AQA GCSE Music areas of study overview quiz quiz

The Badinerie by J.S. Bach

The music of The Beatles, the strand for popular music

The music of Paul Simon, the strand for traditional music

A minimalist work by the composer Steve Reich

Paul Simon

The Beatles

Bach

Philip Glass

Phasing and additive rhythm, as found in minimalism

A verse and chorus structure, as found in popular music

Terraced dynamics and a basso continuo

A repeating 12-bar blues pattern over chords I, IV and V

Sonata form, with exposition and development

Ternary form, in an ABA pattern

A raga, the melodic framework

The 12-bar blues

A melodic framework of notes with its own mood

A repeating rhythmic cycle that the drummer plays throughout

A drone instrument that holds a steady note under the melody

A type of hand drum used to keep the beat in the music

Playing very loudly throughout the whole of the piece

Blending two or more musical traditions or styles

A sudden change of key in the middle of a section

Improvising a new melody freely over a set of chords

Terraced dynamics, with sudden steps up and down in volume

A basso continuo played by a keyboard and a bass instrument

Phasing and short repeated patterns with gradual change

Swing rhythms, where pairs of notes are played unevenly

A sudden loud chord used to make the audience jump

The music played over the opening credits of the film

A slow tempo marking written at the start of the score

A recurring theme linked to a character or idea

Organising all twelve chromatic notes into a fixed tone row

Music with a strong key centre and simple, traditional sounding harmony

Repeating a 12-bar chord pattern over and over throughout the piece

Adding a higher descant melody above the main tune of a song

Synthesiser

Harpsichord

Electric piano

Steel pan

The Western classical tradition 1650 to 1910

Popular music

Western classical music since 1910

Traditional music

Sitar and tabla, used in Indian classical music

Harpsichord and recorder, used in Baroque music

Steel pans and electric guitar, used in pop music

Djembe and other hand drums with polyrhythms