Music

Course summary

The A-Level Music course is divided into three distinct assessment components that are designed to develop your abilities as a musician but also develop your understanding in a wider range of music.  Component 1, Appraising Music, focusses on listening, analysis and contextual understanding. The final 2 hour exam for this part of the course will challenge you in all three of these areas, so an ability to read music is important.  The contextual understanding element refers to Areas of Study that will be looked at throughout the course. These include The Western Classical Tradition 1650-1910, Pop Music, Music for Media, Music for Theatre and Jazz. Component 2, Performance, is a chance to demonstrate your skills as a performer in either a solo or ensemble setting. Performances must last a minimum of 6 minutes but can be made up of multiple pieces of music.  Component 3, Composition, you will produce 2 pieces of music during the course. One of these is completely free to your imagination, the other will be in response to a brief provided by the exam board.