What is a Music GCSE like?

Please could you describe the coursework? Is it difficult? Do you need to play an instrument? How does the exam work?

Is it easy to pass Music? Could you just tell me all about the course? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to find out all about the course :s-smilie:

Reply 1

dirtyoldriver

10

If it's Edexcel (or probably any other board) then you will need to play an instrument or sing to at least grade 3 standard.
When I did it, coursework was 2 compositions in contrasting styles which are at least 3 minutes in total.
I believe the exam nowadays is a collection of set works which you study over the year and then have to answer questions about in the exam, so basically a prepared listening test.
I didn't find it that hard but then I do a lot of music generally. The composition was what I struggled most with but as long as you have something relatively original that doesn't break any rules as such then you will probably get a good mark on it.

Reply 2

hemant1

11

exam was a mind ****! The coursework was fun though

Reply 3

wren94

I was on OCR, yes, you need to play an instrument or sing as performance is a part of the course, there was composition and a listening paper too.
Is it difficult? Depends how 'musically able' you are. Most of our group found it easy but those people who hadn't done any music theory, couldn't read music very easily etc. obviously found it harder.

Reply 4

Emaemmaemily

18

You do need to be able to play an instrument to a certain level (I'd say grade 3-ish), but if you can and you have a basic knowledge of music the course is very, very easy.

Reply 5

chinaberry

14

Apparently it's fiendishly hard, the best mark in my school was an A, the rest were Cs, Bs etc.

Grade 5 piano is much much easier!! and it doesn't take two years...

Reply 6

BeautifullyTragic

13

I did mine 6 years ago now, however I loved it :smile:

I can't play an instrument however I sing so that got me through the practical. It was hard but I had very supportive teachers.

At the time I was trying to decide between music and drama, and was told that at A Level Music was going to be a lot harder to pick up afterwards than Drama. I'm so glad I did because in my school GCSE Drama was a joke, and I learnt a lot.

Reply 7

Mr. Flynn

1

It's horrible now, please do yourself a favour and don't take it - especially if it's with Edexcel.

Reply 8

gypsyclimber

12

If it's edexcel the exam certainly isn't easy - but if you like music and it's something your interested in taking further go for it. The two compositions are great fun if you're into it, but a bitch if you don't like that kind of thing.

Reply 9

Emaemmaemily

18

If you play an instrument, it's easy. It's only really difficult for people who have no experience in music before starting the course.

Reply 10

RedDevilThing

9

Original post by Emaemmaemily

If you play an instrument, it's easy. It's only really difficult for people who have no experience in music before starting the course.

It's easy if you play a classical instrument. I play the guitar and I really struggled with the exam stuff, melodic dictation was a bitch. The coursework was mostly fine however because I could compose and perform however I wanted to.

Reply 11

Emaemmaemily

18

Original post by RedDevilThing

It's easy if you play a classical instrument. I play the guitar and I really struggled with the exam stuff, melodic dictation was a bitch. The coursework was mostly fine however because I could compose and perform however I wanted to.

I disagree. You personally may have struggled, but plenty of people I knew who played other instruments found it easy too. Even if you play guitar it makes life much easier for you to learn the theory anyway, but that's besides the point.

Reply 12

iheartdjokovic

18

Original post by RedDevilThing

It's easy if you play a classical instrument. I play the guitar and I really struggled with the exam stuff, melodic dictation was a bitch. The coursework was mostly fine however because I could compose and perform however I wanted to.

I'm in Year 11 doing Edexcel GCSE Music. I play the cello to Grade 7 standard, and I still find Music (especially the compositions) impossibly difficult. So there you go. OP, I would say that unless you really, really love Music at the moment, don't do it. :smile:

Reply 13

RedDevilThing

9

Original post by Emaemmaemily

I disagree. You personally may have struggled, but plenty of people I knew who played other instruments found it easy too. Even if you play guitar it makes life much easier for you to learn the theory anyway, but that's besides the point.

That's strange, because at my school it was always those who didn't play a classical instrument that struggled, and it was always in the exam. In fact even some of those who did play classical instruments struggled with the exam.

Original post by iheartdjokovic

I'm in Year 11 doing Edexcel GCSE Music. I play the cello to Grade 7 standard, and I still find Music (especially the compositions) impossibly difficult. So there you go. OP, I would say that unless you really, really love Music at the moment, don't do it. :smile:

Exactly. Without wanting to sound arrogant, I was one of the higher achievers in my GCSE Music class and came out with a B. Coursework was A-A* borderline so the exam was really bad, I'd put it down to the confusing content of the syllabus and less than stellar teaching and so I just never completely understood the content.

So there you go OP; don't do it unless you're 100% set on it and are willing to put all the work in.

Reply 14

Prettygeek

9

I was on OCR, did it in a year and found it easy, the only thing which is hard is the examination :smile:

Reply 15

username592312

18

Hi,
I took OCR last year and got an A. Breakdown was a*,a*,a*,d.
My instrument was vocals, but it was grade 7.

If you work hard at your instrument, you can achieve a high grade with slight ease. The course is split into 4 sections.

Section 1: Music Portfolio
-Your instrument solo
-Group performance with your instrument and other instruments

Section 2: Composition
-Compose a piece of music from any genre of your choice with your instrument.
-Compose a piece of music from the same genre as your solo performance.
(You keep a composition log throughout the composition process - make sure you keep it filled in and up to date!!)

Section 3 : Exams
-Written Exam (very hard)
-Composition exam (get like 20 mins to compose a piece of music)

If you take OCR GCSE Music, just make sure that you keep on top of your composition work. You're supposed to do it all in controlled conditions, but if you try and work something out at home, it helps a lot, and you can try to remember it when composing your music. Also, keep that composition log up to date (I ended up filling mine in at the end of the course - which took many hours). I pretty much failed the exam with a D, but got an A Overall. If you can prepare your composition work before-hand and revise hard for the exam, you will find it very easy. Also, if you don't like Mozart or Beethoven or classical/baroque music in general, you will need to adapt to liking it.

Good luck, it's a fun course, and personally I find it better than studying ICT or something like that.
Hope you read this and take something useful away from it =D I also hope I haven't put you off too much, any questions, feel free to PM me.

Deano =] xD

Reply 16

2007PSanHa

19

I did AQA for GCSE music and got an A (A was my highest grade but I got 4 of them)! I am doing AQA AS music now.

I was about grade 5/6/7 violin when I took GCSE music.

Course:
exam - listen to music and answer short questions
composition - 2 compositions but you have to write an appraisal for the second one
performing - solo and ensemble

Music is hard work but you gain a lot from it!

Reply 17

hedwig8

11

Gcse music is a waste of time don't ever do it ok trust me

Reply 18

oops...

5

Personally, I love the composition bit so that was fine. The exam, however...
Basically you need a really good memory and be prepared to just learn stuff, as well as being able to apply it to whatever extract from 12 set works they choose to play (it definitely helps to already have a pretty good theoretical understanding - grade 5ish).
It's well respected and if you really love music then go ahead. If you've quite enjoyed music in the past and think it will be an easier subject though, it's not
Oh and this is edexcel by the way :smile:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 19

cxhay

Ccea music-i find it very hard, got all As and A*s in my mock, but a B for music, its up to you but be prepared to do a lot of work for it, my music exam's tomorrow

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What is a Music GCSE like?

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