This 124 page resource provides you with a broad selection of exam style listening tests, with the aim of helping your students to prepare as best as possible for the listening paper at the end of the course. Books of listening questions for GCSE Music are not new, and you may have access to one or more of these that are written specifically for your course already. The aim of this book is slightly different in that the questions are grouped by element of music. Like in a GCSE paper each question in this book has multiple parts; however, each part of the question in this book links to one, rather than multiple, elements of music. This is useful when you’re still teaching content as you can get your students to practicing listening and recognising specific compositional elements, without having to use up, or edit, your bank of ‘real’ exam questions. The questions in this book are grouped into five units, one for each element of music: Unit 1: Instrumentation and Sonority Unit 2: Rhythm and Metre Unit 3: Melody Unit 4: Texture and Dynamics Unit 5: Harmony and Tonality Each unit concludes with a summary question covering a range of the topics covered in the unit. At the end of the book you’ll find a set of 6 exam style questions. These differ in that they cover all elements of music, and have one extract for each question, rather than several. This format is more similar to what you’ll find in the exam, and provides a useful bridging point into attempting questions specific to your course. This book includes 45 total questions, complete with a mark scheme and mark record sheet that students can used to track their progress. A sample double page spread is available to view in the files section. Audio files All of the audio tracks you’ll need to answer the questions in this book are included with the digital download of the resource. The files are contained in two compressed zip files, which you’ll just need to extract onto your computer. Please note that, as a result of only certain genres being released under the Creative Commons and Public Domain licenses, the majority of the audio tracks are drawn from classical and jazz repertoire. Some film music style tracks have also been used, although these are stock audio files, and in many cases will never have been used in film. For the purposes of practice listening, however, this should not affect the value of this book. This book provides excellent unfamiliar listening practice for your course and helps your students develop exam technique without you needing to edit actual past paper questions to remove parts because you haven’t yet taught the whole course. It is not, however, a substitute for actual practice questions tailored specifically for your exam board. Further, no questions are specifically written for set works or study pieces.

This pack, containing 11 worksheets and 1 teacher guide, is aimed at supporting the teaching of Set Work 4, Killer Queen, by Queen, from the new Pearson Edexcel GCSE Music (9-1) 2016 specification. The activities and tasks on each of the worksheets range in difficulty, in order to support the development of skills for a range of abilities. The following worksheets are included: Worksheet 4.1: First Impressions; Worksheet 4.2: The Set Work in Context; Worksheet 4.3: Performing Forces; Worksheet 4.4: Guitar Techniques; Worksheet 4.5: Music Technology; Worksheet 4.6: Structure; Worksheet 4.7: Harmony and Tonality; Worksheet 4.8: Rhythm and Metre; Worksheet 4.9: Wider Listening; Worksheet 4.10: Exam Style Questions; Worksheet 4.11: Check Your Knowledge. In addition, a comprehensive answer sheet is included providing definitive answers (where they exist) and indicative content for student responses for every question presented in this worksheet pack. Added following feedback from a user of another worksheet pack in this series, these answers make marking and discussion of class tasks more efficient, and support peer and self-marking of tasks too! Previews of the first page of each worksheet are available from the files list. It is the responsibility of the teacher to check the coverage of this content against the exam board specification. This worksheet pack does not intend to offer complete coverage of the set work, but should be used instead as a tool to support the teaching of the subject content. Please leave a review if you like this resource! ––––––––– Update 05/06/2018: minor corrections in Worksheet 4.5.

This pack, containing 11 worksheets and 1 teacher answer sheet, is designed to support the teaching of Set Work 7, 'Release' from the album Volume 2: Release, by Afro Celt Sound System, from the new Pearson Edexcel GCSE Music (9-1) 2016 specification. The activities and tasks on each of the worksheets are differentiated, in order to support the development of skills for a range of abilities. The following worksheets are included: – Worksheet 7.1: First Impressions; – Worksheet 7.2: The Set Work in Context; – Worksheet 7.3: Performing Forces; – Worksheet 7.4: Structure; – Worksheet 7.5: Harmony and Tonality; – Worksheet 7.6: Melody; – Worksheet 7.7: Rhythm, Metre and Tempo; – Worksheet 7.8: Music Technology; – Worksheet 7.9: Exam Style Questions; – Worksheet 7.10: Wider Listening; – Worksheet 7.11: Revision Checklist. In addition, a comprehensive answer sheet is included providing definitive answers (where they exist) and indicative content for student responses for every question presented in this worksheet pack. Added following feedback from a user of another worksheet pack in this series, these answers make marking and discussion of class tasks more efficient, and support peer and self-marking of tasks too! Previews of the first page of each worksheet are available from the files list. It is the responsibility of the teacher to check this coverage of this content against the exam board specification, this worksheet pack does not intend to offer complete coverage of the set work, but should be used instead as a tool to support the teaching of the subject content. Please leave a review if you like this resource!

This 44 page resource contains one complete practice paper and accompanying mark scheme for the Component 3: Appraising exam that students will sit as part of the assessment for the 2016 Pearson Edexcel GCSE Music (9-1) qualification. The questions in this paper are based upon the style and wording of those found in the sample assessment materials provided by the exam board so as to help prepare students as much as possible for their exam. This resource includes one complete practice paper and a comprehensive mark scheme to accompany each of the questions. The following breakdown provides a summary of the set works covered in each question: • Question 1: John Williams, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. • Question 2: Afro Celt Sound System, ‘Release’ from the album Release. • Question 3: Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, ‘Pathétique’, first movement. • Question 4: J. S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, 3rd movement. • Question 5: ‘Defying Gravity’ from Wicked. • Question 6: Queen, ‘Killer Queen’ from the album Sheer Heart Attack. • Question 9: J. S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, 3rd movement. The complete question paper is included within the teacher guide for reference, and a separate copy of the complete paper is available as a separate file which can be printed or for students. Audio files Unfortunately, for reasons of copyright, this resource does not have an accompanying audio CD or sound files. However, full details of the recording used, and the timings required for each extract are given in this book to make it easy for teachers to compile their own audio CD. For the set work questions, the recording used is from the Pearson Anthology CD, meaning no additional purchase of material be necessary for the majority of questions. For question 8 and 9 (the unfamiliar listening questions), the recording has been selected as one that can be easily found and purchased as an MP3 download online at very low cost. For best results, you may wish to edit each extract and mix them onto a single recording with announcements at the beginning of each playing. If you purchase this resource, please leave a rating and feedback! –––––––––––––– Update 19/06/2018: updated to reflect confirmation that the extracts in Section B will each be played three times, contrary to what appears in the Sample Assessment Materials. A minor error in the total number of marks for question 9 has also been corrected.

Regular wider listening is an important part of preparing for the new Eduqas GCSE Specification, as the exam requires students to listen and identify musical devices that are used in unfamiliar repertoire. The music they will be required to listen to in the exam will be related to by style and/or genre to one of the four areas of study. By engaging regularly in listening to unfamiliar music of these styles/genres, students will develop their appraising skills and their ability to recognise various musical devices in unfamiliar music. To support this, I've launched #WiderListeningWednesday on Twitter and Facebook, with a different wider listening piece posted each Wednesday at 9.30 am. This wider listening diary is the perfect accompaniment to these weekly posts, as it will ensure your students engage regularly in listening outside of lessons and will provide a useful record for revision, without the task become arduous and time consuming. What's included? – The diary comes in the form of a full colour A5 booklet that can be printed for students which provides space for 51 diary entries in one place. For best results this should be printed commercially. Two versions of this booklet are included, one for in-house printing, and a second for commercial printing with all of the necessary crop marks included. Please consult the attached guidance for commercial printing to ensure your printed product appears correctly. – The book contains useful guidance that will help students recognise the important features of each wider listening piece, and also contains a list of the musical devices listed in the specification, for reference. – For ease, a handy printing guide has been included to guide you through in-house printing and some recommended print specifications, if you choose to let a professional print company handle your printing. You can follow #WiderListeningWednesday on Twitter @SeanYoung_Music and Facebook @SeanYoungMusicEd! Please share, retweet and leave a review of this resource if you like it!

This pack, containing 11 worksheets and 1 teacher answer sheet, is designed to support the teaching of Set Work 6, ‘Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner’ from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, by John Williams, from the new Pearson Edexcel GCSE Music (9-1) 2016 specification. The activities and tasks on each of the worksheets are differentiated, in order to support the development of skills for a range of abilities. The following worksheets are included: – Worksheet 6.1: First Impressions; – Worksheet 6.2: The Set Work in Context; – Worksheet 6.3: Performing Forces; – Worksheet 6.4: Leitmotifs; – Worksheet 6.5: Structure; – Worksheet 6.6: Texture; – Worksheet 6.7: Rhythm, Metre and Tempo; – Worksheet 6.8: Harmony and Tonality; – Worksheet 6.9: Exam Style Questions; – Worksheet 6.10: Wider Listening; – Worksheet 6.11: Revision Checklist. In addition, a comprehensive answer sheet is included providing definitive answers (where they exist) and indicative content for student responses for every question presented in this worksheet pack. Added following feedback from a user of another worksheet pack in this series, these answers make marking and discussion of class tasks more efficient, and support peer and self-marking of tasks too! Previews of the first page of each worksheet are available from the files list. It is the responsibility of the teacher to check this coverage of this content against the exam board specification, this worksheet pack does not intend to offer complete coverage of the set work, but should be used instead as a tool to support the teaching of the subject content. Please leave a review if you like this resource!

Wider Listening has assumed an increased importance in the new Edexcel GCSE Music Specification, with students required to listening to repertoire that is related to each of the set works and mention this in their Section B essays in the exam to access the top marks. To support this, I've launched #WiderListeningWednesday on Twitter and Facebook, with a different wider listening piece that's related to one of the Edexcel Set Works posted each Wednesday at 9.30 am. This wider listening diary is the perfect accompaniment to these weekly posts, as it will ensure your students engage regularly in listening outside of lessons and provide a useful record for revision, without the task become arduous and time consuming. Two versions of this product are included: – The worksheet version contains two weeks worth of diary entries and provides space for students to log the name of the piece, the composer, the year, and the area of study the piece relates to. In addition, they are asked to list three similarities and 3 differences between the wider listening piece and a set work they have studied to encourage their comparison skills – the space for this comparison is deliberately small to ensure that the points made are kept concise. – The second version comes in the form of a full colour A5 booklet that can be printed for students which provides space for 53 diary entries in one place. For best results this should be printed commercially. Two versions of this booklet are included, one for in-house printing, and a second for commercial printing with all of the necessary crop marks included. Please consult the attached guidance for commercial printing to ensure your printed product appears correctly. – For ease, a handy printing guide has been included to guide you through in-house printing and some recommended print specifications, if you choose to let a professional print company handle your printing. You can follow #WiderListeningWednesday on Twitter @SeanYoung_Music and Facebook @SeanYoungMusicEd! Please share, retweet and leave a review of this resource if you like it!

This 50 question resource will help students prepare for the dictation part of the examination for the new Pearson Edexcel AS and A Level Music specification. Students will be required to listen to an extract of music and complete the pitches and/or note durations that are missing from the version notated in the exam paper. This book provides a total of 50 music dictation tests that will help students to prepare for the dictation part of their AS or A Level music exam. The book begins with a series of easier tests that enable students to gradually develop their dictation skills, by first focussing on just the rhythm, then just the melody, before putting these skills together. The book is structured in 8 questions, each containing 6-8 tests: – Question 1: Rhythmic Dictation (8 tests, monophonic recording, rhythm only) – Question 2: Melodic Dictation (7 tests, monophonic recording, melody only with rhythm given) – Question 3: Melodic Dictation (7 tests, monophonic recording, melody only with rhythm given) – Question 4: AS Level Dictation (6 tests, based on tests in Sample Assessment Materials) – Question 5: AS Level Dictation (7 tests, based on tests in Sample Assessment Materials) – Question 6: A Level Dictation (6 tests, based on tests in Sample Assessment Materials) – Question 7: A Level Dictation (7 tests, based on tests in Sample Assessment Materials) – Question 8: Dictation in Context (2 tests, dictating melody and rhythm from a recording with full texture) A full sample question is available to view in the files section. A full mark scheme and audio files for each question are included. A mark record sheet for students to keep a log of their progress can also be found at the back of the book. The book is provided as a PDF file, and the audio files for each question are provided in MP3 format within a compressed ZIP file. This book is designed so that it can be used as one off printed sheets which can be given to students, or as a full printed booklet. A handy guide has been included to help you, if you want to print the full book, to help you make sure the right pages end up in the right place! If you like this resource, please leave a review below. ––––––– Update 21/10/2017: Correction of errors in questions Q1(b), Q2(a), Q4(d), and Q7(d).

As part of the examination for the new Pearson Edexcel AS GCE Music specification students will be expected to complete an error identification test. These tests require candidates to listen to a monophonic extract of music and identify three errors in the music as it is notated in the exam paper. Having identified the errors, they will then be expected to write a correct version of the melody. This book provides a series of practice error identification tests in the style of that given in the sample assessment materials provided by the exam board. In each of the tests included, a short melodic fragment or phrase from an existing piece of music has been taken. The first 20 tests in the book are drawn from melodic material found in set works from Areas of Study 1-5 of the specification. Given the nature of the set works in the New Directions area of study, and the reduced importance of melody as a compositional device, or aleatoric nature of the score, the decision has been taken not to include tests for these set works. The final 8 tests are drawn from a wider range of repertoire in order to give students practice completing tests based on unfamiliar music. This is important, as there is no commitment in the specification that the material used in the actual examination will be drawn from either the set works, or the suggested wider listening list. As such, it will be beneficial for students to practice tests that are both from familiar and unfamiliar repertoire. A full mark scheme and audio files for each question are included. A mark record sheet for students to keep a log of their progress can also be found at the back of the book. The book is provided as a PDF file, and the audio files for each question are provided in MP3 format within a compressed ZIP file. This book is designed so that it can be used as one off printed sheets which can be given to students, or as a full printed booklet. A handy guide has been included to help you, if you want to print the full book, to help you make sure the right pages end up in the right place! If you like this resource, please leave a review below.

In order to do well in their exam, your students will need to be familiar with the key musical features of set works from two of the four areas of study listed in the 2016 AQA GCSE (9-1) Music Specification. Of these, three tracks from The Beatles’ album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” form the study piece for the optional Area of Study 2. This pack of 5 posters categorises the key features of each of the songs that form this study piece under each of the different elements of music, and will help your students to learn and memorise the context and key features easily! The collection contains 5 revision posters for the three prescribed songs from The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”: – Poster 1: The Beatles in Context – Poster 2: With a Little Help from my Friends – Poster 3: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – Poster 4: Within You, Without You – Poster 5: Studio Recording Techniques Great value at less than £1 per poster! All posters are supplied in PDF format. Previews of all posters are available in the files list. For the best results, the posters should be printed borderless on A3 paper, in colour, and laminated. Please leave a review if you like this resource!

In order to do well in their exam, your students will need to be familiar with the key musical features of set works from two of the four areas of study listed in the 2016 AQA GCSE (9-1) Music Specification. Of these, one must be the set work from Area of Study 1, Haydn’s Symphony 101, “The Clock”, movement 2. This pack of 6 posters categorises the key features of this set work under each of the different elements of music, and will help your students to learn and memorise the context and key features of the piece easily! The collection contains 6 revision posters for Haydn’s Symphony 101: – Poster 1: “The Clock” in Context – Poster 2: The Classical Orchestra – Poster 3: Structure – Poster 4: Melody in “The Clock” – Poster 5: Rhythm in “The Clock” – Poster 6: Texture in “The Clock” Great value at less than £1 per poster! All posters are supplied in PDF format. Previews of all posters are available in the files list. For the best results, the posters should be printed borderless on A3 paper, in colour, and laminated. Please leave a review if you like this resource!

This pack, containing 10 worksheets and 1 teacher answer sheet, is aimed at supporting the teaching of Set Work 2, Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Pathétique, movement 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven, from the new Pearson Edexcel GCSE Music (9-1) 2016 specification. The activities and tasks on each of the worksheets range in difficulty, in order to support the development of skills for a range of abilities, with differentiated questions aimed at specific target grades. The following worksheets are included: – Worksheet 1.1: First Impressions; – Worksheet 1.2: The Set Work in Context; – Worksheet 1.3: Sonata Form; – Worksheet 1.4: Thematic Material; – Worksheet 1.5: Dynamics; – Worksheet 1.6: Texture; – Worksheet 1.7: Harmony and Tonality; – Worksheet 1.8: Exam Style Questions; – Worksheet 1.9: Wider Listening; – Worksheet 1.10: Revision Checklist. In addition, a comprehensive answer sheet is included providing definitive answers (where they exist) and indicative content for student responses for every question presented in this worksheet pack. Added following feedback from a user of another worksheet pack in this series, these answers make marking and discussion of class tasks more efficient, and support peer and self-marking of tasks too! Previews of the first page of each worksheet are available from the files list. It is the responsibility of the teacher to check the coverage of this content against the exam board specification. This worksheet pack does not intend to offer complete coverage of the set work, but should be used instead as a tool to support the teaching of the subject content. Please leave a review if you like this resource! –––– Update 05/09/17: Correction of a small misprint in Worksheet 2.3. Update 12/10/17: Addition of answer sheet, and change of wording in Worksheet 2.9, Q. 5.

This pack, containing 11 worksheets and 1 teacher guide, is aimed at supporting the teaching of Set Work 3, Music for a While, by Henry Purcell, from the new Pearson Edexcel GCSE Music (9-1) 2016 specification. The activities and tasks on each of the worksheets range in difficulty, in order to support the development of skills for a range of abilities. The following worksheets are included: – Worksheet 3.1: First Impressions; – Worksheet 3.2: The Set Work in Context; – Worksheet 3.3: Instrumentation; – Worksheet 3.4: Structure and Ground Bass; – Worksheet 3.5: Text Setting; – Worksheet 3.6: Ornaments; – Worksheet 3.7: Laments; – Worksheet 3.8: Harmony; – Worksheet 3.9: Exam Style Questions; – Worksheet 3.10: Comparison of Baroque Features; – Worksheet 3.11: Check Your Knowledge. In addition, a comprehensive answer sheet is included providing definitive answers (where they exist) and indicative content for student responses for every question presented in this worksheet pack. Added following feedback from a user of another worksheet pack in this series, these answers make marking and discussion of class tasks more efficient, and support peer and self-marking of tasks too! Previews of the first page of each worksheet are available from the files list. It is the responsibility of the teacher to check the coverage of this content against the exam board specification. This worksheet pack does not intend to offer complete coverage of the set work, but should be used instead as a tool to support the teaching of the subject content. Please leave a review if you like this resource! ––––– Update 31/05/2017: Correction of minor errors on Worksheet 3.2 and 3.9, and layout improvements in Worksheet 3.10. Update 23/10/2017: Addition of Teacher Sheet 3, including answers to all questions.

This document contains links to download the audio recordings recommended by the exam board for each of the set works on iTunes. At the time of upload, the links included in this document were correct; however, you should check the latest version of the specification on the Pearson Edexcel website before downloading and using the audio tracks suggested in this document.

This pack, containing 11 worksheets and 1 teacher guide, is aimed at supporting the teaching of Set Work 1, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, 3rd movement, by J. S. Bach, from the new Pearson Edexcel GCSE Music (9-1) 2016 specification. The activities and tasks on each of the worksheets range in difficulty, in order to support the development of skills for a range of abilities. The following worksheets are included: – Worksheet 1.1: First Impressions; – Worksheet 1.2: The Concerto; – Worksheet 1.3: Finding the Solo; – Worksheet 1.4: Instrumentation: Exam Style Questions; – Worksheet 1.5: Fugal Structure; – Worksheet 1.6: Melody in Section A; – Worksheet 1.7: Comparing Melodies; – Worksheet 1.8: Rhythm and Metre: Exam Style Questions; – Worksheet 1.9: Rhythm in the Harpsichord Part; – Worksheet 1.10: Identifying Texture; – Worksheet 1.11: Revision Checklist. Additionally, as suggested in a review for this resource, a Teacher Sheet has now been included providing all of the answers (where a definitive answer exists) and indicative content for each of the questions on every worksheet in this pack. This adds the flexibility for students to self-mark their work and makes teacher marking easier too. Previews of the first page of each worksheet are available from the files list. It is the responsibility of the teacher to check this coverage of this content against the exam board specification, this worksheet pack does not intend to offer complete coverage of the set work, but should be used instead as a tool to support the teaching of the subject content. Please leave a review if you like this resource! Update 30/05/2017: Correction of a minor error in Worksheet 1.10. Update 21/09/2017: Addition of Teacher Sheet 1 – Answers.

Important: please read the information below regarding skeleton scores and audio. This 53 page resource contains a compilation of practice questions for the Component 3: Appraising exam for the new 2016 Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Specification. In the exam, students will be required to complete listening questions based on set works from each of the areas of study. The questions in this collection are tailored specifically towards the set works in Area of Study 4: Fusions. The collection contains: – Five listening questions based on Afro Celt Sound System: Release – Five listening questions based on Esperanza Spalding: Samba Em Prelúdio – Three musical dictation questions based on Afro Celt Sound System: Release – Three musical dictation questions based on Esperanza Spalding: Samba Em Prelúdio – Two unfamiliar listening questions. – Full mark scheme for teachers. – Student mark record sheet for tracking progress. Student Book – In response to a suggestion made on Twitter by a user of this resource, a student book has now been added which contains just the questions and the mark record sheet, with the answers omitted, to enable teachers to print a whole booklet for their students to use, without them being able to consult the answers. Audio Recordings – For reasons of copyright, this resource does not contain the audio recordings that are required to complete the questions. Full details of specific recordings and timings are provided, and for those questions that relate directly to a set work, the recording used is the same as that recommended in the specification, so should be available already. Skeleton Scores for Unfamiliar Listening – Unlike the books for Areas of Study 1 and 2, the extracts used for the unfamiliar questions are not taken from music in the public domain. For copyright reasons scores have not, therefore, been included. In place of this, instructions have been included detailing how a score can be made and a suggested score available from Musicnotes.com. The absence of these scores is reflected in the cheaper price of the books for AoS3 and AoS4. These questions are all based on those that will be found in Section A of the examination. No questions based on those from Section B are included. If you purchase this resource, please leave a rating and feedback! Update 11/09/17: Student Book added.

Most GCSE Specifications require students to have a basic knowledge of cadences that they can use to identify them through the study of set works, and through listening to unfamiliar music, or both. This 6-page worksheet introduces the concept of the cadence at it's most basic level, and progresses through 3 different tasks ensuring that students are able to practice recognising cadences from a score, by listening, and able to write cadences in their own composition. The worksheet begins with a comprehensive guide that introduces the concept of the cadence, ensuring that students can recognise chords and assign the appropriate roman numeral, before introducing each of the four types of cadence, each accompanied by a written example. There are three subsequent tasks aimed at securing student's understanding – they are: – Task 1: To name various cadences by analysing a score; – Task 2: To complete the last two chords of a simple chorale phrase, using the cadence specified; – Task 3: A listening question requiring students to identify 6 cadences at the end of a short chorale harmonisation (audio file included). A limited preview of the worksheet is available from the files list. It is the responsibility of the teacher to check the coverage of this worksheet against the exam board specification, this worksheet does not intend to offer complete coverage for all specifications. Please leave a review if you like this resource!