Year 10 IB Diploma Preparation Course Guide 2023

STRUCTURE Semester 1

Semester 2

Unit 1: Why are the Blues so sad? Inquiry – Music for sociocultural and political expression The creation of jazz is one of the most important musical achievements of the twentieth century. Its influence can be heard in all kinds of modern music, popular as well as classical. Jazz is a difficult word to define, as there are a great number of different jazz styles. However, basic to all these styles is rhythmic vitality or, as some call it, ‘swing’. In this unit we investigate the development of jazz from its beginnings to the present day, noting the basic jazz characteristics such as typical timbres and performance techniques in the musical examples studied. Unit 2: When does music change direction? Inquiry – Music for listening and performance In this unit, varied examples of instrumental music from the six main musical periods – medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and modern are explored. Our exploration focuses on the use of different types and combinations of instruments, important instrumental forms, and the use of musical elements characteristic of the particular periods in relation to instrumental music.

Unit 3: Is rock plagiarised? Inquiry – Music for dramatic impact, movement, and entertainment This unit follows on from the Year 9 unit which explored the roots of rock music. Since 1980, popular music, or rock music as it is usually called, can be viewed as moving in two parallel ‘strands’ – rock and pop. In this unit a wide range of musical examples that mirror the course of popular music since this time are investigated. Unit 4: How can strings become psycho? Inquiry – Music technology in the electronic and digital age This unit looks at identifying the relationships between emotion, colour and well-structured ideas which lead to an imaginative approach to composition. Students will learn how to identify, develop and build musical ideas that communicate emotion or structure a narrative. They will explore the progression of compositional techniques and musical devices, from Western art music to contemporary film-scoring. They will also build a portfolio of melodic writing and orchestration.

ASSESSMENT In Year 10 Performing Arts: Music IB Diploma Preparation Course students present a Folio of work which is represented in the table below. Summative assessments Semester 1 Criteria Assessed Semester 2 Criteria Assessed

Performance/Creation Task (Experimenting with Music) Performance/Creation Task (Presenting Music) Research Task (Exploring Music in Context)

Performance/Creation Task (Experimenting with Music) Performance/Creation Task (Presenting Music) Research Task (Exploring Music in Context)

A, B, C, D

A, B, C, D

A, B, C, D

A, B, C, D

A, B1, B2, C1, C2

A, B1, B2, C1, C2

Exploring Music in Context • Criterion A: Selection of evidence – focuses on the diversity, breadth and balance of the material. For the purpose of this task: • diversity and breadth are achieved by a choice of contrasting materials from personal, local and global contexts in at least two areas of inquiry • balance is achieved by equity in the treatment of the areas of inquiry studied and the treatment of contexts across the portfolio. • Criterion B1: Conducting musical research – focuses on how well students extract musical and extra musical findings, and how well they locate and explain these findings.

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