Music study guides

A deep-dive OCR A-Level Music guide to the chosen areas of study: the five optional areas (Popular Song, Instrumental Jazz, Religious Music of the Baroque, Programme Music, Innovations), a transferable method for mastering any area's context, styles and signature features, and how each is examined in Section A and Section C.

A deep-dive OCR A-Level Music guide to composing techniques: the two composing components (Composing A and B) and routes, composing to the OCR-set and learner-set briefs, and the three Composing A technical exercises (Bach chorale harmonisation, two-part counterpoint and ground bass), the practical AO2 assessment.

A deep-dive OCR A-Level Music guide to harmony and tonality: keys, cadences and modulation, chords and functional harmony, harmonic devices and dissonance, and recognising harmony by ear, the framework that underpins both the listening analysis and the composing technical exercises.

A deep-dive OCR A-Level Music guide to instrumental music of the Classical era (Area of Study 1): the Classical style, the symphony, concerto, sonata and string quartet, sonata form and the other movement structures, the three composers Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, and the Classical orchestra and texture, the context for the prescribed work and unfamiliar listening.

A deep-dive OCR A-Level Music guide to listening and aural skills and the H543/05 exam: the three-section structure of the Listening and Appraising paper, describing unfamiliar extracts (Section A), the prescribed-work and dictation skills (Section B), harmonic and melodic dictation and chord recognition, and the 25-mark Section C essays.

A deep-dive OCR A-Level Music guide to performing skills: the two performing components (Performing A and B) and routes, the marking criteria of accuracy and technical control, interpretation and communication, and preparing and recording the recital including the focused study, the practical AO1 assessment.

A deep-dive OCR A-Level Music guide to the elements of music and analysis: melody, harmony, tonality, texture, rhythm, structure and instrumentation as the analytical vocabulary, and a systematic method for applying them to an extract under the timed conditions of the H543/05 Listening and Appraising paper.

A deep-dive OCR A-Level Music guide to the prescribed work and Section B: what a prescribed work is, the current set work (Haydn's Symphony No. 103), a movement-by-movement analysis method, the Section B dictation and score-completion tasks, and using the set work as a reference point for unfamiliar Classical listening.