Music is going to have you tackling everything from listening and hearing chords and labelling them, right through to performing on stage with a band. It will have you researching a specific music topic and also get you to flex writing songs and scores. If you are wanting an overview of the full music year then have a look at this blog here. Perhaps you need extra assistance with composing this year or maybe you want some extra tips for your performances. Or are you wanting to stretch yourself with NCEA music scholarship?
What about those pesky exams that loom at the end of the year each closing term. Yes- Let’s dive into the past papers and unpack the mysteries of these achievement standards.
First up you have AS1420 which will have you perking your ears up and distinguishing all the different changes that appear in the music they play you. That’s right it’s the Aural achievement standard. For you to do well, labelling and identifying chord progressions will become second nature to you. You’ll also be expected to notate certain melodies, identify rhythmic patterns and melody shapes. To pass well you will need to do this with a high degree of accuracy. You will also be expected to notate musical elements and features. To unpack what the composer is telling you is also something you will need to understand. Overall you will need to justify how certain elements and features help build the relationship to the whole piece of music. To do this you will need to have a mind for the small details of the phrases. There will be a whole range of styles that you will need to do this for and you won’t know which genre it will be until the exam, so it’s good to be able to adapt your skills to any type when your practising. Included as well of music heard will be from across different cultural, historical and social backgrounds. Expect to hear everything from traditional folk, through to jazz, popular music and indigenous music. For a breakdown of all the past papers have a look at the NCEA website.
Let’s zero in on the 2019’s past paper
For example in 2019 one of the questions was to describe two elements or features in the music provided. To get achieved you needed to correctly label the tempo. For higher marks, you needed to understand how the passage contributed to the wider understanding of the piece. Let’s unpack their answer a bit more. The past paper talks about a specific music piece. The piano is the central instrument and uses a wide range of melodic chords and notes. Only four chords are played that appear to be played in unison in both right and left hands. Remember to explain when each instrument comes in and try and give a reason for its order. We then have the bass drums making their presence known, with four crotchet beats per bar. The more detailed you can be about the intricate workings the better. This contrasts well with the piano and its syncopated rhythm. Later you can hear the shouts of a crowd that come in just before the vocalist. This adds upbeat energy and a strong sense of urgency to the work.
You can hear the wrap start to crystalize and come in strong with the backing vocalist imitating the melodic phrases. As you can see all of the above analysis is detailed with descriptions that are backed up by specific places in the music work that featured the reference. To nail this achievement standard you will want to be as detailed and descriptive as you possibly can. Later in the paper, you will need to know the difference between tonal and harmonic conventions, and this will be further explored in the other paper AS1421. You will also need to label and identify the dynamics of a piece, articulation, tempo, texture and instrumentation. Remember to be clued up with compositional devices like imitation and repetition too. A really good thing to remember throughout your AS1420 exam is to always give evidence and be able to clearly locate and describe the evidence as it relates to your music feature or convention that you reference.
Get your harmonic and tonal conventions polished with your AS91421 exam
To do this achievement standard you’ll need to showcase a comprehensive understanding of harmonic and tonal conventions in a range of music scores. Perhaps you’re in a choir as well and often sing with multiple different parts, then this could very well help to train your ear. As the assessment goes on you will be asked to recognise harmonic progressions. These will be selected by a range of the following: cadences, progressions of minor and major keys and melodies. Within this, you’ll also be expected to locate and add in the ninth or suspended notes as well as the inversions of the chords. Get familiar now with roman numerals for the chords section and you’ll be more equipped when your labelling your chords.
Let’s have a look at an excellence exemplar to see what else we can learn about the assessment
In one question of a past paper, students were asked to analyse the tonal and harmonic features of a passage of music. They needed to discuss the selection of chords, any modulations that occur and the relationship that the tonic had with the other keys. Also, they needed to include the non-harmonic notes and explain what this had in effect on the rest of the piece. The student who got excellence annotated the score thoroughly and gave clear and impactful evidence to justify their answers. Let’s unpack what they put for their answers on this past paper. The student mentions at the start of the piece that the music starts in the key of G minor. After two bars it then switches to C minor, which they state is the subdominant of G minor. They also discuss pivot chords and explain that the piece modulates to B flat major soon afterwards. Throughout their answer they give a detailed breakdown as to what keys the music works was in at all times, this is then backed up with clear evidence. It’s worth mentioning also non-harmonic notes as well and explain why they were included. For example, in this exemplar, the student explains that the non-harmonic notes add interest to the piece. As the mood at the start is supremely contrasted with a dark and moody minor key. As the piece later modulates to a major key it freshens up and becomes more relaxed and peaceful.
AS91423 will have you understanding the music history more.
This assessment is all about different time periods of music and how their unique contexts shape the production and conception of the work. You can also think about how the music text is being interpreted through the lens that we are in now, in our time period. You’ll be asked to examine examine examine in this assessment! This means you’ll be dissecting the context of music and providing your own interpretation of it. Contexts can include social, historical or cultural. You could even have to talk about the specific aesthetic of a writer/performer. Were there unique features and conventions associated with that time period? Furthermore, it’s worth noting that the geography of the writer/performer is also important. For example, you could talk about the Sweden appeal with acts like ABBA and producers like Max Martin. What makes Sweden such a hit factory and why do so many big top 40 pop songs come from that location? It's questions like these that you could answer with the geography question.
Let’s unpack a past paper and an exemplar to boot
For starters, you will need to remember to examine the influence of context in music perceptively. This means that the conclusions that you draw must be backed up by a good number of examples and evidence. In the exam, you will get 4 different statements that you will have to unpack in detail. A good way to approach the question/statement is to use a keen eye and break down the question so that it’s in bite-sized chunks. Then plan as much as you can to marry your answers to the question. In each statement, you will be expected to talk about the conception, production and interpretation. For example, in the 2018 excellence exemplar, one student wrote about how their selected music works were inspired by artwork. This they argued heavily influenced how the music came to be. To add some detail the music piece was called “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks” and is interpretative of a children’s ballet, where kids were seen dressed in eggshells. The composer uses a fast-paced tempo to match the energy of the children from the painting. It creates a lively atmosphere and is further coloured and enhanced by staccato motifs, which sets the same dynamics as the quick and fiery children playing. Here it is clearly evident how context can add to the overall effects of a musical piece.
If you are stuck on getting exam ready and are needing some extra assistance- don’t worry Superprof can be just the ticket for you. Superprof is a tutoring website that holds a number of tutors each poised to help get you to the next step of your music NCEA journey. Try Superprof today and your first lesson is free so there’s really no reason not to see if having a tutor is right for you.
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