Drop Modern History for music? (1 Viewer)

dan2452

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2009
Messages
133
Location
Australia
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
I've been thinking of dropping Modern History and picking up music.
I didn't do music in Year 8,9, or 10, but I've been playing the guitar for a year and I love to do that, and I've just started writing songs.

Is music very good in the HSC? Is it possible to do it without previous experience on the subject?

BTW I'm doing 14 units anyway so I'm not too fussed on the scaling, etc.

Thanks!
 

muzeikchun852

Active Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
1,590
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2011
I've been thinking of dropping Modern History and picking up music.
I didn't do music in Year 8,9, or 10, but I've been playing the guitar for a year and I love to do that, and I've just started writing songs.

Is music very good in the HSC? Is it possible to do it without previous experience on the subject?

BTW I'm doing 14 units anyway so I'm not too fussed on the scaling, etc.

Thanks!
well..depend which music do u wanna do..
music 1 is more from the jazz and pop music, like wat u listen in daily life.
but music 2 is all about classic and composition, the benefit is that the scaling is better than music 2.

i heard that in hsc is written exam plus performance and if u doing music 2, there is composition.

see whether which one do u wanna do. but if u only plays the guitar, i suggest u do music 1 since u dont have any connection with the classic world of music.
 

awaitingtrain

Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Messages
51
Location
Hunter Valley
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Wow you have musical ability... thats more than I can say. I'm currently making some concerted efforts to learn the ukulele, but my success has been.... limited...yes...

I say that if you have even an ounce of musical ability and you're passionate about it which you assure us you are then DO IT!! You can learn Modern History later it'll be just as easy, but with an instrument it's better to start early and not to stop.... And scaling worries with 14 units? PFF.. no.

GO FOR IT!! :hat:
 

biopia

WestSyd-UNSW3x/week
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
341
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
I did Music 1 for my HSC (Music 2 has never been offered at my school).

The benefits of the course is that you can make it what you want to. Most people don't really do much other than performances, but I did a composition and two viva voce's. It was a lot of fun for me. I found it a challenging but rewarding course though. The main set back for me was that getting marks in assessments wasn't black and white like maths. You really had to work hard for those extra marks. I did well though. Unfortunately, I was the only band 6 in my class, but we had lots and lots of band 5's.

I had a lot of background in music however. I did it every year I was at high school plus many years before hand.

There was a girl in the class though who was in the same position as you (had only been learning guitar for a year). In all honesty, she found it hard at times. No matter which electives you pursue, you are internally assessed on everything, whether it's your forte (haha pun) or not. This was hard for the people in the class who were great performers but struggled at discussing music in an aural exam or composition.

With 14 units, I wouldn't be surprised if you decided to drop a subject come year 12, so you can always see how you go and decide to drop it later on.

I'd consider it carefully though.

Good luck with whatever you pursue! =]
 

Klutsov

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
144
Location
Somewhere
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Music courses in senior years are very very hard - you are competing with people who have been playing for years and have a deep understanding of the aural concepts.

However, music 1 is designed for people with no background in music, and the aural concepts can be quite easy to learn.

If you enjoy it though, do it, as you are likely to go well in it.
 

mirakon

nigga
Joined
Sep 18, 2009
Messages
4,221
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
with 14 units, i wouldn't be surprised if you decided to drop a subject come year 12, so you can always see how you go and decide to drop it later on.

I'd consider it carefully though.

Good luck with whatever you pursue! =]
+1
 

FCB

Emma Watson <3
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
563
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Do what you like. At the end of the day, If you dont like something as much as another, You wont do as well at it. As opposed to something that you love.
 

t00l

Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2009
Messages
229
Location
Filming my next action blockbuster
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
im doin music right now and its a blast. every lesson there is a prac of some sort and we can play with any instrument we choose. I also heard that its not too hard to achieve band 6 in music with proper study.
my friends have also been complaining about how boring modern/ancient history is for them. its probably just their teacher but a heads up in case :)
 

supercalamari

you've got the love
Joined
Jul 1, 2008
Messages
1,590
Location
Bathtub
Gender
Female
HSC
2010
I've been thinking of dropping Modern History and picking up music.
I didn't do music in Year 8,9, or 10, but I've been playing the guitar for a year and I love to do that, and I've just started writing songs.

Is music very good in the HSC? Is it possible to do it without previous experience on the subject?

BTW I'm doing 14 units anyway so I'm not too fussed on the scaling, etc.

Thanks!
You haven't been playing music for long so it will be very hard for you.

I would do Music 1 at the very most and definetly not Music 2. You simply don't have a solid enough background to do well in it.

Why not consider just doing music as an extra-curricular activity?

I guess you can always drop it, but be careful, if you drop it you can only feasibly drop one other subject. What if you hate two of your other subjects?

Good luck :)
 

cem

Premium Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2005
Messages
2,438
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
N/A
no. you have to do a set amount of hours for each subject eg 200 hours. Unless there is special permission or something.

EDIT: I took up a extension course a month in so a 1 unit and dropped a 2 unit.
Just to clarify this point.

You have to show that you have meet some of the outcomes of the Preliminary course.

There is no minimum hours required to do this. If your principal will sign off to say that you have meet some of the outcomes then you can change between Year 11 and Year 12 but...you will have missed vital theory etc.

How do I know? A year or so ago I had a Modern History student want to do Business Studies. My principal and the Business Studies teacher had him do the yearly Year 11 Business Studies exam, in his own time, during the holidays between end of Year 11 and start of Year 12 and then the Principal signed off on his completing the Preliminary course. No problems - went on to get Band 6 in Business Studies.

Each school will be different in this regard and some principals will have a hard and fast rule that says that you have to complete all assessment tasks over the course of the year before being signed off while others will do what my principal did or something similar.
 
Last edited:

Tofuu

Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2008
Messages
319
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2010
looking at your subjects, i would say do music if you really want to and are passionate about it because you might struggle to find time
 

canleyvale

New Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2009
Messages
12
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
I've been thinking of dropping Modern History and picking up music.
I didn't do music in Year 8,9, or 10, but I've been playing the guitar for a year and I love to do that, and I've just started writing songs.

Is music very good in the HSC? Is it possible to do it without previous experience on the subject?

BTW I'm doing 14 units anyway so I'm not too fussed on the scaling, etc.

Thanks!
If you like music, then go ahead and do it man. Go with what u like, not what you doubt you like.
 

kyokaku92

Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
419
Location
somewhere musical
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Music is unbelievably great for HSC!! I know I'm biased because I do it. However I would only recommend Music 1 because it is a course for those new to music compared to Music 2. Music doesn't cram a lot of content so you won't have missed much. There will be assessments on everything from composition, performance and aural/musicology. :pirate:Good luck.
 

Teclis

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2008
Messages
635
Location
The White Tower of Hoeth, Saphery, Ulthuan
Gender
Male
HSC
2007
To the OP...

Don't do music... with only one year of playing the guitar you WILL struggle... with no previous background in music you WILL struggle.

Musicality takes a while to develop... the ability to play with nuance and style does not come straight away, no matter how natural you are.

I very highly doubt you will do remotely well. Not saying anything about your intelligence, but the ability to listen critically to music and to analyse it in a short period of time (something you have to do in the course) takes time to develop.



well..depend which music do u wanna do..
music 1 is more from the jazz and pop music, like wat u listen in daily life.
but music 2 is all about classic and composition, the benefit is that the scaling is better than music 2.

i heard that in hsc is written exam plus performance and if u doing music 2, there is composition.

see whether which one do u wanna do. but if u only plays the guitar, i suggest u do music 1 since u dont have any connection with the classic world of music.
Well for starters... not everyone listens to pop and Jazz in daily life. Some of us listen to classical music as well. Music 2 is not all about Classical and composition. It's about music in a context of higher order thinking. They use Classical scores because they're more complicated and have more to analyse. They also use Jazz and even popular music in the course

Music courses in senior years are very very hard - you are competing with people who have been playing for years and have a deep understanding of the aural concepts.

However, music 1 is designed for people with no background in music, and the aural concepts can be quite easy to learn.

If you enjoy it though, do it, as you are likely to go well in it.
Music 1 is designed for people who play a different set of instruments, people who don't want as demanding a course.

Jazz singers, guitarists who aren't classicaly trained, bass guitar, drummers (not percussionists) tend to find music 1 better because they can play music that is suited to their instrument
 

vantastic

Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2009
Messages
84
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
I'd recommend doing music 1 if you're playing the guitar, in your core prac component for HSC in music 2 the judges are fairly harsh on 'pop' instruments such as guitars. You also have to have a really solid base in theory and reading scores, doing intervals and stuff like that. I'd go music 2 if you're going to do anything. But i'd also stick with modern over anything else, cos basically you're just learning the syllabus, whereas with music its hard to just learn off the rubric.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top