Eduqas A-Level Music: Performing (Component 1) overview quiz quiz

As a closed-book written exam sat in the summer series

By an online multiple-choice listening test marked by computer

As a recorded recital assessed by a visiting examiner

It is not assessed and carries no marks towards the grade

25 percent, about 6 to 8 minutes, with a single solo piece and no area-of-study links required at all

40 percent, a full 2 hour recital of at least eight contrasting pieces drawn from every area of study

10 percent, just 3 minutes, made up of one short solo with no ensemble item and no documentation needed

35 percent, about 10 to 12 minutes (at least three pieces including a solo, with area-of-study links)

No, the same option (A or B) must be taken in both Performing and Composing

Yes, candidates may freely mix Option A in one component with Option B in the other

Only with the written permission of the head of centre and the awarding body

Only candidates sitting the qualification at centres located within Wales may do so

Purely at random, with no real thought given to their relative strengths at all

By their stronger skill, weighting the larger practical component towards it

Always Option A, since it is the default choice for every single candidate

By the alphabetical order of the two option letters, so always picking A

They are exactly the same thing under two different names, with no real distinction to be drawn between them at all in practice

Accuracy is purely a matter of how loudly you play, while technical control is purely a matter of how fast you can play the notes

Accuracy is the right notes and rhythms; technical control is the command (tone, intonation, fluency, technique) that makes accuracy reliable

Technical control is something that applies only to singers and never to any instrumentalist at all, who instead only need to worry about accuracy

Yes, demanding repertoire is always credited regardless of how well it is actually controlled

No, the very easiest possible pieces always win the most marks whatever the standard of playing

Difficulty is never considered by the examiner in any way when arriving at the final mark at all

Only when it is controlled; a secure, well-chosen programme beats a shaky harder one

Isolate it, find the exact difficulty, practise slowly, raise the tempo gradually with a metronome, and practise in context

Play the whole piece through from the very top again and again and again, never stopping to look closely at the difficult bars

Play the passage at full speed straight away from the first session, trusting that the fingers will soon catch up

Quietly leave the difficult passage out of the recording altogether so the examiner never gets to hear it played

Playing the piece as fast as it can possibly be played, since sheer speed is what the examiner rewards most highly of all

Realising the score's expressive markings (dynamics, articulation, tempo, phrasing) and conveying the style and character idiomatically

Deliberately ignoring every dynamic and expressive marking on the page and playing the notes flatly at one fixed volume

Improvising your own freely invented new material over the top of the written piece instead of playing what the composer actually wrote

It automatically makes the piece shorter and tighter, trimming away the dull passages so the recital fits the time limit

It removes any wrong notes from the performance automatically, correcting slips and tuning problems as you play through

It gives an objective, listener's perspective that reveals where the phrasing is flat or the projection weak, so you can refine

It is of no real use at all for developing interpretation, since only a live teacher in the room can ever hear what needs changing

Left until the very last week of the course, cramming the whole programme into a handful of frantic sessions

Prepared only on the night before the recording, sight-reading the pieces through once or twice and hoping for the best

Tackled with no plan or timetable at all, simply playing whichever piece you happen to feel like on any given day

Backwards from the recording date in phases: repertoire early, then technique, interpretation and reliability

Mock performances, playing the programme through under pressure and recording it

Practising only the easy bars and skipping over every passage that feels tricky

Never once performing for anyone else before the day of the actual recording

Avoiding difficult pieces entirely and choosing only the simplest possible items

Only the notes themselves matter, so nothing else about the recording or the paperwork needs any thought at all

A clear, balanced recording in a suitable acoustic, the correct programme and timing, and the documentation

Making the recital run on for as long as it possibly can, well beyond the time limit, to show off endurance

Using the cheapest possible microphone available, since the quality of the recorded sound is never assessed