Hey again
@lucylai26 !
I'm glad you made this thread! Hopefully more GCSE Edexcel music students will join this thread, and then all of us can help each other out.
As for the essay question, I suggest writing an essay, for six pieces, within either Area of Study 1 and 2, or Area of Study 3 and 4. The 2 essay questions at the end (where you choose one of them) will definitely be between a piece from either Area of Study 1 and 2, or Area of Study 3 and 4. So, technically if you learn to write essays for just six pieces (for example, just the pieces within Area of Study 1 and 2) you'll do really well in the essay question because question 9 will definitely be on one of the pieces from Area of Study 1 and 2. You could also just learn to do essays for the six pieces within Area of Study 3 and 4 because question 10 will definitely be on one of those pieces. Either way, you only need to learn to write essays for six pieces, as opposed to twelve, in order to do well!
The attachment image is from one of the examiner reports explaining what I have just explained above, in case what I've said makes no sense!
I suggest writing the essays in the "MR HSTTTODD" structure. M- melody, R- Rhythm, H- Harmony, S-Structure, T- Timbre, T- Tonality, T- Texture, O- Orchestration, D-Dynamics, D-Duration. If you learn 2-3 facts about each of these for each piece, as well as when and where it was written, where it would be performed and its musical style, then you'll do great in the essay question.
What I'm going to do nearer the exam time (perhaps from Jan/Feb onwards) I'm going to write an essay for each of the six pieces within Area of Studies 3 and 4 (I prefer these two Area of Studies in comparison to Area of Studies 1 and 2) in exactly the way I explained above, get my teacher to mark it (or the new head of department which will hopefully be good) and try to memorise them as best as I can. Perhaps you could do the same. I think it will make you feel more comfortable with the essay question.
Also, don't forget to revise all the pieces though, for the other questions! Revise the rest of the other six pieces in the way you would revise for the listening part of the exam. Then, focus on six pieces from either combination of Area Studies, for the essay question.
I saw in previous years' threads that many of them discussed and predicted which question will come up as the essay questions, and in most years, their predictions were right, so that's why I asked
Maybe, as more people join this thread, we can get some predictions
What A Levels have you chosen/ are going to take?
Hope the advice I gave helps!!
Best wishes,
Rosita Xxx