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Exam skills for music

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For educators: ready-to-use lesson slides, revision notes for Exam skills for music (Music, Listening and Appraising) — use them in your lesson, or run the topic as an interactive class activity your learners play as a live game.
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Lesson notes

Command words

  • This is general written exam-technique practice. Use the current specification, command glossary, paper instructions and mark scheme for the board and examination series being taken; the examples are not a universal board glossary.
  • Identify, name or state usually request particular factual points; describe gives characteristics; explain connects evidence with a reason, relationship or effect. Compare relates similarities and/or differences to the scope requested. Evaluate makes judgements against relevant criteria. Suggest offers a plausible response fitting the situation.

Match the response to the task

Match the response to the taskTaskResponse focusIdentify / stateRequested factual featureDescribeRelevant characteristicsExplainReason, relationship or effectCompareRelated features of A and BEvaluateJudgement against criteria

Using musical vocabulary

  • Use musical terms accurately and relevantly: timbre, articulation, texture, tonality and cadence communicate different things. A technical label does not automatically earn credit, and an incorrect one can misrepresent the music. Clear, accurate nontechnical descriptions can also communicate understanding where the task allows.
  • For the invented written observation that strings play smoothly connected notes, legato string playing identifies the feature. Nice is an opinion without that detail. The term would not be justified if the actual passage instead used detached notes. No audio extract is supplied for this example.

From observation to relevant explanation

From observation to relevant explanationStepInvented written exampleObservationStrings play smoothly connectednotesPrecise featureLegato string playingPossibleinterpretationSupports a flowing melodic lineLimitConfirm the feature in the actualextract

Extended answers

  • Organise the response around the command, requested elements, passage and available marks. Point–evidence–explain, abbreviated PEE here, is an optional classroom aid. It is not a required exam-board formula or a guarantee of marks.
  • Evidence should identify a relevant occurrence in the actual sound, score or supplied description. Explain a relationship or effect when asked. Compare corresponding features when required. Add a concluding judgement for an evaluation rather than forcing one into every descriptive answer. Context is useful only when relevant to the task.

Applying to unfamiliar music

  • Attend to the actual unfamiliar extract and the question’s focus. Use knowledge of musical elements and devices to select evidence, rather than reciting a stock genre paragraph.
  • A style, date or purpose must be supported by appropriate evidence and context. A single instrument, tempo or rhythm does not prove the composer or cultural origin. The tables here are written practice, not an assessment of recognition by ear.

Relate corresponding features

Relate corresponding featuresFeatureWritten extract AWritten extract BMelodyinstrumentStringsStringsArticulationSmoothly connectedClearly detachedComparisonSame instrumentfamilyDifferentarticulation

Evaluating performances and compositions

  • Use the criteria asked for. Performance evaluation may consider accuracy, expression and ensemble balance; composition evaluation may consider handling of musical material and effectiveness for a brief. These are possible criteria, not mandatory headings for every task.
  • Give specific evidence and explain how it supports a judgement. Include strengths, limitations or realistic improvements when relevant; do not invent an error merely to complete a memorised strengths-and-weaknesses template.

Dictation and notation

  • Read the clef, key signature, time signature, requested voice and bar range. Check durations and rests against the metre, and consider individual accidentals when reading pitch. A key signature alone does not prove the local tonic.
  • In genuine dictation practice, compare your answer with the supplied recording and the given score framework. This written technique lesson supplies no dictation recording and cannot certify listening or transcription accuracy.

Notation checks serve the specific task

Notation checks serve the specific taskCheckQuestion to askClefWhich pitches do these positionsrepresent?SignaturesWhat framework is supplied?Durations andrestsDo values match the requested metre?AccidentalsWhich written pitches are altered?Voice and barsAm I answering the requested passage?

Time and layout

  • Use the current board and series instructions. Listening papers can have fixed audio playback and recorded pauses; OCR GCSE guidance is one example. Follow the recording and invigilation instructions rather than assuming you can pause, replay independently or apply a universal minutes-per-mark rule.
  • Marks indicate likely response scope alongside the command. Use permitted reading and response windows to select concise evidence. Check omissions or contradictions when time permits without missing the next required passage.

Use timing advice within the paper instructions

Use timing advice within the paper instructionsConsiderationActionCurrent paperRead board and series instructionsFixed playbackFollow the recorded sequenceMarksJudge relevant response detailAvailable pausePlan or check if time permitsParagraph mnemonicOptional organising aid only

Common errors

  • Avoid naming instruments, devices or contexts without evidence; using technical terms incorrectly; confusing beat rate with rhythm; writing an unrelated genre essay; or ignoring the requested comparison or judgement.
  • Tempo describes beat rate. Rhythm concerns the placement and durations of sounds and silences relative to the beat. The same relative rhythmic pattern can be performed at different tempi.

Tempo and rhythm answer different questions

Tempo and rhythm answer different questionsElementWhat to describeExampleTempoRate of the beatA steady 96 crotchet beats per minuteRhythmTiming of sounds and silencesTwo quavers followed by a crotchetRelationshipPattern can stay the samePerform that rhythm at 72 instead of 96

Slides

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Practice questions

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  1. 1.What does identify mean?

    Easy
    • Aname or pick out a feature
    • Bwrite an essay
    • Cevaluate
    • Dcompare

  2. 2.What does describe mean?

    Easy
    • Agive a judgement
    • Blist the title
    • Ccopy the lyrics
    • Dsay what something is like

  3. 3.What does explain mean?

    Easy
    • Acopy
    • Bguess
    • Cgive reasons
    • Dlist only

  4. 4.What does compare mean?

    Easy
    • Aguess
    • Brelate similarities and/or differences as the task requests
    • Cgive one side
    • Dlist

  5. 5.What does evaluate mean?

    Easy
    • Amake supported judgements against relevant task criteria
    • Blist
    • Cname
    • Dcopy

  6. 6.What is musical vocabulary?

    Easy
    • Avague words
    • Brandom terms
    • Cslang
    • Dcorrect terms such as timbre and cadence

  7. 7.In the optional PEE organising aid used in this lesson, what do the letters mean?

    Easy
    • Apitch, expression, effect
    • Bpiano, ear, ensemble
    • Cpoint, evidence, explain
    • Dplan, edit, end

  8. 8.Why use musical evidence?

    Easy
    • Ait guarantees full marks regardless of accuracy
    • Bit supports your points
    • Cit replaces explanation
    • Dit lengthens pointlessly

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Past papers

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