YEAR 9

EXAM R

EVISIO

N

WH

AT

YO

U N

EE

D T

O K

NO

W F

OR

YO

UR

20

15

MU

SI C

EX

AM

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.

ELEMENTS

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

ELEMENTS

MUSIC NOTATIONYou 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)

TIME SIGNATURES

Treble clef

Time signature. TOP number tells us how

many beats in a bar. So, in this piece, each bar

must add up to 3.

Key

sig

nat

ure

.

This

one

tel

ls u

s

that

eve

ry F

is a

n

F# a

nd e

very

C is

a C#

.

MINIMALISM

Patterns of different lengths played at the same time

Terry Riley

Steve Reich

In C

Clapping Music

Electric Counterpoint

Filling the gaps in a pattern one note at a time

Changing a pattern one note at a time

Chords gradually fading in and out

A style of music developed in the USA in the 1960s

CLUB DANCE: REVISION(FOR 9WXC)

Both styles have 4 beats in a bar.

They both have riffs and heavy bass lines.

HouseTempo 120bpmSoulful vocals

Simple, disco drum beat

Synth sounds

Trip hopSlower, about

70bpmMelancholy vocals

More complex drum beat

Strings sounds, maybe piano

CLUB DANCE: REVISION(FOR 9WXC)

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…

MAIN SECTION

MIX OUT

Layers taken out. Might lead directly to next song.

Club dance song structure

SONGWRITING REVISION(FOR 9UVA, 9UVB, 9UVC, 9UVD, 9UVE, 9WXB, 9WXD, 9WXE)

INTRO

VERSE 1

CHORUS

VERSE 2

CHORUS

MIDDLE 8/ BREAKDOWN/ BRIDGE/ INSTRUMENTAL

CHORUS

OUTRO

Standard song structure

CHORDSIncluding

how they are played, how often they

change

BASS LINEWhat plays

it? How does it move?

RIFFSGuitar? Bass?

Something else?

INSTRUMENTS

Which ones and what do they play?