Is LC music hard if i havent done it for JC?

Msrebeckyxo

I really want to pick it and I was turned against it until I was told that its easy enough to do, like I'm learning piano at the moment but would it be hard to get a decent grade in it?

Troxck

Msrebeckyxo wrote: »

I really want to pick it and I was turned against it until I was told that its easy enough to do, like I'm learning piano at the moment but would it be hard to get a decent grade in it?

What standard of piano would you be? At LC you're expected to be Grade 5 but all the piano players are at least Grade 7/8. There is a guy in my class who picked it up from scratch, initially it was very hard for him. The terminology was new and so was melody and chord questions, but he caught on quickly. Saying that, he has been playing guitar and singing for years so the practical side is grand for him. Music is a nice subject but not an "easy" one, no subject is easy. Yes, it's easier to get an A/B grade in Music than say HL Maths etc but it will still require constant work from you. The course is very short, my class had it covered in May of 5th Year. It's all revision now.

The best thing to do is talk to the Music teacher. Generally, Music classes are small (mine has only 7 in it) so the atmosphere would be friendlier and easier for you to ask questions. Music is very formulaic for melodies and chord questions, if you can understand the rules, you can do it, they never change. Music is a nice subject to do, it's a nice break from heavy academic subjects.

Peg14

A the start, yes, you will find it hard. The people in my class seem to be managing fine now, still I suppose a little behind. Listening is always unpredictable but then again its the the part where most people actually pick up the marks. You can't be relying on music for an A, but certainly a B1-B3 well achievable (for majority.)
Melodies are grand. Practical...easy 90% from what my teacher tells me!! You need grade 5 standard Piano at least, unless you have a good grade 4 piece. But definitely not grade 4 for all pieces. They need to be contrasting (baroque, classical, impressionist.........etc)

Harmony is where people perform the worst, then the set works Q I believe. But everything else is really grand.

Msrebeckyxo

I also do guitar and my guitar teacher was telling me, having done LC music last year, that the teacher doesn't do any practical until the end of 6th year so I have plenty of time with the piano as I'm just learning it now, is it try that you can do easy enough songs (I'm not saying like ba ba black sheep, but more Let it be or someone like you) and if you do them to perfection you get decent marks?

FameHungry

I didn't do JC music and I'm doing LC music (6th year now). I always had an interest with piano since I was young but hated lessons so I taught myself when I was 14. Last year, I did my first grade exam (grade 5). Before the exam, I was doing really well in the practical tests in school cos I do it by ear and rarely make mistakes.

For the practical, keep it simple. Not really easy stuff but stuff that took some amount of effort to learn. And play it well. It's best not to over complicate things cos you've more chance of losing marks. Also, love the pieces you've chosen. You'll want to play them instead of forcing yourself practicing them. It will flow more and sound much nicer.

As for the theory part, I find it kind of difficult but after practicing the exam questions, you see a pattern. The melody gets easier over time, practice that. For the set works, listen to each of them a lot cos if you're there a month before the LC and you haven't a clue what movement/section is what, you cannot force something like that. Listening to something and recognising it takes time. The chord question is something everyone struggles with. It's like a puzzle, something you must do carefully.