Leaving Cert music 2011

AislingMarie

Hi I'm looking for advice for leaving cert music course A...

My teacher has not started our course yet and I'm in 6th year...
She's just horiffically bad she spends our classes just talking it's practically unbelievable how bad she is but anyway no point focusing on that!...

I would really appreciate some advice on the music paper my practical is fine so is my composing it's just essays, our set works etc...(God,I don't even know what's on the paper!!='( )

Any advice or direction ANYTHING would be SO much appreciated thank you!

With love Aisling Marie xxx

Son of Jack

That sounds like a difficult position to be in.

The Leaving Cert Music curriculum from the department is here

http://www.curriculumonline.ie/uploadedfiles/PDF/lc_music_edited_sy.pdf

Composing - 25 per cent of marks
Performing - 25 per cent
Listening - 25 per cent

An elective in one of the following
composing
performing
or listening makes up the final 25 per cent of the marks

if you go to www.leavingcert.com there is some further information. Have a look at the links there.

There is workbooks available on this site too.

I am doing music outside school, with no teacher and have found them useful.

I have the set pieces playing while I study
The four set pieces are here:
http://www.ppmta.ie/Resources/LC_Set_A.html

Have a look at past papers too, and good luck.

Bbbbolger

Most schools would tend to choose performance as the elective; meaning that 50% of your grade will be based on how well you play your instrument. Not bad at all really .

Son of Jack

Yes, I'm going with performing as the elective

takes the pressure off - somewhat.

DavidKelly1

Excatly what do you mean by "Has not started the course yet?". I do Music myself Leaving Cert. 2012 and I also have to admit it is the slowest subject for progress!. We've currently done very basic Melodies, Backing Chords and read Tchaikovsky.. Have you not even gone through any of your Music Scores?. I know there is also about 13 A4 Page Irish Music Essays to be learnt by heart. It is a massive course and the exam paper is so open, defo. much harder than Higher Level Geography and or Physics!. All I can suggest for you is to get "Rapid Revision Music" Course A and start learning the notes they provide. What instrument(s) do you play?. Or do you plan on singing?.

Look at things on the bright side. Your going to have 50% of your exam done and dusted in April.. That's a D1 if you get full marks.. 40% means you've allready passed. Then if you get only 25%/50% in the written paper you will get 65% in total! That's a C1 in Higher Level Music!.

You have a good bit of time left however if that was my teacher I would have complained to the teacher, principal, Board of Management and anyone else who listens. Get the class to sign a Petition showing how outraged you are. Present it to the teacher and the principal and believe me things will improve.

Best of luck

AislingMarie

Son of Jack wrote: »

That sounds like a difficult position to be in.

The Leaving Cert Music curriculum from the department is here

http://www.curriculumonline.ie/uploadedfiles/PDF/lc_music_edited_sy.pdf

Composing - 25 per cent of marks
Performing - 25 per cent
Listening - 25 per cent

An elective in one of the following
composing
performing
or listening makes up the final 25 per cent of the marks

if you go to www.leavingcert.com there is some further information. Have a look at the links there.

There is workbooks available on this site too.

I am doing music outside school, with no teacher and have found them useful.

I have the set pieces playing while I study
The four set pieces are here:
http://www.ppmta.ie/Resources/LC_Set_A.html

Have a look at past papers too, and good luck.

Thanks!
I appreciate it:)

Tara23buy

check out my music leaving cert site
http://leavingcertmusiconline.x10.mx

iv created it as a college project... register as a user and you can access the forum too

Tara23buy

Hey guys.. my website has now infact changed to a proper hosting provider..my website is

www.leavingcertmusiconline.com

i really hope it helps

GerardB

quick question about mixing instruments.
performance is my higher elective and i'm doing music tech, for my four instrumental pieces i want to do one on snare drum, one on timpani and two on the drumkit- all solo. would that be okay?

PictureFrame

GerardB wrote: »

quick question about mixing instruments.
performance is my higher elective and i'm doing music tech, for my four instrumental pieces i want to do one on snare drum, one on timpani and two on the drumkit- all solo. would that be okay?

I think (i'm not entirely sure) if you are doing Music Technology you can only do one instrument with it.. I wanted to do Music Technology, 2 Piano and 2 Fiddle but my teacher told me I could only do 1 instrument with Music Technology..

xEmily2011

PictureFrame wrote: »

I think (i'm not entirely sure) if you are doing Music Technology you can only do one instrument with it.. I wanted to do Music Technology, 2 Piano and 2 Fiddle but my teacher told me I could only do 1 instrument with Music Technology..

Not entirely true...you wanted to use 2 different 'familys' of instruments...

GerardB wrote: »

quick question about mixing instruments.
performance is my higher elective and i'm doing music tech, for my four instrumental pieces i want to do one on snare drum, one on timpani and two on the drumkit- all solo. would that be okay?

Yes you can do this because they are all a 'family' of musical instruments, you can do guitar acoustic and electric as 1 instrument, and you can do any mixture of percussion instruments. THEREFORE, to do your one on snare drum, one on timpani and two on the drum kit, should be perfect
Good Luck!

xLauren

I'm so lucky,here in Tullamore we have one UNREAL music teacher! We had the course finished by the end of 5th year! You should be able to do melodies and backing chords really well at this stage,they only ever ask anacrusis or the normal one and they'll never give you the anacrusis in 6/8 time! only 3/4 or common time. Learn the rules! I can tell you the rules if you don't know them Bach,Tchaikovsky,Barry and Queen are a nightmare to learn but at least most of us have that week off before the music exam to get down and dirty with it! I'm sure you'll be fine! The practical will bring you up so much!! Just keep the head down as much as you can bare it for the next 3 weeks

AislingMarie

xLauren wrote: »

I'm so lucky,here in Tullamore we have one UNREAL music teacher! We had the course finished by the end of 5th year! You should be able to do melodies and backing chords really well at this stage,they only ever ask anacrusis or the normal one and they'll never give you the anacrusis in 6/8 time! only 3/4 or common time. Learn the rules! I can tell you the rules if you don't know them Bach,Tchaikovsky,Barry and Queen are a nightmare to learn but at least most of us have that week off before the music exam to get down and dirty with it! I'm sure you'll be fine! The practical will bring you up so much!! Just keep the head down as much as you can bare it for the next 3 weeks

Lucky you!..It would be great if you could send me some rules my whole class did really bad in the mocks in the melody writing...But, of course, she hasn't looked over it since then!...
I appreciate your comment it's really kind!=)

Salty

xLauren wrote: »

I'm so lucky,here in Tullamore we have one UNREAL music teacher! We had the course finished by the end of 5th year! You should be able to do melodies and backing chords really well at this stage,they only ever ask anacrusis or the normal one and they'll never give you the anacrusis in 6/8 time! only 3/4 or common time. Learn the rules! I can tell you the rules if you don't know them Bach,Tchaikovsky,Barry and Queen are a nightmare to learn but at least most of us have that week off before the music exam to get down and dirty with it! I'm sure you'll be fine! The practical will bring you up so much!! Just keep the head down as much as you can bare it for the next 3 weeks

How do you go about studying the works? What's the absolute minimum you need to know? I have the Notes music book, and I find it ridiculously detailed, much more so than seems necessary, but at the same time, I'm not sure what's relevant and what's not!
I got a B1 overall in the pre, including my practical, with very little work done, but I'd like to bring it up to an A1!:o

xLauren

AislingMarie wrote: »

Lucky you!..It would be great if you could send me some rules my whole class did really bad in the mocks in the melody writing...But, of course, she hasn't looked over it since then!...
I appreciate your comment it's really kind!=)

Of course Ok i have no idea how to work this thing..If you could mail me and i'll send on some of my stuff!!

xLauren

_meehan_ wrote: »

How do you go about studying the works? What's the absolute minimum you need to know? I have the Notes music book, and I find it ridiculously detailed, much more so than seems necessary, but at the same time, I'm not sure what's relevant and what's not!
I got a B1 overall in the pre, including my practical, with very little work done, but I'd like to bring it up to an A1!:o

Ugh wish i could make this easier but you have to know EVERYTHING!! It's frickin ridiculous...I just listen to the works over and over and OVER again,Write out notes,do exam papers + our teacher has given us numerous tests so it's just all been building up! Remember though without learning one single thing regarding set works and just doing really well in your practical and composing you can still do so well!! Set works are RIDICULOUS!!!!! and worth so little especially considering all the effort they require

BillabongMad

xLauren wrote: »

Ugh wish i could make this easier but you have to know EVERYTHING!! It's frickin ridiculous...I just listen to the works over and over and OVER again,Write out notes,do exam papers + our teacher has given us numerous tests so it's just all been building up! Remember though without learning one single thing regarding set works and just doing really well in your practical and composing you can still do so well!! Set works are RIDICULOUS!!!!! and worth so little especially considering all the effort they require

Good lord, talk about trying to scare the person. The set works aren't that hard really. Listen to them and get some decent notes. Dara Black has really good notes - I know from experience since I'm using them. They're simple to use, but are very informative and have everything you will need.
Do not go for the minimum you need to learn, it'll only leave you stressed and scared on the day of the exam.
Exam papers are your best friend and it's nothing but practice, practice, practice for Melodies and Harmonies.
Again, I seriously recommend Dara's notes.
Best of luck

Salty

BillabongMad wrote: »

Good lord, talk about trying to scare the person. The set works aren't that hard really. Listen to them and get some decent notes. Dara Black has really good notes - I know from experience since I'm using them. They're simple to use, but are very informative and have everything you will need.
Do not go for the minimum you need to learn, it'll only leave you stressed and scared on the day of the exam.
Exam papers are your best friend and it's nothing but practice, practice, practice for Melodies and Harmonies.
Again, I seriously recommend Dara's notes.
Best of luck

Thanks a mil! I think I'm just unlucky in that we never got tests on anything in music so I have no idea what I really need to know. But I'm certain that my book is far too detailed regarding the works. I'm fine with every other aspect of the course, it's just this one section. Thanks for the advice!:)

BillabongMad

_meehan_ wrote: »

Thanks a mil! I think I'm just unlucky in that we never got tests on anything in music so I have no idea what I really need to know. But I'm certain that my book is far too detailed regarding the works. I'm fine with every other aspect of the course, it's just this one section. Thanks for the advice!:)

Ouch that's rough. Have you got your own exam papers and stuff? You have a good bit to learn between now and the exam. There's a lot of listening to the set works rather than learning notes.

J_E

My main problem with the music paper is composition. I'm very open-minded with music and find it ridiculously hard to stick within the rules. They feel so closed and silly. I'm kind of worried really because I still can't do a good composition and the rest of the paper is absolutely fine.

BillabongMad

Cydoniac wrote: »

My main problem with the music paper is composition. I'm very open-minded with music and find it ridiculously hard to stick within the rules. They feel so closed and silly. I'm kind of worried really because I still can't do a good composition and the rest of the paper is absolutely fine.

How do you find it hard to stick within the rules? Is it you just forget them or something else?

xLauren

BillabongMad wrote: »

Good lord, talk about trying to scare the person. The set works aren't that hard really. Listen to them and get some decent notes. Dara Black has really good notes - I know from experience since I'm using them. They're simple to use, but are very informative and have everything you will need.
Do not go for the minimum you need to learn, it'll only leave you stressed and scared on the day of the exam.
Exam papers are your best friend and it's nothing but practice, practice, practice for Melodies and Harmonies.
Again, I seriously recommend Dara's notes.
Best of luck

Right it's just i'm an A1 music student and i have worked my a/ss off to get where i am! I'm not trying to scare anyone but everyone knows that the set works are a whole lot of work ...over 90% of what we learn for them won't be asked and the marks we get for all our effort is rubbish!! ...also learning set works inside out IS a ridiculous amount for us to do!! No pointing in glossing over it that's all

Salty

BillabongMad wrote: »

Ouch that's rough. Have you got your own exam papers and stuff? You have a good bit to learn between now and the exam. There's a lot of listening to the set works rather than learning notes.

Yup I have so I'm gonna work from them from now on and just refer to the book when I need to. I have been listening to them quite a lot, I have them on my iPod so that's fine.:) I think Bach and Bohemiem Rhapsody are fine, Tchaikovsky and Barry really weren't covered properly in class.:( I'll definitely have a look at those notes you recommended. They'll surely be more concise than the book I have anyway!

xLauren wrote: »

Right it's just i'm an A1 music student and i have worked my a/ss off to get where i am! I'm not trying to scare anyone but everyone knows that the set works are a whole lot of work ...over 90% of what we learn for them won't be asked and the marks we get for all our effort is rubbish!! ...also learning set works inside out IS a ridiculous amount for us to do!! No pointing in glossing over it that's all

Sorry I didn't reply to your post, but tbh it did scare me a little:o I'm easily spooked though!:P I would like to know how you do study them though. I'm aware that they're a lot of work, but honestly my book is far too detailed. We've had sub teachers comment on how detailed it is and how unneccesary that is but they're never around long enough to do anything about it. I just want a few tips from other people because me and everyone else in the class are fairly clueless at this stage:(

J_E

BillabongMad wrote: »

How do you find it hard to stick within the rules? Is it you just forget them or something else?

I always end up making melodies that sound good in my head, and while under any normal circumstances they would sound absolutely fine, they 'break' the rules and I don't get marks for them. I'm going to do a melody a night now with the guidelines beside me until I learn how to do it the right way.

BillabongMad

Lauren, fair enough. Nothing in the leaving cert is fair really. I can't wait till it's over and done with! :']

Meehan, cool. Best of luck, I'm sure that if you do have any problems with the notes, she would love to help! You don't really need to know much for Barry, it's more just recognising the form (like C or D) and knowing techniques used. Tchaikovsky has a load to learn and you need to know a fair bit in detail so I'd probably start with that

Cydoniac wrote: »

I always end up making melodies that sound good in my head, and while under any normal circumstances they would sound absolutely fine, they 'break' the rules and I don't get marks for them. I'm going to do a melody a night now with the guidelines beside me until I learn how to do it the right way.

Cydoniac, I presume you sight-sing then? Good luck relearning it!

Salty

BillabongMad wrote: »

Meehan, cool. Best of luck, I'm sure that if you do have any problems with the notes, she would love to help! You don't really need to know much for Barry, it's more just recognising the form (like C or D) and knowing techniques used. Tchaikovsky has a load to learn and you need to know a fair bit in detail so I'd probably start with that

Thanks a mil! This has actually been the best advice I've received about music since I started it!:) Best of luck next month!!:D

BillabongMad

_meehan_ wrote: »

Thanks a mil! This has actually been the best advice I've received about music since I started it!:) Best of luck next month!!:D

Thanks! You too

SDTimeout

Know your keys. Know what bars separate the internal works eg Tchaikovsky first section is bars 1-112.

Know the instruments of each piece, worst thing you can do is not know that.

The differences in pieces, EG if you get a Choral or Chorus in Bach, you will prob be asked what the difference is from the first time you heard this. Same with Strife and Love.

Learn the instrumental techniques of each era and Queen you should know recording techniques.

Know an example for word painting if applicable.

Barry ? Cover your ears

Musicboi

Okay, this seems like the right place to post this. People here seem to have the leaving cert music "NOTES" and others have the dara black ones. I'm in desperate need of notes! Our teacher is so unenthusiastic in class, his voice is so monotone and his notes are crap!(Plus I'm a traditional musician and that sorta goes against me ) Nonetheless I need notes :L Has anyone seen both of these or know of anyone who has?? I know there's a huge price difference but if is one actually better than the other??

Thanks

BillabongMad

Dude, I'm telling you, Dara's notes will get you through the Leaving Cert and then some!
You've left it late enough as it is, not worth waiting for someone to tell you which to get.
Here are her notes, they're not expensive and easy to understand!

Musicboi

I'm only going into 6th year so i still have a bit of time haha okay for composition, does she explain everything?? like why you can and can't do certain things? what's the best thing to do when a certain thing comes up? and just basic chord progression? It's really frustrating because we're not told any of this! We're told to do X,Y and Z but never are told why! And when we try to be creative, he docs us sooo many marks because it's not what he told us to do. Also, are there actually one word answers on the paper??

Thanks again

Farmer poet

I think our melody writing is based on classical music rules, so they're fairly strict...unlike modern day composers, barry for example..
I don't base mine on chord structures, I base bar 5 and 13 on bar 1, bar6 and 14 on bar 2 ,,etc...and i seem to do pretty well

BillabongMad

Ahh, that's not too bad then!
She explains everything, course there is a limit to explain why you can't do something specifically - It'd just clog up the notes. There are set Rules in Melody writing, follow said rules and you'll be fine. If you don't follow the rules you don't get the marks, even if the melody sounds fine when played you will not get the marks. The examiner is not necessarily play the melody.
She gives you everything you need and if there's an easy way to do it she'll have it in there. For instance, she has a set structure for melody writing. Chord progression in Harmonies are different, you just need to do loads, some work some don't.
Your teacher is kinda right, you have to do x, y and z because they're the rules. It's what makes melodies sound good!
As for the one word answers it really depends on the question.

Musicboi

I think i'll go with those. It sounds so much better then what we're actually doing in class :P grr the rules are so constricting but, i supoose, they need to be there.

Thanks for all your help

DJC Barry

Can anyone tell me do you have to decide before LC music practical on level you are taking.Im doing Higher Elective in performing (one performance 6 songs on electric guitar)

BillabongMad

Are you thinking of dropping to ordinary for the theory side? Like with all the other exams - You can change on the day, however, I'm not sure how this works with your practical, I can only presume you keep the same mark, but your result would be printed Ordinary Level due to the paper side.

DunnoWho

Cydoniac wrote: »

My main problem with the music paper is composition. I'm very open-minded with music and find it ridiculously hard to stick within the rules. They feel so closed and silly. I'm kind of worried really because I still can't do a good composition and the rest of the paper is absolutely fine.

Cydoniac i know exactly how you feel!
being a self-taught musician is definitely a disadvantage in Leaving Cert music (IMHO), you basically have to re-learn how to do everything you subconciously know, but with a million and one rules.

I'm in 5th year now and i'm really regretting taking music, the teacher is fine but i'm constantly lost in class, it just doesn't "click" with me. It's extremely frustrating and it really has me questioning my ability, Music has gone from my most loved subject to my most hated! :L

AdamH95

Really struggling to think of some practical pieces. Any ideas anyone for good guitar/singing pieces?