GESE Grade 5 Music: questions and sample answers

What the examiner wants at Grade 5

Grade 5 is CEFR B1 and has two phases of up to 5 minutes each: a talk on a topic you prepare, and a conversation on two subject areas that the examiner chooses from a list of six. This page is about the conversation phase. You must be ready for all six subjects, because you will not know which two you get.

The examiner wants reasons ("because"), preferences ("I prefer", "I'd rather"), the future with "will", the present perfect ("I have never...", "I have lived here for..."), and amounts ("a lot of", "not many"). You also have to ask the examiner at least one question about the subject.

These are the six conversation subjects in Trinity's Grade 5 specification. Source: Trinity specifications.

10 example questions on music

An examiner could ask questions like these. They are our own practice questions. Answer each one out loud.

1. What kind of music do you like?
2. Have you ever been to a concert?
3. Do you play an instrument?
4. When do you listen to music?
5. What is your favourite song, and why?
6. Have you ever sung in front of people?
7. Do you prefer old music or new music?
8. How much music do you listen to in a day?
9. Will you learn an instrument one day?
10. What music do people listen to in your country?

3 short sample answers

These answers are written at the level of the grade. Do not learn them by heart. Use them to see the size and shape of a good answer, then say your own.

What kind of music do you like?
“I like folk music because the songs tell a story. I listen to it on the bus, and I've just found a new singer I love.”

Have you ever been to a concert?
“No, I've never been to one. Tickets cost a lot of money. I would like to go with my sister one day.”

Do you play an instrument?
“I played the guitar when I was young, but I haven't played for ten years. I'd like to start again.”

Useful words

• singer
• band
• concert
• song
• lyrics
• instrument
• guitar
• piano
• album
• volume
• headphones
• live music

Say each word aloud three times. Then use two or three of them in one sentence about your own life.

Common mistakes

• Saying "I never went to a concert". Say "I have never been to a concert".
• Mixing "for" and "since": "for ten years", "since 2016".
• Not giving a reason. Use "because".

Ask the examiner a question

Trinity says you must ask the examiner at least one question at Grade 5. Ask it when the talk feels easy and listen to the answer. A question for this subject: “What music do you listen to?”

Practise this subject

Reading is not enough. Say your answers out loud, then listen to yourself.

• Practise the Grade 5 conversation with the AI examiner. It asks questions out loud and you answer out loud.
• Trinity GESE Grade 5 (B1): test format
• All Grade 5 subjects
• All six Grade 5 conversation subjects
• Grade 5 topic form examples
• Free level check (no sign-up)

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