GCSE music comparison chart 2016
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© Incorporated Society of Musicians, Dr Alison Daubney, March 2016 GCSE Music (for first teaching in September 2016) The following pages provide an overview of the new and accredited GCSE Music qualifications. We have produced an overview to help you choose which awarding organisation’s new specification for GCSE Music will best suit your students and setting. The new GCSE is a 2‐year course of study, with an examination at the end. There are no specific entry requirements; it leads on from Key Stage 3 Music, which is good news for inclusion. This is specifically stated in the criteria from each awarding organisation. It is open to young musicians from all backgrounds and, to some extent, offers opportunities for them to explore their own musical interests. In essence the marks awarded come from three ‘activities’: This is a very similar structure to the current GCSE Music qualifications. Component Weighting (% of total marks) * Assessment Performing music (ensemble is compulsory) 30% Internally assessed, externally moderated Composing music (one piece to a brief set by awarding organisation, one piece to a brief chosen by the candidate) 30% Internally assessed, externally moderated ‘Testing’ pupils’ knowledge and understanding of music and their ability to listen to of appraise music through a written examination 40% Externally marked *These weightings have been fixed by Ofqual and are no longer flexible Areas of study In line with Ofqual requirements, each awarding organisation has selected four areas of study, all of which are examined. An additional Ofqual requirement is that at least one of these relates to the Western Classical tradition from 1650 to 1910. The areas of study are used in a variety of ways by the awarding organisations. The commonality is that all ‘examine’ the areas of study through the written / listening examination, taken at the end of the course. Some of the awarding organisations specify ‘set works’; others suggest a list of recommended listening / study or a combination of both. The current grading of A* – G is changing to numerical grading of 9–1. Grade 9 will be equivalent to A**, Grade 4 will be approximately equivalent to a Grade C Grade 1 will be equivalent to a Grade G.
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Each of the four awarding organisations (exam boards AQA, Edexcel/Pearson, OCR, and WJEC) offering GCSE Music have submitted their draft new GCSEs to the Government for approval. To help you prepare for September 2016, the ISM has worked with Dr Alison Daubney to produce a comparison chart of the four GCSE courses on offer.
Transcript of GCSE music comparison chart 2016
©IncorporatedSocietyofMusicians,DrAlisonDaubney,March2016
GCSEMusic(forfirstteachinginSeptember2016)ThefollowingpagesprovideanoverviewofthenewandaccreditedGCSEMusicqualifications.Wehaveproducedanoverviewtohelpyouchoosewhichawardingorganisation’snewspecificationforGCSEMusicwillbestsuityourstudentsandsetting.ThenewGCSEisa2‐yearcourseofstudy,withanexaminationattheend.Therearenospecificentryrequirements;itleadsonfromKeyStage3Music,whichisgoodnewsforinclusion.Thisisspecificallystatedinthecriteriafromeachawardingorganisation.Itisopentoyoungmusiciansfromallbackgroundsand,tosomeextent,offersopportunitiesforthemtoexploretheirownmusicalinterests.Inessencethemarksawardedcomefromthree‘activities’:ThisisaverysimilarstructuretothecurrentGCSEMusicqualifications.
Component Weighting(%
oftotalmarks)*
Assessment
Performingmusic(ensembleiscompulsory)
30% Internallyassessed,externallymoderated
Composingmusic(onepiecetoabriefsetbyawardingorganisation,onepiecetoabriefchosenbythecandidate)
30% Internallyassessed,externallymoderated
‘Testing’pupils’knowledgeandunderstandingofmusicandtheirabilitytolistentoofappraisemusicthroughawrittenexamination
40% Externallymarked
*TheseweightingshavebeenfixedbyOfqualandarenolongerflexibleAreasofstudyInlinewithOfqualrequirements,eachawardingorganisationhasselectedfourareasofstudy,allofwhichareexamined.AnadditionalOfqualrequirementisthatatleastoneoftheserelatestotheWesternClassicaltraditionfrom1650to1910.Theareasofstudyareusedinavarietyofwaysbytheawardingorganisations.Thecommonalityisthatall‘examine’theareasofstudythroughthewritten/listeningexamination,takenattheendofthecourse.Someoftheawardingorganisationsspecify‘setworks’;otherssuggestalistofrecommendedlistening/studyoracombinationofboth.
ThecurrentgradingofA*–Gischangingtonumericalgradingof9–1.Grade9willbeequivalenttoA**,Grade4willbeapproximatelyequivalenttoaGradeCGrade1willbeequivalenttoaGradeG.
©IncorporatedSocietyofMusicians,DrAlisonDaubney,March2016
AreasofStudyandsetworks
AQA
WesternClassicalTradition1650‐1910 *Haydn:Symphony101inDmajorTheClock,movt.2
PopularmusicTheBeatles:Sgt.Pepper’sLonelyHeartsClubBand–thefollowingthreetracks:
WithaLittleHelpfrommyFriends
WithinYou,WithoutYou
LucyintheSkywithDiamonds.
TraditionalmusicSantana:Supernatural–thefollowingthreetracks:
Smooth
Migra,Migra
LoveofmyLife.
WesternClassicalTraditionsince1910
AaronCopland:SaturdayNightWaltzandHoedownfromRodeo
Edexcel
(each area of study also has
four works indicated for wider listening)
Instrumentalmusic1700‐1820
JSBach:3rdMovementfromBrandenburgConcertono.5inDmajor
LvanBeethoven:1stMovementfromPianoSonatano.8inCminor‘Pathetique’
VocalmusicHPurcell:MusicforaWhile
Queen:KillerQueen(fromthealbumSheerHeartAttack)
Musicforstageandscreen
SSchwartz:DefyingGravity(fromthealbumofthecastrecordingofWicked)
JWilliams:Maintitle/rebelblockaderunner(fromthesoundtracktoStarWarsEpisodeIV:ANewHope)
FusionsAfroCeltSoundSystem:Release(fromthealbumVolume2:Release)
EsperanzaSpalding:SambaEmPreludio(fromthealbumEsperanza)
OCR
Myinstrument Suggestedrepertoire,nosetworks.Anoteinthespecificationalsostates:“teachersshouldfeelfreetolookatavarietyofcomposersandstylesoftheirchoicetocovertherequiredcontent”.
TheConcertothroughtime
Rhythmsoftheworld
Filmmusic
ConventionsofpopWJEC Eduqas (wider
listening required
for all AoS).
Musicalformsanddevices(WesternClassicalTradition1650‐1910)
WAMozart:EineKleineNachtmusik,Movement3,Minuet(includingtheTrio):(1787)
Musicforensemble Suggestedrepertoire,no setworks
Filmmusic Suggestedrepertoire,no setworks
Popularmusic Rainbow:SinceYou’veBeenGone:(released1979)
©IncorporatedSocietyofMusicians,DrAlisonDaubney,March2016
1.Performing/realisingmusic(30%ofmarks) Thisisinternallymarkedandexternallymoderated. Theperformancescantakeplaceanytimeduringthefinalyearofthecourseanddo
nothavetotakeplaceonthesameday. Ateacherwhosignstheauthenticationsheetmustbepresentinordertoverifythe
performance,butthisdoesnothavetotakeplaceinschool.Audiorecordingsmustbesubmitted.
Allcandidatesarerequiredtoperformaminimumoftwopieces.Thesedonothavetobeonthesameinstrument.
Someawardingorganisationsallowcandidatestoperformtheirowncompositionaspartoftheperformancecomponent,althoughthereisnospecificadvantagetodoingso.OCRonlypermitacandidate’scompositiontobepartoftheensembleperformanceinthepracticalcomponent;othermusicperformedmustbe‘commerciallypublishedorrecordedpieces’.
Oneensembleperformance(minimumduration1minute)percandidateiscompulsory.Therequirementsaboutsoloandensemblefortheotherpiece(s)varybetweentheboards;butWJECEduqasandOCRdonotinsistonsoloperformance.
An‘ensemble’is2ormoreplayers(max8forsomeboards).Thereshouldnotbesignificantdoublingofthepartbeingassessed.
Allspecificationsallowmorethantwopiecestobemarkedaspartoftheperformancecomponent.Thisaffectshowmarksareawardedandvariesbetweenawardingorganisations.
Theminimumdurationfortheportfolioofpiecespresentedbyacandidateis4minutes.AsstipulatedbyOfqual,iflessthan4minutes,zeromarkswillbeawarded.
Theminimumdurationofoneensemblepieceis1minute.ThisisanOfqualrequirement.
Anyinstrument,voices,musictechnology,DJ‐ing,MC‐ingandrealisingusingmusictechnologyareacceptable.Improvisationisalsoacceptable.However,therearedifferencesinexpectationsaboutwhatneedstobeperformedlive.
Thereisvariationinwhethertheawardingorganisationsexpectthechoiceofrepertoiretolinktotheareasofstudy.Eduqasdo–theothersdonot.
Allawardingorganisationshavegridsto‘scale’marksdependinguponthe‘difficulty’ofthemusicperformed/realised.Effectivelytheseare:
o Belowstandard (approx.grade2andbelow)o Standard (approx.grade3forWJECEduqas,grade4forEdexcel)o Abovestandard (approx.grades4‐5)
Specificcriteriaaboutstandardsaresetoutforthoseusingmusictechnologytorealisemusic.
Allinstrumentsappeartobeacceptable;theteacherneedstoworkouttherelative‘standard’ofpieceschosenwherethereisnoguidancegivenforaspecificinstrument.
Supportingdocumentationmustbesubmittedintheformofascore,leadsheet,chordchart,annotation,guiderecordingetc.Therequirementsslightlyvarybetweentheawardingorganisations.
©IncorporatedSocietyofMusicians,DrAlisonDaubney,March2016
Performancerequirements–anoverviewAQA Edexcel OCR WJEC Eduqas
Requirements Minimumoftwopieces1ensemble1solo(ensemblemustincludeatleastonepiecewhichisaminimumof1minuteduration)
Minimumof2pieces:1ensemble1solo(bothsoloandensemblemustincludeatleastonepiecewhichisaminimumof1minuteduration)
Minimumof2pieces1ensemble(min1minute);other(s)canbesoloorensemble(Minimum4minsbutthisdoesnotneedtobeevenlydistributedineachcomponentsolongasensembleperformanceinpracticalcomponentismin1minute)
Minimumof2pieces1ensembleother(s)canbesoloorensemble
Maximumsuggestedperformanceduration
7minutes Notspecified Notspecified 6minutes (itcanbelongerbutonlyfirst6minsmoderated)
LinktoAreasofStudy No No No Onepiecemustlinktoanareaofstudy
Marksawardedfor: ‐ levelofdemand‐accuracy‐expressionandinterpretation
‐technicalcontrol‐accuracyandfluency‐expressionandinterpretationEnsembleandsolohaveequalweighting. Ifastudenthaschosentoperformmorethanonepieceofmusicforeithertheirsoloorensembleperformance,theteacherassessingmustapplyadifficultyleveltothewholeperformancebasedonanaverage,althoughtakingintoconsiderationtherelativelengthofpieceswheretheselengthsareunbalanced.
‐ difficulty (max6marks)‐technicalcontrolandfluency(max12marks)‐expressionandinterpretation(max12marks)Topmarkband(10‐12)notavailableunlessdifficultyexceeds2.
‐ accuracy(max12marks)‐ technicalcontrol(12marks)‐ expressionandinterpretation(12marks)Therawmarksareappliedtoagridforlevelsofdifficulty.
Othernotes Ifperformingmorethanonepieceofmusicaspartoftheirsoloand/orensembleperformances,thepiecesofmusicmustbeperformedandrecordedtogether.Ifstudentswishtore‐recordaperformancebeforesubmission,theymustre‐recordthewholeperformance(eithersoloorensemble),andnotjustpartofit.
‘Performance’fallswithin twoseparate‘components’:1. integratedportfolio
(performanceonlearner’schoseninstrument,ensembleorsolo)
2. Practicalcomponent(ensembleperformance)
Wheremorethantwopiecesareoffered,thetotalmarkisdividedbythenumberofpiecesandmultipliedbytwo,toachieveafinalmarkoutof72.
©IncorporatedSocietyofMusicians,DrAlisonDaubney,March2016
2.Composingmusic(30%ofmarks)
Thisisinternallymarkedandexternallymoderated. InlinewithOfqualrequirements,aminimumoftwopiecesmustbecomposed.
o Onepiecemustbetorespondtoabriefsetbytheawardingorganisation.Theawardingorganisationmustprovideachoiceofbriefs.
o Onepiecemustbelefttothefreechoiceofthecandidate. Allawardingorganisationsmustofferachoiceofbrief. BriefswillbereleasedbyawardingorganisationsinearlySeptemberoftheschoolyear
inwhichthecoursewillbecompleted.Releasedatesvaryslightly. InlinewithOfqualrequirements,eachawardingorganisationhassetaminimumtime
durationof3minutesforthetotallengthofthecompositions.Someawardingorganisationshavealsosetamaximumdurationasaguideline.
Theawardingorganisationsstipulatedifferentthingsabouttheawardingofmarksshouldthetotaldurationofcompositionscometolessthan3minutes.AllawardingorganisationswiththeexceptionofWJECEduqasawardzeromarksiftheportfolioisundertime–WJECEduqasdeductmarksonaslidingscale.
Allawardingorganisationsexpectarecordingofthepiecestobesubmitted.Thesedonothavetobeperformedbythecandidateandtheyarenotmarkedforthequalityoftheperformance,onlythequalityofthecomposition.
Ascore,chordsheetoroutlineisrequired,althoughthisisnotusuallyreflectedinthemarkawarded.
Someawardingorganisationsexpectthatthecompositiontothebriefsetbytheawardingorganisationmustbecarriedoutundersupervisedconditions.Othersdonotspecifythis.[OCR‐supervisedconditionsbutnotimelimitation;Edexcel–controlledconditions,minimumof5hours;AQAdonotimposerestrictions,otherthanthattheteachermustauthenticatetheperformance;Eduqas–teachermustsignthecomposinglogatthreedifferenttimestoauthenticatetheperformancebutnootherrestrictions].
Someofbriefssetbyawardingorganisationslinktoareasofstudy. Thebriefsdesignedbystudentsneedtobesubmittedwiththerecordings.Mostofthe
awardingorganisationsaskfortheoccasionandaudiencetobedefined,aswellas‘themusicaldetails’.
©IncorporatedSocietyofMusicians,DrAlisonDaubney,March2016
Overviewofcomposingrequirements–twocompositions(1briefsetbyawardingorganisation,theotherbythecandidate) Marksawardedfor: Notesofthebriefs Otherrequirements/pointsworthy
ofnotingAQA creativeandeffectiveselectionanduse
ofmusicalelements appropriateselectionanduseof
musicalelements(tothecompositionalintention)
technicalandexpressivecontrolintheuseofmusicalelements.
Eachcompositionmustdemonstrateselectionanduseofatleastfourtypesofmusicalelementasfollows:
atleasttwoofrhythm,metre,texture,melody,structure,form
atleasttwoofharmony,tonality,timbre,dynamics,phrasing,articulation.
Compositionscanbecomposedinanystyleorgenretobestreflecttheskills,strengthsandinterestsoftheindividualstudents.Briefswillincludedifferentstimuliwhichmayinclude:Writtenwords,poemsorapieceoftextPhotographsimagesorfilmNotation
Edexcel Developingmusicalideas Demonstratingtechnicalcontrol Composingwithmusicalcoherence
TherewillbeachoiceoffourbriefssetbyEdexcel.Thesewillrelatetotheareasofstudy.
Eachcompositionmustbeatleastoneminuteinlength.Twocompositionsmustcometoatleast3minutescombined.
Studentsmustworkontheircompositionsundercontrolledconditionsforatleastfivehours.Thismustincludethefinalwriteupoftheircompositions,andcanincludeanyresearchanddevelopmenttime.Ascoremustbesubmittedbutnomarksareawardedforthis.
OCR Learnersareassessedontheirabilitytodevelopmusicalideas,useconventionsandtechniques,explorethepotentialofmusicalstructuresandresources,useofmusicalelements.
Holisticmarksareawardedoutof30forthefreechoicecomposition.Thebriefsetbytheexamboardhastwocomponents–amarkoutof6formeetingthebriefandaholisticmarkoutof24forthepiece.
ThecompositiontoabriefsetbyOCRwillbelinkedtoanareaofstudy.
Candidateswillberequiredtorespondtoabriefusingoneofthefollowingasastimulus:AchoiceoftworhythmicphrasesAchoiceoftwonotepatternsAfourlinestanzaofwordsAchordsequenceAshortstory
Animage
WJECEduqas
Creativityanddevelopmentofmusicalideas
Technicalcontrolofmusicalelementsandresources
Structureandstylisticcoherence
Therewillbeachoiceoffourbriefs,onelinkedtoeachareaofstudy.
Allsecondarysourcematerials,suchasmusicalquotesorpre‐composedsamples,mustbeclearlyacknowledgedandanyworkwhichisnotentirelythatofthelearnermustbeidentified.Acompositionlogmustbesubmitted.
©IncorporatedSocietyofMusicians,DrAlisonDaubney,March2016
Listening/understanding/appraising(40%ofmarks)EachoftheawardingorganisationshasaslightlydifferenttitleforthissectionoftheGCSE.Itisthecomponentinwhichafinalexaminationwillbetakenattheendofthetwo‐yearcourse.AsdefinedbyOfqual,theknowledgeandunderstandingisdefinedaroundmusicalelements,musicalcontextsandmusicallanguage.Eachawardingorganisationprovidesadetailedlistofterms.Musicalelements melody
harmony tonality formandstructure dynamics sonority texture tempo rhythm metre
Musicalcontexts thepurposeandintentionofcomposers,performersandthosewhocommissionmusic
theeffectoftheoccasion,audienceandchoiceofvenueonthewaymusiciscomposedandperformed
howmusiciscreated,developedandperformedindifferentsocial,historicalandculturalcontexts
Musicallanguage readingandwritingtrebleandbassclefstaffnotationinsimpletime
readingtrebleandbassclefstaffnotationincompoundtime chordsymbols,e.g.G7 keysignaturestofoursharpsandflats musicalvocabularyrelatedtoareasofstudy
InlinewithanotherOfqualrequirements,thisexaminationmustincludesomeexamplesofmusicwhichhavenotbeenstudiedassetworks.
AQAofferschoiceabouttheareaofstudychosenforthesecondpartofquestionsoncontextualunderstanding.Thisisbaseduponthestudypieceforthisareaofstudy.
‘Longanswer’questionsvarybetweenthespecificationsintermsofa)whatpercentageofthemarkstheyareworthandb)whethertheyrelatetomusichearintheexamination,orknowledgeandunderstandingofsetworks.
OCRSpecimenpaperawards9marksforonelonganswerquestionand6foranother.Edexcel‐12marksforlonganswerquestioncomparingsetworkandanunfamiliarpiece.WJECEduqasspecimenpaper10marksforlonganswerquestion.Relatingelements,purposeandintentiontoapieceofmusiclistenedtoonfilmmusic.AQA–Twoquestionsof8marksinthesecondhalfofthepaper(onecompulsory,onechosenbythecandidatebaseduponachoiceofthreerelatingtothesetworks).Thesearenotlinkedtoalisteningexamplebutareinsteadbaseduponcandidate’sknowledgeandunderstandingofthesetworks.
©IncorporatedSocietyofMusicians,DrAlisonDaubney,March2016
Listening/appraising/understandingexamination Total
durationTotalmarksavailable
Overview Description Additionalpoints
AQA 1hr30mins 96 SectionA–listening(68marks)
eightcompulsoryquestionscoveringallareasofstudy–itwillbebaseduponunheardworks
AQAhave“createdclassroomperformanceeditionsofGCSEstudypiecessotheycanbeplayedbyanyinstrument,inanycombination.”
SectionB‐contextualunderstanding(28marks)
foursetsoflinkedquestionsonthestudypieces,twocompulsory(oneoftheseislinkedtoareaofstudy1)andtheotherbasedonanareaofstudyofthecandidate’schoice
Edexcel 1hr45mins 80 SectionA–Areasofstudy,dictation,andunfamiliarpieces(68marks)
‐Sixquestionsrelatedto6ofthe8setworks‐Oneshortmelody/rhythmcompletionexercise(worth6‐10marks)‐Onequestiononanunfamiliarpiece(skeletonscoreprovided)withquestionsonitsmusicalelements,musicalcontextsandmusicallanguage
SectionB–Extendedresponsecomparisonbetweenasetworkandoneunfamiliarpiece(12marks)
‐onequestionthataskscandidatestocompareand/orevaluatethemusicalelementsandmusicallanguageofonesetworkwithoneunfamiliarpieceofmusic
assessedforqualityofmusicalknowledgeandunderstandingdemonstratedaswellasthequalityoftheevaluationandconclusion
©IncorporatedSocietyofMusicians,DrAlisonDaubney,March2016
OCR 1hr30mins 80 Multiplechoice,singleorshortanswer,questionsthatrequireanextendedresponse
Examinationbasedaround:MusicalelementsMusicalcontextsMusicallanguage
Areasofstudy2‐5willbeexamined:TheConcertothroughtimeRhythmsoftheworldFilmmusicConventionsofpop
WJECEduqas
1hr15mins 96marks Eightquestionsintotal.Sixquestionsonunpreparedmusicalextractsandtwoquestionsonpreparedmusicalextracts(seeabove‐MozartandRainbow)
Examinationisdesignedforstudentstoshowknowledgeandunderstandingof:MusicalelementsMusicalcontextsMusicallanguageTherearesetworksforAOS1andAOS4.
Eachmusicalextractwillbelinkedtooneoffourareasofstudy:1.MusicalFormsandDevices2.MusicforEnsemble3.MusicforFilm4.PopularMusic
©IncorporatedSocietyofMusicians,DrAlisonDaubney,March2016
WheretofindfurtherinformationAwardingorganisation
Website
Wheretofindspecificationsandsupportmaterials
AQA www.aqa.org.uk http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/music/gcse/music‐8271
Edexcel www.qualifications.pearson.com http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel‐gcses/music‐2016.html
OCR www.ocr.org.uk http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse‐music‐j536‐from‐2016/
WJECEduqas
www.eduqas.co.uk http://www.eduqas.co.uk/qualifications/music/gcse/
