Junior Certificate Music (Listening, Composing & General Study)

Isobel - Higher Level 

After having a few days off since my previous exam, I felt well rested and ready for my music exam. I was fairly happy with how my practical exam went, apart from a few slip-ups due to nerves. I played two songs on the piano and two songs on the ukulele.Overall I thought it was a good paper. Question 1 was set songs, in which me and my classmates nearly started laughing when our favourite funny song came up, "Click go the Shears". Hoe-Down from Rodeo came up in the set works question. I was hoping that Peer Gynt would come up, but I think I dealt with the questions fairly well. I was really happy when I saw we had to write about a collector of Irish Music in question 3, and I wrote about Edward Bunting. Next was good old dictation, (everyone's favourite... not!) I've never really been confident about it but I think it was slightly easier than the mocks, and I'm hoping that I've picked some marks up for the rhythm, bar lines and end note. Some familiar songs were played in question 5, including a Glee cover of Imagine, a U2 song, and Eye of The Tiger!I found the triads question and the answering phrase question fine, however I thought that the chord progression question was a little tricky. Question 10 went well for me, as you weren't asked to write about 3 specific features of the songs you've studied, instead they asked you to just write a general account of the songs and include information about the features.All in all, I'm happy with how it went, and I hope everyone has a great Summer. We did it!Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie