By Megan ThorntonMusic is already everywhere around us – on our phones, computer games, social media – and music, as a subject at Junior Cycle, wants you to interact with that world in an active way. In this guide, John, a music teacher with over 30 years of experience and state examiner, shares his tips on how to do well.
The Music syllabus outlines three areas to be examined in the written paper and in the CBAs. It's important you know these, so you are aware of what skills you are trying to develop to succeed. They have very fancy titles but what they mean is quite simple:
This is the "nuts and bolts" of music as a language- the symbols and the terminology we all use as musicians to understand each other. It is here that you learn to read and write music properly and this knowledge is examined in ALL questions on the exam paper.
This is where you can be creative. You show that you can use these same "nuts and bolts" of Music to create and compose your own music and in turn make it possible for others to read and perform your music the way you intended. This is examined in detail in your CBA 1 and in two questions in the written exam paper- the Melodic Composition and the Backing Chords questions.
This is where you bring together all your musical knowledge to help you identify the different musical elements in a piece and use these to place it in a musical context. This is examined in your CBA II.
Unlike a lot of other exam subjects, the written exam in Music is timed for you. The pre-recorded CD with the excerpts and appropriate pauses for time to answer is played from start to finish. That means you don't need to be worried about clockwatching as in other subjects or spending too long on one question- this is taken care of for you.
Of course, this also means that you must answer the questions in the order they appear- again, unlike other subjects, there is no skipping ahead to your favourite type of question or section of the course! But it is very helpful in that it is structured for you and clearly announced what question and excerpt you are on, so you just have to keep up with the CD and you will have completed all the questions by the time the exam ends.
The written paper is designed to examine three areas:
Your Listening Skills
Your Composing Skills
Your ability to Recall Studied Material
Exam Tip 1: You might struggle when asked to respond to music you have not heard before, but don't worry- a lot of people do. You might not know where to start or what to listen for, but it's a skill you can get better at.
The DRAMATICS acronym is a handy tool to help you with this. When listening to an excerpt go through the keywords in the acronym below. They will identify musical features for you what you can comment on.
D for Dynamics
R for Rhythm
A for Accompaniment
M for Melody or Mood
A for Articulation
T for Tempo or Triads or Texture
I for Instrumentations
C for Chords or Cadences
S for Style or Structure
Exam Tip 2: Right at the beginning of your written exam, a "Test Piece" is played. There are no questions on this piece. It is designed to calm your nerves and, most importantly, to ensure that you can hear the music clearly and at an appropriate level.
To read all of John's tips on how to do well in Junior Cycle Home Economics, click the attachment below.
