Music syllabus, dot point by dot point

The Area of Study 1 set work for first assessment 2026, Beethoven Symphony No. 1 in C major Op. 21 first movement (Adagio molto - Allegro con brio), its slow introduction, sonata form, harmony, tonality, texture, orchestration and Classical context, as examined in Section B of the listening paper.

Popular music, including pop, rock, jazz, blues, musical theatre and film and computer game music, their instruments, structures and techniques, and the AQA strand of study based on the music of The Beatles.

Traditional music, including blues and folk, world music such as Indian raga, African drumming and Caribbean styles, their instruments, scales and rhythms, and the AQA strand of study based on the music of Paul Simon.

Western classical music since 1910, including expressionism, neoclassicism, minimalism, serialism and experimental techniques, their distinctive harmony, rhythm and textures, and how twentieth and twenty-first century composers broke with earlier traditions.

The Western classical tradition 1650 to 1910, including the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, their characteristic forms, harmony and instrumentation, and the set work the Badinerie for the AQA strand of study.

Composing to a brief, including responding to the externally set AQA brief, understanding the brief and its restrictions, planning the structure and elements, meeting the minimum length, and notating or recording the finished composition.

Developing musical ideas, including techniques such as repetition, sequence, inversion, augmentation and diminution, transposition, modulation, variation of texture and instrumentation, and how to build a coherent composition from a motif.

Free composition, including choosing your own style and resources, generating original musical ideas, the minimum length, balancing creativity with technical control, and notating or recording the piece to meet the assessment criteria.

Analysing unfamiliar music, including identifying the elements at work, recognising the area of study and likely period or style, reading from a skeleton score, and answering short, dictation and extended listening questions in the exam.

Comparing pieces of music, including identifying similarities and differences across the elements, structuring a comparison answer, comparing a set work with an unfamiliar extract, and using comparative language to gain extended-answer marks.

Using musical vocabulary accurately, including the technical terms for each element, Italian tempo and dynamic markings, and how to write precise extended answers that name features and give evidence rather than vague description.

Harmony and tonality, including chords and their qualities, primary and secondary triads, cadences, consonance and dissonance, major, minor, modal and atonal tonality, keys, modulation and the use of pedals and drones.

Pitch and how melodies are built, including conjunct and disjunct movement, intervals, scales and modes, ornaments, sequence, imitation, and melodic devices used across the four areas of study.

Pulse, tempo, metre and time signatures, note and rest values, rhythmic devices such as syncopation, dotted rhythms, triplets, swing and rubato, and how rhythm is used and developed across all four areas of study.

Structure and form, including binary, ternary, rondo, theme and variations, strophic and through-composed forms, verse and chorus, sonata form ideas, and devices such as repetition, contrast, ostinato and call and response across the four areas of study.

Texture and dynamics, including monophonic, homophonic and polyphonic textures, unison, octaves, layering, dynamic levels and Italian markings, articulation, and how texture and dynamics are used across the four areas of study.

Timbre and instrumentation, including the families of the orchestra, voices, keyboard, rock and pop instruments, world instruments, playing techniques and effects, and how tone colour is used across the four areas of study.

Interpretation and technique in performance, including accuracy, fluency, tone, control and intonation, expressive use of dynamics, phrasing, tempo and articulation, communicating the style, and how to prepare and rehearse a polished performance.

Solo and ensemble performance, including the minimum four minutes of music, the solo and ensemble requirements, the grade and difficulty expectations, recording the performance, and how the marks are awarded across the criteria.