G C S E M U S I C – M Y M U S I C S T U D Y G U I D E

GCSE MUSIC

MY MUSIC
STUDY GUIDE

P A G E | 1 © W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K
G C S E M U S I C – M Y M U S I C S T U D Y G U I D E

CONTENTS

Pages Topic/Area of Study Learning Objectives Activities Time Guidance

2 Contents &
Introduction
3-5 Spotlight on my own Gain a better understanding of your 1.Creating a Facebook 3-4 hours (it is
own musical instrument, voice, DJ Profile” for your own recommended that you
Instrument or sequencing equipment instrument, voice, DJ or break this task down into
Explore your own musical
sequencing equipment. shorter study sessions)
instrument, voice, DJ or sequencing
equipment so that you are more
prepared to tackle your solo
performance and composition for
your own instrument
6-7 Composing a piece Create a piece of Descriptive Music 2. Composing a piece 1-2 hours (it is
for your own instrument or of Descriptive Music in recommended that you
for your own equipment based on a stimulus response to a given break this task down into
Instrument or focusing on capturing the mood
stimuli for your own shorter study sessions)
effectively through sounds and
Equipment music
Instrument or
Equipment
8 My Music Key Words Revising some key words related to Add definitions to “My 30 minutes
“My Music” Music” key words
9 My Music Learning Monitoring your own progress in Self-Assessment of 10 minutes
relation to “My Music” Learning Outcomes
Outcomes

INTRODUCTION
This Study Guide will help you prepare for performing and composing on your own instrument or
equipment which may include any instrument, voice in any style such as rapping or beatboxing,
DJ-ing or sequencing – realisation using ICT.

You will begin by studying the capabilities and limitations of your own instrument, voice or
equipment by researching the range, characteristic timbre, playing and performing techniques,
how your instrument, voice or equipment is used in different genres, types of ensemble your
instrument, voice or equipment might be used in and how its use is influenced by context and
culture. Your research will be presented in the form of a “Facebook Profile” as if your own
instrument, voice or equipment is an ‘actual person’.

You will then create a piece of descriptive music for your own instrument based in response to a
given stimulus. This can be any instrument(s), voice or
technology of your choice. It can be a solo unaccompanied
piece, an accompanied solo piece or an ensemble piece and
can be in a genre of your choice. You should try to use the
information from your instrument, voice or equipment research
task in your composition – using any special playing or
performing techniques to create special effects or exploring the
pitch range or use of technology – to capture the given mood of your chosen stimulus.

SPOTLIGHT ON MY OWN
INSTRUMENT
P A G E | 2 © W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K
G C S E M U S I C – M Y M U S I C S T U D Y G U I D E

3-4 hours (it is recommended that you break this task down into shorter study
Time Guidance
sessions)
 Gain a better understanding of your own musical instrument, voice, DJ or
sequencing equipment
Learning
 Explore your own musical instrument, voice, DJ or sequencing equipment so that
Objectives
you are more prepared to tackle your solo performance and composition for your
own instrument

Activity 1 – Research as much information as you can about your own musical instrument, voice,
DJ or sequencing equipment and present this in a “Facebook Profile” as if your own musical
instrument, voice, DJ or sequencing equipment is an actual ‘person’. Page 5 gives you an
example using a musical instrument - the Alto Saxophone. You can complete this activity using
the blank “Facebook Profile” given in this Study Guide on page 6, or alternatively you can use an
template available here:
http://www.musicalcontexts.co.uk/index_files/FREE/FBINSTRUMENT.pdf

Suggested Approach
 Begin by finding a high quality image or illustration of your instrument or equipment to use
as your ‘Profile Picture’
 ‘Update your Status’ with something short and relevant regarding your instrument or
equipment
 Add ‘Family’ members – instruments or equipment which are ‘related’ to your instrument
(e.g. in the same orchestral ‘family’ or ‘section’ or different sizes and types of your
instrument). Also add the inventor or creator of your instrument here (if you know it!)
 Add ‘Friends’ – include some famous performers of your instrument or equipment –
classical and popular including famous DJ’s or producers
 Add ‘Groups’ – add some groups or instrumental ensembles which your instrument plays or
performs in if relevant.
 Complete the ‘About Me’ section – Where, when and who created or invented your
instrument or equipment? When did your instrument or equipment become popular? Does
your instrument play at Concert Pitch or is it a Transposing Instrument? What clef does
your instrument read/play from? What different types, ranges, styles and genres of music
does your instrument or equipment get used for? Name a couple of famous pieces written
specifically for your instrument or performed using your equipment.
 Complete the ‘Pitch Range’ section – Find out the range of your instrument – the highest
and lowest notes it can play. Discover the range of notes that you can comfortably play on
your instrument. You can include a diagram using the stave if this helps here.
 Complete the ‘How Sound is Produced’ section – Describe how the sound is produced on
your instrument or equipment including (where relevant) how the instrument is held, what
the instrument or equipment is made out of, features, how the pitch of notes are changed
and any special playing techniques. If describing DJ or sequencing equipment, include a
labelled diagram of how your equipment is “set up” to produce sound.

P A G E | 3 © W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K
G C S E M U S I C – M Y M U S I C S T U D Y G U I D E

Alto Saxophone

Thinking about Jazz, Music and the Blues and getting a new reed!!

About Me
I’m a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by the
Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840’s and patented in 1846. I am an
E flat transposing instrument and I read the treble clef. A written C-natural
sounds a major sixth lower (concert E flat) when played. I can play a range of
Family
different types of music including Classical Music, Concert Bands, Chamber Music,
Military Bands, Marching Bands, Big Bands, Swing Bands and Jazz Bands. There has
also been a lot of solo music written for just me and composers often write parts for
me in orchestral works e.g. “The Old Castle” from ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ by
Mussorgsky and orchestrated by Ravel and “Rhapsody in Blue” by Gershwin. I often
Soprano Tenor
Saxophone Saxophone feature in pop songs, most notably the 1978 Gerry Rafferty hit “Baker Street”
(Smaller Sister) (Larger Brother)

Pitch Range
My pitch range is from concert D♭3 (the D♭ below middle C) to concert A♭5 (or A5
on altos with a high F♯ key). As with most types of saxophones, the standard written
Bass Adolphe Sax range is B♭3 to F6 (or F♯6). Above that, I can play the altissimo register, which
Saxophone (Father)
(Much Larger begins at F♯ and extends upwards. My altissimo register is more difficult to control
Brother)
than that of other woodwinds and is usually only expected from advanced players. By
covering or partially covering the bell of the saxophone when playing B♭3, it is
Friends possible for the alto saxophone to reach A3 as well.

Charlie Parker Kenny Garrett

How Sound is Produced
I am played by blowing air into me through a single reed which vibrates, like a
Jimmy Dorsey Eugene Rousseau
Clarinet. The player holds me in front of them, often with a strap around their neck to
Groups support my weight. I am classed as a woodwind instrument, even though I’m
made out metal and look like a brass instrument! I have a number of keys which
cover various holes, altering the size of the column of air which is vibrating inside me,
Jazz, Big & and thus producing notes of different pitches. I can play at different dynamic levels
Orchestra Swing Bands
depending on how hard I’m being blown into and can perform legato and staccato
passages. I can play short and long notes, but the length of very long notes depends
on how much breath my player can last for!!
Military, The
Marching & Woodwind
Concert Bands Section

P A G E | 4 © W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K
G C S E M U S I C – M Y M U S I C S T U D Y G U I D E

P A G E | 5 © W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K
G C S E M U S I C – M Y M U S I C S T U D Y G U I D E

COMPOSING A DESCRIPTIVE PIECE

FOR YOUR OWN INSTRUMENT OR
EQUIPMENT
1-2 hours (it is recommended that you break this task down into shorter study
Time Guidance
sessions)
 Create a piece of Descriptive Music for your own instrument or
Learning
equipment based on a stimulus focusing on capturing the mood
Objectives
effectively through sounds and music

Activity 2 – This activity encourages you to create or compose a piece of DESCRIPTIVE MUSIC
for your OWN INSTRUMENT. You may like to have the “Facebook Profile” you created for your
own instrument in Activity 1 to hand when working on this task. Choose ONE of the stimuli from
the following two pages and create, compose or put together a SHORT piece of Descriptive Music
to represent this through sounds and music. You can record your ideas using GRAPHIC
NOTATION, STAFF NOTATION or any other suitable method as you will be performing this piece
for the rest of your class and your teacher during your music lessons. Think carefully about HOW
you will use the ELEMENTS OF MUSIC in your piece and what features, sound production
methods or ‘special effects’ your own instrument or equipment can produce to help add to the
mood of your chosen stimuli.
By the black moon
Of the highwaymen
The spurs sing.

Little black horse.

Where are you carrying the dead rider?

...The harsh spurs

Of the motionless bandit
Who lost his reins.

Little cold horse.

What a perfume of knife-blossom
[Federico García Lorca]

P A G E | 6 © W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K
G C S E M U S I C – M Y M U S I C S T U D Y G U I D E

            Enter three WITCHES.

First Witch When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Second Witch When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.
Third Witch That will be ere the set of sun.
First Witch Where the place?
Second Witch Upon the heath.
Third Witch There to meet with Macbeth.
First Witch I come, Graymalkin!
Second Witch Paddock calls.
Third Witch Anon.
ALL Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
          Exeunt.

Wondrous Web
The master weaver weaves his web
Immune to weather’s flow and ebb.
Unseen for nine months of the year
This diamond-studded lacework here
No tasty morsel trapped, I think,
But dainty dewdrops sweet to drink;
Condensed from early Autumn mist
The wondrous web with moisture, kissed,
Like beads of mercury, perfect spheres
In which a micro-world appears.

O Spider with your legs so thin,

Who, may I ask, taught you to spin
Such a delicate and light affair
Suspended in the morning air?

The Sunrise – A Haiku

Orange, yellow, red

It’s floating, it’s rising high
Life, love, warmth and light

P A G E | 7 © W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K
 G C S E M U S I C – M Y M U S I C S T U D Y G U I D E

MY MUSIC KEY WORDS

Understood Signatures
Key Word Meaning (tick) (staff, student, parent)
A number of musical symbols (including Treble, Bass, Alto, Tenor/C-clefs) placed at the left hand side of a
Clef musical stave, indicating the pitch of the notes written on it to the performer
Refers to the pitch reference to which a group of musical instruments are tuned for performance. An
Concert Pitch internationally agreed standard is for the tuning of musical instruments, in which the note A above middle C has
a frequency of 440 Hz
Also called “Programme Music”, descriptive music suggests visual images or “telling a story”. The descriptive
Descriptive Music idea or story-line is known as the “programme”. The opposite of descriptive music is “absolute music” which is
music that doesn’t attempt to describe something particular and is more concerned with form and structure
A number of different things which have often been called “the building bricks of music” and include: Pitch,
Elements of Music Dynamics, Duration, Tempo, Texture, Timbre/Sonority, Attack and Decay and Silence. When a composer
creates a piece of music, they use the elements of music to build it, just like a builder uses bricks

Ensemble A group of musicians who perform together

instruments or equipment which are ‘related’ to your instrument (e.g. in the same orchestral ‘family’ or ‘section’
Family (of instruments) or different sizes and types of your instrument

Pitch The highness or lowness of a sound, governed by the rate of vibrations producing it

The distance from the lowest to the highest note a musical instrument can play. For a singing voice, the
Pitch Range equivalent is the “vocal range”
The ability of instrumental and vocal musicians, or performers using technology to exert optimal control of their
Playing Technique instruments of playing equipment in order to produce the precise musical effects they desire. Also includes
playing a musical instrument or singing in a particular way (e.g. pizzicato/arco/col legno for strings)
Describes how sound is produced either on a musical instrument e.g. via vibration, a voice or electronically
Sound Production using digital technology
FX in music technology stands for “effects” which is the processing of sound using digital software (e.g. reverb,
Special Effects/FX delay, phaser etc.) Musical instruments and the voice can also produce special effects by being played or
performed in a particular way (see Playing Technique above)
A term used commonly in vocal music and singing to describe the pitch range in which most notes of the vocal
Tessitura part fall (comfortably for the singer/performer)

The character or quality of musical sound or voice. Each musical instrument has its own unique timbre which
Timbre/Sonority is how we identify it as distinct from others.

An orchestral instrument for which parts are written in a different key from that in which they sound e.g. the
Transposing Instrument clarinet and many brass instruments

P A G E | 8 © W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K
 G C S E M U S I C – M Y M U S I C S T U D Y G U I D E

(Grade 1-3) (Grade 4-6) (Grade 7-9)

Signatures
Learning Outcomes (staff, student, parent)

I can describe some of the capabilities and limitations of my own

instrument, voice or technology in terms of its range and characteristic
timbre
I can describe some of the capabilities and limitations of my own
instrument, voice or technology in terms of the techniques required to play
it and any techniques specific to it
I can describe how my own instrument, voice or technology may have
been used in different genres
I can describe what types of ensemble my own instrument, voice or
technology might be used it
I can describe how my own instrument, voice or technology’s use is
influenced by context and culture
I can practice and perform one or more piece(s) on my own instrument,
voice or technology of an appropriate level of difficulty
I can create and perform a short piece of descriptive music based on a
given stimulus for my own instrument, voice or technology which uses
playing techniques and effects to create a mood suitable to my chosen
stimulus
I can use the “elements of music” effectively when creating and
performing a short piece of descriptive music for my own instrument,
voice or technology

P A G E | 9 © W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S . C O . U K