A LEVEL MUSIC ANALYSIS and BINARY FORM

There are at least 2 lessons (if not 3) here. It is perfect for bridging the gap between GCSE and A Level Music. Although the focus is on the different types of, and quirks within, Binary forms, and the 3 separate worksheets focus on 3 separate piano pieces in Binary Form, developing broader analysis skills runs throughout this project.

The 3 pieces I have chosen for the case studies are: Evening Song by Daniel Gottlobb-Turk; The Theme from Mozart’s K.284 Piano Sonata in D Major; and Minuet in G BWV Anh. 114 by J.S. Bach. A Sibelius 5, 6, 7, and 7.5 score for each of these is included in the pack. Each study piece has a 2-page worksheet with another 2-page (detailed) answer sheet, and students are set questions based on harmony, tonality, metre, instruments (including transposition tasks), and aspects of melody, in addition to questions about form and structure. There is also a 2-page ‘key information’ sheet outlining the different Binary Forms (symmetrical, asymmetrical, rounded, balanced, simple, continuous, and sectional). All of this is included on the 14-page PDF document in the download pack. You will also have a handy PowerPoint in the pack in order to help you deliver the lesson: objective and outcome slides; key word/ term slide; header slide for each of the 3 study pieces, and an optional suggested homework slide (JCF Bach Allegretto in F) including links to the score and audio (correct at time of publishing).

I used this as preparation for the study of more complex exam set works, and I did so for two reasons: firstly, projects like this enrich the repertoire that students become acquainted with and deeper, longer-lasting learning takes place; secondly, many set works have far too many elements for a lot of students to cope with straight out of GCSE, so simpler pieces like these allow learning to take place quicker.

I really hope that you will enjoy my resources and find them useful. I pride myself on the quality of the resources that I publish, and I welcome feedback and enquiries from all of my colleague-customers across the world. I can be contacted directly at rainynightmusic@hotmail.com and I would be delighted to hear from you. Thank you for considering this resource for your classroom.