the 6 concepts.... (1 Viewer)

[vally]

hiii
im really stressed about music cos we have already had 4 teachers this yr cos they keep leaving, getting fired (for very dodgy reasons) or just simply disappearing off the face of the earth ...
in the pretrials, the top mark for music in my class was 63%.... wtf...
and the exam was on the 6 concepts of music but i just DONT get how to listen to a piece of music and then write about pitch, structure, dynamics and expressive techniques, and bla bla all the other 6topics... can somebody please help

 

[ujuphleg]

what course are you doing??

the 6 topics of music are

• pitch
• duration
• formal structure
• dynamics and expressive techniques
• harmony
• texture

i'm not sure on what exactly you are asking....

but in the exam usually you have 6 playings for a piece, with one time played for familiarisation. you also have note paper. you just have to jot down stuff first, then write it up in the 3 minutes or so you have after the pieces are played for it...

let me know if theres anything else you want answered...

 

[MouNtY]

....i used to really really suck at aural, but i just started praciticing at home and it paid off to an extent, and my mark for mid-year exams wasn't half bad....maybe you need just need more practice...

 

[stareathesun]

A friend of mine said that her teachers are slack, and dont teach properly - leave stuff out all the time. Hell, they didnt even tell them they have to perform their core performance to the HSC markers.

With the concepts, if you have a friend from other school thats doing music, you can ask for their notes.
Our teacher gave us handouts that looks like year 7 work on them, but they are actually pretty handy.
If you dont find out, then give me a PM or something, and i'll send you stuff on them.

 

[fingolfin101]

We are told, which is real handy i think, to split the exerpt into sections and comment what is happening in each section with reference to the asked concept, and with reference (contrasting to or unifying with) the other sections

 

[Crikket]

when in doubt, draw diagrams

 

[Crikket]

nah, scrap that. ALWAYS draw diagrams

 

[stareathesun]

yeah, id agree with that

 

[fingolfin101]

Yeah right...
Short extended dot points is the only way to go. With diagrams one tends to want to integrate little pictures of flowers and animals so its easy to get distracted

/////////either way make sure that what you say is actually relative to the exerpt and not general. And... learn stuff about the concepts

 

[stareathesun]

Originally posted by fingolfin101
With diagrams one tends to want to integrate little pictures of flowers and animals so its easy to get distracted

what kind of person would start drawing that stuff in their exam? besides the very STUPID.

the diagrams are used just to show melodies and such in structure questions and so forth.

They arent stupid, use them.

 

[Crikket]

only crazy stalkers like you want to draw little men on your aural papers
while the rest of us are busy actually trying to get as many marks possible by DRAWING DIAGRAMS
it saves us writing alot of useless words like "the" and "and" etc.
and it uses up less space
AND it's easier for the markers to read

 

[srp123au]

when in doubt... describe

 

[bubz :D]

which course are you doing?

make sure you never use the word "feel" in your analysis
eg: reggae feel, jazzy feel.... i learnt that early on in yr11, lol. though my music teacher said it's ok to use "quasi". coz i was hopeless at identifying the performing media, so she said if i couldn't tell if it was a violin or viola, i could write "quasi violin"

you usually get five or six hearings (??? my memory is going down the drain), and i found that it helped to listen out mainly for one concept each time...

eg, first hearing i'd try to work out the performing media (that was usually my weak point),

then structure (and at the same time i'd get the texture as well, identifying if it's homophonic/monophonic etc)

and then pitch, harmony etc etc.

if you can get talking about layers, and contrast, and how this section differs from another, then it's all good. don't worry, sometimes i was completely lost and had to quickly jot things down on the fourth hearing @___@

if all else fails, get the basics down lol, like if it's major/minor/modal, legato, staccato, any accents on irregular beats, where it crescendos/decrescendos, tempo changes etc etc.

hope that made sense. and helped.

 

[cayte]

Harmony isn't a concept - it comes under pitch - the sixth concept is tone colour/timbre. Often forgotten/ poorly understood, but one of the most interesting and if you do a good job of describing it should boost your marks.

 

[sammeh]

dont use the word feel - emotive response is a no-no. avoid anything that is not DEFINITE in its meaning. otherwise it is an interpretive response - the exam is a critcal aural response. what u "feel" about the piece is unfortunately irrelevant. what you need to do to get a good mark is say what it is about the music that gives it its jazzy feel - eg durations: swing quavers and syncopated backbeats, ground bass in straight 4's, pitch: blues note and scale used in melody, use of a cycle of 5ths, etc etc.

music is a good subject for remember that its quality over quantity but to be honest the amount of stuff u can say about even 30 seconds of music is phenomenal so u have no excuse to not fill ur 2 pages ^^

each question only asks about one or two of the concepts, and possibly how they're used to achieve an end (ie create unity/contrast). so you never need to deal with all 6 in one go, dont worry about that.

personally i dont go in for diagrams as they can be a bit inspecific, but hey that is, as i said, a personal thing :]

basically, the way to ace your aural paper is to download the syllabus document for hsc music which includes the full definitions of the 6 concepts, and memorise that bit. just do it, you'll be thankful later. then PRACTICE LISTENING with the idea of the concepts in your mind, and WRITING your answer. same story as for any other subject :]

anyway, my music teacher is an absolute nazi, but because of this he's an excellent teacher - makes u pay attention to detail, which is what will get u a band 6 music mark.

gl, and whatever u do, dont let music become a drag :]

 

[olay]

i had a read through the syllabus today and if u look in pg 16 onwards, theres a whole bunch of things listed that you should listen out for, in regards to the concepts of music. also, have a look at the standards package for music to see what sort of responses they're looking for + how indepth the answers should be. luck!!!!!! xox

 

[Circles]

psst.. can i give u a real tip val... come to school.. u're never around.. and when u are u dont turn up to music.. so umm yea.. that might make u understand it a bit better..

 

[django_]

The Concepts Of Music!!!!!!

OOH ok!! my music class used to SUCK at aural lol cuz half of us never did it in years 9 or 10 so we had less experience n shit..if u get wat i mean but yeh ok, the concepts of music:

ED PITT - a perfect acronym to remember what they are. (he's brad's brother ok lame i know but yeh...)

Expressive techniques
Duration
Pitch
Instrumentation (or performing media)
Texture
Tone colour

also - SS - style and structure. ALWAYS mention these two! its like...a rule or something.
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EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES -
usually descibed by 'dynamics' which refers to the volume of sound ie. P - soft, mp - moderately soft, pp - very soft, < - gradually getting louder, f - loud, mf - moderately loud, ff - very loud, > - gradually getting softer, terraced dynamics - sudden changes from loud to soft, gradual changes in dynamics, accents, silence, rubato.


DURATION -
refers to the length of sounds.
another acronym for it is MR TB: metre, rhythym, tempo and beat.

describe the METRE. it is changing or constant? any syncopation? eg. overall or in certain parts. what are the note values? eg. sustained notes, dotted notes, etc.

ok now for RHYTHYM. are there rhythmic patterns? what instruments play them? riffs, ostinatos, repetitive patterns, poly rhythyms, cross rhythyms (god i hate typing that word)

the TEMPO - is it lively, animated, dramatic, constant motion, pauses? does it sounds fast and happy or slow and sad? what texture does the rhythym create? homophonic, polyphonic, monophonic, thin, sparse, full, dense etc.

and the BEAT. does it stay the same or change? is it steady, indefinite, strong or weak? are there accents? eg. regular/irregular.


PITCH -
pitch refers to the highness and lowness of sounds, and the MELODY.
is there one main melody or many different ones? motif, riffs, walking bass, ostinatos, caconic, polyphonic, monophonic, round, counter melody, descent.
what is the shape or contour of the melody? are they movements by steps, scale-like, leaps, ascending, descending, awkward intervals, reguarly occurring intervals, narrow, a wide range of notes, decorated, imrpovised, question/answer, imitation, call/response, contrasting, unbalanced phrases etc.
what is the overall effect of the melody? flowing, lyrical, abrupt, jumpy repetitive. what is the tonality? major/minor, chromatic, atonal, centers on a particular note, the use of modulation.
and finally, is it associated with a particular period? Baroque, church, classical, romantic, 20th century, medieval, jazz, popular, cultural, etc etc.

the HARMONY: refers to the organisation of sounds into patterns.
toanlity also comes into the harmony just like it does in pitch. is it major, minor, modal, atonal, pentatonic etc.
is modulation used?
are the chords traditional? eg, chords I, IV, V etc. or clusters of sound.
are the chords added on? 7ths, 9ths, 11ths.
is there dissonance? resolved, unresolved, use of suspension.
descrie chord patterns used. 12 bar blues, pedal point, drone, alberti bass, appegios, block chords, oom-pah-pah.
describe the overall effect of the harmonies and tone colour created.


INSTRUMENTATION -
pretty basic this one; what instruments are used.
percussion eg. piano, drum kit, timpani, xylophone, glockenspiel (cant spell...) etc pretty musch anything that you HIT
wind - clarinet, oboe, bassoon, flute, etc.
strings - electric and acoustic guitar, bass guitar, violin, viloa, upright bass (is that the same as double bass?!), cello.
brass - sax, trumpet, horn/french horn, trombone.
electronic - synthesiser


TEXTURE -
refers to the layers of sound.
HOMOPHONIC: one main melodic line with accompaniment.
MONOPHONIC: one single melodic line, NO assompaniment.
POLYPHONIC: many lines of equal importance.

what is the degree of intensity? thick, thin, sparse, scattered, smooth, rough, coarse, silky.
describe instruments used and the roles they play. what are they doing in each layer of texture? imitation, caconic, question/answer, antiphonal, counter melodies, vocal harmonies, call/reposnse, walking bass, appegios, block chords, riffs, motifs, melodic interjections, pauses, dynamic levels (loud/soft etc.)


TONE COLOUR -
a particular quality of sound that distinguishes one sound source from another.
what instruments are playing?
(try to always name them specifically or by their groups eg, strings, wind etc. if you cant, just say "it sounds like...")

-voice, male or female. solo, duet, accompanied, unaccompanied, small ensemble, large ensemble, rock band, orchestra, small chamber groups, jazz band, string quartet, woodwinde ensemble, brass ensemble, choir, folk group, electronic, bass guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic/electric, lead guitar, piano, syntehsiser, violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, oboe, trumpet, french horn, trombone, timpani, cymbals, xylophone, gong, drums (hi-hat, toms, bass drum, snare), sax, string instrument, pipes, percusiion instrument etc.

once youve indentified the instrument, descirbe wat it is doing and the tone: plucked, bowed, hit, strummed, blown, dark, bright, airy, ligt, sombre, intense, dramatic, mellow, peircing, Spanish, Asian, African, Aboriginal, Indian, Irish etc.


STRUCTURE -
pretty simple... intro, verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, outro.

STYLE -
is it rock, jazz, popular, opera, folk, medieval, environmental, jazz, renaissance, baroque, etc etc.

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ok i really hope this helps shit took me forever to type it all out lol but yeh good luck!!

oh and one more tip - PRACTICE as MUCH as you CAN!! just pick up any cd thats lying around and play a song. start by writing down the structure and what you hear, then go through ED PITT and name as much as you can. after, go through it again looking at your notes (or what ive written ) to see what you missed etc. aural is fairly easy once u get the hang of it!! cheers

 

[Emily.]

i have made this checklist which might be of some help....

 

[timrie6]

what you need to do to get a good mark is say what it is about the music that gives it its jazzy feel - eg durations: swing quavers and syncopated backbeats, ground bass in straight 4's, pitch: blues note and scale used in melody, use of a cycle of 5ths, etc etc. :]

what is a cycle of 5ths? and a swing quaver? and a ground bass in straight 4s?