Music gcse - from nothing??

[RosesforMama]

Just had a first options discussion with my year 9 boy.
Much to my surprise he claims not to want to do triple science, and wants to do music gcse in the vacant slot instead.

This boy is extremely able in maths, science, computing sphere and does well across the board. For example his French teacher sent an email saying she hopes he will do French.

However he has never shown any interest in music until very recently when he has started buying LPs (vinyl) by obscure bands with his pocket money. He has no means of playing the vinyl but says he doesn't need to, he can stream it. I have therefore been thinking of him as developing a bit of a "collector" thing. No doubt he'll buy himself hugely expensive speakers for his first home, that kind of thing.

He doesn't play any instrument and really cannot sing a note, poor lamb.

However he is very bright, can usually turn his hand successfully to most things, and is mathematically very able (Olympiad level) and I know there is often a correlation between maths and musical ability. But I always thought that if he was driven to music it might have shown before now. He never wanted lessons at primary, is pretty shy and not a performer. He doesn't fly through his music homework and his teacher certainly isn't gushing over him.

I don't like to crush him but I think he's potentially chucking away grade 8 or 9 in the triple sciences to possibly get himself, with a lot of hard work, to a possible low pass.

How hard is it to take up an instrument as a total novice at the start of gcse music, and still pass well?

My current thought is to get him some online music tuition (he says he wants to learn piano...of course we don't have one) starting immediately and see how he gets on; whether he changes his mind or it becomes clear he hasn't a hope before options have to be in.
What do others think? If it's impossible it would be useful to be able to tell him so.

If you can afford it, offer him private music lessons instead. (Factor in cost of instrument, music etc.)

Good at maths and computers may mean that he will enjoy music theory and find it satisfying to learn. But I agree that if he doesn't even sing he's got a long way to go. Find out more about what they do in class music currently, is he playing percussion instruments, has he learnt anything about notation? There are plenty of you-tube videos that show printed music while it is played - sorry I don't know how to find them, but he could look at those to see how easily he can follow a line while he listens.

If you don't have a piano then definitely look at him starting on a different instrument if he decides he is serious about wanting to do music, he's likely to make faster progress from beginner status.

Good luck helping him come to terms with making a sensible decision about this ...

There's quite a lot of incorrect information on here. Firstly, the split between the different components. Since idiot Gove got his hands on the curriculum, Music GCSE is 30% performing, 30% composing, 40% listening/appraising across all the different exam specifications.

I always ask mine, what are you thinking of doing for your performances? If they say "I can sing" or "I learn the flute", great. If not, I remind them that's 30% they need. To all those saying that Directors of Music insist on...., maybe they do in private schools, but in the state sector, we don't. Performances can also be sequenced, so if the OP's DS is interested in electronic music, that could be worth considering.

I have just put this on another thread. You DON'T need grade 5 Theory. Yes, some of it is useful, but not that much. You need a good knowledge of the elements of music: dynamics, rhythm, structure, melody, instrumentation, tempo, texture, timbre & harmony. I've probably missed something out, but you get the gist.

As for the "my DC did it last year and got a B", they haven't given out grade B in England for a number of years. The last lot who did get those grades are now at university. They are graded 9-1, 9 being the highest.

I currently teach Music up to A level. If you would rather take this chat private OP, feel free to message me. Not everybody needs a grade 9 in every subject. Sometimes students need to study something which is a release for them, something that they truly love, and they aren't so bothered about the actual grade. If that is the case for your DS, good for him.

I'm glad to read the last two much more encouraging posts and agree that there was a lot of incorrect advice in some of the earlier posts.

The 'from nothing' in the title is very misleading. No one in year 9 will be doing music 'from nothing'. They will have been studying it from year 1 onwards!

Yes, some children will have an advantage if they have private tuition, but that's true of many subjects! It is not necessary to have private lessons on a classical instrument. Those who are not as accomplished instrumentalists are often encouraged to sing, but the definition of 'performing' is much wider than many people think it is and includes DJ-ing.

My son only began piano lessons in the January of Year 9.

However he was also an excellent singer and has perfect pitch and he became obsessed with music theory & composing. His previous school had covered some music theory in years 7 & 8.

He got an 8 in his GCSE & is currently on a music Btec and applying for music at Uni next year. He obsessively practices piano for hours at a time.

DC1 is Y11 -and had just got Grade 1 (distinction) at start of Y10. Currently working on Grade 5. Gets 9s consistently for performance, so I don't think it is right at all to say you need to have been playing beforehand or have various grade exams behind you. Has lessons out of school. Very charismatic and just great subject teacher in school. and has been an absolute blessing during lockdown. Always something to do, brilliant for mental health. However, my DC despises the theory/appraising part of the GCSE and thus only likely to get a 5 or 6 if he pulls his finger out of his lazy arse.

I would think less about "throwing away an 8" than overall enjoyment of 2 years of schooling and the potential to have a thing that he is "into". I would make sure your son knows exactly what is involved in the GCSE course. Have you spoken to the teacher about their approach and views?

I've thought of something else. A previous poster gave a gloom & doom description of composing. For the board we use, candidates have to submit a recording and (ideally) a score, but this could take a number of different forms. The recordings are often computer generated, which is fine. The score could be printed notation, a lead sheet or something else that makes the candidates intentions very clear.

Why not use the current situation as an opportunity to explore some free music software? I am using MuseScore with my year 8s. Even the non instrumentalists/singers have got to grips with it and managed to use it to compose a Christmas song for me. We're now moving onto BandLab, (the edu. version). Whilst there are lots of loops already in there, you can play your own parts in or record audio/midi. I have had students use GarageBand to compose fantastic disco or Bhangra pieces in years gone by.

At the end of the day, you can play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for your performance; you just won't score that many marks. But if you have 2 years to learn two pieces, I reckon that's do-able, even starting from scratch now.