HSC Music 1 (NSW) cheat sheet

HSC Music 1 Practical Assessment: Core Performance (20 marks) plus one elective (20 marks) from Performance, Composition, Musicology, or Aural Skills.

Performance elective requires a program of 2-3 pieces (or excerpts) with a total duration of 3-5 minutes; Core Performance requires 2-3 pieces with a total duration of 3-5 minutes.

Assessment criteria for performance include: technical proficiency, interpretative understanding, stylistic awareness, and presentation (stage presence, communication).

Technical proficiency criteria: accuracy of pitch and rhythm, control of tone and intonation, fluency and coordination, and appropriate technique for the instrument/voice.

Interpretative understanding criteria: shaping of phrases, dynamic contrast, tempo choices, articulation, and expressive use of tone colour.

Stylistic awareness criteria: idiomatic performance practice for the genre (e.g., swing phrasing in jazz, terraced dynamics in Baroque, rubato in Romantic).

Presentation criteria: confident stage presence, appropriate deportment, communication with audience and ensemble, and recovery from errors without disruption.

Program notes (if required) must include: title, composer/arranger, duration, and brief contextual information; they are not marked for performance but support the viva.

Sight-reading may be included as part of the performance elective; it assesses rhythmic and pitch accuracy, continuity, and musical shaping under time constraints.

Composition elective requires a portfolio of original works with a total duration of 3-5 minutes, plus a composition process diary and a recorded realisation.

Assessment criteria for composition: stylistic understanding, structural coherence, thematic development, harmonic and melodic inventiveness, and technical craftsmanship (notation, orchestration, texture).

Stylistic understanding: use of idiomatic conventions of the chosen style (e.g., 12-bar blues, sonata form, pop song form, minimalist processes).

Structural coherence: clear formal design (e.g., binary, ternary, rondo, verse-chorus), logical transitions, and balanced proportions.

Thematic development: manipulation of motifs through sequence, inversion, augmentation, diminution, fragmentation, and variation.

Harmonic and melodic inventiveness: use of non-diatonic chords, modal interchange, chromaticism, extended chords, and contrapuntal devices.

Technical craftsmanship: accurate notation (clefs, key/time signatures, articulation, dynamics), appropriate range and idiomatic writing for instruments/voices, and clear score layout.

Composition process diary must document: initial ideas, drafts, revisions, research, and reflection on decisions; it supports the viva and is assessed for evidence of process.

Realisation (recording) must be submitted with the score; it can be a live performance or a digital rendering, and must accurately reflect the notated composition.

Musicology elective requires a research project (essay or presentation) of 3-5 minutes duration (or 1500-2000 words) on a topic of musical significance, with a bibliography.

Assessment criteria for musicology: research and investigation, musical analysis, synthesis and argument, and presentation/communication.

Research and investigation: use of primary and secondary sources, accuracy of information, depth of inquiry, and acknowledgment of sources (referencing).

Musical analysis: identification of musical elements (pitch, duration, dynamics, tone colour, texture, structure) and their function in the repertoire studied.

Synthesis and argument: coherent thesis, logical development, integration of musical evidence with contextual information, and critical evaluation of sources.

Presentation/communication: clarity of expression, appropriate terminology, organisation, and effectiveness of oral or written delivery.

Topics may include: a composer, genre, style, instrument, technological development, or cultural context; the topic must allow for musical analysis.

The viva voce (if applicable) requires the student to discuss the project, answer questions, and demonstrate understanding of the musical examples.

Referencing style: consistent use of a recognised system (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago) for all sources, including scores and recordings.

Aural Skills elective requires a written examination (1 hour) and/or a practical component; the written paper assesses aural perception and analysis of musical excerpts.

Assessment criteria for aural skills: pitch and rhythm perception, harmonic and melodic discrimination, stylistic and structural awareness, and musical memory.

Pitch perception: identify intervals (melodic and harmonic), scales (major, minor, modal, blues), chord qualities (major, minor, diminished, augmented, 7ths), and pitch direction.

Rhythm perception: identify metre (simple, compound, irregular), tempo changes, rhythmic patterns, syncopation, and note values; notate rhythmic dictation.

Harmonic discrimination: identify chord progressions (e.g., I-IV-V-I, 12-bar blues), cadences (perfect, imperfect, plagal, interrupted), and modulations.

Melodic discrimination: identify contour, sequence, repetition, ornamentation, and melodic dictation (notating a short melody).

Stylistic and structural awareness: recognise genre/style from aural features (instrumentation, articulation, phrasing), and identify form (binary, ternary, verse-chorus, etc.).

Musical memory: recall and reproduce short musical excerpts (clapping rhythms, singing melodies) after one or two hearings.

Aural exam may include: interval recognition, chord recognition, cadence identification, rhythmic dictation, melodic dictation, and analysis of a longer excerpt.