Music

Why study Music? 

Music GCSE is an interesting, challenging and inspiring course. You will improve your understanding of all types of music, and how it is created, developing a lifelong love of music. There are also many benefits of studying music at this level, for example encouraging emotional development, aural appreciation, self-discipline, and creativity.

What does the course involve? 

The course is split into three units: performing, composing and understanding music. 

Pupils will study four areas: Western Classical Tradition 1650-1910, Popular Music, Traditional Music and Western Classical Music since 1910. This creates a huge amount of variety, with everything from Mozart to Musical Theatre, and Bach to Blues!

How is the course assessed? 

Performance is worth 30% of the marks and is assessed via the performance of one solo and one ensemble piece. These are recorded in March of Year 11 and should last for around 4 minutes. As such, there is an expectation that girls will have in-school individual lessons on their instrument, voice or Music Technology. 

Composition is also worth 30% of the marks and is assessed through two compositions. Whilst one composition is completely free, the other is in response to a brief, a choice of which is set by AQA. 

Understanding Music is assessed through a listening exam paper (40%), with listening exercises and written questions using excerpts of music.

What can a GCSE in Music lead to?  

Of course, the immediate benefit is that you can go on to study Music even further, through one of our two A Level courses. Music is a highly respected course, both at GCSE and A Level. Universities think very highly of musicians based on the variety and depth of the skills that they will usually have, including working at a very high level academically. 

What skills does the Music Course develop?

In addition to the musical skills, you will also develop skills in areas such as independent learning, self-management, teamwork, problem-solving, communication and creativity.