GCSE year 11 gcse music advice

[Mummythehammy]

DD is in yr eleven
Wants to get high grade in gcse music
Any tips or advise
Found the book too overwhelming .

Which exam board? And which parts of the syllabus is your dd struggling with?

Does she play an instrument. Having a good understanding of music theory is worthwhile.
Also she should be encouraged to listen to all kinds of music from all eras including orchestral, jazz and more challenging musical tastes.
She should start her compositions early and work hard on them.

My daughter achieved 100% in the compositions and performance parts. But she has been playing her instrument for 8 years.

I would agree that a good knowledge of music theory helps in a lot of areas both of analysis of the set works, composition and the listening paper.

If she is doing AQA she is likely to be studying two set works in detail eg Clock Symphony and Beatles. Study guides and textbooks can help with knowledge of the techniques used in the pieces but its no good if you don't know the theory.

If she is doing Edexel she will be studying four different genres with several pieces within that genre & with suggested Wider listening pieces (I would assume in less depth than the two in AQA so for example Stage & Screen is Star Wars & Defying Gravity from Wicked.

Practice, practice & more practice. As much for the listening tasks as for the performance. DD managed up her performance grade by 2 levels through constant hard work.

And don't leave the compositions until the last minute!

Listen yo all the set works over and over, know them inside out. Think carefully about the performance pieces, as p.o. said, pick something they can do beautifully rather than something at a high grade. Check Mark scheme for compositions and ensure the brief is met.

She is preparing for grade 7 piano and made herself a folder with notes scoresheet vocabulary . I agree she needs to brush up on her theory . She is practising duet with her sister . Lots of moaning and groaning and I am feeling so scared .. is there time this being year eleven?

Any idea on duet piece to get good marks

Edexcel board

I echo PP’s advice to choose a simpler piece and play it perfectly well, with stylistic understanding and appropriate use of dynamics and expressive techniques. You only need to do a Grade 5 piece well for top marks.

Composition - ensure you meet the brief and start early with many revisions! Ensure there is a clear structure, and that attention has been paid to ALL musical elements. Basic things such as ensuring you stay within vocal/instrumental ranges, you use appropriate stylistic devices, and the brief is met is all you need. Look at previous mark schemes to get ideas.

Listening - know the set works inside out and also how they represent their wider style. Be able to describe each musical element of each set work. Listen to at least one other piece in that article and practise comparing and contrasting them. Ask the music teacher to evaluate your answers.

Practise short rhythm and melodic dictation. Do aural work identifying cadences and recognising major/minor keys; simple/compound time signatures. Ideally be able to tell the difference between Baroque and modern pitch.

Remember the composition is less about ‘expression’ and more about meeting the criteria of the brief /mark scheme.

Make regular revision notes on the set works that are revisited as other new works are introduced so they keep ‘fresh’ in your mind.

And practise performing musically, not just technically!

• in that STYLE not in that article!

In performance you get marks for technique, interpretation/expression & accuracy/fluency. Each piece performed is given a difficulty level. There is no advantage to going beyond Grade 5 (although if there is for example a Grade 6 piece she performs really well she should do that but I’d advise against attempting something of Grade 7 standard.

Not sure how you can know that Soursprout as the marks have not yet been released and it is the first sitting of the new specifications. Whilst teachers may have marked performances, they are subject to moderation and full marks can easily be moderated downwards.

As others have said, ensure pieces are played accurately and EVERY performance direction on the page is observed. Compositions need to show development of musical ideas, not just a string of different ideas tacked together. Your DD needs to know the set works really well. I told my group they needed to be able to sing them in their sleep. They need to know all the background information on each one and be able to write coherently about them.

As we have not yet seen any marks, nobody can tell you what a grade 9 looks like. I have told my lot to make sure that everything they can control is as good as it can possibly be: i.e. they know all relevant terminology, they play accurately and musically, they include performance directions in their compositions etc etc then they can access as many marks as possible.

I suggest getting hold of a revision guide. I'm pretty sure the Edexcel one has been published. As the Chief Examiners have input into the Rhinegold publications, I would look into them.

With new spec teacher advised doing grade 6 or 7 piece for performance she got grade 8 in her mocks so trying to practice more but with other demanding subjects with so much to commit to memory time is becoming an issue

Performance is only a proportion of the overall mark. She needs to focus on all areas of the course, and honestly the composition and set-works analysis is possibly even more time consuming.

If she's comfortably achieving excellent performance standard at Grade 6 or 7 pieces, 'maintenance practise' will keep her fluent!

Farangtang I love your maintenance practice ... mostly it is resurrection practise

in my house too...