How do harmony, tonality and melody work in the Edexcel set works, and which devices does the exam reward?
Harmony, tonality and melody as analytical tools: diatonic and chromatic harmony, cadences, modulation, chromatic chords (Neapolitan, augmented sixth, diminished seventh), and melodic devices across the six areas of study.
A focused answer on harmony, tonality and melody for Edexcel A-Level Music appraising. Covers cadences, modulation, functional and chromatic harmony, the Neapolitan and augmented-sixth chords, melodic contour and devices, with the precise vocabulary and bar-referencing Component 3 rewards.
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What this dot point is asking
Harmony, tonality and melody are the elements that most often separate a middle-band answer from a top one, because they demand precise theory vocabulary. This page sets out the harmonic and melodic devices that recur across the Edexcel set works, from Bach's functional Baroque harmony to Berlioz's chromaticism and Debussy's modal colour, and shows how the exam expects you to name and locate them.
Tonality: keys, modulation and language
Harmony: chords, cadences and chromatic colour
Beyond cadences, learn suspensions (a held note clashing then resolving down, labelled 4 to 3, 7 to 6, 9 to 8), pedal points (a sustained bass note, tonic or dominant), circle-of-fifths progressions, secondary dominants, and the contrast between functional Baroque and Classical harmony and the looser, colouristic harmony of Debussy and later set works.
Melody: contour and devices
How Edexcel examines harmony, tonality and melody
Section A poses short questions ("identify the cadence", "comment on the chromatic harmony") on set-work and unfamiliar extracts, supported by a skeleton score, and the dictation may require completing a melody by ear. Section B essays expect sustained, evaluative discussion of harmony and tonality across a set work. The mark scheme always rewards the named device plus location plus effect.
Try this
Q1. What is the difference between a perfect and an interrupted cadence? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. Perfect is V to I (conclusive); interrupted is V to vi (a surprise that avoids the expected close).
Q2. Name two chromatic chords and the expressive effect each tends to create. [Short explanation]
- Cue. The Neapolitan sixth heightens pathos; the augmented sixth intensifies the drive to the dominant; the diminished seventh adds tension and aids modulation.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 20186 marksIdentify the cadence at the end of this phrase and describe how the harmony approaches it. (Component 3, Section A, with skeleton score)Show worked answer →
A Section A harmony question. Name the cadence and the chords that form it, with bar references.
Cadence. State the type precisely: perfect (V to I), imperfect (any chord to V), plagal (IV to I), or interrupted (V to vi). For example, "a perfect cadence (V to I) in the tonic at bars 7 to 8".
Approach. Describe the harmonic preparation: a pre-dominant chord (ii or IV), a cadential six-four ( to ), a suspension (a 4 to 3 over the dominant), or a chromatic chord. For example, "approached through a cadential six-four resolving onto the dominant, with a 4 to 3 suspension".
The mark scheme rewards the correct cadence label plus the supporting chord detail and a bar reference, not just "it sounds finished".
Edexcel 20228 marksComment on the composer's use of chromatic harmony in this extract and its expressive effect. (Component 3, Section A)Show worked answer →
An 8-mark question rewarding identification of specific chromatic devices and their effect.
Devices. Name what you hear or see: a Neapolitan sixth ( in first inversion), an augmented sixth (Italian, French or German), a diminished seventh, a chromatic passing chord, a secondary dominant, or chromatic voice-leading. Locate each with a bar reference.
Effect. Tie each device to expression: the Neapolitan and diminished seventh heighten pathos or tension; an augmented sixth intensifies the drive to a cadence; chromatic voice-leading colours an otherwise diatonic passage. For example, "the diminished seventh at bar 14 sharpens the sense of anguish before resolving onto the dominant".
Level descriptors reward precise naming, location and a credible expressive link, not a general comment that "the harmony is chromatic and emotional".
Related dot points
- The musical elements (melody, harmony, tonality, texture, structure, rhythm, metre, tempo, dynamics, articulation, instrumentation and technology) and the analytical vocabulary the Component 3 appraising paper rewards across all six areas of study.
A focused answer on the musical elements that underpin every Edexcel A-Level Music appraising answer. Covers melody, harmony, tonality, texture, structure, rhythm, metre, dynamics, articulation, instrumentation and technology, with the precise vocabulary and bar-referencing the Component 3 exam rewards.
- Texture, structure (form) and rhythm as analytical tools: textural types, the standard forms, metre, syncopation, hemiola, polyrhythm and additive metre across the six areas of study.
A focused answer on texture, structure and rhythm for Edexcel A-Level Music appraising. Covers textural types, binary, ternary, rondo, sonata, ritornello and verse-chorus forms, metre, syncopation, hemiola, polyrhythm and additive metre, with the vocabulary and bar-referencing Component 3 rewards.
- The structure of Component 3 (Appraising): Section A short-answer questions and dictation on the set works and an unfamiliar extract, the 20-mark links essay to an unfamiliar piece, and the 30-mark evaluative essay on one set work.
A focused answer on Component 3 exam technique for Edexcel A-Level Music. Covers the structure of the 2 hour, 100 mark appraising paper, the Section A short questions and dictation, the 20-mark links essay to an unfamiliar extract, and the 30-mark single set-work evaluation, with what each mark scheme rewards.
- J. S. Bach: Cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80, movements 1, 2 and 8. The Lutheran chorale cantata, the chorale-fantasia and canon of movement 1, the soprano-bass duet of movement 2, and the closing four-part chorale of movement 8.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, Bach's Cantata Ein feste Burg BWV 80 (movements 1, 2 and 8). Covers the Lutheran chorale cantata, the chorale-fantasia and canon of movement 1, the soprano and bass duet of movement 2, the closing chorale, and the Baroque features the appraising exam rewards.
- Hector Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, movements 1 and 2 (movement 2 at A-level only). The Romantic programme symphony, the idee fixe, the expanded orchestra and orchestration, sonata form with a slow introduction, and the waltz movement.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, movements 1 and 2 of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Covers the Romantic programme symphony, the idee fixe, the expanded orchestra and orchestration, sonata form with a slow introduction, the waltz, and the features the appraising exam rewards.
Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel A-Level Music (9MU0) specification (Issue 7) — Pearson Edexcel (2016)