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March 29, 2024, 04:08:49 am

Author Topic: How to prepare for the HSC music performances (from a girl that did four)!!  (Read 5454 times)  Share 

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katie,rinos

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How to prepare for the HSC music performances (from a girl that did four)!!

Performances can make up a huge proportion of your marks in HSC music (If you are doing 4 like I did it’s 70% of your external mark alone). I did four performances for my HSC on the clarinet and they were all something I was hugely proud of by the end of it. But they were a huge amount of work! So I decided to write this to help you as you begin working on your pieces.

Picking pieces: You must pick pieces that will fit your HSC topics. If you are able to pick your topics try to pick ones that interest you and will complement your style of playing and instrument (e.g as I play clarinet I didn’t do rock music but rather chose 19th Century music). I picked my pieces with my clarinet teacher but made sure to tell him which pieces I didn’t like or want to do. Make sure that your pieces are challenging enough that you need to work through parts but are able to have it polished by the end of the HSC. Try to begin practising your HSC pieces early but not too early that you will become sick and bored of them-I think I started mine around late December/January.

Timing of pieces: Your pieces must not be longer then 5 minutes. I only started timing my pieces around trials so it was really stressful to see that two were over 6 minutes long. While I’m not too sure what the mark deduction would have been, it’s best to time your pieces throughout so there is no chance of losing any marks. You may need to make cuts to your pieces if needed to stay within the time limits (I had to take out an entire page of one of mine).

Order of pieces: The order of your pieces is something more important if you are doing 3 or 4 pieces. I started thinking about the order of my pieces in the holidays before trials. I mainly ordered them from most to least confident. However, you can also order your pieces by personal preference and length (especially with breath control for wind instruments). You may also separate two pieces that are form the same genre/style and sound similar (e.g I separated my Brahms and Schumann pieces). You should practise your pieces in their order with your ensemble to see if it is something you would like and would work well during the exam. You are able to change the order of your pieces anytime throughout the year if you wish.

Ensemble: If you are having an ensemble try to organise this really early (I used my piano accompanist even during the half yearlies). Make sure that they are reliable and will come to all rehearsals, performances, soundchecks and the HSC on time. Have a good way to contact them to organise and remind them of rehearsals (I did this through text). Feel comfortable to lead your ensemble in the way you want your piece to sound-tell them if you would prefer for the piece to be faster, slower, louder,etc. Make sure that your part stands out within the ensemble and is not hidden with the other instruments.

Practise: You should aim to practise regularly and long-term in order to improve your pieces throughout the year. I usually practised from 40min-1hr during HSC for around 5 days a week, normally either at school or my room at home. However, this could be affected by the amount of your pieces, assignments from other subjects, studying, extracurricular activities, spare time and skill level. You won’t need to practise though the whole piece every day, but rather on the harder bars of your pieces and areas that you are finding difficult. Once you have gotten all of the notes and timing, try to also work on the dynamics and expressive techniques to make your pieces sound really interesting for your audience.

Get and take on advice and feedback from lots of different people about your pieces. People that are not normally around you may pick up new areas for you to work on. Work through the comments from your teachers/markers in the half yearlies and trials so you can improve from those marks. Listen to other versions of your performances (mine were all on YouTube) so you can gain inspiration for your own interpretations of the pieces and listen to the bars you need to work on.

How do I practise when I am busy with other subjects and extracurricular activities (time management)?
Feels-I had 13 units last year and a few different extracurricular activities so it was sometimes difficult to find time to practise. While I don’t believe you need to practise every single day (I would’ve been sick of my pieces), it’s best to practise at least 4-5 times a week. One of the best things that you can do is to use the time that you do have effectively. From around term two, we were given majority of the time in class to work on aspects of our majors (either performance, composition or vivas). I would be able to bring my clarinet in and have at least 50 minutes to work through my pieces. If you are given time like this, make sure you are prepared for the lessons with your instrument, pieces and maybe the parts you want to work on (I forgot my clarinet a few times last year which made for really unproductive lessons).

Otherwise, if it is an afternoon and you are busy with homework or something, you could be play for a short amount of time (even 15-20 minutes) and then come back to it later on after you have finished some homework. Even playing for a short amount of time is heaps better then not practising at all! It may also be a good idea to write up a study timetable which shows all of times where you are busy and where you can slot in practise times throughout the week. Keep in mind that your music HSC performance is months before your other HSC exams. Mine was in early September only a few weeks after trials, whereas the written HSC exam was the 16th of October over a month later. 

Dealing with performance nerves: I used to (and still do) get fairly nervous when performing around people. With the music HSC exam being possibly your first HSC exam it would be hard for anybody not to feel nervous. I think it is best to practise and be familiar with your piece’s heaps so that you are confident going into the exam room. Especially before a performance, try not to worry about what may go wrong instead focus on how you have been practising the piece the whole time.  Be aware of how you are affected by nerves during performances. For example, during performances I used to go really fast so that it would be over sooner, however now I focus on my tempo and try to play as I usually practised when I was performing. Another way to reduce nerves is through lots of experience of performing. I was involved in marching and concerts with my community band as well as events such as my school musical and year 12 creative arts cocktail night. This let me perform in front of a large group of people in a less stressful environment that wasn’t going to be marked. Also by performing in the hall I got used to the room and the piano that was used in my HSC exam.

The day of the exam:
Try to be really organised for any of your exams (whether it’s half yearlies, trials or the HSC) as one of the worst possible things could be leaving your instrument/music at home and having tons of unneeded stress. Before my HSC exam I tried to calm myself down and around 30-45 minutes beforehand I went to my music classroom to warm up by playing scales and quickly going through some of my pieces. In the room, I was also allowed to warm up and tune with the piano before playing my pieces. In between pieces you can always drink some water or take longer with your music if you need extra time. If you stuff up any notes, make sure that you continue playing the rest of the piece as you have practised it. I had two examiners in the room during my performance and they were nice people who just wanted you to do your best.

Most of all have fun! You’ve been practising for these performances all year! It’s your time to shine!! :)
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any questions! Good luck with your pieces! :D
Class of 2017 (Year 12): Advanced English, General Maths, Legal Studies, Music 1, Ancient History, History Extension, Hospitality
2018-2022: B Music/B Education (Secondary) [UNSW]

RuiAce

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Of course, didn't do HSC music myself. But I'll contribute some little things on top of this already brilliant guide from prior and current AMEB experiences.

Ordering the pieces
I found that tempo and dynamics can influence how you play the more subsequent pieces, to varying extents. On one hand, playing more energetic pieces first can be a good idea because you'd have more of that at the start. But on the other hand, there's two mild problems:
- You will probably warm up as you go through your first piece. Having a more relaxed piece first to warm up with can ensure you play at the more appropriate speed and etc.
- Or instead, when I play an energetic piece first, sometimes my later pieces pick up too much of the energy as well.

Nerves
Take this with a grain of salt, because I've been too cowardice to do this myself more often than not. But perform in front of others and also record yourself. It helps you get used to the horror that is performing, under exam conditions.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2018, 09:20:36 pm by RuiAce »

Fluffysama_

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hey hey what great advice from 2 legends!!!
i just had a question since I have trials for music in a week and I also have music preformance in september! :)
Same with 4 preformances haha
For my pieces im confident with 2/4 right now for HSC but we only have to do elective 3 and core for trials (so just practising those for now)
The ones I'm not confident with are my core ( I really want to make it more expressive and I want to get it faster for HSC ) and my elective 1 since I haven't touched it much ;;;
Was wondering how you think I should practice from after trials, I fairly confident in elective 2 and 3 but core piece was my most technically challenging and I have lack of confidence when I play it and it shows sooo much and for elective 1, love it and okay but how should I get it back up to scratch, playing sections I struggle with?
would love to get some thoughts about preformances!
Class of 2020: Advanced English, Japanese Beginners, Economics, Music 1, Visual Arts