Listening exam

For the GCSE music listening exam you will be expected to...

Perceive..

• The relationship between sound and symbol,

Identify..

• Rhythm, tempo, metre,
• Pitch, tonality,
• Articulation and phrasing, timbre, cadences,
• Textures such as chordal, contrapuntal,
• Dynamics, musical terms and signs,
• Instruments and voices (singly and in combination),
• Musical devices such as imitation, ostinato, sequence,
• Syncopation, canon and pedal points,
• Musical forms such as binary, ternary, rondo, variations and dance forms,

Relate..

• These elements to the distinctive features of the following musical periods/styles setting them in the context of the evolution of music: western art music from 1550 to the present day i.e.
• Renaissance,
• Baroque,
• Classical,
• Romantic,
• Nationalist,
• Impressionist,
• 20th-century; well-known styles of jazz, pop and contemporary music, folk music of the British Isles and the traditional music of North and West Africa, Central and Southern America, including the Caribbean, and the North Indian Classical tradition.

Translate..

• Sound into notation, e.g. to write down a simple melody in a major key and/or complete the notation of a simple instrumental or vocal excerpt in a major key.

Compare..

• Different arrangements of the same music and different musics, showing awareness of music in different periods and styles and of the context in which the music was composed.

Comment..

• On detail of performance including performance practice, interpretation and articulation using appropriate musical vocabulary.