Leaving Cert Music Practical

oneofakind32

Ive got miene coming up in 9 months or so. Im doing 4 singing pieces and 4 guitar pieces. Im fine for singing im not worried about it yet. Guitar on the other hand is different. Im doing guitar accompaniement BTY.
1. Chilis- Under the Bridge
2. System of a down- Roulette
3.Jimi Hendrix- castles made of sand (If I can get it up to scratch, which I recone I can)
4. ???
Anyone got any sugesstions?
What are the rest of yee doing? (if any of yee are doing it)

Mutant_Fruit

Why not do 6 "performing" pieces. I.e. playing guitar AND singing. Would that be easier for you?

I just did my LC music, so i think i have some authority to comment. Basically, if you were doing 6 guitar pieces, you would be looking to show off 3 different styles of guitar. e.g. classical, blues, rock, general accompanying, jazz. Since you're doing 4 pieces, i'd advise 2 "styles".

You'd need one complex song (preferably two) one contrasting piece, and one piece you know so well you can play it backwards while being upside down. You'd start off with the piece you know backwards, then do a complex one, then the contrasting then complex again.

System of a down- Roulette
This would have to be your "Easy" piece. Its a bit basic, and so should be the easist of all your pieces. Everything else should be harder than this.

Under the Bridge:
Good choice, so long as you can get the strum/picking worked out in the verse, you're flying. Its a good piece, but you'd have to sing it aswell, otherwise it could get boring. This is your "rock" piece. (also a complex piece i suppose )

Jimi Hendrix- castles made of sand:
Introduce this as a blues style piece, and this would definately be one of your "complex" songs.

Last song, i'd advise doing a nice classical piece, such as "sarabande" by bach. Its a grade 6 piece, so you should be able to pick it up easily in any music shop. This can be the contrasting piece.

oneofakind32

thanks man.
Im going with 4 of each mainly cus my music Teacher is more intertested in my singing voice. She want me to do 6 singing but im determined to show her I am a capable guitarist. I can get some one else to sing on under the bridge or I can sacfrice the licks during the choras and sing it my self. I had the licks and singing off but i noticed that I was off slightly and had to alter my playing which made it harder to sing as well. I chose Roulette because it sounds class and it a nice acustic piece. Castles made of sand is still a work in peogress but im getting there. I never tuched grade stuff before but theres a first time for every thing

Waltons

Hey man, I'm doing my leaving music pratical this year too. I'm playing drums though. Good luck with picking and knowing your pieces
I'm going to give Good Times Bad Times my best shot. I might do Dancing in the Moonlight too. Apart from that, whatever the wind blows in my direction I guess. Possibly a Pixies song.

feylya

I'm not sure if this piece would be long enough cos I neve did LC music but what about Farewell by Yngwie Malmsteen? It's acoustic, classical and kinda complex but easily played. Again, I don't know if it would be suitable but it's a nice song.

oneofakind32

Wheather your doing 8 or 6 pieces you only have 20 mins to do them in. So a short song would be wellcome. Ill check it out thanks

Rockerette

hey guys,
im starting music this year for the leaving (going into 5th year), and i didnt do it for the junior, so i aint really sure what to expect.

got a few questions..
my instrument is piano - how many pieces do i have to know?
what extent is modern music a part of the course?
my friend - he was told that vocals could be his instrument, cos hes only stared playing a whiel ago. is that ok yeah? cos hes a bit worried about it
how much is the practicla part worth overall? (what % of the grade)

thanks (in advance..)

Rockerette

by the way i love Fight Like A Brave.
kicks ass...
the whole album gets me going (UMPP)

tk123

i did music for the LC without doing it for the JC - there was only 5 or 6 of us in the class..the two of us who hadn't done it for the JC got the highest marks...As for the practical you can sing. I think I had 2 or 3 pieces and the examiner guy told me which one to play...the course changed the year after we did it so it's prob all diff...i feel old now ah but at least i have school and college behind me!

Rockerette

hehe cool
theres only gonna be 7 in my class.
2 newbies to the music class world - the other 5 did it for the junior.

thanks

Fusion251

Hey, did LC music a few years ago. The main thing is to play your piece well and confidently. Castles made of sand is nice but I reckon something like Little Wing would be more suitable as a guitar piece. I played "Eugenes Trick Bag" by Steve Vai, Cavatina, and Albatross Fleetwood Mac and Tears by Django Reinheart they went down pretty well. But as was said above, it's a good idea to play contrasting pieces, a bit of Jazz, Blues and Classical will work very well.

Anyway good luck with it!
D

oneofakind32

Im doing LC music without doing it in JC. I was the only one doing it from scratch out of a class of 22 (I told its the bigest LC music class in the country) . The first day I presented with sheet Music. I was like what the ****??? I cought on quickly enough though. That wont be problem for you since you play piano.
My teacher realy doubts my guitar ablity and maybe shes rite cus Ive been playing less then 2 years. She insists that I sing a song in a differnt Language for versitility but on the other hand she let a drummer do 6 rock pieces

Giblet

Try learning a ragtime piece, these are always interesting and might catch an examiners ear, because not many people would be trying this style.

cunty

your better off doing 4 of each cos your marked as pass not honours. they dont expect your standard of playing to be as good . i did my lc two years ago i did the wall , little wing , satch boogie and the lead from stairway on guitar then did black night,no excuses,outshined and finished up with good times bad times . i new nothing bout the theory n i still got a b1 . the practical is a great oppertunity to really up your marks.
anyway best of look with it.

Rockerette

what % of the overall grade is for hte practical?

M@lice

This is unreal. I also join the leaving cert music class having not done it for junior cert. I also did 4 singing and 4 guitar. I did it the year before last and i got an a1 that i certainly didn't deserve but anyway.

I am a bass player by trade but i decided to play guitar for the practicals as i couldn't find many solo pieces for bass that showed off good technique so i went for guitar. I wasn't a dedicated guitarist by any measure, i just played it casualy but i only had to learn 4 pieces and have them well polished which is possible for any1 with enough practice.

I'm not familiar with most of the songs you've chosen except under the bridge. My only reservation about that piece is that it may be a popular choice but then again i've never heard of any1 playing it before. I've heard and believe that your better off playing more obscure pieces that the examiner is not likely to be familiar with.

Here are the pieces i chose.

Erruption-Van halen. Full. I wouldn't recommend it. My guitar teacher recommended this one as he said it was easy yet impressive. Impresive and flashy it may be but I found it a bit too hard and never got it sounding quite right. That said i played better in the exam then i ever managed before.

A song for George-Eric Johnson. A finger style alternate tuning acoustic song with a bluesy feel. Not too hard to get the hang of if your used to finger style and sounds impressive as its quite a percusive piece. I would recommend this one.

Dee-Randy Rhodes. Another acoustic finger styled song but with a more classical feel. For those of you who don't know Randy Rhodes was Ozzy Osborne's guitarist for a while after he split with Black Sabath so this was somewat unexpected. Its quite short but my examiner didn't mind, if anything she liked that. I would highly recommend this piece to anyone.

Riverdance. Unusual on guitar which is why i chose it. My music teacher didn't like this choice because it would sound familiar to the examiner but i didn't believe too many other people would be playing this on guitar. I wouldn't recommend it however because i don't think tab is readily available. It just happened to be one of my guitarists specialties.

I hope that helps and give you some ideas. In general mixing styles is a good idea. Thats wats most important at the end of the day.

cunty

if u do the higher elective in performing your practical is worth 50% of your over all marks

oneofakind32

My teachers been around for a few year and she says shes only ever had pianist and Keyboard players get A1s beacus there more familar with reading music. I recone I can get a B and maybe and A if the essays go my way (if Queen come up)
I was also thinking of Rock and Roll Huchicu by Johney Winters but Its another Hendrix type rock piece. I have it as a sub anyway

M@lice

I was allowed to read a chord sheet for my sight reading part. Would that be easier than reading sheet music for ya?

roxy

oneofakind32 wrote:

My teachers been around for a few year and she says shes only ever had pianist and Keyboard players get A1s beacus there more familar with reading music.

I think that's ridiculous. I only did music for my JC (as it was compulsory) but 2 close friends in school did it for LC (we did it in 2001). One was a bass player and one a classical/acoustic guitarist and singer. Both got A1s. My point is that it's unrealistic for someone reading this to think that if thy're not a pianist that they're not in with a shot as regards getting an A. I think that's just an excuse on the teacher's part! It's also a lot to do with the attitude to music in the school I believe. I think music teachers need perhaps a bit more support from authorities within the school and if music isn't seen as particularly important then I would imagine that filters down and manifests itlself in results. Possibly.

For the record, I remember the bassplaying friend's practical well coz I played acousitc with her for one song. She played 4 and then did Sibelius (not the composer, the computer programme). We did Cake's version of I Will Survive coz Cake have some brilliant decently-testing bass lines. She also did a Metallica song - well it was a Cliff Burton solo thingy. Can't quite remember but it was hard. She had her boyfriend on electric for these. They also did a piece that he composed. It was kind of freestyle, I really can't remember though. And her fourth was accompanying a violinist. So that was that.

As for the other friend, well she's just finished a music degree and is going back to our old school to do a HDip and teach music so what goes around comes around!

Rockerette

thanks guys
i was real interested to read all that stuff

i can read music pretty good i suppose.
i got my books the other day
wooooo

oneofakind32

Well I think she means that only people with a basic Knowlage of Keyboard got A1s. Keyboard wasnt nessicarily there no.1 instrument

DJC Barry

oneofakind32 wrote: »

Ive got miene coming up in 9 months or so. Im doing 4 singing pieces and 4 guitar pieces. Im fine for singing im not worried about it yet. Guitar on the other hand is different. Im doing guitar accompaniement BTY.
1. Chilis- Under the Bridge
2. System of a down- Roulette
3.Jimi Hendrix- castles made of sand (If I can get it up to scratch, which I recone I can)
4. ???
Anyone got any sugesstions?
What are the rest of yee doing? (if any of yee are doing it)

Im doing Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits, Paranoid by Black Sabbath and Ameria by Razor Light on electric guitar .Not sure what else.What do you think of these? Teaching myself .Do you play 6 songs in a row at practical.Be great if anyone can give me any good tips for day.Its on Friday.Cheers DJC

Malice

DJC Barry: Please don't respond to old threads. This one is from 2004! I am going to close it and move your second post to a new thread altogether.