Performing: SQA Higher Music coursework overview

The performance is one of the two coursework components of SQA Higher Music, alongside the composing assignment, and it carries the largest single share of the course marks. It is practical coursework, not part of the Understanding Music question paper: you prepare a programme of music over the year and present it in a recital. This page introduces the component and how it is assessed; the overview dot point covers it in depth.

What the performance involves

You prepare and present a programme of music pitched at the Higher level of difficulty, performed on one instrument or split across two (which may include voice). The programme is assessed in a recital, either live before a visiting assessor or by recording, on the accuracy and musicality of your playing.

How the performance is assessed

The recital is judged on accuracy and musicality together:

1. Accuracy. Correct notes and rhythms, secure technique and good intonation.
2. Musicality. Good tone, control of tempo and dynamics, phrasing and expression.
3. Level of difficulty. The repertoire must be pitched at the Higher level; secure, musical playing of suitably demanding pieces is what reaches the standard.
4. Choice of instruments. One instrument, or a programme split across two (or voice and an instrument), with the marks shared if two are used.

How to prepare

1. Choose your instrument option based on where your playing is strongest.
2. Select a programme at the right level - demanding but within secure control.
3. Practise for accuracy and musicality across the year.
4. Rehearse under recital conditions so the performance is fluent and expressive.

How performing connects to the course

A performer who understands the concepts plays more musically, and performing sharpens the ear for the listening paper. The three components - performing, composing and understanding music - reinforce one another.

For the official course specification

The SQA publishes the full Higher Music course specification and the coursework assessment task for the performance at sqa.org.uk. Always work from the current specification and coursework documents, because the requirements are board-specific.