Hi,

I'm doing my first year of GCSE music and all we seem to do in the lessons is theory and composing. I know this is important for the exams but surely music is more about performing than theory?! I expected to actually be doing something instead of sitting down doing written down work all the time! All the people in my class have been saying the same. Is there anyone else who's doing the GCSE who feels the same?

what board are you doing?

OH YES.
It is really boring, but the ratio of theory to practical is about 7:3...

And our class is really annoying too...only about 3 of us can read bass clef.....

What is this world coming too??

At least you're being taught something.......

We spent most music lessons sitting and listening to the teacher. I didn't find it boring, coz I didn't know the stuff we were being taught. Except the "write a crotchet rest" work sheets were a bit frustrating!

Natalie- i'm not sure, i'll find out when i go back to school on monday. A revision book I was told to get says OCR specification though, dunno if that's an exam board...

Oddball- thank God someone else feels the same. I reckon performing should be the main thing we do in the GCSE- that's what music is all about after all!! I'm starting to wish I hadn't chosen this subject now and had just carried on playing the instruments for fun

OCR is an exam board , yes. Some boards do put a lot of emphasis on the composing and written exam(theory)

QUOTE (Rainbow @ Apr 9 2005, 09:08 PM)

At least you're being taught something.......

What do u mean? Is your teacher not very good or do u like theory?

QUOTE (clarinetlover @ Apr 9 2005, 09:12 PM)

OCR is an exam board , yes. Some boards do put a lot of emphasis on the composing and written exam(theory)

I wish they didn't!!

QUOTE (Jade @ Apr 9 2005, 10:13 PM)

QUOTE (Rainbow @ Apr 9 2005, 09:08 PM) At least you're being taught something....... What do u mean? Is your teacher not very good or do u like theory?

It's different for everyone but I think in some schools, the abilities of gcse music students varies quite a bit. Some people may be grade 6/7 standard and have a lot of knowledge, whereas others might not be able to read music and can only play Jingle Bells on the keyboard! lol

I guess its difficult for the teacher then to sort out what to teach.....but then again, thtas what the teachers there for

QUOTE (Jade @ Apr 9 2005, 09:13 PM)

QUOTE (Rainbow @ Apr 9 2005, 09:08 PM) At least you're being taught something....... What do u mean? Is your teacher not very good or do u like theory?

Some people DO like theory *ahem*

I like theory!

QUOTE

QUOTE (Rainbow @ Apr 9 2005, 09:08 PM) At least you're being taught something.......   What do u mean? Is your teacher not very good or do u like theory?

Yes, my teacher isn't really very good. She keeps insulting the class (never quite sure if she's joking or not) and doesn't really teach us anything. All the people who don't play instruments are struggling and those who do are really fed up. 7 months ago I was really excited about starting gcse music but now I just want it to be over so I can go to college where hopefully things will be better. Hope everyone else has better experiences!

QUOTE (cecilia @ Apr 9 2005, 09:20 PM)

QUOTE (Jade @ Apr 9 2005, 09:13 PM) QUOTE (Rainbow @ Apr 9 2005, 09:08 PM) At least you're being taught something....... What do u mean? Is your teacher not very good or do u like theory? Some people DO like theory *ahem*

OK, I didn't mean to insult anyone but I can't stand it- that's my opinion!

QUOTE (Rainbow @ Apr 9 2005, 09:22 PM)

All the people who don't play instruments are struggling and those who do are really fed up. 7 months ago I was really excited about starting gcse music but now I just want it to be over

That's exactly what my class is like, and exactly how I feel!

Is there anyone who knows how you feel about that (flute teacher, violin teacher)? When I get really fed up I talk to my viola teacher but I don't want to seem like I'm moaning even though my teacher is really nice.
Oh and by the way I wasn't insulted! I quite like theory (got 96% for grade 5) and I'd like to take it further but not yet but I know that loads of people hate it!

Oh by the way, I haven't talked to you for ages Jade, where've you been???

QUOTE (Jade @ Apr 9 2005, 09:27 PM)

QUOTE (Rainbow @ Apr 9 2005, 09:22 PM) All the people who don't play instruments are struggling and those who do are really fed up. 7 months ago I was really excited about starting gcse music but now I just want it to be over That's exactly what my class is like, and exactly how I feel!

ditto

I don't think I've learnt anything for the entire duration of the course..... except to avoid attending lessons at all costs! oh well 12 more lessons left, then I can ditch the stupid thing.

I've been really busy, had loads of coursework and modular exams lately- nice to talk to you again!

Yes my violin and flute teachers are very easy to talk to- especially my violin teacher. They agree with me! I don't think they'd dare say anything to my teacher though she can be quite scary when she's annoyed!!

QUOTE

They agree with me! I don't think they'd dare say anything to my teacher though  she can be quite scary when she's annoyed!!

Mine did say something to my teacher about something she'd said to me, it all turned nasty and ended up with me crying my eyes out! (how embarrassing!lol!) Yes, nice talking to you Jade!

hi

QUOTE (Rainbow @ Apr 9 2005, 09:08 PM)

At least you're being taught something.......

I completely know how you feel. We literally did nothing for all of year 10, just practicals, and then in year 11, she was ill for 2 months. Now in March of my GCSE year, we have a terminal task in 3 weeks and have only ever done 1 (our mock, which was in November, haven't even got the marks back). We haven't learnt half the syllabus, and have to self teach ourselves things. She gets distratced so easily,so she plans to do "a lot of work this lesson", gets distracted and we never get anything done. I just want to scream! Hopefully at A Level it will be better.

QUOTE

Hopefully at A Level it will be better.

That's what I'm hoping... if I can even bring myself to do A level music after all of this...

We haven't done any practical this year, just an AS ensemble recording last year and a performance in May. We did some harmony (the most boring and frustrating thing ever! I always had parallel 5ths!), analysed 3 set works, more composition.

This year, we've done more composition, and investigation and report, where you choose 2 works, analyse them and compare them, lots of listening practice, aurals and analysing an even longer set work!

Does that appeal? You might be on a different exam board though, we're on AQA.

Hmmm... it doesn't sound too bad actually! Have you got a good teacher? My dad works at the college I will probably end up going to and he says that the students there say that the music teacher is good.

I know for A Level, my exam board is Edexcel. I am definitely doing A Level now...

Yeah our teachers are good. One's a bit too sarcastic, and I don't like his sense of humour, but he's ok most of the time!

We only have 3 lessons a week though, bit too little time to cram in all the work

I think alevel music would be better. At GCSE it seems they cater for those who cant play an instrument!! There are a couple of people in my class who can just about find there way around a keyboard and are singing for there practical exam (not that singing doesnt count - but these people dont have lessons) But I think at a-level there is more of an emphasis on performance, which I personally would prefer. And you know that everyone there wants to take music and is good at it. I've just about to take my GCSE's and havent really enjoyed the music GCSE. But I'm still glad I took it.

[QUOTE=Rainbow,Apr 10 2005, 09:47 AM] [QUOTE]Hopefully at A Level it will be better. [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]That's what I'm hoping... if I can even bring myself to do A level music after all of this...[/QUOTE]

That's how I feel!

Thing is, we have a 6th form at my school and only 2 music teachers!!! So i doubt it will be any better for me.....

happen to me if there was a big argument as well lol!!!

Jade, we only have 2 msuic teachers. its not how many teachers there are, its how good they are at teaching you

Well there's one of them who's been there quite a while (the one I've got now), and for the other teacher, we seem to have a new one every year...

What do any teachers out there think of the GCSE syllabus? Do you think there should be more performing?

being in the same class as oddball i think that more "musical" people should be put in the same class - in our school there is a class with 10 people - 7 are very musical where as our class has 23- and 3-4 of us are very musical - many people chose music as an option because the thought it would be a doss lesson and that is really not fair on the people who want to do well in music

QUOTE

many people chose music as an option because the thought it would be a doss lesson

I know some people who did that!

Today in music we did theory for the first time since about October and we were watching the most patronising CD-rom ever!!! It was designed to prepare people for the ABRSM theory exams and we started at grade 1 (for the benefit of those who can't read music). Those of us who know more about theory (I'm the only one who's passed grade 5) were just making fun of it all lesson (Did you know that a crotchet is "a blob with a sort of sticky-uppy thing???). I was gradually losing the will to live after about 5 minutes! Then my gcse teacher said that if i'd already done g5 theory then I should do grade 7!! It turns out she was joking but if I wanted to she said she'd teach me!

By the way, I don't have a problem with those who can't read music, I just object to having to repeat simple stuff that I've known for years!

Yours cheesed-offedly,
Emma

Well on Thursday I handed in my GCSE composition and she said she'd listen to it over the weekend. Today, I asked her and she hadn't! It doesn't take that long to listen to 1 composition!!

QUOTE

It doesn't take that long to listen to 1 composition!!

That sounds familiar... one thing that really annoys me is when I spend ages doing a piece of homework and then my music teacher forgets about collecting it in!

She has a piano part of mine. She has had it since December :-|

Really?!?

QUOTE (nicki_flute @ Apr 11 2005, 05:47 PM)

Well on Thursday I handed in my GCSE composition and she said she'd listen to it over the weekend. Today, I asked her and she hadn't! It doesn't take that long to listen to 1 composition!!

lol oh dear!

I help in a year 11 music class, and the teacher was going spare because he had "60 compositions to mark for year 11 and 30 for year 10, and all he'd done was compsotions all holiday, and now he was going to have to spend a weekend recording 90 compsotions onto disk in alphabetical order, coz that was all the time he had left......."

You get the picture! (might've come across more dramatic in typing, than it actually was though! )

She's probably getting stressed and anxious for the exams, and maybe as one of the more competent students in your class, she feels that you will get a high grade purely on the work you've done so far and what you'll do in the final exam.

Good luck! It'll be fine (wait til you do AS and A2!)

*makes more calming whale noises!*

QUOTE (jonscott14 @ Apr 11 2005, 08:33 AM)

being in the same class as oddball i think that more "musical" people should be put in the same class - in our school there is a class with 10 people - 7 are very musical where as our class has 23- and 3-4 of us are very musical - many people chose music as an option because the thought it would be a doss lesson and that is really not fair on the people who want to do well in music

thats what happened at my skool. There are about 10 in my class and about 3 of them are 'not musical', i think they just joined cos they thought it would b easy. its really annoying when you get put together with those people to work on a project eg. composing or whatever, and you cant do a lot because the person you are working with is pre-grade one or grade one and you're on grade 5!!! Some of them can't even keep in time and just play one note every bar cos they get lost I don't not like them cos they're not musical, its just annoying cos u end up getting a rubbish mark!!

I suppose that is true, but if she just looked at it, I could then get it finished for the next day and she wouldn't have to look at it ever again. She is fairly unorganised though.

In our class, there are 4 people who are Grade6+ on their instruments, several Grade 3 - 5 and then a variety of less musical people. There are 25 in our class.

We do have similar people in my class Jade, though we don't have to work in groups. What really annoys me is when people in my class (musical or non-musical) just mess around and then the day before the composition is due in, moan that you're on the computer recording for too long cos they want to work!

We don't even have computers in our music department

Really??? How do you do your compositions?

Handwritten. But I have downloaded Finale onto my computer at home, and just do them at home.

I just do mine on the piano (i can just about with what I have taught myself), we havent got computers for music either.

all my composition is done on the piano in my head or on my computer at home using notatation 2 - (id love to bring it in to school and install it on alll the PCs so every one has access to it, but apppparently you need to buy a licence for every PC you put it on.) i learnt most of my composing skills while preparing for my grade 5 thoery, but without that i wouldn't have been able to compose half of what i've done, i dont see how having classes where musicality is so varied can work - yes the more musical people may be able to help some of the less musical people , but how are the musical people going to benefit!

I have definitely improved in my composing, and I think Grade 5 helped this. I did it last year, and before I never really composed anything. But learning things like cadence have helped me make better melodies, and I have got full marks for one of my compositions. (Have no idea about the other one, my teacher hasn't listened to it yet).

Grade 5 didn't help me in the slightest! Just made me think ov rules and whether I should use them or not!

Same with AS harmony

Grade 5 theory helped me loads with my compositions but it also means that all the theory we do in the gcse class is really boring!