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TBSHS A Level Music Bridging Unit 2021

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the start of your journey in A Level Music. This Bridging Unit has been designed to help you

make a smooth crossing from GCSE over to A Level, providing you with the structure and direction

needed in order to hit the ground running in September. You have been provided with opportunities to

develop your skills and knowledge across the three main aspects of the course (Performance,

Composition, and Appraisal) along with a series of compulsory tasks. You will be expected to hand in all

work in September, and also to demonstrate what you have learned, through further initial assessments.

You should print this workbook off, but will also need it in electronic form in order to access the links.

OVERVIEW OF WORK

Component Task When to complete

1. Appraising

Music

o Range of podcast/playlist/opera listening

o Suggested reading

o Aural analysis

o Essay analysis

o Analytical writing

o June-Sept

o June-Sept

o Late August*

o Late August*

o Late August*

2. Performance o Recital Research and Preparation

o Practise

o Analysis of exemplar work

o Early June

o Every day (30 mins)

o June/July

3. Composition o Completion of harmony exercises

o Analysis of exemplar work

o June-July

o June-July

*Should be completed between results day and returning to school

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Component 1 Appraising Music

WHAT IS GOOD LISTENING?

To succeed at A Level Music, you will need to become an expert listener. You may already feel that you

are a great listener, after all, you probably spend a significant amount of your time listening to music.

However, A Level Music demands more than just passive, ‘sat on the sofa with your feet up’ listening. You

need to become a critical, analytical and curious listener, who can dissect a piece of music with their ears.

Curiosity is the beginning of becoming an expert in any field. High level performers always ask themselves

the following types of question:

How was that achieved?

How could it be improved?

What effect would it have if I changed this aspect?

Why does that work? Why does that not work?

Through critical questioning, you will develop high quality knowledge and understanding, moving you

ever closer to the levels of expertise needed at A Level.

TASK 1 – LISTENING; JUNE - SEPT

Throughout the summer, you should challenge yourself to listen to an ever increasing range and variety

of music. This means planning in time, finding good quality headphones/speakers and listening critically

to the music. You should also read around the music that you listen to; gaining an understanding of the

context of a piece can be vital in fully appreciating a composers’ intentions, and the extent to which you

think they succeeded. Use the following range of resources as a starting point and get listening:

SPOTIFY

AQA Area of Study 1 Playlist

YOUTUBE

London Symphony Orchestra

AQA Areas of Study Playlist

PODCASTS

The Listening Service

Composer of the Week

Song Exploder

San Francisco Symphony Orchestra – Programme Notes

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TASK 2 – SUGGESTED READING; JUNE-SEPT

Just as crucial in developing your ability as a musicologist is extending your frames of reference through

extensive reading. There is no specific required reading for this course, however I have included some

highly recommended books below, which will certainly help to increase your knowledge base in advance

of the A Level course starting in September.

The Story of Music – Howard Goodall How Music Works – John Powell

Music: A Very Short Introduction – Nicholas Cook Listen to This – Alex Ross

Yeah Yeah Yeah – Bob Stanley A Level Music Study Guide – Knight/Bristow

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TASK 3 – AURAL ANALYSIS; POST-RESULTS DAY

Using this recording and the score on page 5, answer the following questions:

1. What key is the piece of music in?

2. Identify the chords (letter names) played on the following beats:

Bar 3, beat 4, 1st quaver

Bar 3, beat 4, 2nd quaver

Bar 14, beat 1

Bar 22, beat 1

3. Identify the key at bar 20

4. Identify the following cadences (perfect, imperfect, plagal, interrupted)

Bar 3, beat 4 – bar 4, beat 1

Bar 7, beat 1 + 2 – Bar 7 beat 3

Bar 22 – bar 23

5. Identify using roman numerals, the 4 chords in bar 13

Beat 1 Beat 2 Beat 3 Beat 4

6. Identify the chord at bar 14, beat 1 as a Roman numeral

7. Identify an appoggiatura in bar 2

8. Identify a melodic sequence between b.19 – 27

9. Identify an auxiliary note between b.19 – 27

10. Suggest a period of composition for this work

11. Suggest a date of composition for this work

12. Suggest a possible composer of this work

13. Give a total of three reasons for your answers to questions 10 and 12.

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Score for TASK 3: Aural Analysis

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TASK 4.1: ESSAY ANALYSIS TASK; POST-RESULTS DAY

Once you have developed your listening repertoire and your knowledge of a wide range of music, it is

crucial to be able to write about it critically, concisely and persuasively. To demonstrate how this can be

done, consider this version of the world’s best known tune:

Now imagine you were asked to write an answer to the following question:

What makes “Happy Birthday” the world’s best known song?

Below is just one possible answer to this question. Read through it and highlight the words, phrases and

sentences that fit into the following three categories:

Musical context – background information and comment

Musical affect – descriptions of what the music sounds like (adjectives)

Music detail – technical examination of the notes.

A song that is intended to be sung by everyone and anyone whenever someone celebrates their

birthday was always going to have a good chance of becoming the world’s best known song; however,

the right song had to be composed for the purpose.

The happy mood is guaranteed by the choice of major key and a moderate tempo. Though it is only

eight bars long, there are many other features that also contribute to its cheerful character.

The tune is perfectly balanced, like a simple poem, in four 2-bar phrases. Each of these begins with an

anacrusis in the form of an energising dotted rhythm giving a defining feature to an otherwise simple

melodic rhythm of crotchets with minims at the end of some phrases. The triple time metre lends and

attractive sense of lilt to the rhythm (particularly underlined by the harmonisation).

The contour (shape) of the melody is particularly effective. The first three phrases each have a sense of

upward character, enhancing the positive feel of the music. Much of the tune in conjunct, which aids

amateur singing, but each phrase has one rising leap. These intervals become wider: a fourth in the

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first phrase, a 5th in the second phrase, and an octave in the third phrase, helping the tune to sound

increasingly bright. The final phrase begins with a 7th above the end of the previous phrase, and – with

a different role in the tune – brings the song to a close by descending to the tonic. There is a perfect,

match between the start of the tune – up a step and back to the first note (D-E-D) – and the way it ends

(G-A-G).

This simple tune is so well shaped and affirming that it is, on many occasions, sung in unison. The

homophonic harmonisation provided above enhances the musical affect further. The purely diatonic

first half confidently establishes the key, balancing the I-V7 progression of the opening phrase, with V7-

1 in the second phrase. The move to Ib on the third beat of bar 1 is mirrored by a move to V7b in bar 3;

together these subtle chord changes add a little sophistication and underline the typical long-short

subdivision of the bar available in triple time. These chords also give the melodic notes at bar 11 and

bar 31 the function of being accented auxiliary notes (i.e. non-harmony notes) which increases the

charm of the music.

The harmonisation becomes more complex in the second half of the song. Having based the opening

two phrases on tonic and dominant harmony, the third phrase is essentially a counterbalance of I-IV,

but this is enhanced with some colourful chromaticism with some use of the D# in the alto line. This

third phrase does not have the same accented passing note as it predecessors at bar 51, but instead it

treats the downbeat of bar 6 as a non-harmony note. The resulting augmented 4th in the tune (F#) over

the C in the bass is complemented by similar movement in alto and tenor parts in order to create a

triple appoggiatura on the downbeat before the chord resolves at bar 62 onto the C major chord the

bass sets up the beat before. This creates the perfect musical opportunity to emphasise the name of the

person to whom the song is being sung; moreover, this emphasis is further underlined by the customary

ritenuto and pause at this point.

Chromaticism remains the characteristic of the final phrase, especially in the alto line which has five

successive notes of a falling chromatic scale, resulting in a suitably sentimental ending reminiscent of

the close harmony singing of the barbershop style. The final perfect cadence ensures an emphatic

conclusion.

All these details ensure that ‘Happy Birthday’, while simple enough to be remembered by even the least

habitual singer, has in its eight bars an unmistakeable feel-good positivity and this explains why it has

an assured place as the world’s best known song.

Who would have thought that a simple 8-bar tune could contain such a wealth of musical information?

This also gives you some great musical ammunition to drop in at the next birthday party you go to. People

generally love a discussion of chromatic harmony prior to tucking into a piece of cake…!

When you look back at your highlighting, you should find that the majority colour is the one you chose to

represent musical detail. There should be frequent individual words or phrases in the colour you chose

for musical affect, whereas musical context should be seen mainly in the opening and closing paragraphs,

plus a little reference at the start of paragraph 5. The essays you write will always have unique themes

and factors depending on the music you are writing about, however the proportion between detail, affect

and context should be broadly consistent with this example.

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TASK 4.2: ANALYTICAL WRITTEN TASK; POST-RESULTS DAY

Now it is over to you… You need to choose your own piece of music to write about. Choose something

relatively short (no longer than a minute of music), selecting a passage from a larger piece if necessary.

Music for film or TV would be a good place to start as they were usually created with a strong sense of

character in mind; programme music would also work well. If you choose something for which you do not

have a score, you will still need to be able to give locations to reference your points. This can be done by

referencing a clearly audible moment (e.g. ‘where the opening tune returns’ or ‘when the drums enter’)

or you could use a timeline (at 0’12”…). Remember to focus on musical detail, but explain the affect that

this detail creates. Your question should be along the lines of “How (composer name) creates a sense of

(character adjectives) in his/her piece (name of piece)”.

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Component 2 Performance

TASK 1: RECITAL RESEARCH AND PREPARATION – EARLY JUNE

Performance at A Level is of course predominantly about performing a selection of challenging repertoire

with high levels of musical detail, accuracy and understanding. Another often underrated yet vitally

important aspect of this unit however, is that of ensuring your final recital demonstrates a range of

musical styles. However good a performance may be, without variety of tone, mood and style a

performance can quickly become uninteresting to the listener. The following is taken from the AQA A

Level Music mark scheme for performance, and shows how the quality of your programme is marked:

You task is to piece together a recital programme which you think would score 3-5 marks based on the

above criteria.

Spend time researching music for your instrument. Don’t just choose the three most

recent pieces you have learned. Be ambitious.

You should choose a minimum of 3, maximum of 4 pieces (your recital programme

should be 10 minutes long)

You should be able to play at least one of your pieces in its entirety during your first

week back in September.

2-3 of your pieces can be pieces that you cannot play yet but that you could realistically

learn during Y12.

You should complete the table on the next page, outlining the reasons for each piece

you choose and how it is part of a balanced and challenging programme.

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Piece Chosen Composer / Year Musical features and challenges

1.

2.

3.

4. (if needed)

Explain below why your programme would keep the audience interested throughout:

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TASK 2: INSTRUMENTAL / VOCAL PRACTISE – JUNE-SEPT

You should be aiming to complete a minimum of 30 minutes purposeful practise each day. This is further

to getting warmed up properly for each practise session. It can be very easy to confuse “completing a

piece” with purposeful practise. There follows ‘Ten Top Tips’ to help ensure that your practise is always

purposeful, designed to ensure you make genuine musical progress rather than simply learning more

pieces.

1. Set goals for your practise time One of the least effective things you can do is go into your practise room and just sit down and start playing. In order to make the most of your time, you need to make a plan as to what it is that you need to and want to accomplish in that time. Do you want to memorise a piece? Do you need to figure out the fingerings of that melismatic passage? Do you need to work on the breath stamina of a particularly difficult phrase? If you go into the practise room with a goal in mind, you will be focused and motivated to attain that goal.

2. Keep a practise log Going along with the previous tip, when you set your goals, write them down and then when you are finished practising, write down whether you accomplished your goal or not. If you didn’t, reflect on why.

3. Break up your practise time into smaller increments Your teacher may say that you must practise three hours a day. But that doesn’t mean that you have to lock yourself in a practise room for three hours straight! Practicing effectively requires concentration and focus and that can be very fatiguing. If you break that three hours into three 1-hour sessions, you will be more focused in each session and use your time more effectively. This is also instrument specific because whereas a pianist might have the physical stamina to play for two hours straight, that is not recommended for a singer.

4. Remember that practicing is NOT just about playing through your music Yes, certainly there will be times when you are preparing for a performance and you need to play through your entire piece to check memorisation and gain stamina. But in the process of learning and perfecting a piece, playing through your piece from beginning to end can actually hinder your progress. If you still have technical difficulties, by playing through your pieces you are simply reinforcing those mistakes into your muscle memory. It will be twice as hard to get rid of those mistakes in the long run. Perfect small sections of your piece and then string a few small sections together to make a longer section.

5. Repetition is key In order to break a habit, you need to do something the correct way 100 times. Break large passages up into smaller passages and repeat them correctly until they become part of your muscle memory.

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6. Make sure your practise room is set up for effective practicing You want your practise room to be free of distractions and set up with the tools you need to practise efficiently. Make sure it is quiet (without TV, computers, iPods) and at a comfortable temperature. Make sure the room has enough light. Turn off your phone so that you are not tempted to check your messages. Make sure you have a metronome, pencils, a tuner (if you need one), a mirror, your music and technique books, your practise log, some water and any instrument specific accessories.

7. Warm up mindfully Make sure that you always start your practise with warmups. But don’t just run through your exercises for the prerequisite amount of time while thinking about what you are going to have for dinner that day. The purpose of warming up is not simply to get your muscles moving. It is in the warm up that you are solidifying your technique. You are preparing your body and your mind for the work and you must be “present”. Before you start an exercise remind yourself of why you are doing that particular exercise. As you go through the exercise, be aware of how you are feeling, how you are breathing, if your body is alerting you to tension, etc. Keep your mind in the game at all times – even through the tedious stuff.

8. Record yourself By recording your practise sessions – audio and/or video – you can listen back and catch some things you may miss in the moment. Listening to yourself can help you find tone issues; watching yourself can alert you to tension issues that you didn’t know you had and much more.

9. Remember that practising isn’t just about playing your instrument You need to practise your instrument but you must also practise your artistry and you must engage your intellect. That means that practise also involves listening to great artists perform your repertoire and analysing what makes them so great. Practise involves studying the history and performance practise of a particular piece. Practise involves translating the text of a song and speaking that text with meaning in its original language. Being a musician is about much more than just learning how to play the notes. You need to add time every day on top of the time in the practise room to expand your knowledge of your music, your instrument and your artistry.

10. Practise something EVERY DAY It is better to practise 30 minutes every day that 2 hours on only one day of the week. If you can’t put in three hours every day, that is fine. But commit to working on your instrument, even if one day you only warmup and don’t touch your repertoire. Every single day. That consistency will pay off!

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TASK 3: ANALYSIS OF EXEMPLAR MATERIAL – JUNE/JULY

Success in this area of the course is dependent on the quality of both your repertoire choice and your

overall musicianship in performance. An A Level recital however is very different to an ABRSM or Trinity

graded music exam. For a start, you will not perform live to an examiner, instead, your work will be

recorded and sent off on CD. Although this may seem like a less daunting prospect, it means that the

examiner will mark your work based purely on the sounds that are recorded. So much of a live

performance comes through your visual presentation. Without this weapon in your armoury, you have to

ensure that this professionalism and attention to details is evident in every single note that you play or

sing. IT is not uncommon for high level performers (grade 7 distinction standard for example) to miss out

on full marks because they simply assumed that their work would be good enough, as it always has been

in the past.

With this in mind, we need to learn to think like examiners when listening back to our own performances.

Below, you will find links to seven documents:

The AQA A Level performance mark scheme

Performance 1

Score for Performance 1

Performance 2

Score for Performance 2

Performance 3

Score for Performance 3

You will need to do the following:

Listen to Performance 1, following through the score as you do so. Make notes of any

errors in pitch/rhythm and any moments where musical details such as dynamics or

musical details were not observed.

Listen again whilst studying the mark scheme. Decide what you would award the

performance for each of the criteria and complete the table below with your marks.

On a different day, complete the same cycle of activities for Performance 2 and then

again for Performance 3.

Table of assessment:

AQA A Level Music

Ambition of project

/5

Technical Control

/15

Expressive Control

/15

Performance Quality

/15

Total

/50

Performance 1

Performance 2

Performance 3

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Component 3 Composition

TASK 1: COMPLETION OF HARMONY EXERCISES – JUNE/JULY

In order to be prepared for both A Level analysis work and of course original composition work, you will

need to complete the following transition work, which is focused mainly on solidifying your

understanding of harmony. The work is in two stages; click on the link to access the relevant pack:

Stage one is compulsory and will start with some of the basics you may already be familiar

with, before moving on to more challenging work.

Stage two is optional but will certainly give you a great head start on some of the more

complex content we will cover at A Level.

TASK 2: ANALYSIS OF EXEMPLAR MATERIAL – JUNE/JULY

In the same way that A Level performance differs from live performance, so does A Level composition

differ from basic song writing or completely free, experimental compositional styles. Although originality

and creativity remain the thrust of composition at A Level, you must also show that you are capable of

working within established structures and traditions, ensuring that you demonstrate enough skill to earn

to achieve the very highest marks. It would be perfectly possible to write a hugely interesting and

enjoyable composition yet only achieve half marks. You need to learn how to direct your creativity

around the fine details of the mark scheme so that your work can be rewarded with the highest possible

grade.

Just as with performance then, we need to learn to think like examiners in this component too. Below,

you will find the following documents:

The AQA A Level composition mark scheme

Composition 1

Score for Composition 1

Composition 2a

Composition 2b (This set of two madrigals count as one composition)

Score for Composition 2a and 2b

Composition 3

Score for Composition 3

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You will need to do the following:

Listen to Composition 1, following through the score as you do so. Make notes on how

well they manage to achieve a balance between repetition and contrast.

Listen again whilst studying the mark scheme; you should use the second half of the

mark scheme, titled “Free Composition”. Decide what you would award the composition

out of 25 and complete the table below with your marks and justification.

On a different day, complete the same cycle of activities for Composition 2 and then

again for Composition 3.

AQA A Level Music

Total Mark /25

Reasons for awarding this mark

Composition 1

Composition 2

Composition 3