Welcome to A Level Music!
Congratulations and thank you for taking A Level music (what a good choice...!) Below are some transition tasks, to help prepare you for the course in September. If you have any questions about the A Level Music course, please email myself or Mr Graham at: llaird@wilmslowhigh.cheshire.sch.uk or hgraham@wilmslowhigh.com
Listening Skills: Popular Music and Western Classical
Pop (Area of Study 2)
Task 1: We study three pop artists in detail. Listen to and become familiar with their music, with specific attention to the following tracks:
Stevie Wonder - Superstition, Sir Duke, Uptight, For Once In My Life
Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi, Blue, River, Help Me
Beyoncé - Best Thing I Never Had, Listen, Single Ladies
We also study three further artists (but not in as much detail). These are: Daft Punk, Labrinth and Muse. Create a playlist of their music and become familiar with their style and instrumentation.
Mozart's Opera (Area of Study 1)
Task 2: We study Act 1 of the Marriage of Figaro, so listen though to the first 49 minutes of the YouTube video below (sorry it's a bit old school!).
After watching, do some research on what the plot of Act 1 is, and who the characters are.
Music Theory
Make sure you are confident with the following:
- Treble and bass clef reading
- Key signatures
- Time signatures
- Simple rhythmic notation
Use teachinggadget.com to help develop your music theory skills
username: wilmslowhigh, password: music
Below are vocab sheets for each element of music. If you can, print these out for the front of your music folder, and make sure you are confident with most of the content.
Performance
Task 3: Now you have several weeks off, this is a great time to develop your instrumental/vocal skills! try rehearsing new pieces, and come back to school prepared with two pieces to work on. We will do informal performances before Christmas.