Hannah’s HSC Hacks: Top Study Tips For Composing The Perfect HSC

For as long as I can remember, studying and music have battled for first priority in my heart. Should I flesh out Shakespeare’s complex treatment of Shylock, or go over that nasty finger-twisting passage in the Liszt? And don’t forget that 8-marker on how Planck solved the ‘ultra-violet catastrophe’ (due in two days), or that double-tonguing exercise I promised my flute teacher to perfect by next our lesson… which is tomorrow. Fortunately, scenarios like this have occurred less and less frequently, and I credit that to a few subtle but powerful shifts in mindset. So, what secret HSC study tips did I use to get there? Well, let’s find out!

For me, the right balance between my academic and musical endeavours came about when I realised how much in common the two actually had. If you’ve ever had trouble with procrastination, or managing your passions, hobbies and social life around your schooling, stay tuned. This amateur musician is gonna share with you exactly how to compose, practice, and eventually perform the perfect HSC.

1. Approach The Blank Page

For me, Year 11 started off like a blank sheet of paper. Much like beginning a music composition, I was confronted by what seemed like an endless sea of waiting staves. Indeed, my desk was simply bare space, not yet flooded with assignments. The transition to a new stage of school meant that I was not bound to who I previously was, or what I had achieved. A clean slate. A bare sheet of manuscript paper, waiting to be filled with new melodies. Year 10 didn’t matter at all, and what I had to focus on was this new beginning, despite being two thirds of the way into high school. But in this blank space, there is a danger.

The last time I sat down to compose a song, I had these fantastical notions of writing a masterpiece for a wind symphony. I imagined a skilful conductor waving their baton at equally animated musicians. I imagined a piano played by four hands, delightfully weaving mellifluous melodies, each punctuated by explosive chords. In reality, though, the music composition process doesn’t start with such perfection. It starts with making mistakes – lots of them. And Year 11 is no different. Finding the right study habits and rhythm to hit those perfect Band 6 chords takes months. That is, unless you’re a genius like Mozart, in which case, a day should be plenty!

So, as we move onto the next step and prepare to master the blank page, have an eraser handy. Before you experiment with my HSC study tips, you need to acknowledge that mistakes are not only inevitable, but vital for improvement. After all, failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.

2. Experiment With Different Tunes

One of the best ways to approach Year 11 is to think of it as a time of passion and hard work, but also experimentation. Like a composer brainstorming musical ideas and melodic ostinatos, you must begin by testing new rhythms and study schedules, and they won’t all work out. For example, you might test time-oriented study methods, like using a Pomodoro timer, or simply breaking down your afternoons into hour-long study periods.

For example:

Saturday Study Timetable:

9:00AM – 11:00AM → Maths past papers

11:30AM – 2:10PM → English Common Mod Paper 1 timed

4:00PM – 5:30PM → Piano practise

7:00PM – 9:00PM → Physics Mod 7 past HSC Q’s

For some composers, this HSC study tip will work wonders. For others, this approach will inevitably become a ball of binned manuscript paper, collecting dust in the corner of their room. These students might switch to a task-oriented study method, like creating a simple “To-do List” for every afternoon instead of meticulously timetabling it out. A more outcome-based approach would look something like this:

Saturday Study To Dos:

☑  2018 Maths Advanced Past Paper

☑  Mark Maths Paper and add to FAIL book

☐ Caringbah High Paper 1

☐ Send Paper 1 to teacher for feedback + look at marking guidelines

☐ Beethoven Trio (focus on page 4 and 5)

☐ Rehearse and record entire program once

☐ 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 Physics Q’s Mark Physics Q’s + add to long response

An outcome-based approach like this can be particularly helpful for students who find they are comparing their study hours to that of their friends. Not only is comparing yourself to others potentially harmful and unhelpful, it also doesn’t provide an accurate reflection of productivity or exam performance. I found that after adopting an outcome-based approach, I become more motivated, efficient and less stressed. Creating a studying method can be likened to crafting a melody; you must test keys and fine-tune your piece until it is perfect.

And remember, no composer is the same, and every ear is partial to a different instrument. A good HSC study tip for one student could be a study trip for you. Sometimes, I felt pressured to conform to what my peers were doing. When so many songs were filling the air around me, it was tempting to try and copy someone else’s beat. For example, so many of my friends approached their studies by writing pages and pages of notes, and at times I felt somewhat pressured to do the same. However, by the end of Year 11, I learned that I did far better in exams when I spent much less time writing notes, and much more time attempting past papers.

As you yourself experiment with different study methods, you might find you’re like 19th century Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. He decided to fuse two already existing approaches (the folk music tradition from his homeland and classicism) to create an entirely new genre of music. Perhaps your favourite genre of study will incorporate both time and task-based models? Maybe, after examining both Pomodoro techniques and Cornell note-taking systems, you’ll find they work best together? Either way, taking advice from study resources like this, not to mention teachers and peers, is clearly beneficial.

On the other hand, maybe you’re more like 20th Century French composer Olivier Messiaen. He rejected existing approaches to music (like traditional Western harmonies) and came up with an entirely new approach. So, maybe the study method that works for you will be one you work out completely on your own! That said, don’t shy away from taking inspiration from others. Even Messiaen credits much of the thematic inspiration of his work to Shakespeare’s fairy-tales! If a musician can find his muse in a play, who’s to say you can’t find inspiration in the world around you too?

Overall, one thing is clear. Even among the world’s greatest composers, you’ll find radically distinct, unique approaches to music composition. In the same way, you can excel in your studies even if your study rhythm is different to your friends’. It’s all about playing to your strengths (hehe, get it?).

3. Play For An Audience

Though there are clearly many unique approaches to study (and music composition), there are still some common factors that distinguish the top guns from the rest. One of these is feedback. Among my best HSC study tips is this: not only is it important to ask your teachers for feedback, but also to apply this feedback to your future studies. Even Mozart himself worked closely with his older sister, who he affectionately nicknamed “Nannerl”, during the beginning of his musical career! After all, a second pair of ears never hurts.

The feedback I received over the course of my Year 11 studies was pivotal in my academic development. Specifically, I will never forget the feedback my Matrix English teacher gave me last year. She emphasised how important it was to write what you really mean. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But for some reason, what I was typing was always a confused translation of my thoughts. As my teacher went over my essay with me, explained that she would read a paragraph, and not quite understand it. But when she asked me to explain my paragraph out loud, her reply was staggering: “That’s it! Write down exactly what you just said to me; that’s much more clear and concise than your current paragraph.”

Although it seems like a simple fix, I never would’ve gotten there on my own. Being able to discuss my ideas with an experienced, HSC teacher in a regular, human conversation hugely impacted on the clarity and effectiveness of my essay.

A common misconception about feedback is that it is only useful for English, or essay-writing subjects, but this couldn‘t be further from the truth. Even when it comes to maths, sometimes just comparing your working out for a question with a friend’s can be a great way to quickly identify if there are any ‘shortcuts’, or a more efficient method for tackling a question. After all, especially when it comes to three and four unit maths exams, mere seconds can make a difference!

4. Rehearse

Unlike the blank page of Year 11, by Year 12, you now have a complete composition. It is a song who’s tone is inspired by personal experimentation, yet solid musical theory has been integral in building it, bar by bar.

To drop the extended metaphor, what I’m saying is that, by Year 12, your study methods and subject-based skills are polished. Right? Well… not exactly. Your HSC composition may be complete, but there will be plenty of refining that needs to be done before you hit the main stage. This refining process is not a complete overturning of your previous work, just like how Year 12 is not independent to Year 11. You will find the skills needed are often the same, and your Year 11 knowledge will be useful, if not essential, in Year 12.

Instead, this process of refinement should involve rehearsal. Soon, you will be performing your finished composition on the main stage; the HSC exam period will be the debut of your musical piece.You will be the conductor, and every member of your orchestra, i.e. the individual topics for each of your subjects, must be perfectly tuned.

Now, there is only one thing left to do. Practice, practice, practice. You know what HSC study tips work best for you, so in this last stretch, use this knowledge well. This period of rehearsal is where past papers will shine – past papers done under timed conditions. No musician approaches the stage on opening night without first practising on that very same stage many nights before. Similarly, don’t let your final HSC exams be the first time you’ve performed your finished composition. And, if you need any help, don’t hesitate to hop online and take a look at some of Matrix’s courses.

The Take-Away

Ultimately, one thing is clear, the HSC and music composition have at least one thing in common: they both take an enormous amount of work. That said, instead of approaching your blank page with the assumption that you are going to create a masterpiece on the first go, take a pause. Remember, neither Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, nor a 99+ ATAR, are made in a day. Instead, they are the product of experimentation, mistakes and loads of practice. So, without further a do, try out some of my HSC study tips, and find out what rhythm works for you.

Improve your school marks and confidence

Get ahead with inspirational teachers and Band 6 resources. See why 6000+ students choose Matrix.

Try Matrix, free →