Subject Selection- Need help with the choosing of a few subjects! (1 Viewer)

[mylifesmelody]

Hi!
We have to choose our Yr 11 subjects soon and I'm a little stuck as to what to do.
So far I am thinking of doing:
Maths (3U)
English (3U)
Chemistry
Physics
Music 2
Japanese Continuers

The problem is that altogether these are 14 units- which I feel might be too much for me.
So, which one should I drop?
I mean, I didn't do Music in Yr 9 & 10 but I finished my 4th grade theory and I got honours on my 8th grade exam. Also since I am doing AMUS, I can get 2 bonus ATAR points if I do Music Ext. in Yr 12, but it doesn't apply for all courses or in most Universities so I don't know if its worth it. Please help me!!! >.<

Thanks!

 

[madharris]

If you want to do music, then don't worry about not doing it in year 9/10, they just teach you the basics, which aren't to difficult to pick up
For music, although theory does help it's based more on the concepts of music (pitch, duration, dynamics and expressive techniques, structure, texture, tone colour)
However, with your theory knowledge, it should be easier to identify the components of these concepts once you get the hang of them

Music's an easy subject to get good marks in as you don't really need to do much work for the musicology papers. HOWEVER in saying that, your need to spend time perfecting your pieces (both technically and expressively) as well as your composition(s).

Music extension is worth it, but only if you get good marks as it doesn't scale that well (however in saying that about 1/3 of students get an E4)

In terms of your AMUS in year 11/12, you can get bonus points for many uni's through schemes such as the elite athletes and performers program.
I know at UNSW you can get 4 points and USYD varies, and I'm sure there are similar programs at most uni's.

 

[mylifesmelody]

thanks!
So do you think that Music would be more worthwhile to do instead of Japanese?

 

[madharris]

thanks!
So do you think that Music would be more worthwhile to do instead of Japanese?

I enjoyed music a lot! It was my fun, chilled subject and because our class was so small (only 7 people in the end - we weren't a very musical year compared to the previous year (35 music 2 kids) and this year (24 music 2 kids) we were all very close and always had heaps of fun in class, even when the subject at times was tedious. Always keen to help each other out and always laughing in class and such, our teacher included. Because we had a small class, it as also very competitive with friendly competition, which I think boosted all of our marks in the end, as we all wanted to beat each other as well as help each other.

From a biased point of view (since I didn't do japanese)

A lot of my friends have told me that it's pretty difficult, and that you need to be almost fluent in it, in order to do well in the hsc. It takes up a lot of time to learn the language, and although they said it was a fun subject, many started to dislike it because they couldn't keep up (and thus people dropped it)


Both subjects take up time and may be difficult/fun/easy to different people, however in my opinion, I think music is really something you should really consider.

What you do in music:
Prelim:
Go through each era (including some of the small ones such as the impressionist period)
From baroque onwards - fun and interesting, and you get to learn about how music has progressed through time

HSC:
Study 2 topics:
A core topic: Australian Western Art Music from the last 25 years
An option topic that you or your school will choose: (we did music from 1940-25 years ago)

In terms of what you do for assessments and stuff:
Musicology Exam - Basically analysing unseen pieces and and short essay
Performance: 1 piece (max 5 minutes) from the core topic
Composition: 1 piece (max 2 minutes) based on the core topic
Elective (you choose one):
Musicology: an essay comparing pieces - not really sure on the details of this
Performance: 2 pieces - 1 from your option topic and 1 from your option/core topic
Composition: A 3 minute piece - not really sure on the details of this

Hope this helps you make your decision:
If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask questions (I always look at the music forums - it's so empty )

 

[Wonder]

Just go with 14 units first, gives you room to drop later (it's what I did) - better than limiting yourself now and potentially regretting it later.
Also, you won't necessarily know what the workload is like until you give it a try - I have friends who are perfectly capable of handling 14 units, and others who really struggled. It depends on your time management and natural ability.

 

[mylifesmelody]

thanks!

 

[jazzawhat]

Start off with as many units as you can grab. There are numerous occasions where you can drop them if necessary and it just gives you a lot more choice to decide on whichever you prefer

 

[mylifesmelody]

Yeah, I think I'll start off with 14 units and see how I go.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[titaniumwithin]

Personally I think you should do them all for the first few weeks just to be sure. You're doing extension maths and english which can be demanding in some circumstances and a lot of people do drop because they underestimated the amount of work required. See how you're liking your subjects for the first few weeks of school or perhaps for the first term!