Download Year Eleven GCSE Specification

The whole course is based around THREE AREAS of STUDY:
1. The core area of study which is compulsory –
REPEATED PATTERNS IN MUSIC
&
2. INCIDENTAL MUSIC – which will involve studying music for
films, television and plays and look at the commercial industry and the
effect of music on their development
3. VOCAL MUSIC – which will look at different vocal pieces
throughout different periods of music from German Lied to modern rap
music and songs from musicals and pop music.
Make sure you revise thoroughly over the information you have been
given on each of your set works and make sure you listen to them as you
follow your notes. Remember to learn the MUSICAL details eg,
INSTRUMENTATION, KEY, DEVICES, TEXTURE, PERIOD OF
MUSIC it belongs to and any unusual details that are significant.
Remember to think about why the piece has been chosen to fit into that
area of study.
When you revise compile a list of the main musical features of each of
your set works. Put the piece on to listen to and then write down all the
things you know and also can hear in the music and then compare with
your analysis notes and see what information you are missing. Look at
the notes I have given on how to answer the longer listening questions
and think about what information the examiner is looking for in those
long questions- remember they are worth more marks than the other
questions so are very important.
Look through the information also on the music industry, there will be
one short question on this but it won’t be very detailed.
Make sure you learn the full TITLE of your set work and also the
composer’s name. If the piece is taken from a larger piece, also know it’s
title or what it was originally written as. Please try to spell the
composer’s name correctly.
GCSE SET WORKS
(1) REPEATED PATTERNS IN MUSIC
(a) Canon in D major by Pachelbel
(b) Symphony No.7 – 2nd Movement- ‘Allegretto’ by
Beethoven
(c) The Planets- ‘Mars’ by Holst
(d) Requiem- ‘Dies Irae’ by Jenkins
(2) INCIDENTAL MUSIC
(a) A Midsummer Night’s Dream – ‘Overture’ by
Mendelssohn
(b) Peer Gynt Suite – ‘Morning’, ‘In the hall of the mountain
King’ by Grieg
(c) Pirates of the Carribbean (Dead Man’s Chest) – ‘Davy Jones
Theme’ by Hans Zimmer
(d) Dr Who Theme – revised title theme (2005 series) by
Rob Grainer
(3) VOCAL MUSIC
(a) Messiah
Recitative ‘There were shepherds’ ‘And the Angel’ and
‘And suddenly’
Chorus ‘Glory to God’
Aria ‘Why do the nations?’
by Handel
(b) Die Erlkönig (The Erl King) by Schubert
(c) From the musical ‘Wicked’- Chorus ‘One Short Day’
& Duet ‘What is this feeling?’ by Stephen Schwartz
(d) ‘Run’ by ‘Snowpatrol
GCSE Performance Tips
1.
Know your piece well and prepare well in advance. If
you don’t know the piece well it will come across in your
performance. You will appear unprepared and you won’t
be able to relax and enjoy the performance.
2.
Understand the piece you are performing. If you don’t
understand the style of the instrumental piece or the
words you are singing you will not be able to convince
your audience or portray your feelings and emotions in the
music.
3.
If you are singing, you must learn off your words. You
will not be able to ‘perform’ the piece if you are hiding
behind the words or you will not be able to convey the
meaning of the song with your body language (especially
eyes, face) if you are constantly looking down at words.
Remember this is a two-year course and your performance
is marked as something you’ve worked on preparing for
two years (not the night before!) so understandably the
examiner expects the preparation to have been done.
4.
Pick a style you are comfortable with and suits your
voice or performance technique i.e don’t pick a ballad if
you don’t have a big vocal range, don’t pick a song with a
high section if your voice suits a lower range etc…
5.
Make sure you show a dynamic range in your piece.
This means you need to understand where the soft
section should be and when it needs to crescendo (get
louder) and if you are singing, which words to emphasise
or make softer. Know which AREA OF STUDY your piece
is linked to. (discuss this when choosing your piece).
How to describe music
If you are asked to describe a piece of music using detail there are
a list of things to consider. These are worth most in your exam.
Use this list when you get a question which requires a longer
answer or a paragraph.
INTRO – is there an introduction to your piece? If there is describe
it. Note if it is a sudden entry or if the instruments come in
gradually one after each other.
TEMPO – is the music fast or slow or does it change speed during
the piece? Does the speed reflect the mood of the piece
somehow? Ie. love song, reflective piece – slower
MELODY – what sort of shape is the tune and who is singing or
playing it? Does the melody change from one person to another or
from one instrument to another.
KEY - is the piece in a major (bright) key or in a minor (dull/ sad)
key or does it change throughout the piece.
MOOD – does the music suit the words if it is a song- is there any
use of wordpainting. If it is an instrumental piece, is there a
storyline to the music?
INSTRUMENTATION – is there a thick or thin texture? Ie. are
there lots of things going on or just a solo tune- do the instruments
suit the mood or style of the music
STRUCTURE – does the piece follow a verse or chorus structure?
Does it have a bridge section or does it have a coda ( an ending)?
RHYTHM – is there anything significant about the rhythm? Slow
longer notes or faster dotted notes? Does the rhythm affect the
mood or style of the music? Does it remain the same throughout?
HARMONY - are all parts playing the same tune or is there a
melody and an accompaniment? If there are singers, are they
singing the same tune or are they harmonising (singing different
notes which sound nice together- homophonic music is when all
the parts are moving together with the same rhythm but
polyphonic is when the parts are moving or weaving around each
other (more complicated to listen to)