A level Music Edexcel Why Study Music? Music A Level is both a creative and academically rigorous course thatteaches you core musical skills whilst equipping you academically forentry to a wide-range of Russell Group Universities or Conservatoires. You will have the opportunity to polish your performing to a professional level, compose your own music and have it performedin public, as well as studying music in a broad range of popular and Classical styles. The UK’s creative industries are now worth £71.4 billion per year to the UK economy – generating just over a staggering £8 million an hour. Music is a key element in this mix, and Music A Level can lead to a career as a performer, composer, publicist, arts manager, radiobroadcaster, live promoter, teacher or academic and much more. Recent students have won scholarships to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, as well as continuing tostudy m u s i c a t t h e U n i v e r s i t i e s o f E d i n b u r g h a n d S u r r e y . However, Music A Level equips you for other careers too with a rigorousintellectual base, it’s no surprise that more Music graduates win places on Medical Postgraduate courses than students of any other subject.
Entry Requirements • A minimum of grade 6 in Music GCSE, or a similar qualification, is expected although students withextensive performing experience in either an instrument or voice will also be considered. • Grade 5 theory is an advantage although not essential. • All students are expected to take lessons on a minimum of one instrument and / or voice, and are expected to participate in the flourishing extra-curricular music programme at Rendcomb College, which includes: choirs, orchestras, jazz groups, rock bands, chamber ensembles, regular concerts, musicals and much more. • Students may apply for the ‘Dutton Scholarship’ prior to joining Year 12 – a scholarship set upspecifically for Sixth Form musicians, which offers fee remissions and subsidised instrumental tuition.
What is Involved? • Develop your skills as a performer to diploma standard and beyond. • Analyse a wide range of musical works in depth, ranging from Renaissance choral music and Classicalconcertos to the music of ‘The Beatles’, film music and music from around the world. • Complete a comprehensive music theory refresher course, and develop your abilities in melody writing,harmony, analysis and score writing on Sibelius. • Learn to compose in a range of genres, and complete a final composition in a style of your choice • Previous students have had their compositions performed in public by Rendcomb Chamber Choir, Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra and a professional string quartet.