Music is a very wide ranging activity: it provides intellectual, emotional and artistic satisfaction as well as developing the ability to communicate through performance. The skills required are proving to be helpful in many areas of academia and the merits of studying music are well documented. At Hurst the wide range of musical groups and ensembles provide ideal opportunities for developing social skills and integrating with students of all ages. Various key skills are developed in the course content and there are opportunities to study jazz and film music, as well as traditional western styles.
GCSE Music is a course that will interest pupils who learn any instrument and want to develop their musical skills further. The course is designed to interest all types of musician, including Jazz, Pop and Classical, and ALL are studied together with World music. Pupils interested in taking GCSE Music will need:
The course focuses on 3 different areas: Performing (30%), composing (30%) and listening and appraising (40%)
There are 4 Areas of Study on which students will be examined in a Listening Exam Popular Music:
The Listening and appraising is assessed as a single written/listening paper. Both Performing and Composition are assessed as Coursework
The course requires varied skills and with three teachers, candidates will experience different methods and approaches. Visiting music teachers are also involved in the practical preparations. A performance level of approximately grade 5 on an instrument is helpful as is a B grade at GCSE although neither of these levels should be considered as absolutes and discussion with the Director of Music is advised.
There are three units which are covered in the Lower Sixth. The first is Performing Music (30% of AS 15% of A level). This unit gives students the opportunities to perform as soloists and/or as part of an ensemble. Teachers and students can choose music in any style. Any instrument(s) and/or voice(s) are acceptable as part of a five-six minute assessed performance. Notated and/or improvised performances may be submitted.
The second unit is Composing (30% of AS and 15% of A level). This unit encourages 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 have influenced it.
Unit 3 is Developing Musical Understanding (40% of AS and 20% of A level). This unit focuses on listening to a familiar music and understanding how it works. Set works from the anthology provide the focus for the first two sections, through listening and studying scores. It is recommended that students familiarise themselves with each work as a whole, before learning 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 Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass.
There are three more units which are studied in the Upper Sixth. The first is Extended Performance (15% of A level). This unit gives students with opportunities to extend their performance skills as soloists and/or part of an ensemble. Teachers and students can 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 programmed of music. Notated and/or improvised performances may be submitted.
The next unit is Composition and Technical Study (15% of A level). This unit has two sections; composition and technical study. 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.
The final unit is Further Musical Understanding (20% of A level) and this unit focuses on listening to music, familiar and unfamiliar, and understanding how it works. Set works form the anthology provide the focus for much of the unit. It is recommended that students familiarise themselves with each work as a whole, before concentrating on important musical features, context and/or elements of continuity and change. Between works 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.
Music AS and A Level are given full academic status by the Universities. As a career music offers a multitude of opportunities: performing, composing, conducting, writing, broadcasting, teaching and theatrical work.
The course is designed to develop the skills required to make high quality recordings of a range of musical styles and to produce performances and compositions using computers and sequencing software. The course is taught in Hurst’s Music Technology studio, in the heart of the Music School, which is fully equipped with the latest Apple Computer Software and recording facilities. There are no specific restrictions, but it is strongly recommended that pupils play at least one instrument to a reasonably proficient level, and have learnt the basics of reading music. If this is not the case, pupils should consider signing up for basic instrumental music lessons, particularly piano, for the Lent and Summer Terms, prior to starting the course in September.The course requires various skills, musical and technical, and small class sizes ensure a lot of one-to-one time.
In the Lower Sixth, Unit 1 is Music Technology Portfolio 1 (70% of AS 35% of A level). Students will learn and use a variety of music and music technology skills in order to complete this unit. MIDI sequencing and multi-track recording as well as arranging skills are all key components assessed through the practical work carried out. Students must complete three tasks which together make the Music Technology Portfolio 1:
Students will also submit a logbook that will provide information on the resources used in each task as well as assessed questions on their creative sequenced arrangement. Unit 2 is Listening and Analysing (30% of AS 15% of A level). This unit provides students with an opportunity to study the styles most common in popular music. Students will have the opportunity to demonstrate this knowledge using aural discrimination skills. Students are required to study the development of popular music styles from 1910 through to the present day. This is not intended to be a comprehensive and in-depth study of every popular, jazz or rock music style, but an overview of the main styles and trends during the development of popular music. Two special focus styles will be selected each year for more in depth study. For the special focus styles, in addition to the main fingerprints of the style, students will be expected to have an extended knowledge and understanding of context. 1 hour 45 minute listening examination, externally assessed, in the summer of the year of entry.
In the Upper Sixth there are two further units – the first of which is Music Technology Portfolio 2 (30% of A level). This unit builds on skills acquired in Unit 1, and extends these to include a composition task. It involves detailed study of Area of Study 3: The Development of Technology based Music. Students must complete three tasks which together make the Music Technology Portfolio 2:
Students will also submit a logbook which will provide information on the resources used in each task. Students will produce an audio CD entitled ‘Music Technology Portfolio 2’, containing three tracks of work as specified in the three tasks above. They will also present a logbook, detailing equipment used. The work is to be done under coursework conditions between the issue of the stimulus material and the submission date. The final unit is Analysing and Producing (20% of A level) where students will be expected to demonstrate their knowledge of music and the principles of music technology through a series of written commentaries, manipulations and production tasks using material provided on an examination paper and recorded on an audio CD. The examination will test students’ musical understanding, their ability to manipulate and correct recorded music and their ability to write commentaries on technological processes. They will also be tested on their ability to produce a balanced stereo mix. This assessment will take the form of a 2-hour examination. Each student will have an audio CD, which will contain a series of music files to be imported into music production software. Each student will also have an examination paper in which some or all of the CD tracks will be notated as conventional staff notation, editing grids or numerical data.
Music Technology is given full academic status by the Universities. The A level can help students on their way to a career in the music industry or to a technology/computer orientated career.
08 September 2010