Advice on Writing Up Your Answers!

1. What does the question mean?

Study the wording of the question and determine what you must do to answer it fully by identifying, and
highlighting, the important words and determining what they mean.

Identify the important words in the question:

 The instructional verb,
 The expressive element
 The expressive outcomes (character) to focus on

Question Type a. “Discuss how the performers create energy and passion, through their use of tone
colour”

Question Type b. “Discuss how the performers create and sustain mood and character in this work”

Question Type c. “Compare the ways in which the two interpretations create different expressive
outcomes through their use of tempo and dynamics”

2. Answering the question if it has the word Discuss in it.

You need to include four specific elements in your answer.

 Identify- the instruments

 What- what are the instruments doing with the expressive outcome in the question.
 Effect- what is the effect of how the instruments are using the expressive outcome.
 Combination- how does the combination of all the instruments effect the expressive outcome

The joyous character of the expressive outcome is created by the types of articulation being used,
coupled with a fast tempo and continuous semiquavers. The rapid bowing in the strings and the fast
tonguing from the wind create a detached, spiky sound which adds a strong sense of brightness to the
character. As well as being joyous, this piece is also bright, largely due to the way all the instruments are
being played at this very fast speed. The contrasting section in the middle that slows to a stop brings the
listener’s attention to the sudden arrival of the recapitulation and enhances the bright joyousness, by a
brief silence to anticipate its return.