MATSEC SEC Music study guide
MATSEC SEC Music · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) Music is a secondary-level certification awarded through the MATSEC Examinations Board, which sits within L-Università ta' Malta. The board publishes its own Regulations, Guidelines and policies, Syllabi, Current Session Information, Applications, Past Papers, and Marking Schemes and Exemplars, and candidates should treat the syllabus for their session as the authoritative statement of what is examinable. The MATSEC SEC Music study guide has 5 sections and about 1,395 words.
01Performing (solo and ensemble performance)
MATSEC SEC Music performance assesses prepared solo and ensemble items. Examiners listen for accurate notes and rhythm, secure pulse, intonation, tone quality, articulation, phrasing, stylistic awareness and, in ensemble, balance, blend, cues and responsiveness.
289 words, about 1 min02Composing and arranging
Composing and arranging tests the ability to make a coherent piece from limited material and to write it idiomatically for voices or instruments. Examiners look for phrase structure, harmonic grammar, rhythmic drive, texture, contrast and correct notation.
266 words, about 1 min03Listening and appraising (analysis of set and unfamiliar works)
Listening and appraising requires you to describe what you hear and to place it: instrumentation, texture, metre, tempo, tonality, harmony, cadences, form and style. Questions may use set works and unfamiliar excerpts.
271 words, about 1 min04Musical literacy (notation, theory, harmony and aural skills)
Musical literacy covers notation, theory, harmony and aural skills: clefs, key signatures, intervals, scales, chords, inversions, cadences, transposition, rhythmic notation and the ability to hear what you write. Key signature first: order of sharps F C G D A E B; flats B E A D G C F.
286 words, about 1 min05Historical and cultural context of music
Historical and cultural context asks you to connect works to their period, function, patronage, performing forces, notation and audience. You should know genres and typical features from the Medieval period to the present, and be able to explain why a work sounds as it does.
283 words, about 1 min