AQA Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9-1) in Music

For the purposes of this specification, the western classical tradition is defined as art music of (or growing out of) the European tradition, normally notated, and normally intended for public performance.

The Orchestra Music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

The piano music of Chopin and Schumann.

The Requiem of the late Romantic period.

The Coronation Anthems and Oratorios of Handel.

Students must be able to listen attentively to unfamiliar music from the following styles/genres to identify and accurately describe musical elements, musical contexts and musical language:

conjunct, disjunct, triadic, broken chords, scalic, arpeggio

intervals within the octave

passing notes

diatonic, chromatic

slide/portamento, ornamentation including acciaccaturas, appoggiaturas

ostinato

phrasing, articulation.

Harmony

consonant, dissonant

pedal, drone

cadences: perfect, plagal, imperfect, interrupted and tièrce de Picardie

identification of major, minor and dominant seventh chords using chord symbols/roman numerals.

Tonality

major, minor, and their key signatures to four sharps and flats

modulation to dominant, subdominant in major or minor keys

relative major or minor

tonic major or minor.

Structure

binary and ternary

rondo

arch-shape

through-composed

theme and variations, sonata, minuet and trio, scherzo and trio

call and response

ground bass, continuo

cadenza.

Sonority (Timbre)

instruments and voices singly and in combination as found in music, including that for solo instruments, concertos, chamber groups

instrumental techniques such as arco, pizzicato, con sordino.

Texture

harmonic/homophonic/chordal

polyphonic/contrapuntal

imitative, canonic, layered

antiphonal

a cappella

monophonic/single melody line

melody and accompaniment

unison, octaves.

Tempo, metre and rhythm

simple and compound time

regular

anacrusis

common Italian tempo terms eg allegro, andante

pulse

augmentation, diminution

hemiola

semibreve, minim, crotchet, quaver, semiquaver

dotted rhythms, triplets, scotch snap

rubato, pause

tempo.

Dynamics and articulation Gradation of dynamics as follows:

pp, p. mp, mf, f, ff including the Italian terms

cresc, crescendo, dim, diminuendo including hairpins

sfz, sforzando

common signs, terms and symbols.

The following table contains all the musical elements, for this area of study, that students must know and understand to answer questions in section A (Listening) and section B (Study piece).

Marks will also be awarded for knowledge of other terms if relevant to this area of study in section B (Study piece) of the exam.

Melody

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major , K. 622, 3rd movement, Rondo (first taught 2020, first assessed 2022, final assessment 2025).

Beethoven: Symphony No.1 , Movement 1: Adagio molto – Allegro con brio (first taught 2024, first assessed 2026)

For the purpose of this specification, popular music is defined as mainstream music including a number of musical styles and genres including rock, pop, musical theatre, film and computer gaming music from 1950 to the present.

music of Broadway 1950s to 1990s

rock music of 1960s and 1970s

film and computer gaming music 1990s to present

pop music 1990s to present.

Students must be able to listen attentively to unfamiliar music from the following styles/genres to identify and accurately describe musical elements, musical contexts and musical language:

Tonality

Melody

riff

pitch bend

melisma

hook

slide

glissando

improvisation

ostinato

blue notes.

Harmony

power chords

stock chord progressions eg I VI IV V.

pentatonic

modal

blues scale.

Structure

intro/outro

verse

chorus

break

twelve-bar blues

drum fill.

Sonority (Timbre)

standard contemporary instrument types eg electric guitar, synthesisers

specific instrument types eg sitar, dilruba

instrumental techniques eg palm mute (pm), pitch bend, hammer-on (ho), pull-off (po), slide guitar/bottleneck

drum kit components and techniques eg rim shot

vocal timbres eg falsetto, belt, rap, beat-boxing, scat singing

specific instrumental techniques eg slap bass

specific instrumental effects eg amplification, distortion

specific technological recording techniques eg automatic double-tracking (ADT) and direct input transformer (DIT).

Tempo, metre and rhythm

bpm (beats per minute)

mm (metronome marking)

groove

backbeat

syncopation

off-beat

shuffle, swing/swung.

Marks will also be awarded for knowledge of other terms if relevant to this area of study in section B (Study piece) of the exam.

In addition to the musical elements listed for Area of study 1, students must know and understand musical elements appropriate to this Area of study.

The following table contains all the musical elements, for this area of study, that students must know and understand to answer questions in section A (Listening) and section B (Study piece).

Little Shop of Horrors 1982 off-Broadway version – the following three tracks:

Prologue/Little Shop of Horrors (overture)

Mushnik and Son

Feed Me ( Sudden Changes material is not part of the stated set work)

Queen – the following three tracks:

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Seven Seas of Rhye

Love of my Life

(first teaching 2020, first assessment 2022, final assessment 2025)

(first taught 2024, first assessed 2026)

For the purpose of this specification, traditional music is defined as music that takes influences from traditional sources including folk music and reinterprets them in a contemporary style, and traditional music from traditional sources and cultures that is performed as intended by the composer.

Blues music from 1920–1950

Fusion music incorporating African and/or Caribbean music

Contemporary Latin music

Contemporary Folk music of the British Isles.

Students must be able to listen attentively to unfamiliar music from the following styles/genres to identify and accurately describe musical elements, musical contexts and musical language:

Melody

blue notes

pentatonic, whole tone, modal

slide/glissando/portamento, pitch bend, appoggiaturas

ostinato

riff

melody–scat

melisma

improvisation.

Tonality

modal

pentatonic.

Structure

strophic, verse and chorus, cyclic

call and response

popular song forms

structure–12/16 bar blues.

Sonority (Timbre)

generic families of instruments as found in traditional/world music eg steel drums

the use of technology, synthesised and computer-generated sounds, sampling and the use of techniques such as reverb, distortion and chorus

drone

vocal techniques eg falsetto, vibrato, rap.

Texture

a cappella

imitative

layered/layering.

Tempo, metre and rhythm

irregular, free

skank

bubble

clave (Bo Diddley type beat)

augmentation, diminution

anacrusis

hemiola

bi-rhythm, cross-rhythm, polyrhythm

shuffle beat

backbeat

syncopation

off-beat

bossa nova

samba

salsa

tango

habanera

danzón

merengue

cha-cha-cha

rumba.

In addition to the musical elements listed for Area of study 1, students must know and understand musical elements appropriate to this Area of study.

The following table contains all the musical elements, for this area of study, that students must know and understand to answer questions in section A (Listening) and section B (Study piece).

Marks will also be awarded for knowledge of other terms if relevant to this area of study in section B (Study piece) of the exam.

Graceland

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

You Can Call Me Al

I Know You Know

Little Fly

I Adore You

Paul Simon Graceland album – the following three tracks:

(first teaching 2020, first assessment 2022, final assessment 2025)

Esperanza Spalding – the following three tracks:

(first taught 2024, first assessed 2026)

For the purpose of this specification, western classical tradition since 1910 is defined as music that comprises modern, contemporary classical music, experimental and minimalist music as well as other forms.

The orchestral music of Copland

British music of Arnold, Britten, Maxwell-Davies and Tavener

The orchestral music of Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók

Minimalist music of John Adams, Steve Reich and Terry Riley.

Students must be able to listen attentively to unfamiliar music from the following styles/genres to identify and accurately describe musical elements, musical contexts and musical language:

Melody

ostinato

motifs

melisma.

Harmony

chromatic

dissonant

pedal.

Tonality

pentatonic

whole tone

modal

tonal ambiguity.

Sonority (Timbre)

specific families of instruments

use of technology, synthesised and computer-generated sounds

instrumental techniques eg vamping.

Texture

drones

imitative

layered/layering.

Tempo, metre and rhythm

irregular, free

augmentation, diminution

anacrusis

hemiola

rubato

bi-rhythm, cross-rhythm, polyrhythm

syncopation

off-beat.

Movement 1: Evening in the Village

Movement 2: The Bear Dance Bartók: Hungarian Pictures – the following four movements*:

In addition to the musical elements listed for Area of study 1, students must know and understand musical elements appropriate to this Area of study.

The following table contains all the musical elements, for this area of study, that students must know and understand to answer questions in section A (Listening) and section B (Study piece).

Marks will also be awarded for knowledge of other terms if relevant to this area of study in section B (Study piece) of the exam.

Zoltán Kodály: Battle and Defeat of Napoleon and Intermezzo from Háry János. (Orchestral version with cimbalom and without vocal parts.)

(first teaching 2020, first assessment 2022, final assessment 2025)

Movement 4: Slightly Tipsy

Movement 5: Swineherd’s Dance

(first taught 2024, first assessed 2026)

*Please note that Movement 3: Melody is not to be included.

Students must be able to listen attentively to unfamiliar music from all four areas of study to identify and accurately describe musical elements, musical contexts and use musical language (including staff notation).

Students must learn how to develop musical ideas, including extending and manipulating musical ideas, and compose music that is musically convincing through two compositions. One must be in response to an externally set brief (Composition 1) and the other a free composition (Composition 2).

The combined duration of the compositions must be a minimum of three minutes.

Compositions can be composed in any style or genre to best reflect the skills, strengths and interests of the individual students.

Both compositions must be assessed on the student’s ability to demonstrate:

Creative and effective selection and use of musical elements

Appropriate selection and use of musical elements (to the compositional intention)

Technical and expressive control in the use of musical elements.

Each composition must demonstrate selection and use of at least four types of musical element as follows:

at least two of rhythm, metre, texture, melody, structure, form

at least two of harmony, tonality, timbre, dynamics, phrasing, articulation.

Please also refer to the full tables of musical elements in Subject content (page 11).

Students must be able to compose using methods appropriate to the style/genre of their composition and may use a combination of vocal/instrumental and technology. This could include the use of score writing software, sequencing software, studio multi-tracking or traditional techniques including hand written notation and working through improvisation.

Students must know, understand and be able to apply the following as appropriate to the level of demand of the piece.

DJing skills and sound sources Basic skills cue stuttering rewind/spin-back drop-ins E.Q. Blending or use of on board FX (eg filtering, flanger, delay etc).

DJing skills and sound sources Intermediate skills baby scratches looping (using digital buttons) hot cues – jumping to parts of the song during performance or edited live a cappellas – as a chosen sound source for 8 bars or more – vocal must fit harmonically, rhythmically and structurally with overall mix.

Advanced skills advanced scratching – transforms advanced scratching – flares advanced scratching – chirps advanced scratching – orbits hot-cue drumming – using hot cue to trigger multiple sounds to create something new juggling – live looping using platters not buttons a cappellas – as a chosen sound source for 32 bars or more – vocal must fit harmonically, rhythmically and structurally with overall mix.

Sound sources tracks scratch samples (allowing hot cue triggering or scratching) loops drum loops bass loops a cappellas (pre-separated vocals from another song).

For examples of DJ performances, please refer to e-AQA online standardisation materials.

staff notated score

lead sheet

aural guide.

Students must write a Programme note of approximately 150 words for each composition, which clearly informs the assessor of the compositional intention, including the intended audience/ occasion. Students must also identify the types of musical element selected and provide details of any software and hardware used in their compositional process.

In all cases the audio recording of the composition and Programme note must be accompanied by one or more of the following documents:

Please refer to Component 3: Composing music assessment grid (page 44) for information about how to mark compositions.

Unaccompanied instrumental/ vocal solo.

Pitch.

Rhythm, tempo and fluency.

Dynamics and articulation.

Instrumental (including DJ)/ vocal performance type Definition Technical control (accuracy) Expression and interpretation Solo A solo instrument/voice with accompaniment/backing track where the student has a substantial solo part.

Performance of pieces written with an accompaniment intended by the composer should not be unaccompanied.

Pitch (including intonation).

Rhythm and fluency.

Tempo, dynamics, phrasing and articulation.

Ensemble Music performed by the student in conjunction with at least one other musician (one of which must be the student being assessed), in which each player or singer has a unique and significant role (ie that is not doubled).

Instrumental (including DJ)/ vocal performance type Definition Technical control (accuracy) Expression and interpretation Solo DJ Using turntables (raw vinyl/CDJ) and/or Digital DJ technology (software controller/DVS) to manipulate tracks and demonstrate an understanding and use of a range of techniques. There must be a minimum of two tracks – beat matched, with respect to the structure, tonality and arrangement of the selected tracks.

Ensemble DJ Using turntables (raw vinyl/CDJ) and/or Digital DJ technology (software controller/DVS) to perform with one or more DJs/ live musicians in which each performer has a unique and significant role (ie that is not doubled). For the student being assessed, there must be a minimum of two tracks – beat matched, with respect to the structure, tonality and arrangement of the selected tracks.

Students must be able to use the musical language appropriate to this Area of study in the following ways:

Students must learn major and minor chords and be able to identify them in aural and written form.

Examples of relevant types of chords can be found in the musical elements table above.

Students must be able to identify and apply appropriate musical vocabulary and terminology to music heard and notated. The appropriate vocabulary required can be found in the table above.

Students must be able to identify musical elements (as above) when reading short passages of unfamiliar music in staff notation of up to 12 bars.

melodically up to four sharps and flats

rhythmically including simple and compound time.

Students must be able to demonstrate the ability to write staff notation within short passages of up to eight bars:

Students must be able to use musical language appropriate to their selected area of study in the following ways.

Students must learn major and minor chords and their associated symbols and be able to identify them in aural and written form. Examples of relevant types of chords and symbols can be found in the musical elements tables above.

Students must be able to identify and apply appropriate musical vocabulary and terminology to music heard and notated. The appropriate vocabulary required can be found in the tables relevant to the area of study.

Students must be able to identify musical elements (as above) when reading short passages of staff notation of up to 12 bars.

Students must be able to perform live music using one or both of the following ways:

instrumental (including DJ)/vocal

Repertoire will be determined by the student and teacher. It need not reference an area of study and can be in any chosen style or genre.

In all cases, the recording of the performances must be accompanied by one or more of the following documents, as appropriate to the type of performance:

notated score

production via technology.

One performance must be as a soloist and one piece must be as part of an ensemble lasting a combined minimum of four minutes. The performance as part of an ensemble must last for a minimum of one minute.

Students must be able to interpret relevant musical elements as appropriate using resources (eg microphones) and techniques (eg pizzicato ) as appropriate to communicate musical ideas with accuracy and expression and interpretation, including phrasing and dynamics appropriate to the style and mood of the music.

If students choose to perform using non-standard instruments (ie for which there are no nationally recognised accredited music grades) the requirements for instrumental/vocal must be followed.

Please refer to Component 2: Performing music assessment grids (page 34) for information about how to mark performances.

lead sheet

guide recording

annotation.

Rhythm and balance.

Dynamics, articulation and panning.

Pitch (including intonation).

Technology performance type Definition Technical control (accuracy) Expression and sense of style Solo A complete performance of a pre-existing piece using music technology, sequencing and/or multi-tracking techniques to record a solo performance of a minimum of three tracks . At least one track must be performed live in real time.

Ensemble A complete performance of a pre-existing piece using music technology, sequencing and/or multi-tracking techniques to record an ensemble performance of a minimum of four tracks , three of which must be performed by the student and one or more tracks performed by at least one other musician in which each performer has a unique and significant role (ie that is not doubled). At least one track must be performed live in real time by the student and at least one track must be performed live in real time by at least one other member of the ensemble.

The areas of study provide an appropriate focus for students to appraise, develop and demonstrate an in-depth knowledge and understanding of musical elements, musical context and musical language. The four areas of study can also provide a rich source of material for your students to work with when developing performance and composition skills.

There are four areas of study:

1. Western classical tradition 1650–1910 2. Popular music 3. Traditional music 4. Western classical tradition since 1910.