GCSE Music

Specific­a­tion: AQA Music 4272

Click here to down­load the current specific­a­tion for this GCSE course.

This course is clearly a must for anyone hoping to pursue a career in music. However, it also caters for those students who simply enjoy music making. All students can expect to develop skills such as aural percep­tion, self-discipline, music appre­ci­ation and team­work. Most import­antly, music GCSE provides ample oppor­tun­ity to be ‘creative’.

The GCSE in music may comple­ment and enhance other areas of the curriculum, as well as provid­ing a useful prepar­a­tion for a wide range of careers (e.g. teach­ing, tele­vi­sion produc­tion, theatre and publish­ing). Further­more, this course may also help cultiv­ate a hobby, a source of pleas­ure to last a lifetime.

The specific­a­tion offered is the AQA GCSE in music provid­ing our students with innov­a­tion, vari­ety and depth.

Advant­ages of this specific­a­tion include:

An emphasis on prac­tical activ­it­ies (80% of the exam­in­a­tion).
Inter­est­ing areas of study, cater­ing for all tastes.
The areas of study are balanced and provide oppor­tun­it­ies to develop students’ indi­vidual interests.

Assess­ment Structure:

There are four compon­ents that make up the specification:

Unit 1: Listen­ing to and Apprais­ing Music 42701. Writ­ten Paper – 1 hour – 80 marks – 20%

This unit consists of Areas of Study based on the follow­ing Musical Elements;

AoS1 Rhythm and Metre
AoS2 Harmony and Tonal­ity
A0S3 Texture and Melody
AoS4 Timbre and Dynam­ics
AoS5 Struc­ture and Form

Unit 2: Compos­ing and Apprais­ing Music 42702. Exterm­ally assessed – 40 marks – 20%

Students are required to submit one compos­i­tion for Unit 2. Music tech­no­logy may be used to assist in the produc­tion and real­isa­tion of the piece.

Unit 3: Perform­ing Music 42703. Controlled Assess­ment – 60 marks – 40%

The prac­tical element of the course consists of two prepared perform­ances: A – Indi­vidual Perform­ance or Technology-based Perform­ance. B – Group/Ensemble Perform­ance. This element of the course is intern­ally assessed and moder­ated by an external examiner.

Unit 4: Compos­ing Music 42704. Controlled Assess­ment – 30 marks – 20%

This unit involves students in compos­ing one piece of music which explores two or more of the five areas of study. This may be in the style of the candid­ates choos­ing and is completed under controlled condi­tions (25 hours).

Areas of study:

The West­ern Clas­sical Tradi­tion.
Popu­lar Music of the 20th and 21st centur­ies.
World Music.

Extra-Curricular Music:

The Music Depart­ment offers an eclectic mix of high qual­ity extra-curricular activ­it­ies ranging from the Concert Band, Senior School Choir, Girls’ Choir, Folk Ensemble, Brass, String, Percus­sion and Wood­wind ensembles to contem­por­ary Rock, Pop and Jazz based oppor­tun­it­ies. The expect­a­tion is that all GCSE students parti­cip­ate in the Senior Choir and at least one other group.

What next?

Students can continue to study AS and A2 Music. It is also proposed to intro­duce AS Music Tech­no­logy in the future and students will need GCSE Music as a good found­a­tion for study.