How to make
Revision Effective
JAMES WOLLERTON
STUART BATHURST CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
Help! I
don’t
know how
to revise!
What is the point of revision?
It is to remember things.
The best way to remember is through cues.
A cue is something that you associate with something else.
Colour, Smell,
Taste, Sound
All things that you have at your fingertips.
The first rule of revision:
Don’t
worry.
Worrying will put you off and stop
you from doing anything at all.
Second rule of revision
Do not take the easy option and go
over things that you already know.
This might make you
feel better
(and boost your
confidence) but
actually is of no
benefit.
Third rule of revision
Find out exactly what you need to
know!
Look at the textbook or revision
guide– this will often summarise
what you need to know.
Final Rule:
Plan your revision. There’s no point
in trying to cram too much in.
You know when your exam is. What
will you need to cover by that date?
How can I revise then?
Everyone is different and so you all have different things that work for
you.
It isn’t a good idea to write out all of your notes all over again. There are
so many things you can try:
Revision Cards
Write a keyword on a card using your textbook for cues.
Read the relevant part of the textbook.
Come back to your cards and try to write notes on them (this tests your
memory)
You can then flick through the cards to help you remember.
Example…
1 revision
card
Physics – The Newtonian World - Revision Card
M A I N T O P I C A R E A : T H E L I F E H I S T O R Y O F S TA R S
Sub topic area: Stellar Nucleosynthesis (Higher Tier)
Key words/equations:
• Stellar
• Nucleosynthesis
• Nucleus
• Fusion
•
Definitions:
• To do with stars
• Fusing atomic nuclei to make new, heavier nuclei
• The tiny centre of an atom containing only protons and neutrons
• Joining two or more things together
•
The Physics: Stars produce huge amounts of energy and have lifetimes of billions of years. The
only way to produce so much energy for so much time is nuclear fusion where atomic nuclei
fuse together to form new elements releasing energy. The main nuclear reaction in a star like
the sun is called the proton-proton chain where four protons (hydrogen nuclei) fuse together to
form a helium nucleus. The helium nucleus is slightly less massive than the four protons that
made it. The missing mass is converted to energy in accordance with Einstein’s famous
equation, E=mc2.
Exam tips: Remember all the elements were created this way. We really are star stuff! Nucleosynthesis only occurs at very high
temperatures found in stars. We can only currently reproduce these reactions on Earth on a tiny scale for millionths of a second.
Revision Sheets
This breaks down the information you need into topic chunks.
They are also a little more detailed and can be used as posters etc.
Melody
Tonality/Harmony
Timbre/
Instrumentation
Structure
Texture
Rhythm/Tempo/
Metre
Dynamics etc
West Side Story - ‘Something’s Coming’
Examples
Tenor Tony
Three melodic ideas: A – quiet, syncopated melody (phrase starts with a semitone; with
accompaniment, tritone is emphasised); B – insistent quaver melody with an emphasis on
one pitch; C – lyrical melody with longer note values.
Syllabic
Mainly narrow pitch range
A Bars 13-20 and subsequently throughout the song
B Bars 21-30; similar idea in bars 52-62 and bars 118-127
C Bars 73-105; bars 128-148
Bar 9 – Melisma on ‘knows’ – reinforces tritone
Starts in D major – modulates backwards and forwards between D and C major
Tritone features in the accompaniment and within the melody line
Bar 32 – modulation to C major from D major
Bar 1 – D-Gsharp in accompaniment
Bar 17 ‘Soon as it’ – D-Gsharp
5 wind players (doubling up ie. play clarinet, sax and flute), 2 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, 7 violins, 4 cellos, 2 double basses, a drum kit, 2
percussionists, piano and guitar (acoustic and electric). Totals about 30 players. Large for a pit orchestra .
Tremolo in the strings (see word painting)
Introduction – A B B1 A1 – Outro
Alternation of 3 main melodic ideas
Mainly homophonic (melody and accompaniment) with agitato/staccato layered
instrumental parts
Almost monophonic with punctuating chords
Bars 21-26
Push rhythm - anticipating the anacrusis (upbeat)
Hemiola – accents disrupt the sense of metre = 2/4 feels like 6/8
Syncopation – off beat emphasis
Cross rhythms – blur the sense of where the bar line occurs with long notes
Bar 4 – ‘Could be’
Bars 21-30
Bar 1 – main riff
Bars 73-103
Large dynamic range – ppp to f Varied dynamic choices – p subito; crescendos and diminuendos; fade out.
Accents, slurs and staccato markings
Musical Theatre has a long a complex history. Its origins lie in the theatre of Ancient Greece, when the chorus would often provide a ‘musical’ commentary for the story. In the 18th
century, genres such as vaudeville and burlesque (musical variety shows) lead to opera-bouffe (comic opera) and operetta (light-hearted nostalgic works) in Europe and
extravaganzas, minstrelsy and melodramas in America. One of the earliest Broadway musicals was Showboat (1927) whilst the first musical to establish the unification of music and
drama (musical numbers integral to the plot) was Oklahoma! (1943). Musicals draw on all sorts of musical influences from classical to rock ‘n’ roll, jazz to blues. They feature set
numbers for soloists, duets, ensembles (2+) and chorus and there is usually some sort of instrumental accompaniment.
THE COMPOSER: Leonard Bernstein
Bernstein is a pianist, broadcast, conductor and composer. His most famous
works are those for the stage – ballets and musicals. His music straddles the
boundaries between classical, jazz and world musics. In 1944, Bernstein wrote
Fancy Free (a ballet) and his first musical, On the Town. He went on to write
Wonderful Town(1952) and Candide (1956) before West Side Story – his most
significant work – in 1957. He has also written a film score and three symphonies.
West Side Story is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In Bernstein’s
version, Juliet is replaced by Maria, a Puerto Rican girl, whose brother is the
leader of the Sharks; Romeo becomes Tony, an American and leader of the
Jets. The love of Tony and Maria ultimately brings about the deaths of Riff,
Bernardo and Tony. Bernstein characterises the two groups musically: the Jets
are associated with jazz/blues through syncopation and blues notes; the Sharks’
heritage is reinforced through the use of Latin American instruments, a strong
rhythmic impetus and Latin dance styles eg. Mambo, Cha-Cha. The interval of
the tritone (devil’s interval) permeates the score to represent the sense of
impending doom.
‘It may come
Bar 21 – hemiola - accents disrupt the sense of metre, which are
canonballing down
reinforced by punctuating orchestral chords ; repeated pitch.
from the sky’
‘The air is
humming’
Bar 136 – high pitched, long sustained notes give a light, airy feel;
string tremolo.
‘Whistling down
the river’
Bar 82-88 – full of long notes sung relatively legato with a triplet to
give the feel of moving water; flute.
WORD PAINTING
Bernstein’s ‘Something’s Coming’ from West Side
Story
1957 (1958 in textbook!) – MUSICAL THEATRE
Focus on vocabulary and examples
Making a Mind Map
Take a blank sheet of paper (A4
or larger) – don’t use paper
with lines on as it can restrict
your brain’s flow
Use the paper in landscape
orientation – gives words and
images more space
Start in the centre
Make main central lines thick
and curvy, connecting to the
main image – these should be
the main themes – write word
in capitals (helps brain to
photograph image), line length
same length as word, curvy to
give visual
rhythm
Add a second level of thought –
connecting lines are thinner,
words still printed but may be
lower
case
Make a central image about the
topic that you are revising – use
at least 3 colours, don’t use a
frame (colours stimulate the
right cortical activity of
imagination)
Add third or fourth level of
thought if necessary
Make it artistic, fun and
colourful so that you will
remember it!
Mnemonics
TOPIC – PROTEIN STRUCTURE
MNEMONIC
Primary
Sequence
Praying
Students
Secondary
Local
Should
Lovingly
Tertiary
Complex 3D Structure
Quaternary
Proteins
Take
Care in
Quiet
Places
Games
Snap
Pelmanism
Pairs
Internet games
Check Lists
Highlight Notes
Go through your existing notes
with a highlighter. This way your
attention is drawn to important
bits.
Use post it notes
All around your
house – put
keywords in the
toilet, on your
bedroom wall,
on your tv etc
Read out loud
Record the information
onto your iThingy or
your phone.
Play it back when you
are going to sleep.
Talk to your friends
Talking about it can help.
Have a pizza, turn on some music and have a
revision party.
It might be sad but it might make the
difference.
It is not all about facts
Learning facts is only part of the battle.
You need to arrange your thoughts on
paper and make sure you answer the
question.
Questions
Mr Wollerton
(Head of RE and Head of Year 11)
[email protected]
Mr Barrett (Head of English)
[email protected]
Mr Wiles (Head of Maths)
[email protected]
Mrs Goddard (Head of Science)
[email protected]