GCSE Music (Edexcel)

31 free revision lessons in 7 units. Open the course or go straight to a lesson.

Listening Skills

Train your ear: tonality, metre, texture, devices and cadences

1. Hearing Tonality: Major, Minor and Beyond
2. Hearing Instruments and Families
3. Texture, Devices and Cadences: First Steps

Area of Study 1: Instrumental Music 1700–1820

Bach's Brandenburg No. 5 and Beethoven's 'Pathétique' — two set works in close-up

1. Instrumental Music 1700–1820: Two Worlds, Two Set Works
2. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, Third Movement — Guided Listening
3. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, Third Movement — The Elements in Close-Up
4. Beethoven: Pathétique Sonata, First Movement — Guided Listening
5. Beethoven: Pathétique Sonata, First Movement — The Elements in Close-Up

Area of Study 2: Vocal Music

Purcell's Music for a While and Queen's Killer Queen

1. Vocal Music: Meeting Purcell and Queen
2. Purcell: Music for a While — Guided Listening
3. Purcell: Music for a While — The Elements in Close-Up
4. Queen: Killer Queen — Guided Listening
5. Queen: Killer Queen — The Elements in Close-Up

Area of Study 3: Music for Stage and Screen

Defying Gravity and the Star Wars Main Title

1. Music for Stage and Screen: Showstoppers and Symphonic Scores
2. Schwartz: Defying Gravity — Guided Listening
3. Schwartz: Defying Gravity — The Elements in Close-Up
4. Williams: Main Title from Star Wars — Guided Listening
5. Williams: Main Title from Star Wars — The Elements in Close-Up

Area of Study 4: Fusions

Afro Celt Sound System's Release and Esperanza Spalding's Samba Em Preludio

1. Fusions: What Fusion Music Means — Afro Celt Sound System and Esperanza Spalding
2. Afro Celt Sound System: Release — Guided Listening
3. Afro Celt Sound System: Release — The Elements in Close-Up
4. Esperanza Spalding: Samba em Preludio — Guided Listening
5. Esperanza Spalding: Samba em Preludio — The Elements in Close-Up

Unfamiliar Listening Practice

Real recordings and exam-style questions — the comparison-question muscle

1. Mozart Clarinet Concerto K.622, Movement 3: Rondo Form
2. Beethoven Symphony No.1, Movement 1: Slow Introduction and Sonata-Form Allegro
3. Popular Music — Unfamiliar Listening
4. Orchestral Colour — Unfamiliar Listening

Score Reading

Follow the music on the page while it plays

1. Following a Score: Keeping Your Place While the Music Plays
2. Reading Rhythm: How Long Each Note Lasts
3. Reading Pitch: Steps, Leaps, Shape and Key
4. Reading Expression and Forces: Dynamics, Articulation and Clefs

All subjects