I decided not to take music as a GCSE subject, and I just wondered, do you think I will be able to still get the grade for it and take it at a later date ? Like while I'm doing A levels or something ? Or do you think it's pointless ?

Couldn't you just take it for A Level?

I know other people will disagree with me, but I've been doing GCSE music since September and it is absolutely pointless! We should still be learning about the different areas of study now, but instead, we're going through basic theory (e.g. notes, the stave). And also, the class is very disruptive (there's about 25 of us), so that is even worse.

If you're good at music, then you should be able to get a good grade, as long as you're good as composing as well. You could just take it for A-level, if you're around Grade 5 standard.

Car Expert

Good grief, things haven't improved in school music lessons then. It was like this even when I was at school.

same situation here, for most people there is very little point in taking gcse music - it has been a complete waste of time, considering i have grade 5 theory i realy shouldn't have taken gcse music- i think it would have been better to leave it until a levels, sadly nothing in the expressive performing arts department (except art - which i was already taking) appealed to me. You could retake gcse music - but dont even think of retaking it in school! if you can go straight onto your A levels

Fortunately everyone in my music group can cope with basis music notation. But there are 31 people in our group I think (possibly more), and some are quite disruptive. Since we have a double our teacher splits us into two groups (the good group and the bad group) and teaches us in slightly different ways in order for everyone to understand it. Since most of the "good" group will have quite a lot of knowledge on the theory side of things, we spend less time on theory and more time on practical. The others do it the other way round I think, as everyong in our group can perform so there is not so much of a need for everyone to practise it.

You should be able to take up music at A-Level even if you havn't taken it for GCSE, you certainly can at our school (but only at the discretion of the head of music as to whether you are capable of doing it or not). But I don't think you'll find it a problem not doing it a GCSE and then doing it at A-Level.

You can do it whenever it suits you, I didn't pick GCSE music as a subject when choosing my options in year 9, but last year I decided I wanted to do it, my mum spoke to one of the music teachers and now I'm taking it as an extra GCSE (I have to stay Friday after school for an hour) and doing it in one year instead of two.

But remember, you don't need music GCSE in order to do A Level music if that is what you wish to do.

I knew that my lessons would be absolutely pointless if I took GCSE music at my school, so I didn't. But now my aspirations have changed and I want to get an organ scholarship at uni, so I have to take A Level Music, and I'm moving schools so hopefully I have a better time.
Could be a bit of a challenge, seeing as it's about 4 years since I did Gr 5 Theory! But I'll just have to revisit that over the summer

I did GCSE music and understand what you mean about the course. The actual comination of subjects you take at GCSE doesnt really matter as much as the number of a* to c grades you get. If you are serious about taking music at degree level then you will need to have Alevel music. I dont think there is much point taking GCSE music at a later time.

If you want an easy A*, take GCSE Music. No-one ever says which subjects they got A*s in...say you get 5 A*s, they could be in Eng, Eng Lang, Maths, Bio and Physics, or in Music, Art, French, Business and Media, and they're really worth the same! I took it totally because it is an easy A*, and I use the lessons to practice or do other subject work. Yes, it's not what it's meant to be, but it gives me an easy ride.

Thanks for all the advice. And after that I don't think I will bother with it ! Sounds like a complete waste of time when I've already got grades to prove myself. Thinking about A level music so thats the next step

hi

I wld go for A-level music..... it's far more interesting and actually requires some level of intelligence and skill to succeed in. If your looking for a challenge go for it!! Just make sure our composing is up to scratch before you start your course, GCSE music, yes, may seem pointless, but it does provide 2 years of composition practise and development...... when are you planning on starting the course? you may have six weeks to play in where you can find your composing style/s.

jaime

Uh, I haven't actually taken the exam yet, being in year 11.
And when I say easy A*, yeah for me it is, what I mean (since some people seem to take everything as personal offence) is that most people on this board who are asking about GCSE Music already play an instrument, and clearly have an interest in it, so the performing part will be fine, and the other bits will probably work out alright too if you've had an interest in music from a youngish age. And then there are people like you who get a B, and then go on to get grade 8 and do music degrees. Yup, getting accepted to do music at uni sure makes you rubbish

I got C

I didn't take it. My piano teacher wanted me to take it a year early but my maths teacher wouldn't let me (she was a battleaxe), so when my options came around I was rebellious (for the first time in my life) and said I didn't want to take it. I went on to take 2 A levels in music, practical and theory. Looking back I think i've missed out on the composing side (I really haven't a clue) but everything else I more than covered elsewhere.

I have to say that I agree with most of you, music GCSE was a waste of time. It was good for a break and a sing or play, and at times I found the compositions hard/stressful but in a class of 27 where only about 5 could tell you the note names of the treble clef all I did was my maths/french/history homework and got in trouble for not paying attention and writing down week after week that 'Every good boy deserves football'.

I find the listening exams quite challenging, and I don't think it is a 'doss' GCSE subject. The theory side (ie notes, intervals etc) are covered in Grade 5 theory so that is easy, and the performances are fine if you're at a certain level - but the compositions and the areas of study are not directly related to theory, and if you find composition difficult/annoying (like me), then it is quite hard. Plus the listening exams seem to require much more exam technique than anything else.

So though I won't class it as an easy A* (the most I can hope for is an A, methinks) I do think that it has been a waste of time - for the past 2 years I've consistently felt that I should have taken Geography instead of Music, because now I want to take Geography at A level but can't. Music GCSE doesn't really lead anywhere apart from A level Music, and even then you can take A level Music without having done the GCSE. Yes, quite a lot of the history and world music has been interesting by itself, but I don't want to have a GCSE in it now, because I could easily have learnt that in my own time and enjoyed it more too.

The other thing is, as people have mentioned, my classmates. About half of them can play music reasonably because they've been slogging at it for years, but can't tell the difference between a quaver and a semiquaver, or understand what a pentatonic scale is. There are 15 of us in my class, of which only 3 or 4 have any knowledge of theory - the rest took Music because they thought they could mess around on keyboards for the whole 2 years and just disrupt the lessons.

That's exactly what my class is like. There's probably only 4 or 5 of us (out of 25) who can understand basic theory and play an instrument to a reasonably high level, while the other 20 or so students don't even know anything about theory, and some of them don't even play an instrument!

Car Expert

Really? Thankfully our class is not that bad, because there was an entry requirement to get into GCSE Music (which is just to play an instrument)... how are they going to get assessed on performances?

That's what I was wondering...

Car Expert

I love my gcse music lessons. It's a nice break from more academical subjects. Also at my school you have to take gcse music and get a B or above in order to take A level. As for it being an easy A* subject i would totally disagree, i find it quite hard and am aiming for a B to get into A level but thats meant that i've hard to work soooooo bl**dy hard!!

You have to be at least grade 3 by the end of the course, and your teacher gets phoned to check that you will be capable, to take music at my school. But the only problem is that we have a lot of drummers in my group, and they can't play any other instrument. How can you be fully examined if you can only play dynamics and rhythms? You need to be able to play set notes as well.....