1. Preparing for the Viva
Voce
Discussing your composition with the CSEC Examiner
2. Objectives
At the end of this tutorial, the student should:
▪ Explain the purpose of theVivaVoce
▪ Recognize the various elements of theVivaVoce process
▪ Participate in MockVivaVoce sessions
3. What is a Viva Voce
The term "viva voce" translates to mean- by or with the living voice - i.e.,
by word of mouth as opposed to writing. So in music the viva voce as of
the examination is where you will explain and discuss your composition or
performance with the examiner.
4. How do you prepare for the Viva Voce
For theVivaVoce, you must be able to discuss:
• The stimuli that provided the inspiration for your composition
• Key features of the composition
• Developmental Steps
• Challenges and Solutions
5. Discussing the Stimuli
In this aspect of the discussion, you should be able to talk to the examiner
about the source that prompted your composition. Were you provided
with Musical or Extra-Musical Stimuli?
You can view the presentation on ‘Stimuli in Musical Composition for a
detailed look at stimuli.
6. Discussing Key Features of the
Composition
You should be able to talk about the structural and expressive elements of
your composition:
• What key is it composed in? (Major, Minor, Atonal, Modal)
• What is the form of the piece? (Binary,Ternary, Rondo,Verse-Chorus etc)
• Explain your use of Dynamics andTempo
7. What were your developmental steps?
Here you should talk about the stages that you followed in developing your
composition.
• What did you do firstly, secondly etc.
• At what point did you seek your teacher’s guidance?
8. Challenges and Solutions
In this section of the Viva Voce, you should be able to chat with the
examiner about any difficulties you may have faced in your overall creative
process.
In addition to difficulties be prepared to talk about how you overcame
them.
9. Suggested Activities
• Teachers can conduct mock viva voce exercises with students.
• Students can conduct mock viva voce interviews with their peers.
