AQA GCSE Music performing overview quiz quiz

20%

30%

40%

50%

Two minutes

Three minutes

Four minutes

Six minutes

30 seconds

Two minutes

Three minutes

One minute

Grade 3

Grade 1

Grade 6

Grade 8

It must double another player exactly, note for note, all the way through

It must be an independent part the examiner can hear

It must be the loudest part

It must be played alone

Volume and speed

Difficulty and length only

Accuracy and fluency, and expression and interpretation

The quality of the notation and the clarity of the audio recording made

Playing as fast as possible

Ignoring the written dynamics

Always choosing the hardest possible piece available to you

Accurate intonation and a steady tempo

Shaping phrases and using dynamics expressively

Playing every single note at exactly the same flat volume

Stopping to restart difficult bars

Ignoring the style of the piece

They are sat as a live one-off exam in front of a visiting AQA examiner on the day

They are recorded during the course and a sample is moderated by AQA

They are written out as a score only

They are not assessed at all

Difficulty is ignored in the marking

Easier pieces always score full marks

Accuracy matters, and a controlled piece often scores better than a botched harder one

The examiner only ever listens to the very first bar of the piece and ignores all the rest