History or Music [GCSE]?

I have to choose in a week I think, but I'm still undecided on these choices...

For reference, History I perform relatively well in exams, I am interested, but I don't really like some of the essay questions...

Music I am going to do Grade 8 piano, but on the listening and composing sides I perform worse (possibly because I don't really like it), although in assessments I perform OK...

Also 60% History Grade 9 last year, compared to 41% Music Grade 9

So based on everyone's experiences with these 2 subjects, which one would you advise me to take?

Reply 1

grand-stork

Music is not very difficult if you're already trained in music, even for composition and listening (the listening is, in my opinion, far easier than anything you'd get in the grade 8 aural examination - especially as you can just memorise key features of the set works and that gets you through most of the exam with ease). You'll probably also improve a lot in composition over the two years, but knowing the piano well will give you a good head start there. Having coursework is also pretty helpful because if you put the right amount of effort into it, you can basically guarantee yourself an excellent grade before you've done the exam.
I didn't take history so can't inform on that one much, other than that there is a lot of content to learn - though if you find it interesting it shouldn't be an issue.
Ultimately you should choose the one you think you'll enjoy most, unless you have a specific subject you want to do post-GCSEs, in which case please pick that one.

Reply 2

PRMX

Thanks!

Reply 3

lifeisallgoodlol

Original post by PRMX

I have to choose in a week I think, but I'm still undecided on these choices...
For reference, History I perform relatively well in exams, I am interested, but I don't really like some of the essay questions...
Music I am going to do Grade 8 piano, but on the listening and composing sides I perform worse (possibly because I don't really like it), although in assessments I perform OK...
Also 60% History Grade 9 last year, compared to 41% Music Grade 9
So based on everyone's experiences with these 2 subjects, which one would you advise me to take?

As someone who takes both, I can give you some insight on both (of course we're probably not doing the same exam boards but this info applies nevertheless).

Music GCSE for me is like a safe 9. Although the composing gets difficult, usually teachers help with it because they obviously aren't going to make their students send off something bad for exam boards. Same goes for performance. In fact, in performance you're supposed to do a recording of your piece which means you can retake as many times as you want before you send it to the exam boards. I think the best part of music GCSE is by the time you enter the exam, you've done 60% of it already, which takes a whole lot of pressure off the listening paper because I'm not very good at the listening and still managed to get 9s in my mocks and year 10 predicted. I'd say if you want something easy, go for music.

For History GCSE, I honestly love it. I love it so much that I want to take it for A Level. Most people who take GCSE History however...don't. You have to put a whole lot of work in and there is an incredible amount of time pressure in the exams (I have to write 6 essay questions in 1hr 30 mins including 2 16 markers). Learning History is really fun but the amount of memorisation and work you have to put in means you really truly need to like it or it becomes really really difficult.

Overall, if you're looking for the less stressful option: take Music, it's fun and chill. However, if History does excite you and you're ready to put the work in (this of course depends on your other subjects because I know someone who took History AND Art and they're going through a lot rn😭). Learning the History is really really really interesting trust me but it's difficult

Reply 4

liluuu

Original post by PRMX

I have to choose in a week I think, but I'm still undecided on these choices...
For reference, History I perform relatively well in exams, I am interested, but I don't really like some of the essay questions...
Music I am going to do Grade 8 piano, but on the listening and composing sides I perform worse (possibly because I don't really like it), although in assessments I perform OK...
Also 60% History Grade 9 last year, compared to 41% Music Grade 9
So based on everyone's experiences with these 2 subjects, which one would you advise me to take?

hii, so in terms of history, if you don't enjoy essay questions, you will struggle doing the gcse exams as they are mainly long answer e.g. 20 mark questions and the paper's are usually 2 hours long. there's a lot of content to remember and to apply. for music, if you've gotten to the stage of grade 8, it means that you already have a lot of experience in listening to music, playing and key elements. the composition and listening is something you can definitely improve on in two years and you can always get help from friends and teachers who are taking music. i know students who didn't create more than a few bars until a few months before their gcses and got a nine. of course it depends on what you like, but music seems like a better choice. hope this helps!