These two units of work will run concurrently allowing students to move between a more written, analytical project and one that is more creative.
With the first unit students will research and explore the best pathways into a career in the music industry. They will analytically appraise their own skills and prepare a comprehensive presentation or E-Portfolio.
The second unit allows students to work collaboratively on a 25 minute set/album of compositions. This could comprise 4-5 compositions following a similar theme or genre.
Planning for a Career in Music:
The aim of this unit is to familiarise learners with the processes associated with effective career planning
and to align/link their career aims with their study for this qualification, defining the ways in which the learner
engages with their learning. For any music professional, the ability to manage a career through careful planning,
combined with a thorough knowledge of the professional landscape and the opportunities available within
it, will substantially increase the potential for the prepared person to have a range of robust career options
available to them.
Music Collaboration:
The aim of this unit is to develop the beginnings of the learner’s own compositional style and identity through
the creation of a cohesive body of work, working in collaboration with one or a series of writing partners. The
purpose of this unit is to facilitate the development of a coherent set of original material for performance or
recording, reflective of a profound, analytical understanding of the writing team’s own musical context.
Composition Collaboration:
Assessment criteria
Learners can:
1.1 Produce a rationale for the collaborative creation of a body of musical work, to include agreement over
potential destinations and uses for the music. Personal objectives should also be identified in relation to
their individual contribution to the project.
1.2 Collaborate with another writer to create original material for a 25 minute set. The process must
include:
a. An ongoing evaluation of individual contribution of distinctive musical ideas to the pieces in the set
b. An ongoing evaluation of individual contribution to the musical and arrangement processes
throughout the set
c. Evidence of effective communication of creative ideas and negotiation of their application
d. Evidence of the process by which the music was selected and organised into a structured body of
work
1.3 Evaluate:
a. Own contribution to the compositional process
b. The success of the repertoire in relation to 1.1 and identify strengths and areas for development.
Planning for a Career in the Music Industry:
Carry out a personal knowledge and skills analysis focusing on current, specialist knowledge and skills,
employability and study skills.
Use professional (tutor, mentor, industry specialist etc) feedback and guidance in relation to 1.1, to
create a learning and skills development plan.
Using the information gathered for 1.2 to inform the process, assess the potential for progress into two
music industry roles (agreed as relevant to their identified goals), evaluating their suitability for each role.
Based on the findings in 1.1–1.3, analyse what has been learned from the process and create an
aspirational career action plan.
Develop the individual:
Create a supportive community:
These two units of work will run concurrently allowing students to move between a more written, analytical project and one that is more creative.
With the first unit students will research and explore the best pathways into a career in the music industry. They will analytically appraise their own skills and prepare a comprehensive presentation or E-Portfolio.
The second unit allows students to work collaboratively on a 25 minute set/album of compositions. This could comprise 4-5 compositions following a similar theme or genre.
Students produce coursework for each component, which is either internally or externally assessed.
Develop the individual:
Create a supportive community:
These two units of work will run concurrently allowing students to move between a more written, analytical project and one that is more creative.
With the first unit students will research and explore the best pathways into a career in the music industry. They will analytically appraise their own skills and prepare a comprehensive presentation or E-Portfolio.
The second unit allows students to work collaboratively on a 25 minute set/album of compositions. This could comprise 4-5 compositions following a similar theme or genre.
Students produce coursework for each component, which is either internally or externally assessed.
Develop the individual:
Create a supportive community:
These two units of work will run concurrently allowing students to move between a more written, analytical project and one that is more creative.
With the first unit students will research and explore the best pathways into a career in the music industry. They will analytically appraise their own skills and prepare a comprehensive presentation or E-Portfolio.
The second unit allows students to work collaboratively on a 25 minute set/album of compositions. This could comprise 4-5 compositions following a similar theme or genre.
Develop the individual:
Create a supportive community:
Composition is an essential skill for a variety of careers within the music industry. Compositions have longevity
and the capacity for works to generate income for the composer through the collection of royalties from
recorded, live and broadcast performance can have ongoing financial benefits. This unit showcases the learner’s
composition skills — both their capacity to compose in a defined style in response to a brief and their ability to
apply key concepts within the area of music sequencing to their own practice.
Assessment Criteria:
Learners can:
1.1 Research compositional methods associated with the style.
1.2 Compose a piece in the style researched in 1.1, including at least four musical parts.
1.3 Demonstrate the process of musical and structural arrangement representative of the style.
2.1 Use DAW software to create and manage a project file, containing a minimum of ten tracks (including
both software instruments and audio), and meeting the following requirements:
a. Two original synth patches, which between them show use/manipulation of at least four of the
following:
• Oscillators
• Envelopes (ADSR)
• Pitch
• Filters
• LFOs
b. A sampler to create the following patches:
• Drum patch from an audio file
• Melodic/pitched-based patch, utilising looping where applicable
c. Use of quantisation techniques (creative and/or corrective)
d. Use of audio/MIDI editing techniques (creative and/or corrective)
e. Use of at least four insert and four send effects across the 10 tracks
f. Use of automation on at least two tracks
Develop the individual:
Create a supportive community:
Composition is an essential skill for a variety of careers within the music industry. Compositions have longevity
and the capacity for works to generate income for the composer through the collection of royalties from
recorded, live and broadcast performance can have ongoing financial benefits. This unit showcases the learner’s
composition skills — both their capacity to compose in a defined style in response to a brief and their ability to
apply key concepts within the area of music sequencing to their own practice.
Assessment Criteria:
Learners can:
1.1 Research compositional methods associated with the style.
1.2 Compose a piece in the style researched in 1.1, including at least four musical parts.
1.3 Demonstrate the process of musical and structural arrangement representative of the style.
2.1 Use DAW software to create and manage a project file, containing a minimum of ten tracks (including
both software instruments and audio), and meeting the following requirements:
a. Two original synth patches, which between them show use/manipulation of at least four of the
following:
• Oscillators
• Envelopes (ADSR)
• Pitch
• Filters
• LFOs
b. A sampler to create the following patches:
• Drum patch from an audio file
• Melodic/pitched-based patch, utilising looping where applicable
c. Use of quantisation techniques (creative and/or corrective)
d. Use of audio/MIDI editing techniques (creative and/or corrective)
e. Use of at least four insert and four send effects across the 10 tracks
f. Use of automation on at least two tracks
Develop the individual:
Create a supportive community: