Practising and rehearsingPractise for performance

Musicians become confident performers by practising individually on a regular basis.

For practice to be effective it is important to select the correct level of music to play:

• Practising music that is very easy won't help your playing improve.
• Practising music that is too difficult won't be enjoyable and can damage your confidence.
• Including some challenging but manageable music is a good way to improve your ability.

Performance for National 5

When it comes to pieces that are going to be assessed, it is best to practise and perform pieces of music that are comfortably within your ability range.

Performance for National 5 has the following criteria:

• demonstrates skills on two instruments, or one instrument and voice
• can be solo and/or in a group setting
• must be between eight minutes and eight minutes thirty seconds

The performance time for each instrument or voice must:

• be at least two minutes long within the overall eight minute minimum duration
• feature a minimum of at least two contrasting pieces of music
• be to an appropriate level of difficulty