* Music * Predictions / discussion / aftermath (One thread please)

MarkTheBaby

I only have one exam left and it's music. Just wonderin how everyone is studying it.

Our teacher wasn't that good and I'm not too bad with the composing but when it comes to the Set Works and Irish music section I just don't seem to know much. Any tips???

River Song

Here are some good notes by the PPMTA about the set works.

It's a lot, yes, but just try and filter out the main points.

J_E

Stick the set works on your iPod, listen to them lots, mark features from each section, know what each section is called. This is especially important for Bach and Tchaikovsky, as you can bet they will ask what section the excerpt is from. This is also the chance to brush up on your Irish music if, like me, you haven't really bothered learning off your essays and Irish musicians! Suppose you could practice compositions, know your rules and that.

brian93

My music teacher is a hero and we're having 4 two hour sessions between now and the exam, so we'll go over all the set works, and irish music and melodies and all.

As far as predictions go, there's no way I can be sure but I'd say the main set work will be either Bach or Tschakcbsxkandmcksjhdncy.

Hopefully it'll be a nice exam to end it all. Heading to Toby World after

PJelly

brian93 wrote: »

My music teacher is a hero and we're having 4 two hour sessions between now and the exam:D

I'm sorry. My mind finds innuendo everywhere.

I'm going to be going over every set piece and try to learn my essays. I THINK I'm ok at compositions. Despite only starting to revise them again about 3 months ago. After not touching them since 5th year.

Farmer poet

Go over your modulations in the flat keys...they're different to the sharp keys..

Know your melodic minor idiums ( raise the 6th and 7 th note in the scale when going up...that doesn't mean just sticking a sharp on the 6th nd 7th notes of every minor key..take Dminor for example, when you're going up you put a natural sign on Bflat and put a sharp on c! Sorry if I sound confusing :S

Oh and if a minor doesn't come up there will prob be an anacrusis melody, don't mess up the last bar!

I'm learning my set works this weekend! Let hope Queen comes up as Q1! Not likely thou..
I'm not great at the essays ...Haven't done one over the last two years... Where should I start?? Belfast harp, sean O Riada?

J_E

If Bo Rhap was a Q1 that would be too good to be true.

brian93

Anacrusis melody?:eek:

Belfast Harp festival, Sean O Riada (who died 40 years ago at age 40, cough), Sean Nos - will cover you for the listening part anyway, fusion, and a group like the chieftains.

You should be ok with them, don't take my word for it though.

Btw does anyone know how easily the practical is marked. Mine was 6 HL trad tunes, with no accompanent, played pretty well. And I know i got 20 in the clapping? and btw, saw online... 70% get a B3 or higher.. would be thrilled if I got a B :cool:

ClaireMarie

Cydoniac wrote: »

If Bo Rhap was a Q1 that would be too good to be true.

Really?? I would hate that!
I know everyone hates Barry, but I'd like to see him come up as the main question. There's only 4 instruments, and the techniques are really easy to pick out!
And for Barry they always ask you to fill in time sigs, which is great

Farmer poet

I get lost half way through Barry...Apart from that it's grand.. I love the B sections... Duh duh duh duh.....duh duh duh

Bbbbolger

I hope Queen doesn't come up as Question 1. Because I always knew the song I never really did too much study on it. Barry wouldn't be too bad although I've a feeling they'd throw in a couple of ridiculous questions if it's Question 1.

J_E

ClaireMarie wrote: »

Really?? I would hate that!
I know everyone hates Barry, but I'd like to see him come up as the main question. There's only 4 instruments, and the techniques are really easy to pick out!
And for Barry they always ask you to fill in time sigs, which is great

Ah Barry is always a good question 1, the piece is so ridiculous and non-conventional that the worst they can ask is to fill in the missing notes.

Bbbbolger

I suppose. In Tchaikovski and Bach theres just so much you can be asked on! Just want to get the exam done now though. I finished all my other exams on Thursday so Music is making finishing a severe anti-climax!

J_E

I have real problems with Tchaikovsky. I don't really know what the parts are like the codetta and the exposition. I just know really, the Friar Lawrence, Strife, Love themes, and the Funeral March...

Bbbbolger

Im the same. Hoping to solve all that with this week. Have all the set works on my Ipod so I'm gonna play them on non-stop repeat!

PJelly

Anacrusis melody?!?!
WHAT?!
You mean where they start with a short opening rhythm bit, that you need to finish at the end?

Farmer poet

yeah thats it, haha don't worry about it..If a melody is in 4/4 and there is an anacrusis of 2 quaversat the start... the last bar should only have 3 beats, not too difficult!
And it's always a good idea to put the anacrusis rhythm at the end of bar 8 + bar 12 .

PJelly

Farmer poet wrote: »

yeah thats it, haha don't worry about it..If a melody is in 4/4 and there is an anacrusis of 2 quaversat the start... the last bar should only have 3 beats, not too difficult!
And it's always a good idea to put the anacrusis rhythm at the end of bar 8 + bar 12 .

Yeeeeah, our teacher realised that we didn't do music for the junior cert and so sped through the course.
We call "Anacrusis" melodies, "The ones with the yoke at the start"

Farmer poet

Haha your teacher knew ya didn't do J.cert music so they sped thru' it.. makes sense :pac:
Oh well get the melodys with "the yokes at the start" right or the examiner will slaughter you

jawn

Farmer poet wrote: »

Go over your modulations in the flat keys...they're different to the sharp keys..

Know your melodic minor idiums ( raise the 6th and 7 th note in the scale when going up...that doesn't mean just sticking a sharp on the 6th nd 7th notes of every minor key..take Dminor for example, when you're going up you put a natural sign on Bflat and put a sharp on c! Sorry if I sound confusing :S

Oh and if a minor doesn't come up there will prob be an anacrusis melody, don't mess up the last bar!

You're overcomplicating the composing section and scaring people.
To modulate to the dominate, you raise the fourth going to the fifth note of the scale. For an anacrusis you subtract the amount of beats in the first mini-bar from the last bar.

Also, I'd fancy the Gerald Barry for question 1. It came up in 05; and it's equivalent, "Sea Changes" was the 25 marker last year.

Farmer poet

jawn wrote: »

You're overcomplicating the composing section and scaring people.
To modulate to the dominate, you raise the fourth going to the fifth note of the scale. For an anacrusis you subtract the amount of beats in the first mini-bar from the last bar.

Also, I'd fancy the Gerald Barry for question 1. It came up in 05; and it's equivalent, "Sea Changes" was the 25 marker last year.

I was just saying, from what I've seen , that people usually tend to put a sharp on the 4th, which is grand for C, G, D... but for keys with a flat ( like F major) you use a natural sign on the fourth, not a sharp. :pac:

mockshelp

Hi. Does anyone have notes for the irish music section or any notes there are on the internet? Particularly for the essay answer question.

And also any notes on how to do the melody (Q.1) and harmony (Q.5) ones.
I usually just get C grades in them and just want to know how to improve them a bit!

Also about the upbeat melodies- where do you add the bar lines? I put a bar line directly under the bar line after the upbeat and is that wrong?

Thanks.

G.J.

If you want, you could use the harmonic minor and dodge 6th's to 7th's and 7th's to 6ths. It works perfectly, and you don't have to worry about raising as you go up and flattening when you go down!

And I call 'anacrusis melodies' upbeat melodies. You just take the note value of the upbeat and subtract it from the final bar!

mockshelp wrote: »

And also any notes on how to do the melody (Q.1) and harmony (Q.5) ones.
I usually just get C grades in them and just want to know how to improve them a bit!
Also you know the upbeat melodies- where do you add the bar lines?

Firstly, bar line positioning is ALWAYS the same. When there's an upbeat, take away the total note value of all notes in the upbeat from the final bar!

For the major ones I normally do a I-IV-ii-V sequence for the B. We've used this structure for every melody!

A = 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
A1 = 1(I) - 2(IV) - Modulation for 3(IV V) + 4(I)
B = Sequence 1(I) + 2(IV) + 3(ii) + 4(V)
A2 = 1(I) - 2(IV) - 3(V) - 4(I)

For the minor melodies we'd use:

A: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
A1: 1(i) - 2(i) - Modulate to Major up to bar 2 of B [3(I V) - 4(I)]
B: Sequence 1(ii V) + 2(I IV) - 3(V i) - 4(V)
A2: 1(i) - 2(iv) - 3(V) - 4(i)

Rules:
Leading note must always resolve to tonic (Leading note is always the 2nd note in chord of V!)
Never jump more than an octave
Never use a jump of a 7th
Never use a 4th to a 7th

Hope this makes sense to you!

For the harmony, we do either Q4 or Q6.

Rules:
Avoid parallel 5th's and octaves
Aim for 3rds and 6ths
When there's movement in the left, less in the right
When using the 7th of a chord (V7), the 7th MUST fall
Always try for a ii/b - V - I or a I/c - V - I ending

PictureFrame

Cydoniac wrote: »

I have real problems with Tchaikovsky. I don't really know what the parts are like the codetta and the exposition. I just know really, the Friar Lawrence, Strife, Love themes, and the Funeral March...

Tchaikovsky is probably one of the easiest Setworks to Learn. The best thing to do is to make a list of all the main Sections throughout. E.G.

INTRODUCTION-
EXPOSITION-
DEVELOPMENT-
RECAPICULATION-
CODA-

Now, note the themes in these sections. This is easy to do as you know in the Introduction Friar Lawrence is the Only one present, Coda= Mournful Version of the Love theme and Timpani Triplets etc.

Note the Keys of the Main Themes. E.G
Friar Lawrence- F# Minor
Strife- B minor
Love- D flat Major
Coda- B Major

Note the instrumentation and also know about the syncopated, isolated B Minor Chords throughtout (B Major in the Coda) as they ask about these quite a lot!

I hope I helped out a small bit! I'm only in 5th year so I haven't gone into any massive detail. Best of Luck!

J_E

Brilliant! You summed it up so well. I'll have to give it a relisten later and spot that now

ConTheCat

Put all the pieces on your ipod, when you're studying it listen to it & make sure your able to pick out all the pieces!! Really helped me this year!

Aragneer

How likely is a minor melody this year?? I always get C's in music and the melodies are my weakest point..

Also our teacher told us just to learn Sean nos singing and regional styles for the essay and we should be sound. Is that enough?

We had a useless teacher.

PictureFrame

No problem! I have some notes I made myself for Tchaikovsky, I'll try and get them up here for you!

PictureFrame

Here's some Tchaikovsky notes I did up for my Summer Tests this year:

Tchaikovsky- Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture Notes

1. Main Sections as they occur:
Introduction (0.00-4.58)
Exposition (4.58-7.03)
Transition (7.04-10.08)
Development (10.08-12.12)
Recapitulation (12.12-16.12)
Coda (16.13-19.05)
2. Main Themes as they occur in the Overture:
Introduction: Friar Laurence
Exposition: Strife
Transition: Love (Juliet’s)
Development: Strife, Friar Laurence
Recapitulation: Strife, Love, Friar Laurence
Coda: Love Theme (Mournful Version)
3. Main Keys Used in these Themes
Introduction: F Sharp (Drops 2 Semitones during theme) F minor, E minor
Exposition: B minor (Canon in D minor)
Transition: D Flat Major
Development: B minor (F Sharp heard in F.L.T)
Recapitulation: B minor (Strife) D Flat Major (Love) F Sharp Minor (F.L.T)
Coda: B Major
4. Orchestration: Instruments and Families
Strings: Violins, Violas, Cellos, Double Basses, Harp
Woodwind: Flute, Piccolo, Oboe, Clarinets, Cor Anglais, Bassoons
Brass: French Horns, Trumpets, Trombones, Tuba
Percussion: Timpani “Kettle Drum”, Cymbals, Bass Drum
5. Dynamics and Performing Directions
Andante non tasto- quasi moderato: Not too slow, almost moderate
Dolce: Sweetly
Dolce ma sensible: Sweetly but sensitively
Legato: Smooth
Pizz/ Pizzacto: Pluck the Strings
Arco: Play Strings with a bow
Div./ Divisi: Divided Strings
Con Sord: With Mute
A2: 2 Instruments play the same line of Music
Tremolo: Note or Chord bowed very rapidly to produce quivering/tremolo effect
6. Analysis of the Overture
Introduction Bars 1-111
Friar Lawrence Theme (F Sharp minor)
Instrumentation: Melody Clarinet 1, Accompanied by Clarinet 2 & Bassoon
Chord 4 B minor is heard 7 times
Bar 28: Modulation to F minor
Motif C is played by Flutes and Harp
Pizzicato Strings lead to repetition of theme in E minor
Music is more agitated, timpani added. Chromatic Version F.L.T heard
Chromatic Version of Motif D

Exposition Bars 112-272
Strife (B minor) by full orchestra (Tutti). Motif E, F, G are heard
Canon of Strife in D minor by Double basses, Cello, Woodwind, Changes to G minor.
Motif G: Shortened & Inverted played by Strings and Woodwind
Isolated, syncopated second inversion B Minor Chords
Strife heard again, Full Texture. (Tutti) including percussion. Scale Passages lead to:

Transition Bars 164-183
Shortened Motif G and Pedal note on A
Love Theme: Cor Anglais & Viola in D Flat Major. Cellos & Double basses: Accomp.
Juliet’s Theme: Strings, Divided & Muted pp.
Love Theme played by flutes and oboes
Ends in D flat Major

Development Bars 273-352
Mood= Aggressive and Tense
Extracts from Strife heard in B Minor
F.L.T played by Horns- F Sharp Minor
B flat Pedal Note by Violins
Repeat of Section a Semitone Higher (Syncopated Strings are heard)
Motif G played by Cellos & Double Basses (1st 2 bars alternate Strings & Woodwind)
Descending Motif E heard on Violins
Climax- ff playing of F.L.T by Trumpets Crashing Sounds of Motif M
Rushing Scale Passages lead to 2nd Inversion B minor Chords. Key= B minor

Recapitulation Bars 353- 483
Strife played ff (Tutti) with Percussion
Descending Scale Passages link to Juliet’s Theme
J.T heard in D major by Woodwind, Strings play scale passages (motif e)
Love Theme played by Piccolo. Triplet Accompaniment by Woodwind, Horns= Counter Melody.
Love heard on Woodwind & Cellos and ff on Strings imitated by Woodwind
Strife (Tutti). Creates Great Intensity and Unease
F.L.T played by Woodwind & Brass. Strings, piccolo, flute, clarinet Motif e
Climax at 473, fff Strife Theme mark climax
Recap ends on dominant F sharp (ff timpani, sf bassoons) Cellos, Double basses marks death of Romeo and Juliet L

Coda Bars 485-510
Key B Major. Timpani Triplets= Funeral March, Pizzicato tonic pedal of Double Basses & Tuba . Love Theme played Sorrowfully by Bassoons, Strings, Cello, Violins
Harp Enters (motif c continued). Love heard peacefully by Strings
Overture Concludes with Fortissimo timpani & syncopated tonic chords (B major)
Relentless Drum roll in Background (Kettle Drums)

Hope they Help! Good Luck

J_E

Aragneer wrote: »

How likely is a minor melody this year?? I always get C's in music and the melodies are my weakest point..

Also our teacher told us just to learn Sean nos singing and regional styles for the essay and we should be sound. Is that enough?

We had a useless teacher.

If you do end up with a minor melody be careful of using 6ths/6ths because it's a melodic minor so you'll have to flatten/put a natural on notes depending on if you're going up or down. You always have the option of doing a dance.

thumbelinaxo

What Irish Music essays are people learning?