Music

Course summary

What will you study? We follow the Eduqas 2016 A Level Music syllabus: COMPONENT 1: PERFORMING – Students have the opportunity to perform as a soloist and/or in ensembles. Performances can be in any style and on any instrument but must last for over 8 minutes and be of a grade 7 standard or above. Recitals will be assessed by a visiting examiner on or after 1st March in the year of accreditation. It is imperative that students opting to take A Level Music are performing at a Grade 6 (ABRSM, Trinity, Rock School or equivalent) standard at the beginning of Year 12; all A level musicians are entitled to 30-minutes free instrumental tuition in school per week, on an instrument of their choice. COMPONENT 2: COMPOSING – This unit encourages students to develop compositional skills in two distinct compositions over the two-year course which should last in excess of four minutes combined. Students will need to be able to fluently read standard notation; therefore it is a requirement that all students have taken ABRSM Grade 5 theory before starting the course. COMPONENT 3: APPRAISING (WRITTEN EXAMINATION) – Students study key works from three ‘Areas of Study’: Musical Theatre; the Western Classical Tradition (Development of the Symphony 1750-1900); and Into the Twentieth Century. Students will need to be able to identify musical features and understand the social and historical context of each style and period, as well as having a good knowledge of appropriate works to draw comparative points. There are four set works, and twelve key composers, studied as part of the course which form the foundations of the paper’s content, comprised of six questions