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OCR A-Level Music (H543): complete guide to performing, composing and the listening and appraising exam

A complete guide to OCR A-Level Music (specification H543). Covers the three components (Performing, Composing and Listening and Appraising), the two assessment routes, the six areas of study and the prescribed works, the elements and harmony you analyse by ear, and the listening, dictation and extended-essay skills the H543/05 exam rewards.

Browse guides →Syllabus dot points (34)

OCR A-Level Music (specification H543) is assessed through three components: two practical, performing and composing, and one written listening exam. The practical components can be taken in two routes, weighting either performing or composing more heavily. This page is the index: below is a map of the three components, the two routes, the six areas of study and the prescribed work, the elements and harmony you analyse, and the exam skills that run across the course.

The three components and two routes

OCR splits the A-Level into performing, composing and listening and appraising, assessed against three objectives: AO1 (performing) 35 percent, AO2 (composing) 25 percent and AO3 (listening and appraising) 40 percent. You choose one of two routes for the practical work.

Route 1 (longer composing). Performing A (H543/01), 75 marks, 25 percent: a recital of at least 6 minutes with two contrasting pieces. Composing A (H543/03), 105 marks, 35 percent: compositions of at least 8 minutes combined, including one OCR-set brief, one learner-set brief and three short technical exercises.
Route 2 (longer performing). Performing B (H543/02), 105 marks, 35 percent: a recital of at least 10 minutes with three contrasting pieces (Section 1 free choice and Section 2 focused study). Composing B (H543/04), 75 marks, 25 percent: compositions of at least 4 minutes combined, one OCR-set brief and one learner-set brief.
Everyone: Listening and Appraising (H543/05), a written exam, 2 hours 30 minutes, 40 percent, 120 marks.

The six areas of study and the prescribed work

The Listening and Appraising paper is built on six areas of study. Area of Study 1 is compulsory and carries the prescribed work; you then choose at least one of the other five to study in depth.

Area of Study 1: Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven: The Classical symphony, concerto, sonata and string quartet, sonata form and the Classical style, anchored by a prescribed work (currently Haydn's Symphony No. 103 in E flat, the Drum Roll).
Area of Study 2: Popular Song (blues, jazz, swing and big band): The twelve-bar blues, blue notes, swing rhythm, AABA song form and big-band scoring.
Area of Study 3: Developments in Instrumental Jazz 1910 to the present day: Early jazz, swing, bebop, cool, modal and fusion, traced through improvisation, harmony and the roles of soloist and rhythm section.
Area of Study 4: Religious Music of the Baroque (Bach, Purcell and Handel): Sacred choruses, arias, recitatives, fugue, ground bass, word-painting and continuo.
Area of Study 5: Programme Music 1820 to 1910: Romantic music that tells a story or paints a scene, through descriptive orchestration, the idee fixe and leitmotif, thematic transformation and chromatic harmony.
Area of Study 6: Innovations in Music 1900 to the present day: Impressionism, atonality and serialism, minimalism, new timbres and electronic sounds, and twentieth-century fusion.

The elements, harmony and tonality

Every listening answer is built from the elements of music: melody, harmony, tonality, texture, rhythm, metre, tempo, dynamics, articulation, structure and instrumentation (sonority). OCR also rewards secure harmony and tonality, hearing keys, cadences, modulations and chord qualities, which underpins both the analysis questions and the composing technical exercises.

The skills that run across the course

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

Unfamiliar listening. Describe extracts you have never heard against the elements (Section A).
Prescribed-work analysis. Answer structured questions and a dictation on the prescribed work (Section B).
Dictation. Complete missing melody, rhythm or chords on a score.
The extended essay. Argue an evaluative answer on an area of study with named musical evidence (Section C, two essays at 25 marks each).

How to study OCR Music

Music rewards practical fluency and disciplined listening in equal measure.

Learn the set content as a story. Fix the prescribed work and your chosen area by their context, key, structure, instrumentation and signature devices, so you can identify them by ear.
Use precise vocabulary. Name a device (a pedal point, a ground bass, a blue note, an idee fixe) rather than describing the music vaguely.
Drill the dictation. Practise completing rhythms, melodies and chords from the styles you study.
Rehearse the essays. Plan and write the 25-mark Section C answers quickly, arguing with evidence.
Record and refine. For performing and composing, rehearse, record and improve, keeping to the timing and technical-exercise 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-ocr/music/syllabus.

For the official specification

OCR publishes the full specification (H543), the prescribed-work list, past papers and mark schemes at ocr.org.uk. Always revise from the current specification and OCR's own past papers, because the prescribed work and question style are board-specific.

Music guides

In-depth written guides with paired practice quizzes.

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Music practice quizzes

Multiple-choice drills with worked answer explanations. Your scores stay on this device.

The A-LEVEL-OCR system, explained

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Common questions about Music

How is OCR A-Level Music (H543) structured?

OCR A-Level Music has three assessed components and two routes through them. Route 1 is Performing A (H543/01, 75 marks, 25 percent, a recital of at least 6 minutes) plus Composing A (H543/03, 105 marks, 35 percent). Route 2 is Performing B (H543/02, 105 marks, 35 percent, a recital of at least 10 minutes) plus Composing B (H543/04, 75 marks, 25 percent). Everyone sits Listening and Appraising (H543/05), a 2 hour 30 minute written exam worth 120 marks, 40 percent. The headline objective weightings are AO1 (performing) 35 percent, AO2 (composing) 25 percent and AO3 (listening and appraising) 40 percent.

What are the six areas of study?

Area of Study 1 is Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, which carries a prescribed work and is compulsory. The other five are optional, and you choose at least one to study in depth: Area of Study 2, Popular Song (blues, jazz, swing and big band); Area of Study 3, Developments in Instrumental Jazz 1910 to the present day; Area of Study 4, Religious Music of the Baroque (Bach, Purcell and Handel); Area of Study 5, Programme Music 1820 to 1910; and Area of Study 6, Innovations in Music 1900 to the present day.

What is the prescribed work?

Area of Study 1 names a prescribed work from the Classical period that you study from the score, currently Haydn's Symphony No. 103 in E flat major (the Drum Roll). Section B of the Listening and Appraising paper asks structured questions and dictation on this prescribed work, so you need to know its movements, sonata form, instrumentation and harmonic language in detail. The prescribed work changes on a published cycle, so always confirm the current set work for your examination year on the OCR specification.

How is the Listening and Appraising exam (H543/05) laid out?

H543/05 is 120 marks in three sections over 2 hours 30 minutes. Section A is unfamiliar listening on extracts from Area of Study 1 and your chosen area, with shorter aural questions and a longer comparison answer. Section B is on the prescribed work, with structured listening and a dictation. Section C is two extended essays, each worth 25 marks, answered on two different areas of study. Audio is played a set number of times printed on the paper.

How should I revise OCR A-Level Music?

Learn the prescribed work and your chosen area as detailed stories under the elements (melody, harmony, tonality, texture, rhythm, structure, instrumentation), fixing the signature devices so you can hear them. Drill unfamiliar listening so you can describe extracts you have never heard against those elements, and practise the melody, rhythm and chord dictations against the styles you study. Rehearse the 25-mark Section C essays so you can argue with named musical evidence at speed. For performing and composing, record, refine and keep to the timing and technical-exercise rules.

How does OCR A-Level Music compare to other boards?

All A-Level Music specifications (OCR, Edexcel, Eduqas, AQA) assess performing, composing and a listening exam, but the set content differs by board. OCR's distinctive features are the compulsory prescribed work from Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, the five optional areas of study (you choose at least one), the two assessment routes (a longer recital with a shorter composing folio, or the reverse), the technical exercises in Composing A (a Bach chorale, two-part counterpoint and a ground bass), and the 25-mark essays in Section C. Always revise from the current OCR H543 specification and OCR past papers, because the prescribed work and question style are board-specific.