OCR A-Level Music: a chosen area of study overview quiz quiz

None

At least one

All five

Exactly three

Section A (unfamiliar listening) and Section B (set works analysis)

Section B (set works) and Section C (the extended essays you write)

Section A (unfamiliar listening) and Section C (extended essays)

Only Section C, the extended essay section of the written paper

Listen to a recording, copy out the score, then perform it in the lesson

Read about the work, summarise it in your own words, then memorise those facts for the test

The work's title, its composer, and the date or period it was first written

Context and development; styles or sub-genres; signature features under the elements

The twelve-bar blues progression with blue notes

A basso continuo realised by harpsichord and cello

A twelve-tone row ordering all twelve chromatic pitches

An idee fixe recurring across the movements of a symphony

Modal jazz, bebop, swing, then early jazz

Early jazz, swing, bebop, modal jazz

Bebop, early jazz, modal jazz, then swing

Swing, early jazz, modal jazz, then bebop

They use identical harmony; the only difference between them is the tempo of the pulse

Modal jazz has no improvisation at all, since every single note of the solo is written out in advance

Bebop runs over fast complex chord changes; modal jazz improvises over slow-moving modes or scales

Bebop is written for big band only, whereas modal jazz is always for a solo unaccompanied player

Parallel whole-tone chords coloured by the piano sustain pedal

A walking bass line driven along by a relaxed swing feel

A strict twelve-tone row generating every pitch of the work

Basso continuo with counterpoint and word-painting

A recurring melody representing a character or idea, which can be transformed

A type of cadence used to close a phrase firmly on the tonic chord

A short repeated big-band riff passed between the brass and reed sections

A twelve-tone row fixing the order of all twelve chromatic pitches in the work

Functional tonal harmony built on clear tonic and dominant key relationships

Atonal music organised by a twelve-tone row (an ordered set of all twelve pitches)

Repeating cells that shift gradually through phasing over a steady, unchanging pulse

Whole-tone parallel chords sliding in blocks to blur any sense of a home key

A fugal exposition supported throughout by a basso continuo group

Blue notes and a relaxed swing feel over a twelve-bar blues pattern

Repeating cells, phasing or additive process, over a steady pulse

An idee fixe transformed across the movements with chromatic harmony

Naming the style heard in the unfamiliar extract

Using the musical elements to organise the answer

Citing the style-specific signature features you hear

Generic description that could apply to any music

Section C needs two essays from two different areas, giving choice and a fallback

It is a strict requirement of the specification that you study every optional area

Studying extra optional areas shortens the written exam and reduces your revision

An extra optional area can be used to replace the compulsory Area of Study 1 entirely