Music GCSE - no brainer or waste of an option?

[FlamingoMoon]

DS shortly needs to decide on options. Strongly considering music, currently at G6 level in woodwind. Some advice seems to be, why not take GCSE, you can utilise your current skills in the performance element and learn new ones in composition etc, but others suggest it's a waste of an option and you should just continue music out of school.

So other choices under consideration are French, Geography and Computer Studies. Would also like to do Spanish and History, although I think they have been relegated to the 'not quite' pile! Still leaves 5 into 4 though.

So French, geography, art and music sounds good to me. haha that's almost what DD did (drama not art!).

DS2 did computer science and he found it quite challenging. You have to be keen on programming as I understand it; ds2 thought he might scrape a 5 tho in fact he got a good 6. Nothing wrong with a 6 but he did better in other subjects.

It really depends if he sees himself doing music A level - tho as others have said, even that is very possible with a good grades on external exams.

I might avoid both art and music.

Maybe art, French, geography and history?

although Art is a total time suck, Music isn't really too bad

True, it's nowhere near as much of a time suck as art. For some students it is a breeze. At grade 6, your DS may well have things in his repertoire to cover all the performance part without any practice. It's the composition that can be struggle for some DC, whereas other students can write something that gets full marks in an hour or two. Maybe have a look at all the many GCSE compositions/tutorials posted on YouTube to see how your DS feels?

My dd did art and music she did well in both and found the coursework doable, she is good at coursework though quite self motivated and organised. The hardest thing for her was performing as she was not used to it and had some stage fright.
She also did computer science and coped with the coding ok even though she hadn't done it before but it would certainly be an advantage to be a keen coder and enjoy coding as there is quite a lot to do.

I think all dc should have some arts education - music, drama or art. I would also consider doing 2x MFL. That’s a huge advantage when it comes to university applications.

Does the school not offer DT at gcse?

@PresentingPercy

I think all dc should have some arts education - music, drama or art. I would also consider doing 2x MFL. That’s a huge advantage when it comes to university applications.

Does the school not offer DT at gcse?

If they're doing music out of school, they're getting some arts education. School isn't the only source of education!

He enjoys coding - it's actually the rest of the CS syllabus that is giving pause, potentially it looks a bit boring tbh!

Yes, lots of Tech, Food, Textiles and all kinds of workshop Tech, but not Graphics. And he hates workshop tech.

My dd loved Music GCSE and is now enjoying A Level Music as well. In terms of composition, she has always found having piano as a third instrument (on top of brass and voice) to be a massive help. She picked it up in Year 8. Her friends who only have voice, for example, have found composition much more challenging.

Well that is a point of concern. DS has limited keyboard skills, although we do have a decent full size keyboard at home. The composition he has done has all been online, and quite basic.

You don't need keyboard skills if you have (computer) keyboard and mouse skills.

Piano and guitar are helpful because of the knowledge and understanding of chords and it's a bit quicker if you can play your entire composition rather than having to plug the notes into the computer. Grade 5 theory, aural tests in music exams and having done some composition will set him in good stead.

Harmony and composition are mathematical and quite formulaic (at least when it comes to writing a good GCSE composition rather than a great symphony). You need to understand the rules and demonstrate variety. I'm so old that when I sat the exam, the harmony and composition paper involved writing a fugue or a theme and variations with just a pen and manuscript paper sitting in silence in an exam hall...

I teach GCSE music. A generally bright child with Grade 6 in any instrument is a good candidate to do very well.

If he hates composing I would reconsider as the same amount of marks are available for composing as performing. The composing is notoriously difficult for teachers to mark as well (as all creative work often is) so they need to do a really good job to guarantee the highest marks.

In general, it is a great GCSE and most kids enjoy it a lot, especially if they have a decent playing level.

As for the art and music thing - I've taught a lot of kids over the years that have done this. Art is a huge amount of work, and they seem to be in the art classroom after school a lot! Music coursework isn't so heavy going - if the child is diligent and the teacher organised it is totally manageable in class time. For the performing, they tend to be having an instrumental lesson each week anyway so preparation is done then.

Given your DS already has Grade 6 performance I assume he also has Grade 5 theory? That being the case he has basically already covered the theory/harmony/aural and performance aspects of the GCSE. All he'll need to do is cover the music history/analysis (which is helpful background for performance and aural for later grades) and produce 2 compositions. So the chances are that music would be a less work option which would help to counter balance the art. He will be able to get away with brushing off one of his exam pieces for the solo performance element so will only have to learn a Grade 5/6 level ensemble item.

I made it clear to both DD and DS that, despite their music scholarships, I did not want them to assume they had to do music GCSE, if they had other subjects they wanted to do more. Both had schools that catered appropriately to the level they were already at, both chose to do it and enjoyed the course (as well as doing well, but enjoyment and getting something out of it was more important IMO). My eldest niece also did music GCSE and did well in it, off a similarly strong performance background to my two but possibly weaker theory (not sure).

We're now at A level choosing time for DS and it's a similar dilemma - he doesn't necessarily need to do it to keep music open for university (due to other things he has already done + next goal on his favourite instrument), but it looks like he is going to choose it. The way in which the course is taught at his school is a big part of that I think. He does love both composition and analysis.

Definitely make sure he's considered the school's information about how they run the GCSE course and what is involved. The different exam boards seem to vary a bit and the class cohort can be relevant.

Both my DDs have taken GCSE Music on the basis that we knew they would be spending a lot of time rehearsing and performing whether or not they took the course, so we thought we might as well make good use of the time they'd already be spending! DD1 got her highest GCSE grade (8) in Music, although she hasn't continued it to A level. She's a good performer but not necessarily a 'natural' in the other parts of the course. I'm not sure she'd have got an 8 if she had taken something else.

DS did it and, despite being strong in both performance and composition, hated and was no good at the history and analysis. Ended up with a disappointing grade due to a disaster in the written paper. Look at all three elements of this. I think it is a great subject, but needs skill in all 3 areas.

as someone who did not take music GCSE, dc also had grade 6 in hand when chosing GCSE but prefers to just play outside of school and wasn't keen on the composing bit..