The West Bridgford School

Music

Students who take A Level Music benefit greatly from its unique opportunities of group work leading to co-operative skills and a boosting of self awareness and self confidence.

According to DCMS, in 2015 the creative industries contributed £11.8bn to the UK economy. This makes the creative industries the fastest growing sector (five times faster than any other sector) contributing to the economy

POSSIBLE CAREER PATHS:

  • Musician
  • Music Director
  • Audio Restoration Engineer
  • Music Producer
  • Director of Music
  • Festival Director

The second column.

Course Content

 

Component 1: Performing (35%) (Option A) Performance is externally assessed between March and May of Y13 by a visiting examiner. You must complete 3 Performances each marked out of 36 totalled to give 108 marks. The time must last for a minimum of 10 minutes. One piece must be solo, the others can be solo/ensemble. In performance, one of the pieces must link to any of the areas of study and a second one to a different area of study (they do not have to be one of the featured composers/artists). The standard level of difficulty at the end of Y13 is grade 6.

 

Component 1: Performing (25%) (Option B) If you choose performance as your minor option you only need to perform 2 pieces of music linking to one area of study. The pieces need to total a minimum of 6 minutes and they can be either solo or ensemble.

 

Component 2: Composition (25%) (Option A) Your compositions are externally assessed NEA. You will write 2 Compositions; one free and one to a brief, of which there are four two choose from, that must be in a Baroque, Classical or Romantic style. You must complete a composition log as you go. Each composition is marked out of 36 totaling 72. Combined they must be a minimum 4 minutes.

 

Component 2: Composition (35%) (Option B) If you choose composition as your major option then you will write 3 Compositions: one free, one linked to an area of study from B-F and one to a brief which must be in a Baroque, Classical or Romantic style. You must complete a composition log as you go. Each composition is marked out of 36 totalling 108.Combined they must be a minimum of 6 minutes.

 

Component 3: Appraising (40%) In the exam you will answer three sets of questions from three different areas of study. Area of Study A: The Symphony from 1750- 1900 (40 Marks). Which features set works by Haydn and Mendelssohn as well as a breath of music from across the time period. This section also features questions on aural awareness (e.g. dictation). Area of Study C: Musical Theatre (30 Marks) where we focus on six different theatre composers; Rodgers, Bernstein, Sondheim, Schonberg, Lloyd-Webber and Schwartz. Area of Study E: Music in the Twentieth Century (30 Marks) where we discover three styles of art music, impressionism, expressionism and neo-classicism as well as two set works, a Poulenc Trio and an orchestral piece by Debussy. The total exam time is 2hrs and 15 minutes and there is only one exam for A-Level music.

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