UK · Subject guide
Music
A-Level Music (AQA 7272), against the DfE/Ofqual subject content.
01 · Overview
Music
A-Level Music (AQA 7272), against the DfE/Ofqual subject content.
- Subject guide
- A-Levels
- Topics mapped
- 11
02 · Complete topic map
Complete topic map
Every topic recorded for this subject in the curriculum is reproduced below in its full hierarchy. The descriptions reflect the mapped scope without implying additional exam rules.
- 01
Performance
Students give a minimum of ten minutes of solo and/or ensemble performance as an instrumentalist, vocalist or via music technology, externally assessed as non-exam work.
- 02
Composition to a brief
Candidates compose a piece responding to an externally set brief, demonstrating control of musical elements within given constraints.
- 03
Free composition
Candidates create an original composition of their own choice of style and idiom, with a combined minimum of four and a half minutes across both composition tasks.
- 04
Appraising music (listening and analysis)
A written exam testing aural perception, analysis and contextual understanding through listening excerpts, set-work analysis and essay responses across the chosen areas of study.
- 05
Area of study 1: Western classical tradition 1650-1910
The compulsory strand covering the Baroque solo concerto, Mozart's operas and Romantic piano music as the core of European art music.
- 06
Area of study 2: Pop music
An optional strand exploring popular song writing and production through named artists such as Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Beyonce and Daft Punk.
- 07
Area of study 3: Music for media
An optional strand studying film, television and video-game scoring through composers including Bernard Herrmann, Hans Zimmer and Nobuo Uematsu.
- 08
Area of study 4: Music for theatre
An optional strand examining stage and musical-theatre writing through composers such as Kurt Weill, Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim and Jason Robert Brown.
- 09
Area of study 5: Jazz
An optional strand tracing jazz styles and improvisation through artists from Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington to Miles Davis and Gwilym Simcock.
- 10
Area of study 6: Contemporary traditional music
An optional strand exploring folk and world traditions fused with contemporary elements through artists such as Astor Piazzolla, Toumani Diabate and Anoushka Shankar.
- 11
Area of study 7: Art music since 1910
An optional strand covering modern, experimental and minimalist concert music through composers including Shostakovich, Messiaen, Steve Reich and James MacMillan.
03 · Where this subject applies
Where this subject applies
These pathways and regions are explicitly connected to the subject in the curriculum.
Pathways and specifications
AS-Level
Advanced Subsidiary — the first year of A-Level study (standalone or first half of the full A-Level).
A-Level (A2)
The full Advanced Level — AS content plus the second-year A2 content.
Nations and regions
All registered regions
04 · Official sources
Official sources
The public sources below are referenced directly by this subject or by one of its topics.
This editorial selection points to the relevant official bodies. Always confirm current requirements, dates and amendments with your school or college and the appropriate awarding organisation.
2
Public references
UK · EuraStudy Guides
Place this subject inside the complete curriculum.
Open the curriculum guide to see every subject and topic, or continue to EuraStudy Summa to begin working with the material.