1. What you need to know for your 2015 music exam
Year 9 exam revision
What you need to know for your 2015 music exam

2. elements
Knowing what all of these words mean is really important, as they come into nearly every question. You’ll need them to understand what the questions mean.

3. elements
Here is a slightly more detailed explanation of the elements with lots of useful terms it will be useful to know.

4. Music notation
You do NOT need to know the names of the notes (semibreve etc.) but there WILL be a question where you have to identify the correct rhythms, and write down a rhythm that you hear.
So, you need to know how long the notes are, and how to make bars add up correctly to match the time signature. (see next slide)

5. Time signatures
Key signature. This one tells us that every F is an F# and every C is a C#.
Time signature. TOP number tells us how many beats in a bar. So, in this piece, each bar must add up to 3.
Treble clef

6. minimalism A style of music developed in the USA in the 1960s
Changing a pattern one note at a time
Terry Riley
Steve Reich
Chords gradually fading in and out
In C
Clapping Music
Electric Counterpoint
Patterns of different lengths played at the same time
Filling the gaps in a pattern one note at a time

7. Club dance: revision (for 9wxc)
Both styles have 4 beats in a bar.
They both have riffs and heavy bass lines.
House
Tempo 120bpm
Soulful vocals
Simple, disco drum beat
Synth sounds
Trip hop
Slower, about 70bpm
Melancholy vocals
More complex drum beat
Strings sounds, maybe piano

8. Club dance: revision (for 9wxc)
Club dance song structure
MIX IN
Each layer comes in one at a time
MAIN SECTION
BREAKDOWN
Cuts back to just a beat. Layers gradually come back in. Build up…
MIX OUT
Layers taken out. Might lead directly to next song.

9. SONGWRITING REVISION (for 9UVA, 9UVB, 9UVC, 9UVD, 9UVE, 9WXB, 9WXD, 9WXE)
Standard song structure
INTRO
VERSE 1
CHORUS
VERSE 2
MIDDLE 8/ BREAKDOWN/ BRIDGE/ INSTRUMENTAL
OUTRO
CHORDS
Including how they are played, how often they change
BASS LINE
What plays it? How does it move?
RIFFS
Guitar? Bass? Something else?
INSTRUMENTS
Which ones and what do they play?