Anne McGowan, principal teacher of performing arts at Our Lady’s High in Motherwell, does the papers herself while her pupils are sitting them. Like them, she thinks all the papers were “absolutely fine”, although those who did not know their “musical concepts” would have found them slightly harder.
Chord-change questions always pose problems for pupils who do not have a good ear, she says.
“Some kids, no matter how much they practise, still find it difficult.”
The “story” question in the Credit paper, which asks candidates to write about what they hear in the music, featured An American in Paris by George Gershwin (above), which came up in the Intermediate 2 paper in 2002 - a bonus for any classes who did that among their practice past papers. Some pupils will have appreciated the inclusion of Abba songs in the exam, she predicts.