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Edexcel Music GCSE 2013 thread

Searched for a bit and couldn't find one, so I decided to take it upon myself to make one instead! :biggrin:

Soooooooo, to start it off... is anyone else dreading any type of question in the paper that'll include the word 'Peripetie'? :frown:

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Reply 1
Original post by Meliss
Searched for a bit and couldn't find one, so I decided to take it upon myself to make one instead! :biggrin:

Soooooooo, to start it off... is anyone else dreading any type of question in the paper that'll include the word 'Peripetie'? :frown:

inb4nobodyactuallyreplies

Yep. That or Rag Desh
It's probably gonna be the mozart because it hasn't come up yet
Reply 3
Original post by Alleykat606
It's probably gonna be the mozart because it hasn't come up yet

Easiest one to get 8-10 marks in; as you can write the most about it...
Original post by ArgoV
Easiest one to get 8-10 marks in; as you can write the most about it...


I guess Mozart is all about the structure, instrumentation and tonality, which is pretty simple if you learn it properly :biggrin:

Rag Desh is actually one of the easiest! I know there are 3 of them, but they're all different. One's the sitar and tabla, the other has voice in it which the others don't have, and the other one has the bansuri, which is a wooden flute...completely different sounding ^^ Just learn the structure for them, and some technical terms such as mind (i think its that), tihai, sam, etc. Do you have a textbook with everything? :redface:
Reply 5
Original post by Meliss
I guess Mozart is all about the structure, instrumentation and tonality, which is pretty simple if you learn it properly :biggrin:

Rag Desh is actually one of the easiest! I know there are 3 of them, but they're all different. One's the sitar and tabla, the other has voice in it which the others don't have, and the other one has the bansuri, which is a wooden flute...completely different sounding ^^ Just learn the structure for them, and some technical terms such as mind (i think its that), tihai, sam, etc. Do you have a textbook with everything? :redface:


Yeah, the only problem is that things like standard Metre and Tonality terms go completely out the window and terms like Tals etc.
Original post by ArgoV
Yeah, the only problem is that things like standard Metre and Tonality terms go completely out the window and terms like Tals etc.


Kinda good in a way, there's not much to talk about so if you learn what there is you're all good :biggrin:


~We live in an age of smart phones and stupid people.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 7
Has anyone got any suggestions on how to best revise all this because it seems quite ambiguous and hard to find a good, effective revision method.
Original post by SolitaryRS
Has anyone got any suggestions on how to best revise all this because it seems quite ambiguous and hard to find a good, effective revision method.


First off, maybe try writing an essay question for each set work. Like, pick five musical elements (rhythm, tonality, texture, instrumentation and melody for example) and just go through the textbooks making sure you can come up with at least 2 points for each element, for each piece. Make charts, tables, anything really.
You'll also wanna familiarise yourself with every set work- read the breakdown in the textbook, go through the Anthology and read the scores and listen to them all on repeat. Even Rag Desh and Peripetie :biggrin:
Learn specialist music vocab and foreign terms, e.g the words in the Indian music section mainly for Rag Desh and stuff like Klangfarbenmelodie for Peripetie.
Look up videos on youtube, learn dates of album releases, when the piece was composed, musical periods..yeah, all that jazz.
Learn the structure of each piece too btw. I find that the hardest point to talk about..especially for pieces without an obvious structure. Like Yiri or Peripetie.
I'll think of some other stuff later but this is all I can remember right now. Good luck :smile:


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Reply 9
Original post by Meliss
Searched for a bit and couldn't find one, so I decided to take it upon myself to make one instead! :biggrin:

Soooooooo, to start it off... is anyone else dreading any type of question in the paper that'll include the word 'Peripetie'? :frown:

inb4nobodyactuallyreplies


Awww memories! I did this exam 2 years ago :tongue:
Peripetie is a terrible 'song' but at least you know the answers normally before they play the tune. You know it's atonal, and you should have valid reasons why you like/dislike the music. I'd hate to have to write an essay on this one.

Mozart was beautiful, and I still listen to Capercaillie actually :smile:

I think Electronic Counterpoint is beautiful, as is Handel. So many memories!
Reply 10
Good luck to you guys, this isn't a nice course :tongue:

Was sitting right at the front of the hall about a meter from the speakers, Peripitie was painful to say the least xD

Did this 2 years ago, think we got lucky with the exam with it being the first one,don;t think they wanted to throw any bad essays on us :smile:
Original post by Mollymod
Awww memories! I did this exam 2 years ago :tongue:
Peripetie is a terrible 'song' but at least you know the answers normally before they play the tune. You know it's atonal, and you should have valid reasons why you like/dislike the music. I'd hate to have to write an essay on this one.


Mozart was beautiful, and I still listen to Capercaillie actually :smile:


I think Electronic Counterpoint is beautiful, as is Handel. So many memories!



Haha, I played Electric Counterpoint to my mum once and sang along to when new instruments joined in. She didn't like it :frown:
Yiri is like, the best set work ever! :biggrin: I used to get the cowbell right at the end bang on time and freak my mum out. All good fun!
Yeah, a lot of the questions in the listening paper can be answered without even listening to the extract lol, my music lessons are extremely fun because I'm the only person that takes it and whenever I do a practice paper, we mark it right afterwards and when it comes to a question like... 'Name the solo instrument used in this piece (Raindrop Prelude)' I'll just look at my teacher and be like '...there's no way it can be the piano. No way. :eek:' Awwww I'm gonna miss this subject D: BUT anyways I'm waffling on! My school recently arranged a trip to see Steve Reich's works performed live; however I wasn't allowed to go because my Headteacher thinks that it's not a good idea for Year 11s to have school trips during the Spring Term. >_>
Original post by iCiaran
Good luck to you guys, this isn't a nice course :tongue:

Was sitting right at the front of the hall about a meter from the speakers, Peripitie was painful to say the least xD

Did this 2 years ago, think we got lucky with the exam with it being the first one,don;t think they wanted to throw any bad essays on us :smile:


I quite like it! Except for that one piece, Peripetie. Yeah, it's all quiet and then suddenly it goes so loud and hurts your ears. Plus I get lost whenever I try to follow the score :rolleyes:
Reply 13
Original post by iCiaran
Good luck to you guys, this isn't a nice course :tongue:

Was sitting right at the front of the hall about a meter from the speakers, Peripitie was painful to say the least xD

Did this 2 years ago, think we got lucky with the exam with it being the first one,don;t think they wanted to throw any bad essays on us :smile:


So happy that the torture of this course is over. I spent so much time stressing over Rag Desh and it didn't even come up. A part of me was so happy, another was livid that I spent all that time learning 3 different versions of the same song, figuring out which one had a Tabla, and the structures of the songs. "This one has a Jhor, but this one doesn't, oops!" It was hell. Every book said a different thing, and with musical keys, you can't tell which one is the accurate one. The CGP was riddled with mistakes, and I love CGP revision guides, so it took me so long to peel myself away. I was so happy writing an essay on Chopin though! What did you end up getting? :smile:

Original post by Meliss
Haha, I played Electric Counterpoint to my mum once and sang along to when new instruments joined in. She didn't like it :frown:
Yiri is like, the best set work ever! :biggrin: I used to get the cowbell right at the end bang on time and freak my mum out. All good fun!
Yeah, a lot of the questions in the listening paper can be answered without even listening to the extract lol, my music lessons are extremely fun because I'm the only person that takes it and whenever I do a practice paper, we mark it right afterwards and when it comes to a question like... 'Name the solo instrument used in this piece (Raindrop Prelude)' I'll just look at my teacher and be like '...there's no way it can be the piano. No way. :eek:' Awwww I'm gonna miss this subject D: BUT anyways I'm waffling on! My school recently arranged a trip to see Steve Reich's works performed live; however I wasn't allowed to go because my Headteacher thinks that it's not a good idea for Year 11s to have school trips during the Spring Term. >_>
Oh Yiri is genius :smile: Yeah if you've learnt your stuff, the exam should be a piece of cake, and it's so easy to just end up really enjoying the pieces instead of answering the questions because the pieces become so familiar :P Something's Coming was pretty good too :biggrin: And Miles Davis :biggrin: Although, I found it hard telling the difference between the alto and the tenor which is embarrassing because I'm a saxophonist :redface: I used to always get those past paper questions wrong. Steve Reich live sounds awesome! But to think we had to learn 12 songs and be tested on 8 of them, how we did it I have absolutely no idea. I would never do it again because I didn't feel like it tested my musical ability enough, other than the composition/ensemble elements. Nevertheless, memories are memories :smile:

Good luck with your exam!
Original post by Mollymod
So happy that the torture of this course is over. I spent so much time stressing over Rag Desh and it didn't even come up. A part of me was so happy, another was livid that I spent all that time learning 3 different versions of the same song, figuring out which one had a Tabla, and the structures of the songs. "This one has a Jhor, but this one doesn't, oops!" It was hell. Every book said a different thing, and with musical keys, you can't tell which one is the accurate one. The CGP was riddled with mistakes, and I love CGP revision guides, so it took me so long to peel myself away. I was so happy writing an essay on Chopin though! What did you end up getting? :smile:

Oh Yiri is genius :smile: Yeah if you've learnt your stuff, the exam should be a piece of cake, and it's so easy to just end up really enjoying the pieces instead of answering the questions because the pieces become so familiar :P Something's Coming was pretty good too :biggrin: And Miles Davis :biggrin: Although, I found it hard telling the difference between the alto and the tenor which is embarrassing because I'm a saxophonist :redface: I used to always get those past paper questions wrong. Steve Reich live sounds awesome! But to think we had to learn 12 songs and be tested on 8 of them, how we did it I have absolutely no idea. I would never do it again because I didn't feel like it tested my musical ability enough, other than the composition/ensemble elements. Nevertheless, memories are memories :smile:

Good luck with your exam!


I've always wanted to learn the saxophone! Which one do you play? How heavy is it to hold? Is it mostly all jazz stuff you play? :tongue:
Yeah, Rag Desh is a paiiiiiin, but it's not a pain in a hard way, more just a pain because it's so much effort.
Hahaha! Something's Coming, Mozart and Chopin were the only pieces I recognised. I never thought I'd actually know them all within 2 years, but I have! And it only took just over a year. :biggrin:
How were your compositions? :redface:


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Reply 15
Original post by Meliss
I've always wanted to learn the saxophone! Which one do you play? How heavy is it to hold? Is it mostly all jazz stuff you play? :tongue:
Yeah, Rag Desh is a paiiiiiin, but it's not a pain in a hard way, more just a pain because it's so much effort.
Hahaha! Something's Coming, Mozart and Chopin were the only pieces I recognised. I never thought I'd actually know them all within 2 years, but I have! And it only took just over a year. :biggrin:
How were your compositions? :redface:


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Oh it's a brilliant instrument :smile: It's pretty heavy but I'm also a weakling, and I play the alto. Bit annoying having to transpose everything all the time. If it's like 'Play a C' it's like 'oh wait, that's something or other for you!'. I play a bit of everything really. For the last concert, we played tunes from Chicago, a bit of Hairspray. But I've played a South African traditional song, and the Pink Panther and Somewhere over the Rainbow :P So a really big range. Yeah it's just a lot of memory and learning time which could be better spent elsewhere, especially as there's a chance that it might not even come up, but you can't take any chances by not revising for it, but if it didn't come up it's almost like a wasted effort like you learnt all that information for no reason at all. The most cringeworthy thing listening back are my compositions! I thought they were pretty high-tech 2 years ago, what was I thinking! Instrumentally they're fine, but the motifs are so cheesy and so explicitly 'I'm doing this harmony bit for the mark scheme'. I got A's for them, I think. I think I got a B for my ensemble or solo, but I got an A overall with an A in the exam as well.
Reply 16
Original post by Mollymod
So happy that the torture of this course is over. I spent so much time stressing over Rag Desh and it didn't even come up. A part of me was so happy, another was livid that I spent all that time learning 3 different versions of the same song, figuring out which one had a Tabla, and the structures of the songs. "This one has a Jhor, but this one doesn't, oops!" It was hell. Every book said a different thing, and with musical keys, you can't tell which one is the accurate one. The CGP was riddled with mistakes, and I love CGP revision guides, so it took me so long to peel myself away. I was so happy writing an essay on Chopin though! What did you end up getting? :smile:

Oh Yiri is genius :smile: Yeah if you've learnt your stuff, the exam should be a piece of cake, and it's so easy to just end up really enjoying the pieces instead of answering the questions because the pieces become so familiar :P Something's Coming was pretty good too :biggrin: And Miles Davis :biggrin: Although, I found it hard telling the difference between the alto and the tenor which is embarrassing because I'm a saxophonist :redface: I used to always get those past paper questions wrong. Steve Reich live sounds awesome! But to think we had to learn 12 songs and be tested on 8 of them, how we did it I have absolutely no idea. I would never do it again because I didn't feel like it tested my musical ability enough, other than the composition/ensemble elements. Nevertheless, memories are memories :smile:

Good luck with your exam!


Out teacher was on maternity leave for the first year so we only covered Handel in the first year just to make things even better :P

As far as GCSEs I reckon this was the hardest just for the amount of content there was to remember, so many flashcards xD

Did you take A level music aswell?

Original post by Meliss
I quite like it! Except for that one piece, Peripetie. Yeah, it's all quiet and then suddenly it goes so loud and hurts your ears. Plus I get lost whenever I try to follow the score :rolleyes:


I remember the first few times trying to follow the Peripetie score, just jumping round thinking "it could be that bit now" constantly :tongue: Had all the pieces on my ipod in the end so got to know them pretty well :smile:
Reply 17
Original post by iCiaran
Out teacher was on maternity leave for the first year so we only covered Handel in the first year just to make things even better :P

As far as GCSEs I reckon this was the hardest just for the amount of content there was to remember, so many flashcards xD

Did you take A level music aswell?



XD I agree with that, contentwise it was challenging.
I took Music Technology AS which was very interesting :smile:
You?
Reply 18
Original post by Mollymod
XD I agree with that, contentwise it was challenging.
I took Music Technology AS which was very interesting :smile:
You?


Completely dropped everything music related :tongue:

Quite happy about that now, hearing some of the horror stories from people who still take it, just like GCSE but a load more content, they do get the scores in the exam though apparently, cheaters :tongue:
Reply 19
Original post by iCiaran
Completely dropped everything music related :tongue:

Quite happy about that now, hearing some of the horror stories from people who still take it, just like GCSE but a load more content, they do get the scores in the exam though apparently, cheaters :tongue:


Yeah, I do Biology Chemistry and German as A2's and while I miss Music as my 'fun' subject, it's not related enough to my future which is a bit of a shame. But I like being a musician without learning a 'syllabus'. Dictation was really the worst :angry: But at least I have evidence of a musical past in my AS Level and my GCSE in it :P Yeah, music sounds dire at A Level, 2 hour exams and the like :s-smilie:

It's one of the reasons I dropped M.Tech, because it detracted from my study time for my sciences because of the heavy coursework.

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