MusicQ&A by dot point

Area of Study 7 (optional): art music since 1910, covering the breakdown of tonality, atonality and serialism, modernist rhythm and timbre, minimalism and the named composers Shostakovich, Messiaen, Reich and MacMillan.

Area of Study 1, strand 1 (compulsory): the Baroque solo concerto, covering ritornello form, the contrast of tutti and solo, the basso continuo, the fast-slow-fast three-movement plan and the named composers Vivaldi, Bach and Handel.

Area of Study 6 (optional): contemporary traditional music, covering folk and world traditions, the conventions of named styles, traditional and fusion instruments, modal harmony and characteristic rhythms.

Area of Study 5 (optional): jazz, covering styles from early jazz to bebop and beyond, improvisation, swing, blues harmony, instrumentation and the named performers.

Area of Study 3 (optional): music for media, covering film, television and video-game music, leitmotif, mood and atmosphere, synchronisation with action and the named composers and styles.

Area of Study 4 (optional): music for theatre, covering musical theatre and named composers, song types, how music conveys character and drama, orchestration and dramatic structure.

Area of Study 1, strand 3 (compulsory): the piano music of Chopin, Brahms and Grieg, covering character pieces, rubato and lyrical melody, rich chromatic harmony, pianistic textures and idiomatic writing, and how to analyse Romantic piano extracts.

Area of Study 2 (optional): pop music, covering named artists, song structures such as verse and chorus, riffs and hooks, instrumentation, production techniques and how to analyse pop extracts.

Area of Study 1, strand 2 (compulsory): the operas of Mozart, covering recitative and aria, ensembles and the overture, voice types, the Classical orchestra and how music conveys character and drama in works such as Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflote.

Area of Study 1 (compulsory): the Western classical tradition 1650 to 1910, covering Baroque, Classical and Romantic style features, the development of tonal harmony, form and the orchestra, and the named set works.

Composing to a brief: the Component 3 requirements, the brief that targets the Western classical tradition, responding to a stimulus, the minimum length, and how a brief composition is assessed and submitted.

Free composition: the second composition where you choose the style and forces, developing your own ideas, structuring an original piece, and how the free composition is assessed and submitted.

Harmonic and contrapuntal techniques: functional progressions, cadences, modulation, voice-leading, four-part writing, suspensions, sequences, imitation, canon and the principles of counterpoint.

Orchestration and arrangement: writing idiomatically for instruments and voices, instrumental ranges and transposition, balance and blend, doubling, texture, and arranging existing material for new forces.

Analysing unfamiliar extracts: a systematic method for describing the musical elements of an unheard extract in Section A listening and Section B analysis, using precise terminology and, where a score is given, bar references.

Harmony and tonality: chords, cadences, functional harmony, diatonic and chromatic harmony, modulation, keys and modes, and dissonance and consonance.

Melody and motif: melodic shape and contour, conjunct and disjunct movement, intervals, phrasing, ornamentation, motifs and motivic development including sequence, inversion and augmentation.

Reading and analysing scores: clefs, key and time signatures, transposing instruments, score layout, identifying chords and cadences from notation, and applying the musical elements to a printed extract.

Rhythm, metre and tempo: note values, simple and compound time, syncopation, dotted and triplet rhythms, cross-rhythm and polyrhythm, ostinato, rubato and tempo markings.

The Section A rhythmic dictation: notating the rhythm of a short heard passage in staff notation, including compound time, working from the given time signature and pulse to accurate note values.

Sonority and instrumentation: timbre and tone colour, the families of the orchestra, playing techniques, voice types, electronic and amplified sounds, and how instrumentation creates colour and effect.

Texture and structure: monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic and heterophonic textures, layering and number of parts, and structural forms including binary, ternary, rondo, sonata, theme and variations, verse-chorus and through-composed.

The Section C essay: choosing one question, building an argument from named works in an area of study, using precise musical detail and context, and structuring an extended response to the level-of-response mark scheme.

Interpretation and expression: dynamics, phrasing, articulation, tempo and rubato, tone, stylistic awareness, communication with an audience and shaping a convincing musical interpretation.

Preparing a performance programme: selecting repertoire to meet the time and difficulty requirements, planning rehearsal, managing performance anxiety, and recording and submitting the recital as non-exam assessment.

Solo and ensemble performance: the Component 2 requirements, the minimum recital length, accuracy and fluency, choice of repertoire and instrument, and how solo and ensemble playing are assessed and recorded.