Hi there Blitzers,
Yes, it's that time of year again - the AMEB written exam series starts on 22 August, and the practical exams soon after.
With that in mind I've put together a collection of recent blog posts with exam tips, as well as ways to prepare for other exams including aural and sight reading.
Seven Essential Exam Tips
First off, my 7 essential exam tips, especially for students and parents as they prepare for the big day.
By starting today and organising a schedule of study you'll avoid cramming, plus be less anxious on the day. Arriving early and prepared will improve your confidence, but Tip 4 - using the reading time - is my favourite. Click here to read the full article.
Accents in Poetry
What does it really mean to 'mark the accents' in poetry? We’ve all been guilty of putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble from time to time... but who decides exactly which words should be accented in lines of poetry? There are always multitudes of possibilities.
A recent example that has cropped up in a paper is this couplet, shown here with accents marked with upright lines:
|Black cats |red cats
|Cats in all their |hues
Another way of doing this would be:
|Black |cats |red |cats
|Cats in |all their |hues
The above shows 7 accents rather than 4, but this is still completely correct. There are no awkward moments, just frequent and regular accents on sensible words!
In the AMEB, different states have different marking criteria for this type of question. There are usually many variations of acceptable answers. If you have any questions about the way your scansion question has been marked, you should contact your state AMEB office.
And one final word of advice to students... do NOT assume that the number of marks the question is worth equals the amount of accents you're supposed to mark!
Sight Reading Skills
The only way to become a good sight reader is to sight read constantly. However, for beginner sight readers (who are sometimes also advanced pianists!) who are frustrated with their ability it is essential to break down the elements of sight reading.
In this article I break down the key factors of sight reading and offer a few insights into how to apply them into your practice schedule, before moving on to the similarities with aural practice. Click here to read the full article.
To your music education,
Samantha
Samantha Coates
BlitzBooks
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BlitzBooks is the series by Samantha Coates that has revolutionised music theory teaching. Students are no longer bored with their theory books! Since January 2001, music students have been able to ENJOY their theory education with fun, user-friendly texts. The conversational, easy-to-use format has made BlitzBooks incredibly popular with students as well as making teachers' lives easier.
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