§-Music syllabus
TAS · TASC← Music
Music syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the TAS Music syllabus, with a focused answer for each. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions and links to related points.
Aural and Music Theory
Module overview →How do we identify compositional and expressive devices in a played excerpt by ear?
Aurally identify compositional devices in selected excerpts, such as sequence, crescendo, improvisation, metre change, ostinato, imitation and modulation.
How do we transcribe melody, rhythm and harmony accurately by ear, and detect errors in a written score?
Take melodic and rhythmic dictation, transcribe a bass line and harmony, identify intervals and chords aurally, and find notated errors against a played example.
How are chords built and labelled, and how do progressions and cadences shape the harmony of a piece?
Construct triads and seventh chords, label them with Roman numerals and chord symbols, recognise inversions, and analyse progressions and cadences.
How do we name, build and hear intervals, and how do we transpose a melody accurately into a new key?
Identify and construct intervals by number and quality, invert them, recognise them by ear, and transpose melodies for different keys and instruments.
How do we identify a melody we hear, including a missing phrase or the correct version from several options?
Aurally identify a melodic phrase heard from several notated options, and recognise a two-bar phrase missing from a given melody.
How do we write a coherent melody and notate it correctly so any musician can read it?
Write a melody with clear phrase structure and cadence, and notate pitch and rhythm using correct clefs, stems, beaming, accidentals and bar layout.
What are the modes, and what melodic and rhythmic devices shape improvised and developed music?
Construct and recognise the church modes, and identify improvisational and developmental devices such as sequence, inversion, ornamentation, polyrhythm, anticipation and suspension.
What do the common terms, signs and performance directions on a score mean, and how do they affect the sound?
Define and explain the meaning and musical effect of common terms, signs and performance directions covering tempo, dynamics, articulation and expression.
How do time signatures, note values and metre organise rhythm, and how do we notate rhythm accurately by ear?
Interpret simple and compound time signatures, group note values correctly, handle tuplets and syncopation, and notate rhythm from listening.
How do we find rhythmic errors between sound and score, and notate a rhythm we hear?
Identify rhythmic errors by comparing a played excerpt with a notated score, and notate the rhythm of an instrumental part heard in an excerpt.
How are scales, keys and modes built, and how do we recognise them by ear and on the page?
Construct and identify major, minor and modal scales, work out key signatures, and recognise tonality aurally.