such a moment and feelings are exchanged between stage and hall.
Our response to a musical performance or an artiste is subjective and rooted in deep feelings. Even professional critics can differ strongly in their evaluations of a performance. There is no one ''Truth'' about what we hear and feel. Does the performed project a concept, an overall idea, or an emotion? Do some sections of a piece, but not others, communicate something to you? Can you figure out why? It is up to us as listeners to evaluate performances of music so that we can fully enjoy it. People listen to music in many different ways. For instance, music can be a barely perceived background as in a film or a totally absorbing experience as in a concert.
Adapted from Roger, K. (1990) An Appreciation Music: Fourth Brief Edition, McGrow-Hill Higher Education.
In 1951, the Government decided to start a Pottery Training Centre where new and more advantaged technical methods, especially glazing, could be taught. The centre was intended to serve the whole of the defunct Northern Region, and there were several reasons for choosing Abuja . The first was the excellence of the traditional pottery made in the Emirate. Secondly, firewood is plentiful; this is a most important consideration, because in the making of glazed pottery, more firewood than clay is required. Thirdly, there are good clays, and good local sources for the raw materials needed for the glazes. Fourthly, water, which is another important raw material, is plentiful. Finally, Abuja is in a central position for the whole region and is a town where learners from many different parts can find a congenial temporary home, and where the Emir and his Council are actively interested in the project.
Nearly all the making is done by a process called throwing;, so called because the lumps of clay are thrown the potter onto a wheel-head. They are weigh out so that each pot will be roughly the same size; for example, for making pint-sized jugs, the lumps of clay will be one and a half kilogrammes. The potter sits on the saddle of the wheel and spins it by pushing a pedal with his left foot. He has a bowl of water, a loofah, a bamboo knife, a pointed stick or porcupine quill, a wooden-smoothing tool which potters call a rib, and a piece of wire-like object that is used for wedging. He makes the wheel-heal slightly damp, and throws the lumps into the middle. The first work is to force the lump to the centre, then he presses his thumb into the middle of the lump, using water to keep it slippery. When the bottom is of the right thickness, he begins to draw up the walls until they are of the right height. Then he shapes the belly and shoulder of the pot. He trims off any waste clay. In this way, a small and medium-sized pot can be made quickly and accurately.
Adapted from Robert, J.M.E and Smith, L.E.M (1978) Testing English language, AUP
