[south east's finest]

i have my grade 5 theory in a few wks and am really scared. I kind of understand the basics and when i go thru my workbook it all seems fine but then when ive attempted practice papers, i 4get everything. also im havin serious trouble with composing music. any tips?

[clarinetplayer92]

Originally Posted by south east's finest

i have my grade 5 theory in a few wks and am really scared. I kind of understand the basics and when i go thru my workbook it all seems fine but then when ive attempted practice papers, i 4get everything. also im havin serious trouble with composing music. any tips?

I found that memorising the circle of 5ths, and then copying it out on a scrap piece of paper really helped for the transposition question and just generally. I also liked to draw a piano on my piece of paper as well, just to make the interval stuff a bit easier.

A tip for the comp is do it very methodically, they don't care what it sounds like as long as it is done logically. Try and land on the dominant at the start of the 4th bar, and remember to continue with the phrase structure they give you. E.g. if they use two bar phrases starting with an upbeat then you should to. Repetition isn't a bad thing and it is so important to make sure that what you add is stylistically similar, e.g. uses the same features. Some things to avoid: In minor keys only use the sharpened 7th if it is rising to the tonic, also, if there's an upbeat remember to deduct it's value from the last bar. Try and keep within the range for the instrument in question, this is pretty hard, so it's best to keep with in a fairly narrow range and avoid leaps just to be on the safe side. Make sure you add in dynamics and phrasing, the latter being especially important for wind instruments, a nice touch is to add little ticks for breathing at the end of each phrase.

Sorry about the essay and hope that helps

[south east's finest]

ok kl thank u