Offers you the opportunity to develop your ability to use musical devises and conventions through composition.
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Exam Board: AQA
At Bosworth, A-level Music offers you the opportunity to develop your ability to use musical devises and conventions through composition, engage with and increase awareness and appreciation of the diverse heritage of music, and develop critical evaluation skills through appraising your own and other’s music.
Entry Requirements
Ideally, to study A-level Music you will have a good pass at GCSE level. Alternatively, you have musical experience separate to your academic studies and thus have a good grounding in musical theory and are a strong performer in either instrumental or vocal music.
We follow the AQA syllabus in which are three sections: composing, performing and appraising. The music appraising covers a compulsory Western Classical section such as Baroque concerto, Mozart Operas and Romantic piano music of Chopin, Brahms and Grieg.
There are six areas of ‘Personal Study’ from which students must choose two. The areas are:
Pop Music – Daft Punk, Beyoncé and Stevie Wonder
Media and Film Music – Bernard Hermann, Hans Zimmer and Thomas Newman
Theatre Music – Kurt Weil to Steven Sondheim
Jazz Music – Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis
Contemporary & Traditional Music groups – Bellow Head and Anoushka Shankar
Art Music – since 1910 with the exciting Shostakovich and Steve Reich
A music degree can lead to a range of exciting career options, including becoming a professional musician, sound technician, music therapist, teacher or arts administrator. It can also lead to work in radio, theatre and events management.
The course is assessed on three key skills of Performance, Composition and Appraising.
Performance and Composition are assessed via course work. The Performance element consists of a ten-minute recital recorded in-house. This can include an ensemble or IT performance.
The Composition element requires two composed pieces in response to briefs, self-set free style and one set by the examining board.
Listening and Appraising is a two-hour written paper at the end of the course, asking you to respond to aural pieces with a mix of multiple choice, short and long written answers. In these questions you must analyse and evaluate both familiar and unfamiliar pieces of music, plus write with knowledge on your chosen ‘Personal Study’.
Apply online using our application form or download the form and
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