Music syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the WA Music syllabus, in syllabus order, with a focused answer for each. Open any dot point for the answer, exam-style questions and links to related points.
Unit 3: Identities
Unit overview →How do I identify cadences by ear and on the page and notate a harmonic progression accurately in the aural and theory paper?
How do I recognise, build and use modes and non-major or minor scales by ear and on the page across jazz and contemporary contexts?
How do I recognise, explain and notate modulation and transposition accurately in the WACE Music aural and theory paper?
How do I identify, build and write intervals, scales and key signatures accurately under aural and theory exam conditions?
How do I build, label and write chords and harmonic progressions, including cadences and figured-bass realisations, for the music literacy paper?
How do I notate rhythm and metre accurately and transcribe melodic and rhythmic dictation correctly under timed aural conditions?
How do I sight-sing accurately and detect notation errors between a score and a recording in the aural paper?
How do I use the elements of music as a precise vocabulary to describe and analyse any work in the written exam?
How do I analyse designated and unseen works for the elements of music, stylistic conventions and cultural and historical context in the written exam?
How do I analyse a contemporary or popular designated work and explain its production, style and identity?
How do I analyse a jazz designated work, recognising its style, language and place in jazz history within the identities theme?
How do I analyse a Western Art Music designated work and place it in its stylistic period and historical context?
How do I analyse an unseen excerpt aurally and visually for instrumentation, texture, metre and tonality under exam conditions?
Unit 4: Innovations
Unit overview →How do I recognise and use musical forms and structural devices to organise a composition and analyse a work?
How do I identify chords, intervals, cadences and errors by ear and transcribe what I hear accurately in the aural exam?
How do I understand and discuss music technology and production as a driver of innovation in contemporary music?
How do I harmonise a given melody with appropriate chords and smooth voice leading in the composing and arranging section?
How do I move beyond accurate notes to a musically interpreted, stylistically convincing performance in the practical exam?
How do I arrange music for a small ensemble, writing idiomatically and correctly for transposing instruments?
How do I analyse an unseen work under exam time pressure when I have never heard or seen it before?
How do I analyse how composers and artists innovate, and connect those innovations to cultural and historical context in the written exam?
How do I prepare a composition portfolio for the practical examination so it shows craft, originality and stylistic control?
How do I prepare and deliver a performance or production that demonstrates technical control, musical interpretation and stylistic understanding in the practical exam?
How do I write a convincing melody and develop a motif so a short composition has shape and unity?
How do I compose and arrange music that uses melody, harmony, texture and form effectively and meets the brief in the composition portfolio and written exam?