Music Question Thread

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey guys, how much analysis is need to be able to access the top marks for Music 1 Aural. Also what are some common things to look for that get you easy marks.
Thanks.

Hey Charles! Welcome to the forums! hopefully I am not too late with this advice, but either way, this guide might be worth a read! Accessing top marks is about providing a significant level of detail in answering the question in front of you. Easy marks depends a little bit on that question too! Think things like "which instrument is playing the melody" for Pitch, or "what instruments are there" for Texture. You should try and develop a "plan" for each concept to know the easy things you can get out of the way quickly!

[nattynatman]

Hi, for the elective topic 'An Instrument and its Repertoire' i'll be doing a comparison of harpsichord and pianoforte through Jazz interpretation of Baroque. Do you think that means I should focus more on the limitations of the harpsichord/the scope of the different instrument that alters the musical concepts?

Thanks!!

[jamonwindeyer]

Hi, for the elective topic 'An Instrument and its Repertoire' i'll be doing a comparison of harpsichord and pianoforte through Jazz interpretation of Baroque. Do you think that means I should focus more on the limitations of the harpsichord/the scope of the different instrument that alters the musical concepts?

Thanks!!

Hey! I think both of those sound like a logical thing to discuss! Really, comparison is a broad term, you can approach that comparison in any way you choose - It is your Viva after all! Do what seems most appropriate to you

[katie,rinos]

Hey guys,
I got my feedback from trials and realised that two of my pieces are around 6 minutes long. I've heard conflicting things on if a piece can go over 5 minutes: my clarinet teacher has said that he thinks that once it goes over 5 minutes they stop marking but don't deduct marks. However, I have also been told that you will lose marks if it goes over 5 minutes.
Will probably try to cut my pieces further (have already cut them), but do you guys know what happens?
Thanks heaps

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey guys,
I got my feedback from trials and realised that two of my pieces are around 6 minutes long. I've heard conflicting things on if a piece can go over 5 minutes: my clarinet teacher has said that he thinks that once it goes over 5 minutes they stop marking but don't deduct marks. However, I have also been told that you will lose marks if it goes over 5 minutes.
Will probably try to cut my pieces further (have already cut them), but do you guys know what happens?
Thanks heaps

Hey! There is definitely a hard limit of 5 minutes on performances, don't go over. I'm pretty sure you'll either be penalised or asked to stop your performance - They'll be nice, like, they aren't going to cut 5 marks for a 5:03 performance. But 6 minutes is overkill, try as hard you can to get down to 5 minutes (I ended up cutting a 12 minute piece down to 5 minutes because of this, I feel your pain )

[nattynatman]

Hey Jamon,
a question on music performance;
I'm doing whiplash (by Hank Levy) on drums and it's only 1 minute 50 seconds long. Do you have any suggestions or know any ways I can possibly extend this? (e.g would mixing/repeating some parts be acceptable) or is a 2min piece capable to achieve band 6? (i got 16/20 for trials, and I can still refine it)

Thanks

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey Jamon,
a question on music performance;
I'm doing whiplash (by Hank Levy) on drums and it's only 1 minute 50 seconds long. Do you have any suggestions or know any ways I can possibly extend this? (e.g would mixing/repeating some parts be acceptable) or is a 2min piece capable to achieve band 6? (i got 16/20 for trials, and I can still refine it)

Thanks

Hey! I see no reason why a 2 minute performance couldn't be worthy of a Band 6 mark, you just aren't using as much time as you have to show them what you can do! Showing off a bit more would definitely be good - Could you extend any solo sections with some improvisation, perhaps? Add a copy of a section but played with different expressive techniques/dynamics?

[raeannechamii]

Hi, I just finished my Music 1 HSC and had to start two of my pieces again because I was so nervous, (one 30 seconds in and the other 1 minute in) and was just wondering if it would affect my marks in anyway?
Thankyou!

[jamonwindeyer]

Hi, I just finished my Music 1 HSC and had to start two of my pieces again because I was so nervous, (one 30 seconds in and the other 1 minute in) and was just wondering if it would affect my marks in anyway?
Thankyou!

Hey hey, welcome to the forums!!

Starting again is an interesting one - The sooner you do it the better I feel. 30 seconds and 1 minute in are likely to be past the point of, "Oh, that performance hadn't started so penalty." Like, say you'd struck two notes then dropped your instrument - That wouldn't be likely to affect things because the performance wasn't 'underway,' so to speak. At least that's how I feel.

In any event, 30 seconds and 1 minute are definitely, "We are performing." So it will probably affect your mark a little. Don't worry though! Lots of people are nervous, lots of people need to restart, so it won't be anything awful. It might detract slightly from your mark for technical fluency

Congrats on finishing your performances!! I hope you are, besides the shaky starts, happy with how you went

[RuiAce]

Hey hey, welcome to the forums!!

Starting again is an interesting one - The sooner you do it the better I feel. 30 seconds and 1 minute in are likely to be past the point of, "Oh, that performance hadn't started so penalty." Like, say you'd struck two notes then dropped your instrument - That wouldn't be likely to affect things because the performance wasn't 'underway,' so to speak. At least that's how I feel.

In any event, 30 seconds and 1 minute are definitely, "We are performing." So it will probably affect your mark a little. Don't worry though! Lots of people are nervous, lots of people need to restart, so it won't be anything awful. It might detract slightly from your mark for technical fluency

Congrats on finishing your performances!! I hope you are, besides the shaky starts, happy with how you went

Woah. Would be nice if AMEB would do something like this. That is so generous

[jamonwindeyer]

Woah. Would be nice if AMEB would do something like this. That is so generous

I've never found anything that confirms it, and there might still be some penalty, but stopping a performance after 30 seconds will unfortunately have a bigger impact than stopping almost immediately!

[caitlinlddouglas]

Hey i was wondering how many people get selected for Encore & what the criteria was? Thanks!

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey i was wondering how many people get selected for Encore & what the criteria was? Thanks!

Hey! You can check out the 2016 program to get a feel for how many people get chosen, but I don't think it is static. Also keep in mind that more people than this get nominated, but NESA then selects students so as to get a mix of school types, repertoire, styles (etc). They don't want 20 boys from private schools in Sydney playing violin, for example - They want variety!

Criteria is basically smashing your performance/composition/viva voce. Like, surely must be 20/20, and for something like performance which everyone does, you'd need to stand out even beyond that. I've never seen an actual selection process/criteria - I'd be interested in seeing it if anyone has!

[bsdfjnlkasn]

Hey! You can check out the 2016 program to get a feel for how many people get chosen, but I don't think it is static. Also keep in mind that more people than this get nominated, but NESA then selects students so as to get a mix of school types, repertoire, styles (etc). They don't want 20 boys from private schools in Sydney playing violin, for example - They want variety!

Criteria is basically smashing your performance/composition/viva voce. Like, surely must be 20/20, and for something like performance which everyone does, you'd need to stand out even beyond that. I've never seen an actual selection process/criteria - I'd be interested in seeing it if anyone has!

I'm interested by this too! If you get nominated for performance, does it mean that your whole program got full marks? NESA doesn't disclose any selection criteria and my teachers don't really know...

[caitlinlddouglas]

Hey! You can check out the 2016 program to get a feel for how many people get chosen, but I don't think it is static. Also keep in mind that more people than this get nominated, but NESA then selects students so as to get a mix of school types, repertoire, styles (etc). They don't want 20 boys from private schools in Sydney playing violin, for example - They want variety!

Criteria is basically smashing your performance/composition/viva voce. Like, surely must be 20/20, and for something like performance which everyone does, you'd need to stand out even beyond that. I've never seen an actual selection process/criteria - I'd be interested in seeing it if anyone has!

thanks for that i received a nomination for performance today !