It is that time of year again, and students will be looking for helpful ways to revise. For music students, they need to Revise with Sound. As teachers we need to remind them that the music exam is different to other exams, and they are going to need to use their ears like never before!
So, how can we help our students to Revise with Sound?
Well that is where I always turn to Focus on Sound. And if you don’t know what I am talking about, then please see other blogs that might also be helpful
Why Sound?
Often I find that when in the thick of it with exams, students can forget to listen. Most exams will not involve them listening to anything – languages being the exception. So they will be going into school day after day and completing exams where they simply write. So we need to get them to tune back in to the sound world of Music GCSE.
Sound and listening will also be good for students during their other revision. It is helpful to remind students of the benefits of having music on as they work.
Key Terms
Revising key terms is a crucial part of the course, but students need that reminder that they have to hear these terms in action. And so that is where we need them using software such as Focus on Sound to look at terms, but also hear them. I advise my students to be working through past papers, looking at the key terms and working out what they need to spend more time on. And let’s face it, some key terms pop up every year!
Focus on Sound Recap
Let me just take a minute to quickly remind you of exactly what Focus on Sound is. It is essentially an online dictionary or encyclopaedia of sounds. Students can search for a key term, instrument, device or technique and then hear it. Not only that, but they can see it visually on the screen and then link it to other terms. But Focus on Sound also has a range of lessons, tests, and the ability for teachers to set work. Do look at the blogs above for more information or visit the Music First website for more details.
Back to Revision
I always say to my students that you can only revise what you know already. So it is important for them to work out if there is anything they don’t know! Focus on Sound can help with that because as teachers we can create key terms test for our students to work out what they do and don’t know. Knowledge organisers are another approach to this or they can use their notes and handouts from your teaching.
But alongside this they need to know what terms link to what Areas of Study/Elements. What are all the words that link to Melody, Harmony or Tonality? What are the rhythmic devices or cadences that might appear int he paper?
I refer to this as Mental Multiple Choice. Revise with sound, but also revise with a clear focus on what they do and don’t know. Then they can gather this together in their mind ready for the exam.
Mental Multiple Choice
In the exam, a student will be asked to “name a melodic device” or “describe the harmony/texture”. They therefore need to know what words are an option to them. They need to create a mental multiple choice list of all the key terms linked to melody, harmony, texture or harmonic devices etc. The next step is to pick from this list and come to a decision on the answer.
This is a simple approach, but it does rely on them linking key terms to key areas and elements. Focus on Sound can help them to look up words, understand them and then link them together. As a teacher you can create key terms tests for them, and also provide lists of how words link together. Essentially if the question asks for a cadence is, and the students don’t know that Plagal is an option, then they might not get it right!
Revise with Sound
As well as listening to the key terms, and creating mental multiple choice lists, we mustn’t forget the set works. Whatever form they take, and whatever board you are with, students will have key pieces of music that they need to focus on. If they are going to revise effectively, then they need to make sure they have these pieces in their ears as much as possible.
I do tell my students to aim to have the set works on when they are revising other subjects, just in the background. But I also insist on them undertaking focussed listening, with the score open in front of them. And of course Wider Listening & Deliberate Listening are also crucial in the lead up to the music exam as you never know what might come up!
If we can get our students to revise with sound then we can truly prepare them for what is essentially, a listening exam. The language of this exam is sound, and key terms, and of course a few other things thrown in as well. Hopefully revisiting Focus on Sound, or continuing to use that throughout this period, will ensure that students get those top grades.
