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CSEC Music

A daily practice routine, ear training, notation and theory, Caribbean and world styles studied for the listening paper, composing and performing for the SBA, and a timed plan to the CSEC Music exam.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for CSEC Music, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

200

Starter tasks

📝 Caribbean School Exams

CSEC Music

Studying CSEC Music: listening and appraising, composing, performing and the SBA, with ear training and a practice plan.

  1. Music syllabus, papers and SBA requirements check
  2. Choosing your main instrument or voice
  3. An instrument at home to practise on
  4. Baseline theory and aural check
  5. Music folder, manuscript paper and notation software
  6. CSEC Music revision timetable to the exam
  7. Daily instrument practice routine
  8. Twice-weekly ear training drills
  9. Weekly listening diary across styles
  10. Sight-reading and sight-singing practice
  11. Saturday theory worksheet session
  12. Composition sketchbook, one idea a week
  13. Monthly recorded run-through of your pieces
  14. Monthly timed listening practice paper
  15. Sunday music check-in for parents
  16. Reading notation in treble and bass clef
  17. Rhythm, metre and tempo
  18. Scales, key signatures and melody
  19. Intervals, chords and cadences
  20. Texture, timbre, dynamics and form
  21. Orchestral, band and keyboard instruments by sound
  22. Caribbean instruments and where they come from
  23. Calypso, soca and the steelband tradition
  24. Jamaican popular music from mento to dancehall
  25. Folk and sacred music around the region
  26. Western art music from Baroque to the twentieth century
  27. Jazz, blues, gospel and Latin American styles
  28. Exam vocabulary for describing what you hear
  29. Following a score in the listening paper
  30. Past papers, mark schemes and CXC subject reports for Music
  31. Choosing your solo performance pieces
  32. Preparing your ensemble performance
  33. Mock recital for family and friends
  34. Composing a melody with a clear structure
  35. Writing a song in a Caribbean style
  36. Arranging a piece for a small ensemble
  37. Composition portfolio, scored and recorded
  38. Music SBA plan and teacher sign-off
  39. SBA performance recording session
  40. Final Music SBA submission
  41. School mock exam in Music
  42. Final six weeks of Music revision
  43. Music exam day kit and morning plan
  44. Supporting a young musician when you do not read music
  45. Self-taught, church or panyard musician sitting CSEC Music
  46. Producer or beatmaker turning studio skills into composing marks
  47. Private candidate route through CSEC Music
  48. Teacher's scheme of work and SBA moderation for Music
  49. Analysing unfamiliar music for a top grade
  50. Music after CSEC, from graded exams to CAPE

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Music syllabus, papers and SBA requirements check

Before buying a theory book or choosing a piece, find out exactly how CSEC Music is examined in your sitting: what the listening and appraising paper covers, how performing and composing are assessed, and what the SBA asks you to hand in. CXC revises syllabuses, and a revision guide or an older sibling's notes may describe a format that no longer exists.

First tasks

  • Download the current CSEC Music syllabus from the CXC website
  • Note the paper format, the three profiles and what the SBA requires
  • Ask your music teacher for the school's internal SBA and performance dates
  • Check the CXC timetable for the Music exam dates once it is published

Choosing your main instrument or voice

Your performing marks depend on the instrument you present, so pick it on purpose rather than by accident. A student who has played pan in a steel orchestra for three years, sung in a church choir or taught themselves guitar from videos already has a head start; one who has never played anything needs an instrument that can reach a respectable standard by the SBA.

First tasks

  • List every instrument you play and rate your level on each from one to five
  • Play your two strongest options for your music teacher and ask for a view
  • Decide your main instrument or voice and write it in your music folder
  • Ask about private lessons, a steel orchestra or a choir that could support you

An instrument at home to practise on

Practice only happens when there is something to practise on, and many students can only touch an instrument during school music periods. Whether that means renting a keyboard, buying a second-hand guitar, borrowing a tenor pan from the school's steel orchestra or getting a decent recorder, a family decision made in the first month means months more practice before the SBA. Parents usually run this one.

First tasks

  • Ask the music teacher what a practice instrument must have at minimum
  • Check whether the school or a steel orchestra lends instruments to CSEC students
  • Compare prices for new, second-hand and rented options in your area
  • Have the instrument tuned or set up before regular practice starts

Make it yours.

Install CSEC Music, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.