Gold investment: An overview

Gold investment: An overview Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Overview Since prehistoric time, human are using the gold in trading and value keeping asset. Even current financial activities are always surrounding by the gold issue. The ancient treated the gold as the true form of wealth. Gold has been using early in 4000 B.C as a fashion decorative object in where today Eastern Europe is centred. In 1500 B.C the gigantic gold-bearing regions of Nubia made Egypt a wealthy nation (National Mining Association). By the time the gold has widely recognize as the standard form of medium of exchange for international trade. Gold is represented the royal and honourable in different religious and cultural area. Its aesthetic appearance is the finest ornament above all other metal. Gold play the role in all aspect around us, such as religious customs, reward system, ornament, jewellery, and even the component of industrial product. Gold exist and be using for decade, its intrinsic value is still maintain high and irreplaceable. Investing in gold has been seen as the supreme way of safe haven investment. Gold investment is booming in recent year and the reasons behind this incident can be explained as the investor become more aware of the benefit of the gold and its special features. Gold demand for investment purpose accounted one-thirds of gold demand all over the world which is substantial influential (World Gold Council, 2009). Investment demand for gold has shown as significant increase in the last seven years as investor seeking the fashion to balance their investment portfolio and safeguard against the economy and political uncertainty Generally gold demand can be divided into three main types, which included the Jewellery demand, gold investment demand, and industrial demand. The gold investment can be further divided into physically and non-physically holding the gold. In Malaysia, there are several ways to participate in gold investment and this will be studied in chapter two. 1.2 Benefit of gold investment In portfolio management, prudent investor will have different sort of investment vehicle. The reason for holding diverse investment is to safeguard the portfolio against fluctuations or uncertainty that occurs in the economy system. Gold investment has been studied by many of professional toward its ability to protect the wealth of investors against the overwhelming global financial crisis and economic uncertainty. Generally, the group of similar asset will react correspondingly among each other during the transformation of the economy and financial system. Diversification will reduce investors risk in portfolio investment. Besides the common investment vehicle like company share, bond, and mutual fund, gold investment is an option for investor to diversify their investment portfolio. Portfolio that contains gold investment is generally more robust and less risky as compared other investment vehicle. The inflationary hedging ability of gold is prominent especially during the economic uncertainty period. Gold price react quickly that other commodities when there is any change in the market condition. Conversely, price of the CPI-basket is adjusted slowly to the change of market condition ((Mahdavi Zhou, 1997). Risk factors that may affect the gold price are quite different in nature from those that affect other assets. Purchasing power of gold is maintain even the transformation of the era is remarkably significant (Greer, 2005). In addition, gold is one of the examples of safety investment instrument that have very limited amount of risk associated with it. The credit risk is the possibilities that the debtor unable to repay the loan. Gold is unique which do not involve such repayment relationship. The profitability of gold investment is operating in the accrual basis. The liquidity risk which means the possibilities that the asset cannot be sold as the buyer in the market may not be available during the time of reselling. However the gold market has high demand rate from the individual consumer, jewellery sector, financial institution and manufacturing of industrial product. Thus its liquidity risk of gold investment is very low (World Gold Council, 2009). 1.3 Problem statement Gold investment in Malaysia is less well known by investor, even though it is a superior investment vehicle. Generally, most of the elderly will save their money in fixed deposit. Some of them may invest their money into mutual fund and government bond. The rate of return from the fixed deposit is very low and the intrinsic value of the saving will be overwhelmed by the wave of inflation during financial crisis or recession. The purpose of this study is to find out what are the reasons that affect the intention to adopt gold investment in investors portfolio. In early 2008, the inflation rate surge high, most of the investor who invests in share market suffers a huge loss in the market. The collapse of Lehman brother and many giant corporations in 2008 raised the vigilance of the investors. Many of investors seek for the immunity to keep their capital away from the threat of inflation and downward movement of stock prices. According to World gold council (2009) stated that there is significant increase in the demand of gold investment. Current financial recession and anxiety toward future uncertainty have urge the political and finance officer unearth the solution to withstand the inflation problem. Some professors have suggests the gold investment to investor as the safe haven to protect their wealth against the inflation shock. Gold investment has the special feature of inflationary hedge which have been study by a number of researchers and professionals. Malaysian investors should add the gold investment into their portfolio and hence reduce the risk of investment. However, gold investment in Malaysia is still not widely adopted as compared to other counties such as Singapore, Thailand, China, United state and India. Some investors are eager to make the quick profit from the speculating activities such as short-selling the share and the commodities future. However the speculating activities will create the bubble in the market and finally it will turn into another financial turmoil. The gold price seen not stable in short and is more volatile than other commodities. However the gold price in long-run shown an upward shifting trend and the value of gold is appreciated over the past 30 years. In Malaysia, the gold investment opportunity is very limited and the public are hard to find the advertisement of the gold investment account or the gold investment seminar. The lack of public awareness toward the gold investment is one of the problems in Malaysia. It is imperative to enhance the public awareness to the gold investment and adoption of gold investment in the investors portfolio. Gold investment is very popular in other country such as china and India during the recent years. Based on the statement from the World Gold Council (2009) the investment demand hit high at 656 tones which account for 16 per cent of total gold demand. James Burton, the CEO of the WGC has announced the investment demand for the gold market has a striking increase in the last six years. The rising demand of gold investment is due to the investors seek to further diversified their portfolio and safeguard against economic uncertainty and political instability. However this tide is not yet hit the Malaysia Investment market as compared to other country. As we can see the method of gold investment in Malaysia is enormously limited. This thesis may help the local investment institution to identify the factors that affect the adoption of the gold investment. Thus the local institution can come out with the absolute plan special cater for the local investor. It may help to establish the sound financial investment structure in Malaysia. Besides, investors are furnished to more options of investment and enhance the ability to diversify their investment portfolio. Development of a country required the liberalization of the Malaysia market so that to attract the multinational corporation expand their business locally. Generally, Malaysias local investment institution is lack of competitive advantage as compared to giant foreign investment institution. Hence government always exercise its authority to prevent the foreign institution enter into Malaysia financial market. This will be an obstacle to the government in their liberalization plan. In order to increase the competitiveness of the local investment institution, the research on perception of local investor is indispensable. It would assist the local investment institution to compete with the strong forces from overseas. In the evolution of the world monetary system, the gold is increasingly been esteemed as the new form of currency after the abandoned of the Bretton Woods System in year 1973. The loss of confident towards the paper notes and some professionals have pointed out gold as a true form of medium of exchange. Greer (2005) has defined the money is backed by nothing other than the confidence that its holders place in the issuing bank. The paper notes will be able to exchange for goods and as way to store their wealth. However, it depends on the ability of that government to keep inflation under control. The problem of the fiat money have cause the Zimbabwe nation suffer from the hyperinflation due to the excessive money supply. Malaysian should employ some inflationary hedging instrument to avoid the unwanted event. The rising demand for gold in the countries such as china, India, United state and Australia in gold investment have significantly drive the gold investment as part the portfolio investment tools worldwide. Malaysia is still on the developing stage of this form of investment instrument. Thus we are rarely seen the Malaysian investors holding their portfolio with the portion of gold investment. Even gold is superior and have been widely adopted in other countries. 1.4 Objective of study The General objective of this research is to examine the perception of Malaysian toward gold investment. Investor perception toward gold investment is extremely important when come to the promotion of the gold investment. Here is to study what is investor view on the gold investment. What investor perceive the gold investment and what is image of gold investment that in the eye of investor. Special objectives: 1. To determine the adoption of gold investment in Malaysia There some relevant cause and effect relationship of the low adoption of the gold investment. Why gold investment is not popular and widely adopt by the investor as compare to other investment or saving plan. One of the objectives of this thesis is to discover the factors that associate with the degree of espousal to gold investment. 2. To determine the factor affect the gold investment among Malaysian Gold investment is prominent investment vehicle and is widely embraced. The factors affect the gold investment adoption in Malaysia provide insight to the investment institution to cater local investors need. 3. To determine the relationship between perception and adoption of gold investment Is the Malaysians perception toward gold investment having significant relationship with the adoption of gold investment? The perception is the behavioural aspect of human thinking and the adoption is the actual action takes by the Malaysian. Hence, the relationship will be examined in this research. 1.5 Significant of study Based on the investor perception toward gold investment, bank and the investment institution can formulate the gold investment plan to gratify the local investor needs. Malaysia is gradually moving to the liberalization era in different area especially banking area. Due to the open forces from the foreign financial institution, local banks and investment branches are increasingly focus on the customer services and their facilities improvement. By understanding the local investor perception toward the gold investment, local banks or other local investment institution will be able to compete with other foreign giant finance and investment institution. The local investment institution professionalism and customer service is improved if the research and development are increasingly focused on the development of facilities. In addition, government will be eased when implementing the liberalization plan if the local financial institutions are employed with the strong competitive advantages . Malaysia evolves to a resilient nation as we moving deeply into the liberalization era. Thus the local banking system needs to have more inputs to renovate the investment structure in Malaysia. This research enhances the ability to attract the foreign direct investment due to the liberalization of the market. The demand of Malaysia currency is indirectly driven by the foreign direct investment. Hence it will strengthen the Malaysia currency to other nations currencies rate. This research contributes to the Malaysia financial market stability and development while the losses of the investors had been minimized due to the â€Å"safe haven† protection of gold investment. It enhances the resiliency and stability to country financial market, because the losses of investor is been reduced. In addition, local consumers and market players are given the opportunity to variety of choices and enjoy the privilege in term of banking products and services from the open force of the liberalization. Hence it boosts the local investor and market player confident toward the local banking and finance institution. Gold investment in Malaysia is not well known investment vehicle to investors even though there are rising demand of the gold investment from the global perspective. Thus, analyze Malaysia perception toward the gold investment is a vital driver which directly influences the gold investment demand in Malaysia. During the economy difficulties, the consumer are generally suffer from the rising price of the necessities. The decrease of the consumer spending will detain the recovery of the local economy system. If Malaysians engage in some sort of inflationary hedging instrument, the situation will be ease. The inflation problem will not distress the nation seriously as the investors are protected against inflation. From the gold investment facilities provided in Malaysia, we can draw the conclusion of the Malaysia gold investment industry is not well-crafted as compared to other foreign country. There is the need to produce more research topic related to the Malaysia gold investment industry. The research can extend the investor knowledge toward Malaysia gold investment market and also create the awareness to the gold investment opportunity. Malaysia aims to establish a knowledge-based society which is stated in the National Vision Policy (NVP). Hence, in order to consistent with National Vision Policy the extension of the knowledge in gold investment is one of the significant of study in this research. Diversification enables investor to minimize their risk in their portfolio. Investors are given more option to diversify their investment portfolio instead of the current common type of investment vehicle. The inflation rate surge high every year, the real wealth of the investor is diminish over time if they do not involve in the inflationary hedging activities. Among the inflationary hedging activities, gold investment is the safer form of instrument. It is because gold have the high demand and high intrinsic value instead of the legal tender given by the authorities. In addition, the gold is durable and imperishable even for thousands of years. Thus, it acts as a superb value storing asset among others. Risk adverse investors such as elderly will be able to keep their wealth more efficiently and withstand the uncertainty in future. This study provides the important feature of the gold investment which can benefit investor especially during the economic uncertainty period. 1.6 Organization of study In this research project, there are total of five chapters and the title for this research is â€Å"the perception of Malaysian toward gold investment; an empirical study. In chapter one, the overview of the gold investment and benefit of gold investment is included in this research. Besides, the problem statements give an illustration of the problem of gold investment in Malaysia. After that objective of study and significant is study is developed and explained briefly. Chapter two is the literature review; the information is obtained from various sources such as the, research journal, bank catalogue, newspaper, book, and website. In this chapter, the variables are studied clearly and the independent variables are further justified. Chapter two included the study of gold supply and demand, characteristics of gold and gold investment opportunity in Malaysia. After that, the independent variable is studied accordingly. In chapter three, the Research Framework and model specification is developed. Theory of reasoned action has been employed in this study. After that, the hypothesis is established for ten independent variables. Research design is stated in this chapter and it provides detailed information for the method of study. Research sample, questionnaire design, data analysis method is included in this chapter. Chapter four is about the result analysis which the data will be analyzed and interpreted. Finally, chapter five is the recommendation and conclusion of the study. Chapter 2: literature review 2.1 Gold supply and demand Precious metal has the feature of the currency and it possesses the intrinsic value besides the legal tender given by government (Greer, 2005). Hence, investor tend to put their money in gold during time of uncertainty and when they loss confident toward the paper currency (Rusell, 2009). Recent years, there is an increase demand in this real asset due to the loss of confidence toward the paper currency (Willie, 2009). Gold price is demand on the demand and supply mechanism in short-run. Gold demand is high in the country such as East Asia, India and Middle East. In addition, China, India, USA, Italy, and Turkey accounted 55% of the total gold demand of the world. The gold demand can be divided into the jewellery demand, investment demand and industrial demand (Lutter, 2009). Jewellery demand has a highest percentage to the total gold demand. India is the largest jewellery demand due the cultural and religious tradition which is independent to the economic variable. The investment demand which is the primary consideration in this research mean the gold is been traded over-the-counter market. The investment demand has a dramatically increase over last five year which shown a 412% in term of value (World gold council, 2009). More investors seeking gold as protection against the instability of numerous macro-economic variables such as inflation, currency exchange rate, and interest rate (Levin and Wright, 2006). In industrial demand, gold has been use as the thermal and electrical conductor, the demand arises from the use as an electrical components. On the supply side, it is come from the mine production, central bank holding, recycled gold and gold production. The mine production is inelastic to the changes in price and demand due to the long mining process. Recycled gold is from the process of extract and melt down of the jewellery and electrical components (World Gold Council, 2009). 2.2 The characteristic of gold Gold have variety of characteristics besides the independent variable stated in this research. For example, gold possess the characteristics of liquidity, store of value, durability, unit of account and Malleable. The characteristics of the gold provide strong foundation of the demand for the gold especially during the recession or economic uncertainty period. According to world gold Council (2009), the liquidity risk of the gold is relatively low as compare to other investment vehicle especially during the economic hardship. Murray (2004) said that the gold market provide high liquidity to investor when they are in the need of the fund. According to Sathye (2003), the collateral is a second source of repayment to the loan. The Marketability of the asset is an important consideration to the lending decision. The Marketability of the asset depends on the acceptability of the particular asset. Gold has the characteristic of acceptability. Levin Wright (2006) stated that gold is widely acceptable and investor can sell the gold whenever they need the liquidity of the fund. The According to Harmston (1998), gold can uphold its real purchasing power in long run. He claim that gold have consistent value storing ability even at the economic instability. Sjaastad, Larry and Scacciavillani (1996) claimed that when world inflation is surging higher, gold is performance its remarkable function as a value storing instrument. Dubey, Geanakoplos Shubik, (2003) said that gold is a form of commodity money and it can store the value. However gold is durable as compare to other commodities. Besides, the durability of the gold is prominent as a value storing asset. In chemical term, gold is a chemical element with symbol Au and atomic number of 79. This metal has the high thermal and electrical conductivity, resistance of corrosion and malleable characteristics (Wikipedia, 2009). Gold has an atomic number of 79 and atomic weight of 196.967. Gold has high melting point which at 1064.43 °C. Beside, gravity of gold is 19.3 and can be explained as 19.3 times weight than equal volume of water (National Mining Association, 2004). 2.3 Gold investment prospect in Malaysia Gold is an efficient investment vehicle for preservation of wealth and a store of value during the economy volatility especially the high inflationary period. The special features of gold such as diversifier, safe haven, inflationary hedge, universal acceptance, and transportability have make the gold demand the superior choice for investment purpose. In Malaysia, investors have some ways to participate in the gold investment market either physically and non-physically holding of gold. Firstly, we discuss the physically holding of the gold in Malaysia. The Commercial bank investment branches have contributes some fine-tuning gold investment account such as Maybank, Public Bank, Standard Charter Bank, and Bank Negara Malaysia. Maybank offers their gold investment account which called Gold Savings Passbook Account (GSPA). The minimum first purchase is 5 grams only. The weight of gold holdings can be converted to Ringgit Malaysia at the prevailing market gold price and the selling price will be update at the Maybank website from time to time (Maybank, 2008) Public Bank provides the Public Bank Gold Investment Account for investor to participate at the gold market. Public Bank Gold Investment Account having the similar concept with the Maybank Gold Saving Passbook Account. The only difference is the minimum first purchase is 20 gram. Bank can make available the physical gold upon customer require physical withdrawal of gold. A minimum quantity of 2 grams of gold should be maintained by the customer as an assurance of the account is in active mode (Public Bank, 2008). Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad offered its retail investment gold to investor with the launch of Premium Currency Investment Gold (PCi Gold). PCI Gold is a dual currency investment which means that contain both USD and gold. However the minimum amount of 250,000 is required to operate the account with the possession ranging from one week, two week and one month (Standard Chartered Bank). For the gold investment passbook provided by the Public Bank and Maybank is quite similar, the trading record for the gold investment is recorded in a passbook provided to investor. This type of gold investment in generally back by the real gold. However the disadvantage of the gold investment passbook is the investor will not be given any interest and dividend. Investors just make a profit when they sell the gold at higher price. In addition, the bank will charges the gold investment passbo ok holder when the convert or sell their gold holding. When investor buy the gold through the gold investment passbook the price will be slightly higher that the prevailing world gold price. Bank Negara offers the Kijang Emas Gold Bullion Coins. By issue the Kijang Emas Gold Bullion Coins, Malaysia become the 12th country issue its own gold bullion coins. The Kijang Emas Gold Bullion Coin purchase and reselling price is determined by the prevailing international gold market price (BNM, 2002). Investor can buy other bullion coins in some international company such as the Canadian Maple Leaf, American Eagle, and Australian Kangaroo Nugget. The gold investment that involve in non-physically holding of the gold in Malaysia includes gold fund, gold related fund and units trust that involve gold as a core element. The exchange trade fund (ETFs) which is trade similarly as stock or bond. ETFs track the index movement and performance and it is listed on stock exchange (Bursa Malaysia, 2009). Gold exchange trade fund (ETF) is another option for investors and it is listed and traded just as the stock exchange. ETFs enable investor to take part in gold market without investors physically own the gold because it tracks the price performance of the gold bullion. However gold exchange trade fund is still not available in Malaysia. Investor can invest in ETF in Singapore through foreign trading account offered by a local securities firm and investor is subject to the currency risk Gold fund and gold-related funds can be defined as unit trust funds that pool investor fund for investment in gold and other precious metals and investor vary from individuals, corporations to government institutions with common investment objectives. Investor can benefit from the expertise of fund manager who administer the pool fund investment rather that do internal data collection by themselves. There are only one gold fund is available in Malaysia with the minimum investment set at US$150,000 which equivalent to RM513, 000. For gold related fund, investor can just invest minimum of RM 1, 000 to diversify their investment portfolio. (New Straits Times, 2009) The above information provides an insight and general idea to the way to participate in gold investment industry in Malaysia. Investors need the timely information to make their decision on selecting the proper way go investment and investment instrument. According to Lutter (2008), investor will search for the particular investment vehicle before they add the instrument into their investment portfolio. Investor will normally seek information for these four categories, individual, salesperson and advertisement, public communication instruments and personal observation. 2.4 The independent variables of the intention to adopt gold investment among Malaysian In this chapter, the independent variables that are expected to have significant relationship toward the intention to adopt gold investment will be examined. The dependent variable is the intention that Malaysian investor employ the gold investment as part of their investment portfolio. The potential independent variables are the inflationary hedge, currency rate, diversifier and safe haven, time horizon, third party influences, cultural influences, risk averse, advertisement, and professionalism. The independent variable is grouped according to Maheran, Nursuzila and Aspiyati (2008) which adopt the theory of reasoned action. Besides, some mortification is made to tally with this research special requirement. The advertisement and professionalism is common type of independent variable that influences the adoption of some products or services. Advertisements play an important role to persuade consumer intention to accept the products and services. Professionalism is needed especially for the investment sector; investors are generally employs less information than the agent and the professional in the field. 2.5 Economic Factor and gold investment Purchasing power of gold is maintain even the transformation of the era is remarkably significant and the purchasing power of the contemporary currency is diminished gradually (Greer, 2005). In year 1945, Breton wood agreement which endorse by the United States Congress was set the gold exchange standard. The standard involves setting par values for currencies in term of gold and the member countries is required to convert foreign official holdings of their currencies into gold at the prevailing par value. Breton wood system had fixed the 35 US dollar equivalent to 1 ounce of gold to establish the global currency standard (Dammasch, 2005). According to world gold council (2009), the current gold price is increase sharply and currently one ounce of gold is approximately equivalent to 1079 US dollar per ounce. From the above , we can notice that the purchasing power of US currencies has generally declined due to the impact of rising prices for goods and services. Consequently, gold is always in pursuit by the investor when there is fluctuation in the currencies and economy. According to World gold council (2006), the robust growth of the gold investment demand recent year can be attributed to the factors such as macro-economic and the political instability. Economic factors have high contribution to the gold investment demand and the US dollar plays a crucial role in this aspect. According to Levin and Wright (2006), gold is prominent for its inverse relationship with the US dollar. During the drop in the currency rate of the US dollar recently, the gold price had shown a robust upward shift in the price. The currency factor contributes to investor decision making framework in adoption of gold investment (Boye, 2005). The inflationary hedging ability of gold and currency rate volatility is the key independent variable in this research and it is widely study by many of the professors (eg. Lutter, Sjaastad, Larry Scacciavillani, Worthington Pahlavani and Greer) 2.5.1. Inflationary hedge and gold investment Under the overwhelming financial emergency in 2008, investors are alert to the predictable inflation in the coming future; they realize the advantage of possessing gold, this drive the gold investment demand in China (China research and intelligence, 2009). In consistent with the china research and intelligences finding, world gold council researcher shown that the gold price remains high and stable at around US$ 989/oz in the first quarter of 2009. The scenario is driven by the anxious of investors toward the stability of the financial system, risk aversion, future possibility of inflation and as well as deflation (WGC, 2009). The World gold Council and China researcher predict the gold demand increase during the late 2008 is driven by the inflation and economy uncertainty. In Lutter (2008) study he shown that investor treat gold investment as the superior investment instrument and belief it will give the return which is higher that the inflation rate. Thus investor will demand gold during the inflationary period. According to Worthington and Pahlavani (2007), they claimed that commodities are the best way to hedge against rising prices which reduce the returns of purely financial assets like stocks and bonds. Worthington and Pahlavani point out that gold is special which unlike most commodities; gold is durable, relatively transportable, universally acceptable and easily authenticated. The commodities hedging ability is supported by Ranson and Wainwright (2005)

Jazz Concert Review

Concert Evaluation Guidelines: MUS 2014: General guidelines to writing the paper. AFTER THE CONCERT Write your paper as soon as possible after the concert while the experience is fresh in your mind. What you include in you Concert Review will depend largely on the concert you attend. FORMAT Typed: double-spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman, one inch margins Title page: Concert title, performers (do not list performers in larger ensembles), date of concert, course number and section, your name, and date. Length: No more than three pages. Assemble: All concert reports must be stapled, with the concert program stapled behind your paper.Your name should be on each page, and also on the program. Programs: Attendance at a live performance is required; streaming concerts are not acceptable for this assignment. The concert program must be turned in with your paper; papers submitted without programs will not be accepted. Printed PDF programs and Xerox copies will also not be accepted. Be advise d that a well-attended performance may run out of programs; be sure to arrive early to get a program. STYLE Write your paper in the first person. This is about your concert experience and your reactions. Avoid jargon, slang, and wordiness.Points will be deducted for grammatical and spelling errors. CONTENT What do you include in your paper? The most important goal of the concert-going experience is to enjoy the music. If you are busy taking notes and trying to remember everything that you hear, then you are not listening and reflecting. There is not time to analyze the music in great detail in the context of a concert. The primary goals are to listen, enjoy, reflect, and to later articulate your impressions using musical terminology to the best of your ability through the writing of your Concert Review.What to include: Your paper should follow a standard format including an introductory paragraph, body (one paragraph on each work), conclusions, and a closing paragraph. Introduction: Include name of ensemble(s) and/or soloists performing and the genre of music being performed (eg. Swing, Latin, BeBop, etc.. ). Body: Dedicate one paragraph to each work of music. In each paragraph give the name of the piece, composer, and performer(s) (if different from one to the next). For concerts with several shorter works, these paragraphs will be brief. You MUST attend the entire performance. For concerts with several works, a minimum of 4 works is required) †¢ If possible, include historical context. Include the time period. Were there musical characteristics from that time period that you were able to recognize? Did the piece sound like other pieces in that time period that you heard in class? †¢ Most importantly, include your overall impressions of each piece. Did you like or dislike the work? What was it that you liked or disliked? Using musical terminology articulate to the best of your ability what you liked. †¢ Can you relate the piece to anything you have listened to in class? Had you heard the piece before?Conclusions/Closing Paragraph: †¢ Did you enjoy one piece of music more than others? If so, why? †¢ Have you been to a concert of this type before? †¢ How does attending a live concert influence your listening? †¢ What did you think of the quality of the performance? †¢ Given the opportunity, would you go to another concert of this type? Things to Avoid: †¢ Do not give a â€Å"play by play† of the pieces. â€Å"First the piano†¦ † â€Å"Next the Saxophones†¦ † then the percussion†¦. † †¢ Do not take unnecessary space with long lists of instruments, and performers. †¢ Avoid overused words like upbeat, smooth, entertaining, and cool. Avoid redundancies. For example, if an entire concert of music is from the Swing era, this does not need to be stated in each paragraph. †¢ Do not call a piece of music a â€Å"song† unless it has words an d someone was singing. †¢ Do not use additional sources without citing them. THE UNIVERSITY WRITING CENTER The University Writing Center is located on the bottom level of the Belk Library and Information Commons, in Room 008. Consultants will work with you one-on-one and provide assistance with style, organization, content, grammar, and documentation. For more information, visit www. writingcenter. appstate. du; or call 262-3144 to make an appointment. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY As a community of learners atAppalachian State University, we must create an atmosphere of honesty, fairness, and responsibility, without which we cannot earn the trust and respect of each other. Furthermore, we recognize that academic dishonesty detracts from the value of anAppalachian degree. Therefore, we shall not tolerate lying, cheating, or stealing in any form and will oppose any instance of academic dishonesty. This course will follow the provisions of the Academic Integrity Code, which can be found on the Office of Student Conduct Web Site: Jazz Concert Review Mus1104 Concert Review A Night of Jazz with the University Jazz Bands The concert I chose to attend was the University Jazz Bands’ Student Ensemble Concert on Wednesday, March 6, 2013. The concert featured two ensembles, both the Virginia Tech Jazz Ensemble and the Jazz Lab Band. At this concert, I was both a perceptive listener due to my knowledge of music and music performance, and a casual listener enjoying my friends performing a great concert. I enjoy my nature of listening because I can appreciate the music on many different levels, and get much more out of the performances than the casual listener.The concert was entirely jazz music, performing hits by Tommy Wolf, Duke Ellington, Mike Tomaro, and on. The ensembles varied in exact composition, but both contained: alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones; trumpets and trombones; drums, bass, piano, and guitar. A performer of every instrument had a solo and one point or another in the various songs, which provided not only a g reat chance to hear individual musician’s talents, but also a great opportunity to hear how the instrument itself can be used in jazz improvisation and how styles vary from instrument to instrument due to the nature of playing/performing them.There were nine songs performed at the concert, each with their own unique melody and form, but all following the jazz standards. The first song, â€Å"Rosewood,† was written by Woody Shaw and was performed by the Jazz Lab Band. The song features a fast presto tempo, fast with engineering and a driving bass line. A quarter of the way through the song, there’s a great trumpet solo blaring over a more subdued standard jazz riff, which goes straight into a tenor saxophone solo. The saxophone solo developed nicely upon the trumpet solo, both incorporating the first melody with some minor improvisations.The song had three themes, which were played in an ABACA pattern. The song was generally polyphonic, with one soloist or instru ment group playing a melody (theme) while the other instruments provided harmonies. The contrast between the trumpet section’s unity and the saxophones’ varying parts added depth to the song. The second song was â€Å"Dat Dere† was written by Bobby Timmons but arranged by Mark Taylor. In contrast to â€Å"Rosewood,† this song features a main theme that recurs throughout, with episodes throughout which develop upon the theme before it is repeated in its original form again.It featured a trombone solo which was unique to hear for me, because most pieces I’ve heard feature saxophone and trumpets but never a trombone. â€Å"Dat Dere† also features the typical saxophone and trumpet solos, however those follow the trombone. The tempo is more relaxed than that of â€Å"Rosewood† and is just below an allegro. However, the energy and enthusiasm of the musicians made it lively even though it wasn’t fast-paced. The third piece, Sammy Nest ico’s â€Å"Basie, Straight Ahead† also had a unique solo: the piano.The pianist had been switching between piano and keyboard for the first two songs, and in â€Å"Basie, Straight Ahead† finally got his time to shine. The piece emphasizes syncopation like none other, with the melody being one syncopated measure after another. There was great conversation between the saxophones and the trumpets, firing back and forth at each other with their music. The tempo was similar to that of â€Å"Dat Dere†. Towards the end, the drums really emphasize the syncopation by playing on the beat so that you can clearly hear that everyone else is off the beat.The next song the Jazz Lab Band played was â€Å"C-Jam Blues† by Duke Ellington, a classic jazz piece featuring a distinctive motif that is played over and over again. The theme is then developed upon by a few soloists, taking a simple two measure phrase and turning it into great ditty. The trumpet players make great use of Harmon Wah-wah mutes, keeping in the style of the original song by the Duke. Definitely the most laid back piece with regards to tempo, â€Å"C-Jam Blues† is definitely more bluesy than jazz.After the blues, the Band went into Tommy Wolf’s â€Å"Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most† which ended up morphing into â€Å"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy† by Josef Zawinul. It opens with a beautiful slow piano solo which is quickly followed by a beautifully flowing saxophone solo. Definitely a song of polyphony to start, the saxophone soloist keeps going while the rest of the band accompanies quietly in the background. As soon as the solo is over though, the song quickly sped up and the background temporarily took over the melody, before the solo began some great improvisation upon the main theme.After the saxophonist, the drummer takes over for some great rhythmic variations. After a brief intermission, the Jazz Ensemble performed four pieces, which were al l more lively, energetic, and engaging than the first half. It was the Jazz Ensemble’s performance that I would recommend to friends, because it was much more enjoyable to watch and listen to than the Jazz Lab Band. Whether it was because of their bigger numbers or just a difference in personality of the performers, they were so much more energetic.The Ensemble’s first piece was â€Å"Max† by John Clayton, which gradually adds instruments in and gives a lot of attention to the saxophones by giving most of the melody and theme to them, unless it is being played by everyone. The trumpets break out their Harmon mutes again, which really does add a great layer of depth to the piece. The tempo was more casual than the other pieces which was a great way to relax into the second half. The next piece was â€Å"Lambeau Leap† by Fred Sturm, which quickly crescendos before a duet between the keyboardist and a trumpeter.Following them was a great guitar solo which wa s quite enjoyable, due to how great jazz guitar sounds. The theme was recurring, with an ABABA pattern throughout, with the B theme being improvisations upon the theme by soloists. The second to last piece was â€Å"Ice Castles† by Marvin Hamlisch, which was an incredible piece and was rich in melody and harmonies. Originally intended to be performed by a trumpet player Dave Detwiler, it was performed instead by the director Jason Crafton due to Mr. Detwiler getting stuck in Washington, D.C. from weather. The trumpet solos throughout the piece are quite smooth and beautiful, giving the piece a nice calm blues feeling. The piece is almost a concerto due to the nature of the trumpet solo. However, it was a great example of polyphony as the ensemble built underneath him, gradually growing in the number of people playing and in dynamic level, all the while accompanying the main trumpet’s theme. The final piece of the concert was â€Å"Minuano†, which is an intriguin g and difficult piece by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays.Starting with a swirling almost klezmer melody. The song is led by a saxophone soloist until a trombone player takes over and leads the group. A theme and variation of sorts, the main melody is constantly developed upon by various instrumental parts, the tempo changing as they go, starting from a relaxed andante and quickly working their way up. The trumpets’ final use of the Harmon mute was quite enjoyable; a personal favorite of mine. All in all, it was a great concert, with much to talk about! It gave me a new appreciation for jazz music.

Cell Phones vs. Land Lines Rough Draft

Home phones have limited eaters such as call forwarding, caller identification, vocalism, and of course free long distance. On the other hand, cell phones have a wide variety of features including but not limited to text messages, Internet, camera, e-mail, and application downloads, etc. These cell phones are also known as smart phones or Pad's. Home phone lines are good for DSL Internet connection, home security systems and faxes. Personally those are the only reasons we have a landlines In our home.Another difference between the two Is pricing, depending on the type of cell phone and the ATA package that your phone requires they can be more expensive, while your landlines has one monthly bill. Cell phones are such in demand that the local phone companies are now offering cell phone service in addition to regular home phones. While you can record music to your home phone's answering machine, a cell phone acts as a whole music system and can store hundreds to thousands of songs, depe nding on the memory on the phone.Add a memory card to your cell phone, another plus that the home phone doesn't offer, and this adds even more memory to our phone where music, photos, applications, contacts and much more can be stored. Once the memory card is removed, It can be used In another phone and so you won't lose your Information. On the other hand, reception complaints with the new Phone, and sometimes every mobile phone In the world, have made the decision to ax one's landlines less clear-cut than we thought It would be by this stage of the cell game.But as consumers continue to cut costs, more are cutting the cord. One in four homes in the U. S. Relied on cell phones alone during the last half of 2009, an increase of 1. Percentage points since the first half of 2009, according to a survey by the National Center for Health Statistics. Having a landlines means relatives and family friends can reach all members of your household (in theory) by dialing one number and/or leavi ng one message. (That's assuming voice mail in your household gets checked more than once every two months. It also means you can have several phones within your house, rather than conjoining yourself to your cell phone In order to hear Incoming calls. Landlines phones don't require you to plaster yourself against he bay window to hear and be heard. Although a landlines-based cordless phone sometimes has spotty reception If you're far from the phone's base. Relying solely on a cell phone demands diligence in keeping it charged. A landlines will work in power does require AC power, you can buy a four- to six-hour battery backup from your service provider for around $45.Verizon fiber phone service will provide you with one free. And, Consumer Reports still recommends having landlines service, because emergency services can more reliably locate you quickly from a 911 call on a landlines than from a cell phone. Based on advancements, it is reviewing that advice and may revise it later i n the year after a survey of consumers' 911 experiences. While the landlines is more reliable than the mobile phone, it lacks the ability to be carried around and utilized in all day-to-day activities.Mobile phones also provide callers with the ability to send text messages and, in some cases, take photographs, surf the Internet and play games. With cell phones, wallpapers or backgrounds can be personalized, as well as ring tones. Landlines consume more energy than cell phones, as they remain plugged in at all times. This is true of cordless landlines phones as well, because of the charger required. And while mobile phones generally do not last as long as landlines (as they often become outdated), they are easier to recycle.Mobile phones are more for people on the go, the ability to make a phone call at any time from any place have saved countless lives especially people who have been in car accidents. There are many advantages to owning a cell phone from staying connected, safety r easons and general convenience, but is that enough reason? When it comes to landlines vs.. Cell phones, landlines can't compete when t comes to features the mobile phone is way ahead when it comes to that.The downside to mobile phones is you have to keep them charged whereas a landlines you do not. When it comes down to it the deciding factor is going to be your budget if you really don't have money to spare each month, dishing out for a phone isn't going to be very helpful but if you have an extra ten dollars and you feel you could use a mobile phone for convenience or maybe to stay in touch with your spouse or children while you're out, then you might want to consider the pay as you go option.

Conjugation Tables for the Italian Verb Giocare

Giocare is a versatile Italian verb meaning to play, matter, come into play, gamble, deceive, or even trick. It is a regular  first-conjugation Italian verb.  Giocare  is either a transitive verb (meaning it takes a  direct object) or intransitive verb (meaning it does not take a  direct object) and is conjugated with the  auxiliary verb  avere. First-Conjugation Verbs Before conjugating  giocare, its important to understand what first-conjugation Italian verbs are and how they are conjugated. Verbs with infinitives ending in –are are called first-conjugation, or –are, verbs. The present tense of a regular –are verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending –are and adding the appropriate endings to the resulting stem. There is a different ending for each person. There are two types of first-conjugation verbs: with verbs like giocare ending in –care (as well as similar verbs like  cercare,  to try  and  caricare,  to charge) and –gare (such as  litigare, to fight, and  legare, to bond), you add an h immediately after the root with declinations startining with e or i to  maintain the hard c or hard g sound. The Auxiliary Verb Avere In Italian, an auxiliary verb—either  avere  (which is paired with giocare) or  essere—is used whenever forming  compound tenses. The auxiliary (or helping) verb, in combination with another, gives a particular meaning to the conjugated verb form. For example, compound tenses such as the  passato prossimo  are formed with the present indicative of the auxiliary verb  avere  or  essere  and the  participio  passato, â€Å" past participle. Conjugating Giocare The tables provide conjugations for tenses and moods of the verb giocare.  Where available, links provide an opportunity to find further information about the meaning and use of the mood or tense. Indicative/Indicativo Presente io gioco tu giochi lui, lei, Lei gioca noi giochiamo voi giocate loro, Loro giocano Imperfetto io giocavo tu giocavi lui, lei, Lei giocava noi giocavamo voi giocavate loro, Loro giocavano Passato Remoto io giocai tu giocasti lui, lei, Lei gioc noi giocammo voi giocaste loro, Loro giocarono Futuro Semplice io giocher tu giocherai lui, lei, Lei giocher noi giocheremo voi giocherete loro, Loro giocheranno Passato Prossimo io ho giocato tu hai giocato lui, lei, Lei ha giocato noi abbiamo giocato voi avete giocato loro, Loro hanno giocato Trapassato Prossimo io avevo giocato tu avevi giocato lui, lei, Lei aveva giocato noi avevamo giocato voi avevate giocato loro, Loro avevano giocato Trapassato Remoto io ebbi giocato tu avesti giocato lui, lei, Lei ebbe giocato noi avemmo giocato voi aveste giocato loro, Loro ebbero giocato Future Anteriore io avr giocato tu avrai giocato lui, lei, Lei avr giocato noi avremo giocato voi avrete giocato loro, Loro avranno giocato Subjunctive/Congiuntivo Presente io giochi tu giochi lui, lei, Lei giochi noi giochiamo voi giochiate loro, Loro giochino Imperfetto io giocassi tu giocassi lui, lei, Lei giocasse noi giocassimo voi giocaste loro, Loro giocassero Passato io abbia giocato tu abbia giocato lui, lei, Lei abbia giocato noi abbiamo giocato voi abbiate giocato loro, Loro abbiano giocato Trapassato io avessi giocato tu avessi giocato lui, lei, Lei avesse giocato noi avessimo giocato voi aveste giocato loro, Loro avessero giocato Conditional/Condizionale Presente io giocherei tu giocheresti lui, lei, Lei giocherebbe noi giocheremmo voi giochereste loro, Loro giocherebbero Passato io avrei giocato tu avresti giocato lui, lei, Lei avrebbe giocato noi avremmo giocato voi avreste giocato loro, Loro avrebbero giocato Imperative/Imperativo Presente gioca giochi giochiamo giocate giochino Infinitive/Infinito Presente giocare Passato avere giocato Participle/Participio Presente giocante Passato giocato Gerund/Gerundio Presente giocando Passato avendo giocato