Edexcel A-Level Music (9MU0): complete guide to performing, composing, and the appraising exam on six areas of study

Pearson Edexcel A-Level Music (specification 9MU0) is assessed through three components: two non-examined assessments (Performing and Composing) and one listening exam (Appraising). This page is the index: below is a map of the three components, the six areas of study and eighteen set works, the musical-elements vocabulary, and the exam skills that run across the course.

The three components

Pearson Edexcel splits the A-level into three components worth 220 marks in total.

• Component 1: Performing. Non-examined assessment, 30 percent, 60 marks. A recital of at least eight minutes (solo and/or ensemble), externally marked by a visiting examiner or recorded and sent to Pearson. The standard of difficulty influences the ceiling of marks.
• Component 2: Composing. Non-examined assessment, 30 percent, 60 marks. Two compositions of at least six minutes combined: Composition 1 (40 marks, at least four minutes) to a Pearson-set brief or free, and Composition 2 (20 marks, at least two minutes), a technical study (a set of Bach chorales or a free brief).
• Component 3: Appraising. A written listening exam, 2 hours, 40 percent, 100 marks. It tests the six areas of study and eighteen set works with short-answer, dictation and extended-essay questions.

The six areas of study and eighteen set works

Component 3 is built on six areas of study, each with three set works. The set works are the spine of the whole appraising paper.

Area of Study 1: Vocal Music

J. S. Bach's Cantata "Ein feste Burg" BWV 80 (movements 1, 2 and 8) and Vaughan Williams's song cycle On Wenlock Edge (Nos. 1, 3 and 5).

Area of Study 2: Instrumental Music

Vivaldi's Concerto in D minor Op. 3 No. 11 (movements 1 and 2), Clara Wieck-Schumann's Piano Trio in G minor Op. 17 (movement 1) and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique (movements 1 and 2, with the second movement at A-level only).

Area of Study 3: Music for Film

Danny Elfman's Batman Returns (four cues), Rachel Portman's The Duchess (four cues) and Bernard Herrmann's Psycho (eight cues, A-level only).

Area of Study 4: Popular Music and Jazz

Courtney Pine's Back in the Day (three tracks), Kate Bush's Hounds of Love (three tracks) and The Beatles' Revolver (four songs).

Area of Study 5: Fusions

Debussy's Estampes (Nos. 1 and 2), Familia Valera Miranda's Cana Quema (two songs) and Anoushka Shankar's Breathing Under Water (two tracks).

Area of Study 6: New Directions

John Cage's Three Dances for two prepared pianos (No. 1), Kaija Saariaho's Petals for cello and live electronics and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (first three sections, A-level only).

The musical elements

Every appraising answer is built from the musical elements: melody, harmony, tonality, texture, structure (form), rhythm, metre, tempo, dynamics, articulation, instrumentation (sonority) and the use of technology. Knowing the right term for each element, and using it accurately with a bar reference, is the single biggest mark-lever in Component 3.

The skills that run across the course

The exam rewards secure knowledge of the set works applied through listening skills.

1. Aural recognition. Hear the elements (key changes, cadences, textures, instruments, rhythmic devices) in both set-work and unfamiliar extracts.
2. Musical dictation. Complete missing notes or rhythms on a skeleton score in Section A.
3. The links essay (20 marks). Draw connections from your set works to an unfamiliar extract played in the exam.
4. The single set-work essay (30 marks). Evaluate one set work in depth, using the elements, context and musical language, choosing from three options across different areas of study.

How to study Edexcel A-Level Music

Music rewards practical fluency and disciplined listening in equal measure.

1. Learn each set work as a story. Fix its context, key, structure, instrumentation and signature devices so you can identify them by ear and by score.
2. Use the right vocabulary. Call a repeated bass an "ostinato" or "ground bass" in Vivaldi, a "riff" in The Beatles, a "tala" in Shankar; never describe texture as "thick" or "thin".
3. Drill the dictation. Practise completing melodies and rhythms from the anthology, because Section A includes a completion exercise.
4. Rehearse both essays. Plan and write the 20-mark links essay and the 30-mark single set-work essay against the mark scheme.
5. Record and refine. For the performing and composing components, rehearse, record and revise, keeping to the timing rules.

The course, dot point by dot point

Each part of the course has overview guides, dot-point answer pages and quizzes. Browse the full set at /a-level-edexcel/music/syllabus.

For the official specification

Pearson Edexcel publishes the full specification (9MU0), the anthology of music, set-work support guides, past papers and mark schemes at qualifications.pearson.com. Always revise from the current specification and Edexcel's own past papers, because the set works and question style are board-specific.