How is the CCEA performing coursework assessed, and how do you build a recital and viva that score well?
The performing coursework (AS Unit 1 and A2 Unit 1): a recorded solo recital plus viva voce, the AS Grade 4 and A2 Grade 6 standards, the assessment criteria, and how to prepare a programme that secures marks for technical control, interpretation and communication.
A CCEA A-Level Music overview of the Unit 1 performing coursework: the recorded solo recital, the viva voce, the AS Grade 4 and A2 Grade 6 difficulty standards, the marking criteria for accuracy, technical control, interpretation and communication, and how to choose and prepare a winning programme.
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What this coursework is asking
Performing is one of the three musical activities CCEA assesses, examined as coursework in Unit 1 at both AS and A2. You record a solo recital and then complete a viva voce, a short spoken discussion with a visiting examiner about your playing. This overview explains the format, the standard expected, the marking criteria and how to prepare. It is a single overview because performing is assessed by your own recital rather than by a body of examinable facts; the listening and harmony content you can be tested on in writing lives in the AS 3 and A2 3 Responding to Music modules.
The answer
What you submit
The performance is a single continuous recital: you play your programme through, and the recording is the assessed evidence. There is no second attempt at individual pieces in the way a studio recording allows, so reliability under pressure matters. The viva voce then tests that you understand what you played rather than having simply learned the notes.
The difficulty standards
The standard is one of the things the examiner judges: a programme pitched below the expected grade limits the marks available for technical demand, while a programme far above your secure level risks inaccuracy. The skill is to choose repertoire at or a little above the target standard that you can still perform musically and reliably.
What the marks reward
The assessment criteria reward several linked qualities. Accuracy covers playing the right notes and rhythms and keeping secure intonation (for singers and string players especially). Technical control covers fluency, evenness, control of tone and command of the instrument's techniques. Interpretation covers tempo, dynamics, phrasing and articulation chosen to suit the style. Communication covers the sense that you are performing to an audience, projecting the character of the music rather than just getting through it. The viva adds marks for musical understanding, your ability to talk accurately about your pieces.
Worked example: planning an AS recital
Examples in context
Example 1. A singer's AS recital. A mezzo chooses an English art song and a contrasting folk-song arrangement at about Grade 4. She secures intonation and clear diction first, then shapes dynamics and phrasing to bring out the text, and in the viva explains why she chose a gentle, unhurried tempo to let the words be heard. The contrast of styles shows range, and the considered interpretation earns marks beyond mere accuracy.
Example 2. A pianist's A2 recital. A pianist programmes a lyrical Romantic piece and a faster Baroque or Classical movement at about Grade 6, demonstrating both cantabile tone and crisp fingerwork. In the viva he discusses pedalling, articulation appropriate to each style, and how he practised a difficult passage, showing the musical understanding the examiner is listening for.
Try this
Q1. State the two components of CCEA Unit 1 Performing. [2 marks]
- Cue. A recorded solo recital, and a viva voce (spoken discussion) with the examiner.
Q2. What standard of repertoire is expected at AS and at A2? [2 marks]
- Cue. About Grade 4 at AS and about Grade 6 at A2.
Q3. Name three of the qualities the performing marks reward. [3 marks]
- Cue. Any three of: accuracy, technical control, interpretation (tempo, dynamics, phrasing, articulation), communication, and musical understanding in the viva.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA Unit 1 viva10 marksIn your viva voce the examiner asks you to discuss the interpretative choices you made in one of your recital pieces. Outline how you would structure a strong answer.Show worked answer →
Anchor the answer in the specific piece, not in generalities. A strong response names the work, its composer and its style period, then explains interpretation as a set of deliberate decisions you made and can justify.
Cover at least four interpretative dimensions. Tempo: the speed you chose and why it suits the character, for example a flowing Andante that lets a cantabile melody sing rather than rush. Dynamics and phrasing: where you shaped crescendos and how you breathed or lifted between phrases to show the structure. Articulation: your choices of legato, staccato or accent and how they reflect the style, for example detached, lightly pedalled playing for a Classical Mozart texture versus a warmer sustained Romantic line. Tone and balance: how you projected the melody over an accompaniment.
Then link these choices to the style and to the composer's markings, showing you understand the conventions of the period rather than playing on instinct alone. Finish by acknowledging the technical challenge a passage posed and how your practice solved it.
Markers reward specific, accurate musical vocabulary, decisions justified by reference to the style and score, and evidence of genuine musical understanding rather than vague description.
CCEA Unit 1 programme planning10 marksExplain how a candidate should choose a recital programme for the A2 performing unit to maximise their marks.Show worked answer →
The first principle is that the difficulty standard must be met. A2 expects a standard equivalent to about Grade 6, so every piece should sit at or just above that level. Choosing pieces that are too easy caps the technical-demand marks; choosing pieces far too hard risks insecurity and lost accuracy marks, so the candidate should select repertoire they can perform reliably and musically.
Second, contrast and variety help. A programme that mixes styles, tempos and moods (for example a lyrical slow movement and a faster, more technically brilliant piece) lets the candidate demonstrate a fuller range of technical control and interpretation than a single mood does.
Third, the programme must fit the time limit, so the candidate should time run-throughs and trim or extend to suit. Fourth, the candidate should play to their strengths, choosing pieces whose technical and expressive demands they can meet under recording conditions, because the recording is one continuous assessed performance.
Markers reward a programme judged at the right standard, contrast that shows range, attention to timing and an honest match between the candidate's ability and the repertoire chosen.
Related dot points
- The composing coursework (AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 2): one free-brief composition submitted as a recorded performance with an optional score, the freedom of style and resources, and how to develop musical ideas, structure and texture to meet the assessment criteria.
A CCEA A-Level Music overview of the Unit 2 composing coursework: the single free-brief composition, the freedom of style, resources and form, the recorded-performance submission with optional score, and how to develop ideas, structure, harmony and texture to meet the marking criteria across the AS and A2 years.
- The musical elements and harmonic language underpinning Responding to Music: the elements (melody, harmony, tonality, rhythm, metre, texture, timbre, dynamics, articulation, structure), diatonic chords and Roman-numeral and figured-bass labelling, keys and modulation to related keys, common devices, and reading a score, as applied across the Areas of Study.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the musical elements and harmonic language behind Responding to Music: melody, harmony, tonality, rhythm, metre, texture, timbre, dynamics and structure, diatonic chords with Roman-numeral and figured-bass labelling, keys and modulation to related keys, common devices, and how to read a score and apply this vocabulary across the Areas of Study.
- Area of Study: Music for Orchestra 1700-1900. The development of the orchestra and orchestral genres across the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, including the concerto grosso, the symphony, sonata form, the growth of the orchestra, and the stylistic features that identify each period in a listening and score-based exam.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the Area of Study Music for Orchestra 1700 to 1900: how the orchestra and its genres developed across the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, the concerto grosso, the Classical symphony and sonata form, the growth of the orchestra, and the stylistic features used to identify period and date music by ear and from a score.
- The AS test of aural perception: identifying intervals, chords, cadences, keys, metre and rhythm by ear, melodic and rhythmic dictation, recognising instruments, textures and devices, and spotting errors against a printed score, as examined in the AS Unit 3 aural paper.
A CCEA A-Level Music answer on the AS test of aural perception: recognising intervals, chords, cadences, keys and metre by ear, taking melodic and rhythmic dictation, identifying instruments, textures and devices, and detecting errors against a printed score, with the listening strategies the AS Unit 3 aural paper rewards.
Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCE Music specification (2016) — CCEA (2016)