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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

GCSE Music question - required level for performance?

30 replies

circular · 09/02/2012 14:05

Getting mixed info.

School say grade 3 to 4 standard is sufficient.

Music school (teacher is also an examiner) say Grade 3 standard OK for C Grade, for A/A* grade 5 at least.

DD in a quandry as wants to get as near full marks as she can as performance is her strongest. Due to logistics, school want her to do the ensemble work on an instrument which she is a lower standard on.

Exam board ED-EXCEL, and performances will be completed in 2012/2013.

OP posts:

Colleger · 09/02/2012 14:10

I thought it was grade 5 but a great grade 3 performance is better than a poor grade 5.

webwiz · 09/02/2012 14:45

I think the difficulty standard of the performance pieces can be Standard (grade 4), Easier (grade 3) or More difficult (grade 5). The grades don't match exactly so the specification gives details of the relevant standards for each instrument

www.edexcel.com/quals/gcse/gcse09/music/Pages/default.aspx

The performance score can be adjusted upwards or downwards by 4 marks for the level of difficulty. But as the solo performance is out of 30 it is still possible to get an A on the easier piece if you play it very well.

DS is aiming for a good standard performance.

gramercy · 09/02/2012 15:10

I'm confused.

So why wouldn't a grade 5,6,7 or even grade 8 student just play a grade 3 piece? Why would anyone bust a gut when doing something much easier could get the same mark?

Colleger · 09/02/2012 15:14

Maybe they don't play a harder piece.

webwiz · 09/02/2012 15:22

It usually depends on more practical things such as what you are working on in your instrument lessons. So if you are a grade 7 student and you have something you've been practising for ages for an exam you might actually find that "easier" to perform that going back to a lower grade piece. But you are free to perform something easier than that.

I think it is more about setting a comparable level of difficulty for all the candidates and then applying the marking criteria. So yes if you are a grade 8 student you should be able to do a better grade 4 standard performance than someone who has only just reached that level.

webwiz · 09/02/2012 15:24

should read "rather than going back to a lower grade piece"

zeezywoo · 09/02/2012 15:57

i think the gcse performances are graded on 3 levels of difficulty, and i think grade 4/5 would be counted as the top level. my daughter was grade 7 when she did her gcse music (last year) and her teacher told her to play a grade 5 piece really well rather than a grade 7 one to get a better mark, she got an A.

i think for an ensemble it is judged more as a whole performance so as long as she plays well she would be able to achieve a high mark

roisin · 09/02/2012 17:32

ds2's music teacher said they can get an A* if they can play a grade 3 piece to distinction standard.

Theas18 · 09/02/2012 18:01

We've been told that an easy piece fantastically ie grade 4-5 will get the same marks as a grade 7-8 piece that is clearly stretching your ability.

It's a "performance" and that is what they want.

Original poster

circular · 09/02/2012 19:39

Thanks for all takes on this.

Webwiz - I'd seen the spec on the Edexcel site. Was not sure what grade each column relates to though. Whilst DD would be fine for the highest standard on her first instrument, she would be somewhere in between the lower and the middle on her 2nd or 3rd instruments.

Zeezywoo - if you dont mind me asking, does that mean your DD got an A for the performance or overall? Was she able to get fill marks for the performance with the grade 5 piece?

DD can play to grade 7/8 standard on her first instrument, but was planning to play a grade 5 piece for the solo, if more marks cannot be obtained by playing a higher grade piece.

Unfortunately,all her ensemble work on that instrument us thrift her music school that isn't local. There's nobody at school she can ensemble with on that, and school have said she must be assessed at school. Which means sheeill have to play an instrument she is only grade 3/4 standard on.

OP posts:

webwiz · 09/02/2012 20:00

Circular is there no one else who can do the ensemble with her? DD1 did hers with her younger sister - which was good on one hand as they could practice at home but it did have a tendency to get a bit hysterical! DS will probably do his with his guitar teacher.

maddiemostmerry · 09/02/2012 20:20

We have been told the same as Zeezeywoo, play a simpler piece really well rather than possibly over stretch.
My ds is taking his GCSE this year. He is grade 5 and predicted A.

Original poster

circular · 09/02/2012 20:31

webwiz - school have said she can bring someone in from outside. But those she duets with from music school are at least an hour away and have school themselves. It's a big committment for the other person, as they have to attend for both the mock and the real performance.

I seem to recall her music school teacher saying they can assess the GCSE performance there, but her normal school have said NO. Apparantly, the head of music would also need to attend?

I;ve been searching for the rules on this, but not found anything yet. Should call EDEXCEL and check.

OP posts:

mycatsaysach · 09/02/2012 20:40

agree with other posters

ds played a grade 2 piece perfectly and got an a grade dd has just done her performance this week on a grade 2 and is hoping for the same

neither of them are taking instrument lessons now but did in junior school

RaspberryLemonPavlova · 09/02/2012 21:05

My son has just picked music as one of his options; he is already Grade 5 on 2 instruments. Head of Music told us they liked students to be Grade 6 by exam time as they were actually aiming for a a good, confident Grade 5.

I'm not sure they even accept people on GCSE unless they are already Grade 3.

The syllabus they follow places emphasis on performance though, perhaps that is the difference.

webwiz · 09/02/2012 21:08

I think you'll need to get the rules for performances outside school from Edexcel
Circular then you'll know whether there's a way round it.

I would have thought she could still get a high mark even on her second instrument as a lot of the marks for the ensemble are for keeping in time and actually performing together rather than for the difficulty of the music they are playing.

BackforGood · 09/02/2012 21:48

This is just for my curiosity really, as d niece isn't going to do it, but...
she's an excellent guitarist and the music teacher at her school was trying to get her to sign up to do music GCSE. dn said she wasn't going to as she couldn't read music (all guitar pieces she plays she reads the letter of the chord "A"/ "Cm" etc.). The music teacher was trying to convinvce her that wouldn't matter, and she didn't need to be able to read music to take a GCSE. Could this really be true or is the music teacher so desparate for numbers for her GCSE course she is planning to teach her to read enough music during Yr 10 ?

EternalFootman · 09/02/2012 21:52

I did my music GCSE in 1999, when I'd had Grade 8 distinction for two years. I desperately wanted to perform the fantastic scary-hard modern piece I'd been working on, but my music teacher put his foot down. In the end I played a Grade 5 piece I'd learned in primary school and got full marks. So yes, no point busting a gut! :)

mycatsaysach · 09/02/2012 22:26

back for good

no you don't need to read music - dd says it helps though

BackforGood · 09/02/2012 22:50

wow! I'm stunned at that! I'd have thought you'd need it for composing and the like (although I know she composes for the guitar without being able to read music). Amazing!
Thanks for answering me

mycatsaysach · 09/02/2012 22:55

just checked with dd and she confirmed that ds can't read music - but he his doing a level music tech and has offers to study music at uni this autumn

mycatsaysach · 09/02/2012 22:55

is not his

BackforGood · 09/02/2012 23:10

thanks mycatsaysach - you learn something every day, don't you ?

mycatsaysach · 09/02/2012 23:24

no probs

Ponders · 10/02/2012 00:03

DD2 took music GCSE in 2001 & iirc had to have passed Grade 5 theory in order to do it. at the time I think she was playing at Grade 6 level (flute) & she ended up with a B - no idea what level piece she performed though

maybe it was just her school but I'm sure being able to read and write music was essential for her

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