GCSE Music - help!!

[marmitesandwiches]

Hi there,

I know there are some very knowledgeable people here on this topic. Hoping for some guidance (many thanks in advance!).

DS is Yr 9 and about to do options. He is artistic and reasonably bright with some ND and for the last 6-12 months his special interest has been music. He spends almost all his free time composing on various DAWS and a little on piano also (though he has not had lessons and can't read music). He also sings in the school choir. As a younger child he was very resistant to activities outside school (school itself was enough!) and has therefore never had any instrument lessons. Anyway, he has now decided that his No 1 choice of GCSE is Music.

I think we can teach him enough music theory for GCSE but, for the performance element, his school ask for Grade 4 level (ABRSM/equivalent) at the start of Yr 10. I am now considering our options and whether Music is going to be feasible for him - before potentially discussing with school. He is very keen on piano but I can see that getting to Grade 4 (or being able to play 2 grade 4 pieces) by March of Year 11 is unrealistic. One option would be to now get him some singing lessons and to assess whether he could reach the required standard in this (not sure what Grade 4 looks like in voice). The other possibility is to consider the 'DJing' option that I think his board (Edexcel) offer.

Does anyone know what is permitted in the Edexcel DJing element? I am probably going to explain this really poorly, but he says that he could use his laptop to set off various clips of music and beats he has composed and to layer them as a live performance. Is this the sort of thing examiners are expecting - and would it be possible to get decent marks doing this? I'm happy to get him some music production lessons to help him along (assuming this is what I should be looking at?). Also interested in any views on the singing option.

Thanks so much for any help. I did lots of traditional music as a child, but now v lapsed and a bit lost!!

Can't comment on the DJ ing option but my DC did music gcse with singing.

If he has sung in a choir before it's likely he can reach the required standard quite easily.

BTW their required standard is quite high, the usual thing is to say students should be between grade 3 and grade 5 at the point of exam.

Abrsm publish books for low voice and high voice for each grade - maybe look at something like this?

amzn.eu/d/4YH16eQ

My daughter did singing for the performance element. We paid for weekly singing lessons at school to get her performance ready ( she's an ok singer - not amazing and not a confident performer but she did well enough to get a level 4 over all - can't remember what her actual performance was graded at ( the theory part was a real struggle due to her processing issues)

Most GCSE boards expect grade 3 standard. So if grade 3 pieces are performed perfectly he would get full marks if that makes sense.

The DJing option could be good for him IF the school are experienced in submitting this sort of performance. I'd avoid choosing this if they don't seem confident with music tech in general.

If he enjoys piano I'd definitely look at getting him lessons - no reason at all he couldn't get to the required standard, the school are being weirdly perfectionist there. I've taught beginner pianists myself as a GCSE teacher where the parents couldn't pay for a private teacher and got them high A*s for the performance aspect.

Many thanks @Octavia64 That book is a great suggestion. I'm going to order and have a look at it.

@AngelsWithSilverWings Thank you. DS is also not amazing or confident - good that your daughter succeeded! I know DS's school expected GCSE music students to participate in school concerts and I know that DS will not be confident enough to sing for an audience, other than in choir. Singing for the teacher and having this recorded will probably be enough for him!

Thanks @SSRI for your comments re piano. That's amazing that you managed to get those results! I have been asking around for the names of teachers so I guess I'll try to schedule some trial lessons. He is certainly very keen, which should help (assuming that continues when required to practice).

Fair comment re school's music tech expertise. I think they may ow have a youngish music tech person on-board but that would be something to discuss in any meeting with them!

DS in Year 11 is doing music GCSE. He thinks his grade 5 theory has been very helpful in the composition element. In the performance element, to get full marks, his teacher said that they need to perform at a grade 5 level perfectly. This is Edexcel board.
I don't know anything about singing or DJing however.
The listening paper is pretty hard, even for DS with grade 5 theory and grade 7 piano already done. That's been the hardest part of it all.

Thank you @DataColour . They're really good insights. I realise that I have focussed on the performance element, when some of the other elements might also be quite challenging for him (I think because having an instrument seemed to be a gateway to his being allowed to even embark on GCSE). Agreed that students who have taken a more traditional route will be a long way ahead (that's another concern I have!). I imagine we might need to do a lot of listening practice outside school.

I'm not really sure what his school will say - it may be that they discourage him - but there are actually very few subjects he is keen to take!!

My daughter's (SW London private) and my niece's (E. London comprehensive) school both required grade 4 in the primary instrument (including voice) as a prerequisite level for starting GCSE music so I assumed that was the standard. Their feedback has been that it's a tough course and being good at an instrument isn't enough; quite a few dropped out in the first few weeks. The reasons were mainly students had struggled with the composition and technical side because they didn't have the background in music theory or didn't read music well. Both my niece and daughter have grade 5 theory so it was much easier for them. Also important to bear in mind if your son doesn't like performing that performance is also a part of the course, our exam board weights it as 30%.

That part of GCSE music that most struggle with is composition so your ds already has a big advantage. My son nailed his composition (special interest also).

I don't know much about DJing but what you say sounds about right. However, for someone who sings in a choir Grade 4 standard isn't that hard to achieve.

Ask the school, his description does sound similar to what my Son did but I'd go in and meet with the music dept to understand if it's going to be the best thing for him.

@marmitesandwiches our school expected them to perform at school concerts etc but my daughter has diagnosed anxiety so they gently encouraged rather than insisted. She never managed a whole school performance but did manage the filmed GCSE showcases which were only done in front of other GCSE music parents ( there were usually tears and false starts but she got through them with the help and encouragement of one of the teachers plus some anxiety meds!)

Her actual solo performance was recorded privately rather than at the showcase evening and her duet was done with one of the music teachers acting as backing singer.

Grade 4/5 standard is the end point for GCSE. There are no extra marks for performing above Grade 5 level. For AQA, it is better to perform a Grdae 4 piece well, than a Grade 5 piece not so well due to the way the mark scheme is constructed. Edexel is slightly different but Grade 4 is standard difficulty with Grade 5 being above standard.

This is reassuring.

Dd is hoping to do GCSE music and is currently grade 2 and progressing well so good to know aiming for grade 4 by year 11 is ok.

Thank you all - this is so helpful for me! Yes, in terms of performance nerves, I think he would manage to sing for the teacher so that his performance could be recorded, just not at a concert (he has rejection sensitive dysphoria as part of ADHD). This would be something to discuss with them. I think he would be willing to do the DJing type performance at school concerts if they needed him to show dedication.

It's clear that I need to start encouraging him forward - I have just been a bit lost as to which avenue to take.

My son only began piano lessons at the start of Year 9. He did sing (passed Grade 4 in Year 10) and had played guitar previous to that and although his actual exams were cancelled he had nailed his performances up to that point and is now on a music degree and playing professionally alongside.

That's amazing @Comefromaway That was obviously the right path for him - and great that he's doing so well!! I love watching their journeys. I have another DC that came to dance later than most and is now launching professionally (completely different story).

My daughter was a dancer (still is although she is retraining to be able to work with dancers on injury prevention etc.

My son is still at uni but they've given hi leave of absence to play for a panto and work on a couple of theatre shows (national tour and a well known regional theatre)

My DS did Music GCSE but I don't think it was Edexel sorry. I would think that not being able to read music would be a significant disadvantage to be honest. That's not to say he couldn't learn of course, but I would think the majority of the rest of the class will already be having music lessons, probably both instrumental and theory outside of school so he could have quite a bit of catching up to do.
Re the performance element, our school advised them to perform pieces at about grade 4 level even if they're above that standard. There's no real advantage to choosing anything more difficult than that as they'll get more marks from performing a simpler piece really well than making mistakes in a difficult one. This of course makes the performance element quite easy for those who are at grade 7/8 on their instruments already, which was the majority of my DS's class but it could be a significant challenge to get to grade 4 standard pretty much from scratch in 2 years. Not impossible of course, but it would require hard work and a lot of time. You need to consider whether that level of effort would be worthwhile, especially if it could potentially take time away from and affect results of core subjects, especially maths and English.
Obviously talk to the school, but I would say don't underestimate the amount of work it could take to get a reasonable grade which could also potentially impact on whether your son even enjoys the course or not.
Sorry, reading that back it sounds really negative which I don't mean to be. I'm just thinking about the amount of time my DS spent on it despite being a reasonably good musician who'd been having lessons since he was in primary school. If he'd had to work harder at it I think I could have eaten into time spent on core subjects and/or become a chore that he didn't enjoy.

I will say my not particularly musical, adult DS went from complete beginner to passing at grade 4 piano with distinction in about 9 months.So I think with a bit of application it could be doable

Thanks @MrsAvocet . No - I don't think negative, just realistic. I got up to Grade 8 piano and grades 7 and 5 on woodwind instruments (and G5 theory obvs) so am more in line with the norm. I think I'm just going to need him to do a lot of music theory this year - in the run-up to Year 10 (eg I think there are some v good YouTube videos). I'm a little worried that we could damage his lovely natural enthusiasm for music - but I also think he could find his niche. It's very hard to know - and then you have people like @BigSilly 's DS - who has done so amazingly well👏

Second this - it is not unrealistic to reach g4 on the piano pretty quickly. He would have to practise every single day though (not necessarily long hours).

Thanks @Ubertomusic Its so interesting that you think that also. I think it must be very variable between individuals. Hmmm. I think we will start piano lessons - as he was in any case keen to learn, but will have singing also in mind and discuss music tech with school. I think practising every day will be okay (at the moment, I can't get him to stop doing music so that he can do other homework!!)

At the moment, I can't get him to stop doing music so that he can do other homework!!
This is what would bother me OP. I don't doubt that it's perfectly possible to reach the necessary standard in 2 years but you have to put it into context of all the other things that a teenager sitting GCSEs both has and wants to do with their time.
I think in your shoes I might be inclined to start him on piano and/or formal singing lessons asap, both to get the teachers' views on his likely trajectory and, even more importantly, to gauge whether he's likely to enjoy it. If he doesn't enjoy it then those hours of practice will become torture, and if the time required proves too onerous to fit other work in then you may need to reconsider. Not that I am saying that creative subjects are not important, but realistically a good grade at music GCSE isn't going to do many people a lot of good if they fail Maths and English so you need to put your DS's abilities in and attitudes to the core subjects into the equation. There are other ways he can progress with and enjoy his music without doing GCSE after all so you need to weigh up whether the time and effort needed to "catch up" is likely to be worthwhile.
The other thing I would look at is what other subjects are in that option block and would he be able to swap if it becomes apparent fairly early on that GCSE music is not right for him. Having a pre -agreed Plan B might help you persuade the Music department to let him start the course whilst simultaneously reassuring you that he isn't going to be stuck for 2 years doing something that takes up an unreasonable amount of time, impacts on his current love of music or both. Maybe you could agree something like if it's not working out by the first half term he swaps to something else - I don't know if that's possible, just trying to think of how you could create a safety net.

As a younger child he was very resistant to activities outside school (school itself was enough!) and has therefore never had any instrument lessons. Anyway, he has now decided that his No 1 choice of GCSE is Music.

This exactly describes my son by the way!!!!

He went on to do a Level 3 Music Btec at college. He taught himself music theory by watching videos of Adam Neely!

Every day I thank my lucky stars that he discovered music.

Thanks @MrsAvocet I agree, it would be a worry if it caused him to neglect core subjects. I think we'd only go ahead if we thought it was doable. I guess that's what I'm going to try to ascertain (before they finalise GCSE choices at the end of March). Am planning to explore piano and voice as you suggest.

@Comefromaway Our DSs are kindred spirits!! I love that he has found something he is passionate about. I bought my DS a GCSE music theory book last week and he was absolutely delighted 😂 I have heard of Adam Neely so will be checking him out. I might also watch for a much-needed refresher!