AQA A-Level Music appraising areas of study overview quiz quiz

Jazz, from early New Orleans styles to bebop

Pop music from the 1950s to the present day

The Western classical tradition 1650 to 1910

Music for media, including film and games

One

Three

All five

Two

40 percent

25 percent

30 percent

50 percent

1 hour 30 minutes exactly

2 hours 30 minutes

2 hours exactly

3 hours in total

Only multiple-choice questions answered against a series of short recorded extracts

A practical performance of a prepared recital assessed live in the hall by an external examiner

Two extended essays, one on the Western classical tradition and one on a chosen area

A composition task in which a short piece is written under timed exam conditions

Alberti bass and balanced four-bar phrases

Verse-chorus structure with a hook

Improvised solos over a twelve-bar blues

Basso continuo and terraced dynamics

A recurring theme linked to a character, object, place or idea

A single sudden loud chord used to create a shock or jump moment on screen

A short bass line repeated over and over again beneath the changing harmony

A particular type of microphone used to record the orchestra for a film score

Terraced dynamics, with sudden shifts between loud and soft passages

Improvisation over a chord sequence with swing rhythm

Strict four-part SATB writing in the style of a chorale harmonisation

A through-composed structure with no repeats and no returning sections

Sonata-form development of two contrasting themes in different keys

A strict fugue built on a single subject treated in close imitation

Heterophony, where performers play variants of one melody at once

A twelve-bar blues chord pattern repeated beneath improvised solos

A physical device on the stand for holding the singer's microphone in place

The opening drum fill that leads the band into the first verse of the song

A change of key partway through the song, often lifting the final chorus

A short, memorable, repeated idea, usually in the chorus

Work systematically through the musical elements and cite specific detail

Describe in detail what you imagine might be happening on screen during the extract

Try to guess the exact title and composer of the unfamiliar piece being played

Comment only on the lyrics of the extract and ignore the music underneath them