Gypsy jazz, best exemplified by the music of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli, has provided a stimulating and challenging environment for guitarists (and many other musicians) in my school....
David Guinane Classroom Music
This resource aims to provide resources and strategies for how to approach the Area of Study with your classes. These will include ideas for where to start with tackling the context of the Baroque...
Jane Werry Teaching Materials
In this first part of a two-part resource, we'll look at the contributions to the genre of the two earliest composers named by AQA, and the only two no longer living – Kurt Weill and Richard Rodgers.
Simon Rushby Teaching Materials
Sonic Pi is aimed at those new to computer programming, but powerful enough to generate really sophisticated music. In this resource, I provide some pre-programmed templates for musical activities....
David Ashworth Teaching Materials
One of the attractive features of the OCR A level syllabus is the thoroughly enjoyable repertoire covered by this particular Area of Study. However, while the songs themselves have instant appeal, it...
Jane Werry Teaching Materials
Aside from two years in Mantua (1718-20) and his final months in Vienna, Antonio Vivaldi spent his life in Venice, from where his reputation and fame emanated. Venice had a unique atmosphere that had...
Hanh Doan Teaching Materials
On Wenlock Edge is a song cycle by Ralph Vaughan Williams that sets some of AE Housman's poems from his collection A Shropshire Lad. Published in 1896, the 63 poems in A Shropshire Lad reflect a...
Hanh Doan Teaching Materials
In this resource we will look at music by the artists and composers prescribed by AQA in Area of Study 6: Contemporary Traditional Music. The focus will be on providing background on these artists and...
Simon Rushby Teaching Materials
The first movement of the Eroica is of epic length, built on a nexus of closely related themes, with rebellious touches that merit inspection in every paragraph. This resource is about how to navigate...
Jonathan James Teaching Materials
All the GCSE boards stipulate that one of the two submitted compositions must be composed to a brief set by the board. The good thing about this is that choosing from a range of options is almost...
Jane Werry Teaching Materials
In the previous resource on Edexcel's film music Area of Study (Music Teacher, November 2017), we looked in detail at music from the film Psycho. In this second resource, we're going to consider the...
James Manwaring Teaching Materials
Sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar's fifth album, Breathing Under Water, was recorded in numerous locations over the course of ten months, and released in August 2007.
Simon Rushby Teaching Materials