RIAM Teaching Network E-Course:

Module 1 Handout

Leaving Certificate E-Course Set A & B

In the Leaving cert Listening paper there will be 4 set work listening questions – these questions will be based on the work covered on each of the 4 set works of the Leaving cert. In Set A that consists of:

1. Bach Cantata BWV 78 (this consists of 7 movements)2. Tchaikovsky ‘Romeo & Juliet’ Fantasy Overture3. Gerald Barry ‘Piano Quartet no 1’4. Queen ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

In Set B it consists of:1. Mozart Piano Concerto K488 movement 1, 2 and 32. Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique; Un Ball & Marche au Supplice3. Raymond Deane ‘Seachanges with Danse Macabre’4. Beatles ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; She’s Leaving Home &

When I’m 64’

You will study each of these in detail with your students and teach them how to recognise the various sections/ themes/ movements by ear and by eye. They will also have to answer short questions on the themes for example:Identify a rhythmic feature/ melodic feature/ texture/ instrumentation etcThese questions are generally worth 1-2 marks each – each mark is a percent of this paper – so every mark counts!!!

The students musical knowledge and ability are also tested in question 6 of the listening paper which is Aural Skills – this is a piece the students have not studied in detail but there are a series of short musical questions asked on various sections to ensure that students are able to musically identify and describe certain qualities of the music.

There are usually 3 pieces of music that the student will most likely not have heard before and not have studied in Q6. They will be asked a series of questions usually related to musical devices. The examiner is looking for buzz words in the answer. Below is a selection of possible answers to types of questions given in the past.There are also questions to identify the instruments or family of instruments, length of introduction, time signature, dictation rhythmic or melodic, mark an X over the music

or lyrics when something specific is heard eg: ornamentation, syncopation, a countermelody, a 2nd instrument etc or name a cadence or the form.

Melodic Devices/ Features – this question is referring to the melody only – therefore the answer MUST relate to the melody only!!!! (there are many answers to this question these are the most common)

repeated notes – C C step movement/ scale C D E F G triadic leaps – leaps of the chord – 3rd, 5th, 8ve C-E, C-G, C-C’ auxiliary notes – a note directly appearing above or below a repeated note – C

D C or C B C chromatic notes – notes that do not belong to the scale/ key the music is in C

D E F# G

Rhythmic Devices/ Features – this questions is referring to the rhythm only – therefore your answer MUST relate to the rhythm of the piece – these are the most typical answers

simple rhythm – crotchets and quaver movement dotted notes – dotted crotchet and quaver or dotted quaver and semiquaver rests – use of silences upbeat/ anacrusis – where the music does not start on the 1st beat of the 1st bar

(the downbeat) it begins perhaps on the 3rd beat of the bar creating an upbeat syncopation – where the emphasis falls on the weaker part of the bar and not

the first beat – eg a quaver followed by a crotchet creates a displacement of the main beat creating syncopation

triplets – 3 notes played in the time of 2 sextuplets – 6 notes played in the time of 4

Accompaniment – who is providing accompaniment to the main melody and in what way?

Which instrument or instruments are playing? What are they playing: sustained notes – long held notes pedal point – continued long held or tied or repeated note which helps to keep

the music in one key area eg a tonic pedal – usually played by lower bass instruments

drone – one continuous held note broken chords – the chord notes playing one after another full chords – the chord notes being played at the one time alberti bass – the chord notes broken apart eg C G E G, C G E G countermelody – a new melody being played at the same time as the main

melody creating a harmony

Articulation - the touch: legato –smooth arco – bowed – an instrumental technique used by string players staccato – hop off the note pizzicato – pluck the string – an instrumental technique used by string players

accented – lean on the note heavily or emphasise it

Dynamics - louds and softs and changes within the piece crescendo – getting louder diminuendo – getting softer forte- loud fortissimo – very loud piano - soft pianissimo- very soft

Tempo - speed and changes within the piece is the piece fast? or slow? at a moderate pace? does it speed up - accelerando? does it slow down - ritardando?

Compositional devices - how is the piece of music composed  canon – same melody which overlaps upon itself a certain time distance and

interval apart sequence – same idea repeated a step higher or lower dialogue – a Question and Answer in the melody line movement in parallel 3rd or 6th or 8ves augmentation – stretching out the value of notes so they are double the value

crotchet becomes minim addition – adding a note to a theme each time it is heard 1 – 1,2 – 1,2,3 diminution – halving the note values so minim becomes crotchet subtraction – taking a note away from the theme each time it is heard 3,2,1 –

2,1 - 1 retrograde – playing the theme backwards or in mirror image permutation – changing the order of the notes 1,2,3 = 2,1,3 = 3,1,2 fragmentation – taking smaller sections of the theme out to play or use transposition – playing the theme on a different note or in a different key imitation – playing the same theme again in a similar manner repetition – repeating the same theme again in the same way inversion – playing the theme in the opposite direction ostinato – a repeated musical idea descant – a higher or upper harmony or melody played over the main melody ritornello - a recurring musical idea or theme that returns after each new

episode

Instrumental devices - how is the instrument asked to play arco pizzicato tremolo – notes played in rapid succession to create a shimmering sound glissando – sliding from one note to another on the strings double stopping – playing two notes are the same time on the string instrument sul ponticello – playing across the bridge on a string instrument

harmonics – by playing a note an placing your finger on a certain point on the string called the node it separates the vibrations of the original note to hear the upper octaves of that note – creates an eerie sound

col legno – play with the back or wood of the bow flautando – play like a flute – a direction to the string instruments

Texture - lines of music monophonic = one melody line of music – one violin playing a melody alone homophonic = melody and chordal support as accompaniment – one violin

playing the melody and a piano playing the chordal support or 4 violins playing in unison and a guitar

polyphonic = melody and harmony or melody and countermelody – one violin playing the melody while a flute plays a countermelody or harmony over the original melody

antiphonal = lines of music in dialogue – question and answer – the violin and flute in conversation

Vocal texture: syllabic - each note has one syllable melismatic - each syllable has more than one note also include the above textures in your answer here too

- © Kim Fallen Bailey 2015- © The Royal Irish Academy of Music 2015