Subject : Music

Awarding body: Edexcel

AS 8501
A2 9501

Course content and examination requirements:

The Advanced GCE in Music has been designed to enable students to experience a wide range of musical skills including performing, composing and analysing, as well as developing an understanding of the historical and contextual uses of music.

Year 12 – AS Level Music

 

Unit 1
Performing Music
30% of the total AS marks
Content summary:

  • Perform as soloists and/or as part of an ensemble.
  • Choose music in any style.
  • Any instrument (s) and/or voices are acceptable as part of a five-six minute assessed performance.
  • Notated and/or improvised performances may be submitted.

Unit 2
Composing Music
30% of the total AS marks
Content summary:

  • Encourage students to develop their composition skills, leading to the creation of a three-minute piece in response to a chosen brief.
  • Students also write a CD sleeve note to describe    aspects of their final composition and explain how other pieces of music influenced it.
Year 12 – AS Level Music

 

Unit 3
Developing Musical Understanding
40% of the total AS marks
Content summary:

  • Students listen to familiar music/set works and understand how they work.
  • Through studying scores, students learn how to identify important

musical features and social and historical context.

  • In the third section, students use a score to identify harmonic and tonal features and then apply this knowledge in the completion of a short and simple passage for SATB.

Assessment is through a 2 hour examination paper set and marked by Edexcel.

Unit 4
Extended Performance
30% of the total A2 marks
Content summary:

  • Extend their performance skills as soloists and/or as part of an ensemble.Choose music in any style.Any instrument (s) and/or voice (s) are acceptable as part of a 12-15 minute assessed performance of a balanced programme of music.Notated and/or improvised performances may be submitted.

Unit 5
Composition and Technical Study
30% of the total A2 marks
Content summary:

  • The composition section further develops students’ composition  skills, leading to the creation of a final three-minute piece in response to a chosen brief.
  • The technical study section builds on the knowledge and awareness of harmony gained in Unit 3 section C through the medium of pastiche studies. Students must complete two tasks in this unit choosing from either one composition and one technical study or two compositions or two technical studies.

Unit 6
Developing Musical Understanding
40% of the total A2 marks
  Content summary:

  • This unit focuses on listening to music, familiar and unfamiliar, and understanding how it works.
  • Set works from the anthology provide the focus for much of the unit.
  • Students should also listen to a wide range of unfamiliar music which relates to the two compulsory areas of study.
  • They should learn how to compare and contrast pairs of excerpts, contextualise music and identify harmonic and tonal features.

Assessment is through a 2 hour examination paper set and marked by Edexcel.

Entry Requirements

It is best to have achieved a minimum of Grade 6 on an instrument, to have completed Grade 5 Theory, and earned a minimum of an A in GCSE Music.  However, students who have a high level of musical ability but who have not taken GCSE may be considered at the discretion of the Head of Music. 

Relevance to further studies and careers

Studying Music at this level may lead to diverse career opportunities.  Some students will perform professionally; others compose music for film or television.  A Level Music studies will make those going into education or many other fields, more able to comfortably make presentations to large and small groups.  Some will go on to careers in Music Technology, Music Therapy or into Management and Production.

Teaching staff / further information

Mrs K Casper

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