7/30/2019 Sleeve Note Advice 2011
1/1
AS COMPOSITION - SLEEVE NOTE ADVICE 2011
The sleeve noteThe sleeve note carries a third of the marks for
this unit and therefore needs carefulthought and preparation. It is
written in one hour of supervised time but students arepermitted to
take their notes into the examination room and are therefore
advised tokeep a journal of their work as it progresses. Hand in
for this will be 28th April2011.
The quality of written English is taken into account, so
students might benefit frompractising writing the prose sections
under timed conditions.
There are three sections.1. Explain and comment on form and
structure, indicating in particular how
repetition and contrastare balanced.This shows that the
examiners are looking for pieces which have a coherent structureand
are neither too repetitive nor contain too many diverse ideas. The
mark schemerewards detailed answers, so it is important to refer to
specific examples of repetition
and contrast and to identify locations with timings or bar
numbers. Repetition andcontrast can be a feature of any or all of
these musical components: melody and motif,harmony, rhythm,
instrumentation and texture. You need FOUR
featuresform/structure/repetition and contrast.
2. Mentionfourother features of interest. You can refer to
anytwoor more of thefollowing: rhythm, melodic development,
texture, handling of instrument(s)and/or voice(s), harmony.
Here is an opportunity to hint to the examiner which of the
optional criteria might mostappropriately be applied and to draw
attention to the strengths of the piece. Rememberto comment on four
distinct features and to explain why they are of interest. You
need
FOUR separate features
3. Refer to pieces from the New Anthology of Music and/or
elsewhere to explainhow other pieces of music have influenced you
in your composition.
This section carries by far the most marks 12. The more points
that are successfullymade, the more marks are awarded. The mark
scheme states that full marks on thispart of the question requires
17 valid observations. Although this seems like quite alot, they
can easily be accumulated if the advice above is followed and a
journal kept.Remember to give locations (using bar numbers or
timings) for any points made aboutother works, especially those
from NAM, as this will give a sense of thoroughness to the
writing.
