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March 28, 2024, 11:35:06 pm

Author Topic: Accelerating into music  (Read 4024 times)  Share 

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raquel-v3

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Accelerating into music
« on: October 21, 2020, 10:16:48 am »
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Hi! I'm currently in year eleven and thinking of dropping specialist to do music performance (I know its a lil bit of a jump ;D ), but I'm not sure if I should. Is it too hard to do year twelve without year eleven? any tips would be appreciated!  :)

keltingmeith

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Re: Accelerating into music
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2020, 10:58:24 am »
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Hi! I'm currently in year eleven and thinking of dropping specialist to do music performance (I know its a lil bit of a jump ;D ), but I'm not sure if I should. Is it too hard to do year twelve without year eleven? any tips would be appreciated!  :)

Highly, highly depends on your prior experience with music. Would you be willing to share what experience you have in terms of music theory, having played an instrument, etc? And would you be interested in group performance, or solo?

raquel-v3

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Re: Accelerating into music
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2020, 11:55:56 am »
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Highly, highly depends on your prior experience with music. Would you be willing to share what experience you have in terms of music theory, having played an instrument, etc? And would you be interested in group performance, or solo?

I've had a lot of experience with music, I am a grade seven pianist and I know a fair amount of theory but I would need to catch up. I would most likely be doing group but it depends on how much easier/harder it is

keltingmeith

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Re: Accelerating into music
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2020, 03:05:04 pm »
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I've had a lot of experience with music, I am a grade seven pianist and I know a fair amount of theory but I would need to catch up. I would most likely be doing group but it depends on how much easier/harder it is

Okay, awesome. So, the first thing I want to mention is that VCE music is a bit weird, and very different to AMEB grading. In fact, I encourage you to look at previous years exams, they are very telling of the kinds of things to expect. Having said that, knowing you're this fair in AMEB grading does help, and I can confirm - yes, accelerating into year 12 is very possible, you'll just need to work harder on some things

First, the practical stuff. VCE doesn't actually care that much about accuracy or playing difficult music - in fact, of the 10 criteria in the assessors report, only 1 of these has any reference to playing accurately. In fact, that one criterion doesn't even mean that you need to play the work as notated, and more refers to your playing being deliberate. If you play a note, it should be the note you were intending to play. If you change tempo, it should be a part of the song, not because you got nervous and sped up, etc. Most of the criteria are in terms of showing a wide range of techniques, effective expression, playing a range of styles, etc. So, if instead of showing up playing a grade 7 piece that sounds really impressive that you're good at, you're much better off playing a grade 3 piece that you've mastered to the point that people cry tears of joy when hearing it. It's not about how good you are, it's about how good you sound, if that makes sense. This is something that's worth talking to the music teacher at your school about before jumping into.

As for group vs solo - piano solo is incredibly hard to do well in (think about how common it is for people to start piano at the age of 5 and do a grade a year), so unless you think you are really good, you're likely better off going to group. However, it's not worth doing group if you don't have a group of people who are committed to making good sounding music, and who are comfortable playing in a range of styles. There's a trade-off to doing both, so make sure you make an informed decision. For example, maybe you have a group of friends and you all like to jam together. But if one of those friends doesn't really care about sounding good and just enjoys playing with you, he might not be the best bet to perform with. Even if your competition in solo is fierce, it's better to face them than to perform with a group who's not any good. Finally, do consider the song lists - there is a prescribed list of works you have to play from for your end of year performance exam. For piano solo, you need to play at least four pieces of work - two of these from 20th and/or 21st century music styles, one from the Baroque or classical categories, and one from the Romantic or post-Romantic category. All of these must also be listed in the prescribed music list that is on the VCAA website. Do note, solo performance does care a little bit more about playing as notated. For group, however, all bets are off - and some of the best performances in Top Acts are from people who took songs and made them their own. In group, you need to perform four contrasting works - and two of them must be from the prescribed list on the VCAA site. This does mean you get a bit more freedom in your song choice, but you need to be able to play in a variety of styles.

For the written exam, there are three sections. Section A is all about listening and interpreting. These questions will play music to you and think about the musicality of it. How did the performer use different expressive ideas to make the piece of music. How did they use tone colour? Articulation? Tempo? Rhythm? Phrasing? Improvisation? Layering? Harmony? Melody? Etc. This can also include playing of multiple pieces of music that you need to interpret and contrast. Eg, last year, Crazy by Gnarls Barkley was played, and then compared to the cover by Postmodern Jukebox.

Section B is another aural section, but it's about "music language". This one you might be a bit more familiar with. It involves musical intervals being played, and you figuring out the size and quality of the interval (e.g., minor 3rd, augmented 5th, etc.), the same with scales/modes, trying to dictate melodies and rhythms, identify chords and chord progressions. You get the idea - there are limits on what they can ask here, but I don't remember what they are, you'd have to check the study design.

Finally, section C is just normal music theory - or "written music language". Intervals will be notated, and you'll have to identify each, or given an interval and asked to write it. You can also be asked to write scales, chords, as well as identify the function of each. There's a few more I think? I'm unsure, it's been a while since I've been in music - but to memory, they can only ask about keys of like, four accidentals or less. Like, if you can do grade 7 music theory, I'm pretty sure the entirety of section C is basically a write-off, and I don't think you have anything to worry about.


And I think that's it - it's definitely worth speaking to the music teacher to get some ideas from them about whether group or solo would be right for you, but coming from grade 7 AMEB means that you should be able to catch up. You know all the theory required for sections B and C of the exam (though you may need to practice your aural skills), and section A isn't that hard to catch-up on - most students find section A the easiest of the bunch. It's just the practical that might be a bit different - but you have the skill, so now it's just about the practice to making everything sound good. Also let it be known - if there's something I've said wrong about AMEB, it's because I never took AMEB myself past grade 1, and I did that exam almost 2 decades ago, so my experience is only based on that, lmao. Hopefully this has helped you some, good luck!

Also, sorry about the question before - but like, some people honestly don't realise how hard music is, and come in thinking they can do it because they can read some tabs on the internet lmao. In fact, when I did year 11 music, one kid signed up for it having never played an instrument before! The teacher very quickly spoke to her and helped her move into an entirely different class, because that was not going to end well for her, hahah.

raquel-v3

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Re: Accelerating into music
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2020, 05:56:19 pm »
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Also, sorry about the question before - but like, some people honestly don't realise how hard music is, and come in thinking they can do it because they can read some tabs on the internet lmao. In fact, when I did year 11 music, one kid signed up for it having never played an instrument before! The teacher very quickly spoke to her and helped her move into an entirely different class, because that was not going to end well for her, hahah.

Thank you so much! This is really helpful, also nws about the question haha i don't mind. I'll definitely be considering it now, so thank you for all this information, it is vry much appreciated!!!  :)