GCSE Music Revision Topics
The three strands of learning
Western Classical Tradition
Baroque Orchestral Music
The concerto
Music for voices
Chamber music
The sonata
Popular music of the 20th and 21st Centuries
Blues
Popular music of the 1960s
Rock music, R’n’B, hip hop
Music theatre
Film Music
World Music
Music of the Caribbean
Music of Africa
Music of India
The five areas of study
AoS 1 Rhythm and metre
Pulse / metre
Time signatures
Rhythms – dotted, triplets, syncopation, augmentation / diminution
Cross rhythms / poly rhythms, hemiola, rubato
Note values / rests
AoS 2 Harmony and Tonality
Consonant / dissonant / diatonic / chromatic
Chords – roman numerals and names (tonic etc.)
Cadences (perfect / plagal / imperfect / interrupted)
Tonal / atonal / bitonal / polytonal / modal
Key signatures (up to and including four flats and four sharps)
Modulation
Pedal / drone / inverted pedal
AoS 3 Texture and Melody
Monophonic / homophonic / polyphonic / heterophonic / fugual /
contrapuntal / melody and accompaniment / unison / octaves
Imitation / canon / antiphonal
Intervals (major / minor / perfect from 2nds to an octave)
Scales (major / minor / chromatic / pentatonic / whole tone / blues scale
/ modal)
Melodic contours – (conjunct / disjunct / triadic/ ascending /
descending)
Ornamentation (Passing notes / appoggiatura / acciaccatura / glissando /
portamento / trill / turn / tremolo etc.)
Melodic development (ostinato / sequence / inversion)
Aos 4 Timbre and Dynamics
Dynamics (Italian symbols and words)
Timbre ( the ability to recognise the instruments from the Western
classical orchestra and the main instruments from the three world music
areas)
Instrumental techniques (arco / pizz / con sordino / tremolo / double
stopping / slurred / tongued / fills / falsetto / vibrato
Technology ( drum machine / sampling / reverb / delay / distortion /
chorus / panning / quantising)
AoS 5 Structure and Form
Classical music forms ( Binary / ternary / rondo / theme and variations /
Sonata form / minuet and trio / scherzo and trio / ground bass / strophic
/ through composed / da capo aria / cadenzas)
Popular music forms (call and response / 32-bar song form / versechorus form / 12-bar blues)
Each section will require at least half an hour to revise.
Each student has been issued with a pink AQA revision guide.
Use the following websites little and often to develop your listening skills.
Useful websites
http://www.good-ear.com/servlet/EarTrainer
http://www.auralworkshop.com/cadences.htm
http://www.musiclisteningrevision.co.uk/higher/higherindex.htm
http://www.thirteen.org/publicarts/orchestra/orchestra03.swf
http://www.nyphilkids.org/lockerroom/main.phtml?