OCR A-Level Music: performing skills overview quiz quiz

At least 10 minutes, three contrasting pieces, 105 marks and 35 percent

At least 6 minutes, two contrasting pieces, 75 marks, 25 percent

A written examination answered under timed conditions in the summer series

A composition folio submitted with a recording and a written commentary

A written commentary explaining each performance decision in detail

An additional aural test marked separately by the visiting moderator

A focused study (Section 2) alongside the free-choice section

A short composition submitted as a fourth item within the recital

At random, since both performing routes carry exactly the same weighting and pair freely with either composing option

By alphabetical order, simply selecting Performing A because it appears first in the specification document

Always take Performing A, because a shorter recital with fewer pieces is the easier option for every candidate

By their stronger skill, weighting the larger practical component (Performing B or Composing A) towards it

Command of the instrument or voice: tone, intonation, fluency and the techniques the music demands

Only the correct notes and rhythms, with tone, intonation and fluency playing no part in the mark at all

Choosing the very hardest possible piece, regardless of how securely it is actually controlled

Sheer speed alone, since a faster tempo is always taken as proof of greater technical command

Always start again from the very top of the piece each time the passage breaks down

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

Play it at full performance speed straight away and simply repeat it over and over until it happens to come out right

Avoid the passage entirely in the recording by cutting it or choosing an easier alternative piece

Yes, the hardest programme always scores top marks regardless of how controlled it actually is

No, the easiest possible pieces always win out, because they guarantee a completely secure and tidy performance

Only when it is controlled; secure performance of suitable pieces scores better than a shaky harder programme

Difficulty is never considered at all, so the choice of repertoire makes no difference to the mark

Playing the music as fast as is physically possible to show off your fluency

Ignoring the printed dynamics so that the line sounds smooth and even throughout

Improvising freely over the piece and adding notes that are not in the score

Realising the score's expressive markings and conveying the style and character

Shaping phrases with direction, grading dynamics and articulation, and making choices idiomatic to the style

Playing the whole programme at a single unchanging dynamic level so that nothing at all distracts the listener

Steadily speeding up throughout each piece to build a sense of growing energy and excitement

Removing all rubato and flexibility in every style so the pulse stays perfectly mechanical

Simply playing everything louder so the shaping is easier to hear

Recording yourself and listening back

Practising only the easy bars and skipping the harder phrases entirely

Avoiding the metronome so your phrasing can stay completely free

Left until the very last week of the whole course and then crammed into a handful of intensive practice sessions

Prepared only the night before the recording, relying on adrenaline to carry the performance

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

Tackled without any plan at all, practising whichever piece you happen to feel like that day

Nothing beyond the notes themselves, since the audio quality and paperwork have no effect on the mark

Making the recording run as long as possible, well beyond the timing the specification actually requires

Using the cheapest available microphone and recording in any room, as the acoustic makes no difference

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

AO1, the largest single objective at 35 percent of the A-Level across the components

AO3, the listening and appraising objective, weighted at 40 percent across the examined components

AO2, the composing objective, weighted at 25 percent across the folio components

It is not formally assessed and contributes nothing to the overall A-Level grade