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This is question 6 on the Listening Paper. It is worth 20 marks and is made up of three excerpts. These will be of pieces or songs that you may have heard but won’t have studied.
You will be asked on:
- Instrumentation
- Form
- Texture
- Performance Details
- Melodic features
- Harmonic Features
- Rhythmic Features
- Compositional Features
- Basic Studio Effects
You may also be asked to fill in a short section of dictation.
Often some features are similar to those found in the Set Works.
It is important to read the question carefully.
Identify/Name short or one word answers
List make a list
Explain/Describe/Outline/Comment on Needs more detail, more info required such as naming a feature, explaining what it means and where it is heard in the music. Develop and elaborate more here.
Compare/Contrast It is important to refer to both excerpts of the music. You may be asked to name a melodic, rhytmic, compositional, harmonis or instrumental feature.
Features
- Melodic refers to tune
- Rhythmic refers to rhythm/beat
- Harmonic refers to notes which are not the melody i.e. chords and texture
- Compostitional refers to the way in which the composer builds the melody
- Instrumental technique refers to how the intrument is played
Remember:
- Read the question! If you are asked to tick one box, only tick one. If you tick an extra wrong box, it will cancel out the right answer and you will get 0 for that question.
- Try not to leave blanks. You will not be docked marks for incorrect answers.
- Be accurate: if asked to mark a place on the score, do not cover whole bars, be precise.
- Attempt the dictation, even if the notes are wrong, you may be given marks for rhythm and contours of the music.
