Should I take IB Music

[GemmaJade]

Hi, I am in my first year of IB in Japan but my parents have told me we are moving to thailand and my subjects don't match up so I am repeating the next year. When I chose my subjects this year I didn't enjoy them very much and I think it makes a difference if you enjoy what you are doing I really regret not taking music so I want to take it at HL next year.

but

I don't think I am experienced enough, it's not like I have never performed singing before but never solo and my voice still needs a lot of improvement. I can obviously read music but I don't have much knowledge in Music theory. I really want to do it but is it possible? Will the music theory I need be taught to me? My friends in Music insist I will be fine but I don't know.

[Isabelle07]

I don't know how it is with music, but in my school there are visual arts, and the most important thing in them is to make progress, work and be able to talk about your wors, artistic experiences, history of art etc., not to be technically perfect. In v.a. you have to do your own research on history of art. Music can be similar. Both v.a. and music are group 6 subjects after all.

[GemmaJade]

Thank you, I really regretted not taking it before so I think I will take it and focus on improving

[HighOnLife]

Well, in my school we dont have music.. but choose your favorite subjects, follow your heart (as my teacher says) and everything will be okay

[Angel M.]

In my school, since it is the first year we had the IB program, the band kids were forced to take IB band and I can tell you from personal experience, that you most likely will have to learn music theory which was torture on a whiteboard. Unless you are the music type, take IB psychology.

[Orion]

I personally don't take IB Music, but someone I know who does said that IB Music HL isn’t like the other classes because it’s more creative and can be a real stress outlet from all your other IB courses. So you'll most likely enjoy this class since you like what you're doing. Luckily I had a discussion with her on the subject recently, and this is what she had to say.

There will be lots of music playing, reading notes, but also learning about history and theory. The course is divided into four parts: Performance, Composition, Investigation, and Exam. (Yes, you will need to compose. And yes, there are exams).

If you have basic music theory, like music and play an instrument well, you'll definitely be fine in IB Music. It will really help if you can sight-read music fast and learn how to play songs fast, since you'll perform a lot. If you dislike any of these, then I really don't recommend taking the class. She also guarantees you won't do well in this class if you don't play an instrument.

Best of luck! :-)

Edited March 18, 2013 by Orion

[TykeDragon]

To follow from the above post, there are a few IB Music students in my school, and all of them are at a very high standard in at least two instruments. I heard that you do need to be very gifted with music - even composing pieces for multiple instruments. I also heard you need a variety of instrument type, as you may be asked (to perform? write? compose? i don't know) orchestra too, which may be a problem to some. One of the girls who does singing at our school sings (maybe not with an exceptional voice, but that's subjective and she does have talent with it eg range and control ) and is most notably very high grade on piano and violin as well. Another boy I know who does music is very high standard on drums, ukulele and maybe something else.

I heard that the exam is essays on music, perhaps asking you to compare advanced instrument playing techniques (for different instruments obviously) and thus can be a real problem if all you do is sing, or maybe you just play guitar at a casual, occasional level. I obviously have no idea what your personal musical talents are, but I can assure you that if all you do is sing, then you will have a tough time in IB music even though I don't do music personally, because it's not just write a song, sing it, and write an essay about music theory... From what I've heard, it is so much more complex than that.

So think carefully, do further research into what it takes to get a 5+ in Music HL, and compare that to your own musical talents.... Maybe you love music and play piano, violin, drums, guitar, trombone, whatever to a high standard. Maybe you just like singing in the shower. only you know!

[Leaf]

Exams in music HL goes something like this:

You have a few unseen music pieces which you listen to and then you must analyse each piece (musical features, context, structure, form, instrumentation, texture, etc.) You don't know exactly what the pieces will be, but one will always be world music and one will be a contemporary piece (apparently it's often jazz or blues).

The next question is an option between two set works (you do one). These pieces have sheet music provided and are very difficult questions if they are not studied beforehand.

The last question is a comparison between two works.

Music HL also requires recorded performance. You should be able to either sing or play an instrument very well. It is preferable to be able to play one instrument very well than two at a mediocre level. There must be 20 minutes altogether of performance. If you do not play an instrument, a backing track is acceptable, provided that the is a minimum of four simultaneously sounding parts, and that you make it yourself using MIDI. IB, for some reason, really stresses using MIDI for backing tracks.

Lastly, you must create three things. These can be compositions (for any set of instruments), electronic music, arrangements, or improvisations. Only one arrangement or improvisation is allowed (so 2 compositions and an arrangement is allowed, but 2 arrangements and a composition isn't). Note that prerecorded drum loops are not allowed, and arrangements cannot be straightforward transcriptions.

[Guest Skyrior]

To get a 7:

1. Be able to write stuff on the spot like: The harmonic progression in the second subject of the exposition contains imitation between the violas and the flutes, and also syncopation between the horns and the trombones...just by LISTENING to the music without looking at the score.

2. Be able to spend hours doing composition, and you might need to reach a very sophisticated level, like being able to write a fugue or something.

3. For performance, I think you need at least Grade 8 in ABRSM criteria to get a 7....

It is quite hard to get 7, and I suggest you to look around at composition first; look at what others who did IB Music wrote for composition, and see if you could do better than them. If not you might not have an easy time getting 7.