HSC Music 1 (NSW) case studies
HSC Music 1 (NSW) · Put your knowledge to work in context.
HSC Music 1 is a New South Wales Higher School Certificate course administered by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), the body that sets syllabuses, assessments, teaching and school standards for all schools in NSW. It sits within the HSC, which NESA describes as a world-class credential that helps young adults on the path to work, training and further education. Because it is an HSC course, it is designed for NSW Stage 6 students completing Years 11 and 12, including those who intend to continue to tertiary music study and those who want a broad, practical music course within their pattern of study. The course is structured around four equally weighted areas - performance, composition, musicology and aural skills - so candidates are assessed on making music as well as on analysing and responding to it. The HSC Music 1 (NSW) case studies are 5 cases and about 3,015 words.
1The Overrunning Recording Session
A Year 12 student has composed a 3-minute 40-second work for the mandatory Composition core. The submitted score is a clean Sibelius printout for flute, violin and piano.
725 words, about 4 min2The Unplayable Extension
A Year 11 student is preparing a performance for the school's assessment recital. The chosen repertoire is a transcription for solo marimba of a violin caprice.
685 words, about 3 min3The Modulation That Isn't Heard
A Year 12 student is analysing their own composition for the Musicology component. The work is in D major.
502 words, about 3 min4The Aural Transcription with a Missing Beat
In an aural skills assessment, students hear a four-bar excerpt played three times. The excerpt is in 4/4 at crotchet = 100, played on piano.
457 words, about 2 min5The Ensemble Balance Problem
A Year 12 student is performing in a small ensemble (flute, clarinet, cello, piano) for the Performance core. The venue is a school hall with a hard back wall and a resonant acoustic.
646 words, about 3 min