Music at AS & A2

The A level Music course is for anyone who has a keen interest in creating and listening to different styles of music and who wishes to broaden their experience and deepen their understanding of both live and recorded music.

The course is excellent for anyone who is inspired by music, but there is a need for good performance skills and an understanding of musical theory. Much of the work is very practical and composition work is aided by a range of musical software. According to which Areas of Study and options you choose, you could follow a route which focuses mainly on classical music or popular music, for example. There are Areas of Study in ‘Keyboard Music', ‘Popular music and jazz', ‘Music for film and television', ‘World music', ‘Secular vocal music', ‘Sacred vocal music', ‘Music for large ensemble'

The Music College encourages its students to get involved in a series of extra curricular music activities and projects. Recently we worked on a major composition project with the Royal Opera House in London and we have plans for a music visit to our European Twinning Town partners. Students may also work towards an Arts Award Qualification by coaching Junior Ensemble in Curriculum Plus time.

This AS/Advanced GCE in Music can lead to further study in music or performing arts in higher education at degree or HND level and may lead on to a career in the music industry.

As well as covering music at advanced level, the course will enable you to develop Key Skills such as Communication, working with others, Information Technology and Problem Solving, which could be essential to you in whatever you go on to do afterwards.

Structure of the course:

Unit 1 Interpreting Musical Ideas

Throughout the course there will be lots of playing and / or singing.
Students will be asked to develop their performance skills by presenting two performances from the following list:

• (a) a solo performance on an instrument
• (b) a solo performance on voice
• (c) a solo performance on a second instrument
• (d) an ensemble performance
• (e) a technology-based performance 1 - Sequencing
• (f) a technology-based performance 2 -Multi-track/close microphone recording.

Each performance should last 5-8 minutes. Grade 5 is the standard assessment level for AS Music

Unit 2 Creating Musical Ideas

Students will work at developing their ideas for composition by choosing one of the following briefs.

• Brief A - Compositional Techniques or
• Brief B - A Free Composition in response to a given genre or
• Brief C - Arranging

Students may wish to choose to harmonise a 16 bar melody or attempt the free composition in one of the following genres - vocal music, small ensemble, electronic music or keyboard music.

Students may decide to develop their skills in musical arranging. A folk melody will be supplied and students will work on an arrangement lasting between 3 to 6 minutes for any ensemble.

Students will be given up to 20 supervised hours in college to complete their composition work.
Composition marks make up 30% of the overall mark with performance accounting for 40% of the total.

Unit 3 Influences on Music

This unit is about developing a music understanding by listening to a wide variety of different musics and learning to recognise the effects of the musical elements such as form, harmony, melody, rhythm, timbre and texture.

Students will study these musical elements in relation to Western Classical Music from the Baroque to the present day and also with regard to British Pop Music from 1960 to the present. Groups studied will include The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Oasis.

Students could also choose to study Music Theatre from 1940 to 1980. Mozart's Symphony No 40 in g minor is the major set work from the Classical Period. The final exam for this unit, consisting of multiply choice questions with an accompanying CD of examples makes up 30% of the overall marks.