Music

A-level Course

A Level Music enables musicians to continue their study from GCSE albeit with significantly increased expectations for performance and academic rigour. It centres around the core disciplines of performing, composing and listening and appraising. Within each of these disciplines the syllabus offers opportunities for the study of a very broad range of repertoire and styles of music from the early Renaissance period through to modern pop and rock genres.

Lower 6th (Year 12)

AS Music comprises three units:

• Performing (30%)
  You may perform as a soloist or in ensembles and are free to choose music in any style on any instrument/voice at Grade 6 standard or above. You will prepare a 5-6 minute recital and may record your recital at any time during the course.
• Composing (30%)
  You are required to compose one 3-minute composition to a chosen brief together with a written description of the final piece explaining how other pieces of music have influenced it. The composition must be in the form of a score and recording and must be completed under controlled conditions.
• Developing Musical Understanding (40%)
  This unit concerns listening to music, understanding its context and analysing the process of composition.  You will study a number of set works from the Edexcel A Level Anthology  learning how to identify important musical features and also place the music in social and historical context. You will also complete a short exercise of 4 part harmony.

Upper 6th (Year 13)

A2 Music comprises three units:

• Extended Performance (30%)
  This unit provides you with an opportunity to extend your performing skills either as a soloist or as part of an ensemble, choosing music in any style. Any instrument or voice is acceptable as part of a 12-15 minute balanced programme of grade 7 standard or above.
• Composition and Technical Study (30%)
  In this unit you must complete 2 tasks choosing from either one composition and one technical study or two compositions or two technical studies. All must be completed under controlled conditions.
• Further Musical Understanding (40%)
  This unit concerns listening to familiar and unfamiliar music.  You will study different set works from the Edexcel A Level Anthology,  concentrating on important musical features and elements of continuity and change. You will learn how to compare and contrast pairs of excerpts and identify harmonic and tonal features.

Please, click here for information about extra-curricular music.