QCAA Music case studies
QCAA Music · Put your knowledge to work in context.
QCAA Music is a senior secondary subject in Queensland, Australia, developed by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. It suits students who want to combine practical music-making with analytical and creative work, and it contributes to the Queensland Certificate of Education and to tertiary entrance pathways. The QCAA Music case studies are 5 cases and about 2,534 words.
1The Overrunning Recording Session
A Year 12 student is preparing a performance assessment worth 25% of the final result. The chosen repertoire is a three-movement work totalling 11 minutes; the syllabus-aligned limit for the assessment is 10 minutes, and the school has scheduled a single 30-minute recording session in a hall with a 4 p.m.
529 words, about 3 min2The Modulation That Would Not Sit
A composition student has written a 32-bar song in G major for a folio task requiring a modulation to a related key. The student has inserted a four-bar bridge that moves to E minor via a B7 chord, but the melody over the bridge leaps a major seventh (D to C sharp) and the vocal range now exceeds the student's comfortable tessitura by a third.
551 words, about 3 min3The Score That Disagrees With the Recording
A musicology student is analysing a set work for an analytical listening task. The published score shows a repeated eight-bar phrase marked pianissimo with a single sustained cello note beneath it.
482 words, about 2 min4The Aural Test Under Time Pressure
In an aural skills class, students hear a four-bar excerpt played twice. The excerpt is in 6/8 time, begins on the upbeat, and modulates from D major to B minor in the third bar.
477 words, about 2 min5The Ensemble Balance Decision
A school chamber ensemble of six players (two violins, viola, cello, flute and clarinet) is preparing a 12-minute program for an assessment. In rehearsal, the clarinet's chalumeau register is inaudible beneath the two violins in the second movement, where all parts are marked mezzo-forte.
495 words, about 2 min