For the 2024 Examwatch, reactions poured in regarding the Leaving Cert and Junior Cycle Examinations. Teachers have remarked that the higher-level music paper was equitable, featuring manageable challenges within clear sections. Music instructor at the Institute of Education, Ciara Coleman, suggested that the pupils would largely be satisfied with the balanced, easily accessible listening paper.
Despite a potential initial reluctance at Gerald Barry’s Piano Quartet No. 1 being the focus of Question one (valued at twenty-five marks), she mentioned that the question was actually quite achievable for those students who had diligently worked to understand the various components of the piece.
Once there was a belief that, due to their similarity, the ‘C’ sections of the Barry query often caused confusion amongst students. However, the evidently distinguishable ‘C’ sections in this year’s paper helped to eliminate that.
Meanwhile, Nicole Cooney, a music teacher at Drumcondra’s Maryfield College in Dublin, informed that students were taken aback not finding sean-nós on the paper. However, they were pleased to note that the first question of the composition segment had the tune in a major scale.
Some students might have been taken by surprise upon realising the Bach question revolved principally around the chorale, although it offered an opportunity to display understanding of movement one. Coleman stated the remaining questions on instrument recognition and cadences were also expected, which would have been reassuring for the students.
On this year’s paper, renowned artists like Queen, The Beatles, Tchaikovsky, and Bach featured. Coleman found the question on Queen just as equitable, focusing on the accompaniment features and verse two’s word painting.
Lastly, concerning the auditory segment, Cooney relayed that the students underwent fair skill evaluations, with no surprising elements.
Ms Coleman expressed that pupils were given an assortment of both original and adapted numbers from The Beatles, such as Eleanor Rigby, Blackbird and Come Together. “The absence of dictation in this question would have been a relief for the students. The emphasis was rather on aspects of back-up, rhythmic patterns and musical structure,” remarked Ms Coleman.