GCSE Music (Edexcel)

Revision and Preparation Advice

Performance

By February half term you should have chosen your

SOLO and your ENSEMBLE piece – share it with your teacher to enable them

give you feedback on the appropriateness of the

piece.

SOLO = a piece that you perform on your own – you may have an accompaniment

OR backing track playing IF the pieces is written with that

requirement.

REQUIRED = A Copy of the notation that you have learnt

BOTH your SOLO and ENSEMBLE piece from.

IF you do not have notation – YOU MUST have a professionally

recorded version of the same piece that you are playing.

IF you play different to the music OR the recording you will loose

marks!

ENSEMBLE = A piece played by you and two other live

performers – Only YOU are allowed to play the part that

you have – NOONEELSE!I recommend having

teachers play the other parts

You should be practising your music as a homework task at

LEAST three times per week for up to half an hour each time.

Your FINAL EXAM will be during the month of APRIL.

Composition

Once you have been given the knowledge and skills to compose in the required style you will be required to spend a

significant amount of your own time working out ideas for your compositions – using SIBELIUS software.

You should be attending MODAY LUNCH sessions and any other available times if you do not have this software at home.

You must do composition as a homework task for at least one hour before each controlled session you sit in school. Most

preparation will be acting on the advice the teacher has given to you personally about your piece.

You can take your note book into the controlled session with brief notes about what you want to achieve- nothing else is

allowed during the controlled time

2 original compositions will be completed – a total of 10 hours controlled time each.

Piece 1 = Traditional melody and chords.Piece 2 – Minimalist composition and techniques

ListeningYou must use ALL knowledge based

information that you have been given in

lessons to revise from.(Scores and

PowerPoint sheets as well as the CD of

PowerPoint presentations which

includes audio samples.

You should use the school VLE/ Music section where there are many resources which will help you revise –many of which are internet based –meaning you can revise anywhere at any point in time with an internet connection!

What do you know?Print out the course content from the syllabus specification• You need to be clear on what you know and what you don’t. The best way to do this is to find the

syllabus specification for each exam you are sitting.• These documents are made freely available by the exam boards. Search online for these keywords:

Board, Level, Course name & code, and the word “Specification”.…eg “AQA GCSE science 4405 specification”.

• Download the appropriate pages of course content and print them. What you will find is a clear distillation of all the information that you are expected to know – no waffle, just clear instructions:

• “Candidates should recall x” (memorise this!);• “Candidates should understand y” (do you?)

Mark your printed syllabus with traffic light colours• Go line by line, and in a matter of minutes, you will have a priority task list:• Green says, “I know this! I’m confident with this” – be clear on what you already know so you don’t

waste time on it unnecessarily.• Orange says, “I should practise this to make sure it’s solid” – this is the material for which you might

look through your textbook and do a few exam-style questions.

I suggest starting to revise each of the 12 set pieces using the following

table: SETWORK

TEMPO ( speed)

TIMESIGNATURE (BEAT) & RHYTHM

INSTRUMENTS & VOICES (TIMBRE)

STRUCTURE

MELODY

TONALITY (KEY) & HARMONY

DYNAMICS

TYPE OF PIECE

DATE

TEXTURE

Handel And the Glory of the Lord

allegro

3 beats in bar Hemiola rhythm used which gives rhythm a pushed feel

SATB choir Baroque orchestra Including basso continuo

4 main themes

Use of sequence Ostinato

A major Pedal notes Final cadence is plagal

None written but louder when texture builds up

Chorus from oratorio

1741

Homophonic & polyphonic

A blank table is enclosed on the next page:

SETWORK

TEMPO

( speed)

TIMESIGNAT

URE (BEAT)

& RHYTHM

INSTRUMENTS & VOICES

(TIMBRE)

STRUCTURE

MELODY

TONALITY

(KEY) & HARMONY

DYNAMICS

TYPE OF

PIECE

DATE

TEXTURE

create basic information cards on each set work:

Name of Set Work

Composer

Area of Study

Date of composition

Type of Piece

And the Glory of the Lord

Why Does my Heart

1st Movement in G minor

Something’s Coming

All Blues

Raindrop Prelude

Peripetie

Electric Counterpoint

Grace

Create a revision card for each of the set works

Title ofWork:

Features of pitch – key changes etc

Features of Timbre

Features of texture

Features of structure:

Features of Harmony:

Features of melody:

Other features

Or try this type of card:Date 1838 Genre Piano prelude (no. 15 of

24) Era Romantic period Where performed Home/ small concert hall /

recital room Structure Ternary ABA (+ coda) Tonality and Harmony Section A – Db major

Section B – C# minor (tonic minor) Section A – Db major

Melody and Rhythm and Tempo

A section – RH (right hand) cantabile melody, dotted rhythms, syncopation, chromaticism, ornamentation. LH steady quavers (pedal note). 4-bar phrases, repeated with small variation. B section – RH steady quavers (pedal note). LH has melody, crotchets and longer notes. Narrow range. 4- and 8-bar phrases.

Instruments/Timbre Piano. Middle range used in A section. Bass register used in B section. Cantabile tone (in a singing style), wide dynamic range, repeated pedal notes, octave doubling in B section, much use of sustain (right) pedal, not virtuosic (it’s not too difficult)

Dynamics Wide dynamic range. Section A is p (quiet) throughout. Section B starts soft, crescendos (gets louder), builds to ff (very loud)

Texture Homophonic throughout A section is tune and accompaniment, thin texture, 2-note chords with repeated pedal note support

This list has been compiled after looking through previous papers – if you do not know this information you are limiting

your chances of achieving your best in this examination.

• Know the instruments that play the key themes in all set works.• Know what the melodies of each section sound like in ALL set works – be able to

identify them and which instrument plays them.• Know about musical devices and where they are used in ALL set works – see sheet.• Know the structures of ALL set works. In name e.g. sonata form/using ABA terms

or even specific sections like ‘Gat’• Learn how to write down the key melodies of the three ‘Classical’ set works.• If you are asked to compare and contrast/ talk about differences – always refer to

SIC MAD PET TTM to make sure you are talking about something relevant.• Know the key words that are mentioned in ALL your notes and analysis.• Know context for ALL set works – when they were composed etc.• Know the chord patterns/Keys for those set works that use them• If you are asked to say why you like a piece of music – try and be positive rather

than negative – whatever you say, ALWAYS refer to one of the musical elements of SIC MAD PET TTM to justify your answer.

Section B questions

Remember every section B needs “extensive” detail written into the essay if you want to achieve the

best marks.

The more detail you give the better your mark will be.

= A factual point of credit not one mark!

Where?•Where does the feature appear in the piece?•(Instruments?)

When?

•When in the piece does the feature happen?•Intro/Outro/Verse/Chorus/Exposi

tion/Development/Recap/A or B/Coda/Bridge/ALAP etc

Why?

•Why has the composer used this effect and what effect does it have on the music?•Creates/enhances mood.

What skills do you require to complete a section B listening question successfully?

Being able to ‘hear’

the music in your head!

Subject specific

vocabulary

Ability to understand

the question

Set workknowledge

How the elements of music

work in the music.

What constitutes good listening for section B at GCSE level?

Good knowledge of the piece of

music.

Knowing where the features happen in the music.

Being able to relate the feature to the

question.

Writing up the information in prose.

Key elements of the paper: B

• Understanding of the periods of music that each piece comes from – the style and key features of the music.

• Understanding the key features of the set works you have studied. (Revise and learn them all.)

• Give musical reasons why you like or dislike a piece.• Comment on how the composer uses: THE

ELEMENTS OF MUSIC in that piece.

What are the elements of music and what do they mean? Relate to ALL set pieces.

Element What it meansTempoTimbreTexturePitchDynamicsDurationStructure

Element What it meansHarmonyOther features specific to set work

What are the elements of music and what do they mean? Relate to ALL set pieces.

USE:SIC MAD PET TTM to help you write in detail about set pieces:

For every letter – listen to the music and make a relevant comment.• Structure• Instruments• Chords- major/minor• Melodic movement – whether the tunes move in step or leap • Accompaniment – what does the accompaniment play, when and how.• Dynamics.• Pitch – where is the pitch generally high or low.• Effects – change according to different instruments.• Texture – How thick or thin – how many instruments or few instruments are playing.

(Polyphonic – many sounds, monophonic sounds – one sound, unison all players playing the same, Homophonic where all players play different notes but they move together – in chords.

• Timbre – comment on the differences in the sound of instruments.• Tempo – the speed of the music.• Mood – Major or minor.

A detailed answer looks like this:

• This is about Mozart Symphony 40 –• You should practise writing your own section B

answers on as many of the set works as is possible.

• The mood is exciting, serious and dramatic.• The piece of music starts at a fast tempo, it is marked molto

allegro, meaning ‘much fast’ giving it an feel of excitement.• The tonality of the movement is minor and therefore gives a

very serious feel to the mood.• The main opening melody starts ‘piano’ and ascends mainly in

step followed by a leap of a 6th after which it then descends through a pattern of stepwise movement and repeated notes. The melody is purposeful through the rise and fall. It is then developed by using it in sequence.

• The second subject idea starts ‘piano’ but is in the related major key of Bb major. The duration of the notes are much longer giving a brighter and more reflective contrast to the piece.

• It should be notice that there are some sharp contrasts of dynamics in both the 1st and 2nd subjects – giving yet more dramatic effect.

• The mood is exciting, serious and dramatic.• The piece of music starts at a fast tempo, it is marked molto

allegro, meaning ‘much fast’ giving it an feel of excitement.• The tonality of the movement is minor and therefore gives a

very serious feel to the mood.• The main opening melody starts ‘piano’ and ascends mainly in

step followed by a leap of a 6th after which it then descends through a pattern of stepwise movement and repeated notes. The melody is purposeful through the rise and fall. It is then developed by using it in sequence.

• The second subject idea starts ‘piano’ but is in the related major key of Bb major. The duration of the notes are much longer giving a brighter and more reflective contrast to the piece.

• It should be notice that there are some sharp contrasts of dynamics in both the 1st and 2nd subjects – giving yet more dramatic effect.

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