I am confused as whether or not to take AS Level music next year. I did GCSE Music and I got an A* (quite easily, i might add, GCSE Music was not very challenging to me!EdExel that is...) I know I don't want to have a career in music in the future, but I will always keep it up as a hobby. I have been playing the flute for 8 years (Grade 5) and have been having singing lessons for two (taking grade 6 in the next session). I had trouble trying to decide whether to take it for GCSE as I am quite academic as well ( I got 7A*s and 2As in my GCSES yay!) so i found it hard to choose between music, history, classics, latin, EPA and geography..and I had the same problem trying to decide between Music and French AS Level..I put Music down because I thought I would find it fun, and although its very time consuming writing compositions, I thought, like GCSE, it would be a nice break from my other AS Levels (English Lit, Geography and Psychology)
Just wondered what anyone thought..

It depends on your board and the current standard of As level but I know that when i did it, the people who did As level found it was pretty hard work with the listening papers etc, rather than just fun, and certainly a good deal tougher than GCSE. Check the syllabuses to see what will be required of you before assuming it'll just be easy like GCSE! Unless it's changed a lot since I did it, the jump to A Level was pretty big, and even those who chose to do As didn't find it was a piece of cake.

What is EPA?!

Hi! I'm half way through Music GCSE at the moment, and I'm wondering whether or not to do it as I'm only grade 4 piano. I'm predicted an A*, but I'm not sure whether AS music will be too difficult as apparently it is!? To people who have already done it, is it difficult and what exactly do you have to do? Thanks, sorry I didn't really answer your quesion by the way! Love Allie xoxox

Well I am going to be doing English Lit, History, Sociology and Music, so same kind of subject areas, and I chose Music because I felt it would be more of a break, not necessarily easier but just different from solidly essay writing like I will be.

I think you should chose what you'd like to do the best, and A Level music I have heard is not easy, even if you get A* at GCSE.

At our school you have to be at least Grade 5 practical and either have Grade 5 theory or know the sort of Grade 5 theory to do it. Would you be able to get to the required standard?

I think my school does AQA AS Music...I have cheaked the syllabus and it seems reasonably do-able...I mean my school did this AS Course taster thing where we sampled an AS Music lesson and although there was a noticable difference between that and a GCSE lesson, I think I would be able to cope with it, and still have a good time. It still looks a lot easier to me than my other AS Levels..I'm so glad I did Grade 5 Music theory this year as well because I think it will help a lot! Apparently I was the top student in the year for Music, so if I cant cope with it, who can???!!!!
and EPA is Expressive and Performing Arts, basically a mix of dance, drama, and singing. Stage craft in another way..

I would definately carry on with it, I mean in my music class we had people who just messed on with guitars for two years and still passed! With Grade 4 piano, it will be ok, but like nicki said, having grade 5 theory is a big help and also being able to perform a grade 5 standard piece meand you can get the top marks for your performances...

By all means do it if you want to, just don't assume it's a soft option. It's been a loooooooooooong while since I did A Level, but I recall that the As-ers in our class had to do a mini-dissertation, the same listening papers as us I think (and they were vastly more difficult/long/involved/detailed than GCSE) and had to do a certain amount of composition I think. I think the performance standards have changed - when I did it, for both A and As you had to be at grade 6 standard I'm pretty sure (definitely for A level) Yes, it's make a change from writing lots of essays, and I am not by any means saying don't do it, just don't assume it's mecessarily going to be a soft option. Of all 4 of my A Levels I think probably music was the biggest jump from GCSE, in all areas that we had done (listening/performance/composition) and then included a history paper too.

My experience of A Level I realise is out of date, but I don't think standards have changed that much!

No, it is advisable to be about Grade 6 level at least.

You'll need to be able to play at Grade 5 level for AS and Grade 6 level for A2, although you can get higher marks by playing Grade 6 level pieces at AS and Grade 7 at A2.

The quality of your performance is the most important thing: you would certainly do better by playing a Grade 5 piece well than a Grade 6 piece badly.

Is it required or just advised? Is that for A or As or both? It all keeps changing, I get lost!

I am not certain either way what the standard was for As when we did it (in my day...! lol), but I know you were required to be playing pieces of grade 6 standard for an A Level recital - that was the minimum. Well the board I did anyway, and I haven't a clue which one that was... I know we did MEB for GCSE and changed for A level, beyond that I don't have a clue!

edit: thanks for the clarification Andante! about the same for A level as it used to be then. I would like to know what i got in my recital...

You don't have to be Grade 6 to do the exam but it is advisable. I am going to do A Level Music with Edexcel.

I taught 'A' level music (latterly 'AS' and 'A2') for 10 years. In my experience, somebody with your practical exam level and GCSE music pass will find AS music a doddle.

Steve

Slightly off topic, but can someone expalin to me the difference in As and A2 etc.

I did the old fashioned O and A level GCEs, how do these relate to that?

Thanx

After GCSEs you do A Levels, which are comprised of 2 parts - AS and A2. The first year (year 12/lower sixth) is your AS year and you do 1/2 of your A Level course. This is worth half an A Level. The second year is called A2, and if you have done 2 years worth of the course you gain an A Level. You can drop a subject at the end of AS. Apologies for not very good explaination!

Right, Janexxx, I'll try to help.

Current A levels are modular: each subject comprises 6 modules. Three modules are studied in the Lower Sixth Year, and exams can be taken in January or June. Some sixth forms enter candidates for their first module in the January of Lower Sixth, and the other two in the summer. These three modules make up an AS level, which is a qualification in its own right.

With me so far?

The student can then decide whether to carry on with the subject for a further year, studying three more modules, or to drop it and pick up another subject at AS level. Students in the college where I teach take 4 subjects in their Lower Sixth year, and then either carry on with all 4 to A2, or drop one and take a new subject alongside the original three in their second year.

A2 exams are taken during the Upper Sixth year, again with the possibility of one module taken in the January. Most subjects have at least one coursework module.

The total maximum marks for each module vary between 80 and 120, but the three modules making up AS and the three modules making up A2 must add up to 300. The final grade for the AS or A level is based on the total of all modules added together, so that if you receive 480 points or more for a full A level you will receive an A grade. (240 points or more for an A grade at AS level.)

This is why candidates sometimes resit modules they have achieved an A or B grade in: if they need three A grades to get into Oxbridge, for example, they need to be as far over the minimum mark for an A grade as possible in each of their modules to be sure of gaining an A grade in the summer. The candidate has no way of knowing how near to the next grade boundary they will end up until they get their final results.

I hope this is clear! It's probably a much fuller answer than you were expecting. I started teaching A level psychology in 2000, as the new system was introduced, and it took us a couple of years to get the hang of it.

Thanks Nicki and andante.....yes all cleared up now.

Makes a lot more sense than your whole future relying on your performance in a set of 3 hour exams after 2 years of study

I just took AS music having taken GCSE last year with Edexcel, and, like you vocali_ flautini, getting an A* without too much difficulty. Personally I found AS to be pretty straightforward as well so you shouldn't have much trouble in my opinion.

Same here! And well done cecilia - u beat me by 2%!

My friend took GCSE music having had no singing lessons in her life she just sang along to CD's. She played no instruments and had no knowledge of theory - but she got an A grade, 1 mark off an A*. However this year she worked her backside off and just scraped her D, so there is a big shift in the syllabus I think. gotta go

Heheh... wait until you hear what my friend got though...



She got 299/300, that's 99.66%!

I could only just read what your friend got Cecilia, but how amazing is that!
Well done to you too 97% is still very, very, good!
ItsAllGoodandSmily - wow you've done brilliant too!

Must dash - need to catch a bus

I took music A-level without ever taking the GCSE but after the initial catching up stage, I loved it. I found it saved me from going barmy (like my friends who took maths, biology, chemistry and physics ) because you focus your concentration in a different kind of way. I would definitely say go for it!