Music: Discussion, Questions & Potential Solutions

[jamonwindeyer]

Post all exam discussion and sample solutions for Music 1/2 here!

[holky]

I am NOT. A fan of what went down for music 1
Idk if i blanked or just didn't prepare but i did not do well in that exam
I kept hearing different structures on every listen and i got overwhelmed and couldnt think what to talk about
And a whole question on tone colour? That threw me so much and plus no questions explicitly crossing over concepts or a comparison
I just found it odd tbh
Oh well never have to do one of those again and my rank should save me from a terrible mark
Its so weird i normally walk out of aurals feeling amazing but oh boy i felt not so good after today

[jamonwindeyer]

Bummer! The exam pressure can definitely throw you (and omg tone colour is the bane of my existence ). Be happy you are done! I bet it wasn't as bad as you think

[angewina_naguen]

I'm really glad I didn't have to sit the Music 1 exam today but still qualify for enjoying the memes because I was studying near the building that the exam was held for Music 2 and I could hear Mutant Brain. If I was sitting that exam, I probably would have laughed through the whole listening xD I think it's fantastic that they're introducing more obscure styles of music into the exams. It definitely makes things more interesting and encourages a wider range of study across musical genres instead of more predictable works in film, classical or pop.

The Music 2 exam was still interesting in its own way though. Some slight deviations from the trends of past papers like a 6 marker on Carl Vine with a ridiculously broad question (Analyse the musical features in this work) and the essay question not forcing us to utilise an unseen work from the exam. I was really happy that I learnt better from Trials and prepared my two pieces in more depth before the exam so I had plenty to write about. My notes were also focused on styles so the question was in my favour

The only question I know for sure I nailed was the balance one. Everything else was just a frenzy to write down as much as I could. The exam was easier than my Trials though thankfully (didn't feel that way with AOS so I'm particularly thrilled). I loved the Handel concerto and the Carl Vine excerpts (I'm actually friends with Carl Vine on Facebook now. It's a long story xD) but yeesh to the Mozart one.

I guess my reaction to the paper was quite mixed. It was predictable in that it had the Preliminary content and the Australian piece so there wasn't much of a surprise but that's what I find a problem with the Music 2 syllabus. They need to be more interesting. Maybe not something like Mutant Brain but perhaps more world music or other styles. Unless you studied them for the Additional Topic, you wouldn't get to branch beyond Western classical music, traditional and contemporary. Even then, I chose Music of the nineteenth century because for the sake of the HSC, I wanted to settle with a topic I was comfortable with (and also because I love Schubert's music with a passion and the markers need to know that). I hope that they start to be braver with their selections of questions and pieces like they have with Music 1 this year. It'd be a nice change.

Overall, I think the paper wasn't too bad so I hope it goes well. On to the next one