MusicQ&A by dot point

Pop ballads: the slow tempo and emotional lyrics, the verse-chorus structure with a build to a big chorus and key change, piano or guitar accompaniment with strings, and expressive lead vocals, for Area of Study 5.

Rock and roll of the 1950s and 60s: the twelve-bar blues, a backbeat, walking bass and boogie-woogie patterns, the typical band line-up, and verse-chorus song forms, for Area of Study 5.

Rock anthems of the 1970s, 80s and 90s: the rock band line-up, distorted electric guitar, riffs and power chords, big choruses and hooks, the song structure with an instrumental solo, and production effects, for Area of Study 5.

Solo artists and pop production: the solo pop performer and their backing, the conventions of structure (intro, verse, chorus, bridge, hook, riff), and production techniques such as sampling, looping, drum machines, autotune and multitracking, for Area of Study 5.

Composing for a moving image: writing music to fit a scene, clip or brief, matching the mood and timing, using leitmotif and the elements, synchronising to the action, and developing ideas to fit a changing scene, for Area of Study 4.

Diegetic and non-diegetic music: source music the characters can hear versus the underscore they cannot, and techniques such as mickey-mousing where the music synchronises closely with on-screen action, for Area of Study 4.

Film music and the elements: how tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, harmony (consonance and dissonance), melody, texture and tonality are used to create mood, build tension and shape a scene, and the place of electronic and orchestral sound, for Area of Study 4.

Leitmotif and thematic writing: a recurring musical theme for a character, place, idea or emotion, and how it is varied (transposed, reharmonised, reorchestrated, fragmented) to reflect the story, for Area of Study 4.

The purpose of film music: setting mood and atmosphere, supporting the action and pace, establishing time and place, signalling character and emotion, and the underscore, title and source music, for Area of Study 4.

Composing techniques and the development of ideas across both components: generating material, development techniques (sequence, inversion, augmentation, fragmentation, reharmonisation), structuring a piece, and controlling the elements to fulfil a free or OCR-set brief.

Describing an unfamiliar extract for J536/05: a systematic method using the elements, placing the extract in its Area of Study, identifying signature features, and writing a concise, evidenced appraisal within the printed playings.

Performing skills and recording across both components: accuracy, interpretation and ensemble skills, the elements a performer controls, and how to capture a clean, balanced recording for solo and ensemble performances.

The elements of music vocabulary: melody, rhythm, harmony, tonality, texture, structure, timbre and instrumentation, dynamics and tempo (a MAD T-SHIRT style checklist), the terms for each, and how they are used to describe, perform and compose music.

The Integrated Portfolio (J536/01 or 02): the non-exam component worth 30%, containing one solo performance and one free-brief composition rooted in Area of Study 1, internally assessed and externally moderated, with the rules on length, recording and submission.

The Listening and Appraising exam (J536/05): the 40% written paper on Areas of Study 2 to 5, its aural, score-reading and appraisal question types, the extended-response appraisal, and exam technique for managing playings and writing concise, evidenced answers.

The Practical Component (J536/03 or 04): the non-exam component worth 30%, containing one ensemble performance and one composition to an OCR-set brief, internally assessed and externally moderated, and how it differs from the Integrated Portfolio.

The free-brief composition for the Integrated Portfolio: setting your own brief in a style you know, generating and developing musical ideas, controlling the elements to fit the intended effect, and submitting a score or written account plus a recording.

The solo performance for the Integrated Portfolio: choosing repertoire on your own instrument or voice, controlling accuracy and the elements (dynamics, articulation, phrasing, tempo), communicating an interpretation, and recording it to the OCR minimum length.

Area of Study 1 My Music: the candidate-centred area built on your own instrument, voice and chosen styles, examined only through the Integrated Portfolio (one solo performance plus one free-brief composition, worth 30%), not in the written paper.

Music technology in the Integrated Portfolio: sequencing and recording compositions in a DAW, capturing performances, using MIDI, multitracking and editing, and the option to perform or compose using technology as your instrument.

The music of Central and South America: samba (Brazil), salsa (Cuba and Latin America), and Caribbean calypso and soca, covering the clave, syncopation and interlocking percussion, and instruments such as the surdo, agogo, congas and steel pans, for Area of Study 3.

The music of India and the Indian subcontinent: Indian classical music (raga, tala, the drone), the sitar, tabla and tambura, and the popular dance style bhangra with the dhol, for Area of Study 3.

The music of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East: the maqam melodic system, odd and additive metres (7/8, 9/8), ornamented melody and improvisation, and instruments such as the oud, bouzouki and darbuka, for Area of Study 3.

The music of Africa: West African drumming and the role of percussion, polyrhythm and cross-rhythm, call and response, the master drummer and the ensemble, and instruments such as the djembe, dundun and balafon, for Area of Study 3.

Concerto instruments and texture across the period: the growth from the small Baroque string ensemble with continuo to the large Romantic orchestra, the changing solo instruments, and how texture (the solo-tutti contrast) develops, roughly 1650 to 1910.

Concerto structure across the period: the three-movement plan (fast, slow, fast), ritornello form in the Baroque, sonata and rondo forms in the Classical and Romantic concerto, and the place of the cadenza, across roughly 1650 to 1910.

Recognising the concerto by ear for J536/05: using forces, harmony, dynamics, structure and the cadenza to place an unfamiliar extract in the Baroque, Classical or Romantic period, and answering aural and appraisal questions on Area of Study 2.

The Baroque concerto (roughly 1650 to 1750): the concerto grosso and solo concerto, ritornello form, the basso continuo, terraced dynamics and small forces, with composers such as Corelli, Vivaldi and Bach.

The Classical concerto (roughly 1750 to 1820): the single soloist, the first-movement ritornello-sonata form, the cadenza, Alberti bass and balanced phrasing, the growing orchestra, with composers such as Haydn and Mozart.

The Romantic concerto (roughly 1820 to 1910): the virtuoso soloist, the large orchestra, expressive and chromatic harmony, wide dynamic and pitch range, rubato and lyricism, the integrated cadenza, with composers such as Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Grieg.