WACE ATAR Music case studies
WACE ATAR Music · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) ATAR Music course is a senior-secondary music credential offered within Western Australia's WACE system, administered by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA). It is designed for Year 11 and Year 12 students who intend to use Music as an ATAR-contributing subject for university entrance, and who already have substantial practical and theoretical grounding in music. Because the course sits within the WACE framework, candidates should expect study that combines practical musicianship with written and analytical work rather than performance alone. The provisional domain structure used on this page groups study into aural and theory (music literacy), composition and arrangement, performance (solo and ensemble), and analysis, investigation and cultural or historical context, each weighted at 25 per cent. The WACE ATAR Music case studies are 5 cases and about 2,780 words.
1The Modulating Bridge
A Year 12 student is analysing a 32-bar popular song for the aural component. The verse sits firmly in D major, and the chorus clearly resolves to F major.
600 words, about 3 min2The Twelve-Bar Arrangement Deadline
A student must submit a 90-second arrangement of a 12-bar blues for a four-part ensemble: trumpet, tenor saxophone, trombone and rhythm section (piano, bass, drums). The brief requires a written score and a notation software file.
564 words, about 3 min3The Audition Tempo
A Year 12 student is preparing a solo performance for assessment. The chosen work is a fast movement marked crotchet = 132, but the student can only play it cleanly at 112.
542 words, about 3 min4The Borrowed Chord Analysis
A student is analysing a chorale-style passage in G major. At bar 7 the harmony moves from a G major chord to an E flat major chord, then to D major, then to G major.
586 words, about 3 min5The Folk Song Arrangement
A student is arranging a traditional folk song collected in the 1930s from an oral tradition. The student has found a published version with piano accompaniment and wants to use it as the basis for a choral arrangement.
488 words, about 2 min