MusicQ&A by dot point

Composing (Component 2, non-examined assessment): two compositions of 4 to 6 minutes total, one written in response to a WJEC set brief and one a free composition, assessed for handling of musical elements, structure and idiomatic writing, submitted with a score or written account and a recording.

Melody and harmony: describing melodic features (conjunct and disjunct motion, range, sequence, ornamentation, phrasing, motif), chords and progressions, consonance and dissonance, and the difference between diatonic, chromatic and modal harmony, applied to listening extracts in any style.

Rhythm, texture and sonority: describing rhythm and metre (note values, syncopation, dotted rhythms, hemiola, time signatures), texture (monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic, antiphonal), and sonority and dynamics (instrumental and vocal timbre, articulation, tempo), applied to listening extracts in any style.

Tonality and structure: identifying major, minor, modal and atonal tonality, key relationships and modulation, and recognising musical structures (binary, ternary, rondo, sonata, variations, verse-chorus, head-solos-head, strophic, through-composed), applied to listening extracts in any style.

Into the Twentieth Century area of study: the features of early twentieth-century music including impressionism (whole-tone and modal scales, parallel chords, blurred tonality, rich colour) and neoclassicism, analysed through set works by Debussy and Poulenc.

Into the Twenty-first Century area of study: the features of contemporary art music including complex rhythm and metre, post-tonal and eclectic harmony, extended techniques, varied textures and the mixing of styles, analysed through set works by Thomas Ades and Sally Beamish.

Jazz area of study: the features of jazz including swing rhythm, improvisation, the head-solos-head structure, extended and altered chords (sevenths, ninths), the walking bass and comping, blues influence, and the main styles, recognised in listening extracts.

Musical Theatre area of study: the song types (solo number, duet, ensemble, chorus), the use of music to convey character and drama, leitmotif and underscoring, the pit-orchestra forces and the conventions of the genre, recognised in listening extracts.

Rock and Pop area of study: the musical features of rock and pop, including verse-chorus structure, chord-based harmony and riffs, the standard band line-up, vocal and instrumental styles, and production, recognised and described in listening extracts.

Performing (Component 1, non-examined assessment): a recorded recital of 10 to 12 minutes on one or more instruments or voice, assessed for accuracy, technical control, interpretation and communication, with a choice of solo and ensemble routes.

Harmony and tonality in the symphony: diatonic functional harmony, chords and inversions, cadences, modulation to related keys, the tonic and dominant axis of sonata form, and chromatic colour, applied to the Haydn and Mendelssohn set works.

Haydn Symphony No. 104 in D major, the London Symphony (set work): the four movements, the slow introduction and sonata-form first movement, the songful slow movement, the minuet and trio, and the rondo-sonata finale, with their structure, orchestration and harmony.

Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 in A major, the Italian Symphony (set work): the four movements, the energetic sonata-form first movement, the processional slow movement, the graceful third movement, and the saltarello finale, with their structure, orchestration, harmony and early Romantic features.

The development of the symphony 1750 to 1900: the rise of the four-movement Classical symphony, sonata form, the growth of the orchestra, and the move towards the larger, more expressive Romantic symphony, the compulsory Area of Study A context for the WJEC set works.