Music Extension 2025 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• be familiar with course requirements for the HSC examination
• consult the Music Extension Stage 6 Syllabus documents and Assessment and Reporting in Music Extension Stage 6 information for guidelines on the HSC exam specifications, and requirements for the practical examination and submitted works.

Two solo pieces

Students should:

• select repertoire that highlights musical sophistication and reflects mature and nuanced stylistic understanding
• select works that enable them to demonstrate refinement, musical awareness and highly developed technical capacity
• perform a sophisticated program demonstrating awareness of the role of the soloist
• communicate expressive intent.

In better performances, students were able to:

• convey a strong structural awareness of the chosen repertoire through nuanced phrasing, dynamic contrasts and tonal variation
• demonstrate and sustain technical and interpretive skills through a stylistic interpretation of the chosen repertoire, for example, pieces that are within the students’ technical ability that allow for a range of expressive intent to be shown
• communicate confidently with the accompanist, and lead with a strong performance flair
• demonstrate artistry with clear evidence of performance preparation that results in convincing and personalised solo skills.

Areas for students to improve include:

• choosing a program of suitable length to demonstrate technical and expressive complexity and a sophisticated understanding of the works
• ensuring that they choose two solo contrasting pieces of music.

Ensemble piece

Students should:

• demonstrate a deep understanding of the work and the role of each ensemble member within the context of the whole piece
• choose repertoire that demonstrates clear and deliberate ensemble interaction, including changing roles between featured lines and accompanying parts
• work with ensemble members who are suitably matched in technical and expressive skills
• demonstrate ensemble communication and interaction, with the ability to lead the ensemble with subtlety and sophistication, ensuring smooth transitions between ensemble roles
• consider an appropriate positioning of the ensemble to enable effective communication, acoustic treatment and ensure balance is maintained.

In better performances, students were able to:

• demonstrate a strong stylistic connection in a sophisticated and engaging delivery of the chosen repertoire
• lead the ensemble meaningfully, showing awareness of the interdependence of all parts
• perform the chosen repertoire confidently with a clear and collective understanding of the expressive intent
• display musical sophistication and sensitivity in a sustained performance.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring the nature of ensemble repertoire is understood, where all members have an equal role, in contrast to a solo work with accompaniment
• selecting repertoire that allows the student to perform with ensemble members, demonstrating a shared understanding of the musical intent of the work and the student’s interpretation of the work
• understanding the technical aspects of amplification equipment, when used appropriately, to render a genre or style
• understanding the performance space, considering the acoustic outcome to support all ensemble members
• making sure the ensemble piece is rehearsed in ways that refine and develop the performance over time, with reference to balance and blend.

Students should:

• consider musical choices carefully to aid the development and communication of a personal voice
• ensure original ideas are evident within the chosen material
• consider the layout and organisation of their score to ensure clarity of notation and parts, and consider the need for a landscape or portrait score
• provide a clear audio recording that is live and/or musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) to best support the intention of the work
• select an appropriate instrument, or combination of instruments, to effectively convey the style and development of musical material
• use the time available in the composition to create an effective structure and allow for the development of musical ideas.

In better responses, students were able to:

• imagine the work as a whole, while exploring sophisticated musical ideas that allow for originality to emerge in the compositional voice
• explore textural variety, including the role of silence to maximise musical impact
• understand the capabilities of different instruments, their dynamic possibilities and registers when orchestrating and organising ideas
• manipulate texture for the ensemble or instrument effectively and deliberately to create specific musical effects, for example, make specific decisions about when to repeat, when to develop, and when to introduce new material
• use a musical style as a starting point to effectively re-imagine the musical ideas
• demonstrate how different musical concepts work together to create cohesion within the overall structure, for example, the use of dynamics and expressive techniques as part of the development process
• demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of scoring conventions for the chosen instrument/ensemble.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring that scores include appropriate transcription and detail of the musical ideas when using electronic performing media, for example, any pre-recorded track containing multiple sounds needs to be notated
• taking into account the acoustic reality of writing for the chosen instrumentation, for example, considering whether the submitted MIDI recording gives the same result as a live recording
• considering the final performance of the composition to ensure that the score and the ideas can be clearly communicated
• exploring sophisticated use of musical concepts to allow for the ideas to be fully realised and sustained throughout the entire structure, for example, choosing combinations of techniques and devices to communicate the chosen style
• composing coherent, sustained and refined musical ideas through sophisticated melodic, harmonic and rhythmic choices that establish a personal compositional style
• considering the overall structural integrity of the submission, rather than relying on simplistic structural elements, such as ternary form with a strongly contrasting middle section
• submitting scores that are fully notated, for example, a jazz rhythm section with a comping section and/or repeated notated patterns
• ensuring recordings are balanced to enhance musical ideas.

Students should:

• develop a clear and original hypothesis that is achievable
• analyse primary sources that enhance the overall discussion, ensuring selected scores and sound are supportive of the hypothesis
• use concise musical language supported by evidence from primary sources
• show an engagement with and connection to the chosen works
• develop a sustained argument to continually support the hypothesis
• use a wide range of reputable sources, clearly acknowledging and referencing in both the bibliography and body of the essay.

In better responses, students were able to:

• develop an original hypothesis based on an attainable musical discussion
• analyse primary sources (scores, audio samples) that provide evidence of musical features that support the argument, for example, score features that relate to the discussion and prove a particular observation, linking to the hypothesis
• use sophisticated musical terminology to discuss the primary sources, such as an in-depth discussion of well-chosen concepts of music that are relevant to the premise
• establish a cohesive academic writing style, showing engagement in the topic through wide listening and breadth of research within a logical essay structure
• maintain a sustained focus on the premise throughout the length of the essay, for example, each score excerpt reveals further context and musicological evidence
• use a wide range of reputable sources, such as scholarly journal articles, books, program notes, clearly acknowledging and referencing through the bibliography and in the body of the essay with a consistent and recognised referencing system to acknowledge the sources
• integrate primary and secondary sources to sustain a consistent argument in line with the hypothesis, by drawing upon reputable secondary sources and using well-chosen musical examples to support the analysis.

Areas for students to improve include:

• choosing an original hypothesis, based on a self-devised premise, considering the achievability of the investigation within the word count limits
• developing a more formal writing style, linking secondary sources to analytical discussion with appropriate score examples to support the discussion
• selecting repertoire that allows for detailed musical analysis and breadth of discussion, linked to secondary sources to provide context
• using existing sources judiciously, to support the discussion, alongside their own analysis
• selecting appropriate lengths of audio excerpts that support the musical analysis and score examples
• ensuring that score examples are clearly labelled with title, bar numbers, timestamp, clef, key signatures and instrumentation.