European Baccalaureate Music cheat sheet

Course weight: the 2-period complementary course is assessed on a reduced syllabus; the written Bac examination paper carries the same listening-analysis and essay components as the 4-period course but with fewer set works and no extended harmonisation requirement.

Listening analysis structure: identify genre/period, performing forces, texture (monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic), form, harmonic language, and one expressive device; each claim must be tied to a timed or bar-numbered moment in the excerpt.

Form recognition rules: binary (AB) = two balanced sections, often repeated; ternary (ABA) = statement, contrast, return; rondo (ABACA) = refrain alternates with episodes; sonata form = exposition (two subject groups, transition, codetta), development, recapitulation.

Cadence decision rule: perfect authentic = V–I with both chords in root position and the melody ending on the tonic; imperfect authentic = V–I with the melody on the third or fifth; plagal = IV–I; interrupted/deceptive = V–vi; half cadence = any chord to V.

Harmonic analysis method: give Roman numerals with inversion figures (e.g. I, ii6, V7, vi), then add chromatic labels (secondary dominant V/V, Neapolitan bII6, augmented sixth); always state the key context first, because the same chord symbol means different functions in different keys.

Texture vocabulary: imitative counterpoint (subject answered at a different pitch), canon (strict imitation), fugue (subject, answer, countersubject, episodes), pedal point (sustained note under changing harmony), antiphony (alternating choirs).

Essay component: a comparative essay on set works must cite at least three parameters (melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, form, context) and support each with a specific bar or section reference; unsupported general statements earn no credit.

Historical period markers: Baroque = basso continuo, terraced dynamics, ornamentation; Classical = periodic phrasing, sonata form, homophonic clarity; Romantic = expanded chromaticism, programme music, larger orchestras; 20th century = extended techniques, atonality or modal writing, irregular metre.

Course weight: the 4-period course is the heavier option, adding harmonisation at the keyboard or on paper, sight-reading, and a broader set-work list to the listening and essay components; the practical and written marks are combined in the final Bac grade.

Four-part harmonisation rules: keep the soprano given, double the root in root-position triads (double the third in diminished triads), resolve leading notes upward, resolve sevenths downward by step, avoid parallel fifths and octaves, and keep voices within standard ranges (S–A–T–B).

Cadential formula sequence: approach the final cadence with ii6–V–I or I6/4–V–I; the cadential six-four must resolve to V on the same bass, and the seventh of V7 resolves down to the third of I.

Figured bass decoding: 6 = first inversion, 6/4 = second inversion, 7 = seventh chord, 6/5 = first inversion seventh, 4/3 = second inversion seventh, 4/2 = third inversion seventh; accidentals raise or lower the interval above the bass.

Sight-reading strategy: scan the key and time signature, identify the hardest rhythmic cell, mark the tonality's accidentals, then perform at a tempo where the pulse stays steady - accuracy of pitch and rhythm outranks speed in the marking scheme.

Set-work analysis depth: for each work be able to name the composer, date, genre, performing medium, form, tonal plan, and two distinctive compositional techniques, each illustrated by a bar reference.

Aural skills: interval recognition (major, minor, perfect, augmented, diminished), chord quality identification (major, minor, diminished, augmented, dominant seventh), and melodic dictation in a stated key with a stated starting pitch.

Essay argument standard: state a thesis about the work's style or context, support it with three analytical observations, and address one counter-observation; a purely descriptive walkthrough of the piece does not satisfy the top-band criteria.

Course weight: the 2-period complementary course is assessed on a reduced syllabus; the written Bac examination paper carries the same listening-analysis and essay components as the 4-period course but with fewer set works and no extended harmonisation requirement.

Listening analysis structure: identify genre/period, performing forces, texture (monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic), form, harmonic language, and one expressive device; each claim must be tied to a timed or bar-numbered moment in the excerpt.

Form recognition rules: binary (AB) = two balanced sections, often repeated; ternary (ABA) = statement, contrast, return; rondo (ABACA) = refrain alternates with episodes; sonata form = exposition (two subject groups, transition, codetta), development, recapitulation.

Cadence decision rule: perfect authentic = V–I with both chords in root position and the melody ending on the tonic; imperfect authentic = V–I with the melody on the third or fifth; plagal = IV–I; interrupted/deceptive = V–vi; half cadence = any chord to V.

Harmonic analysis method: give Roman numerals with inversion figures (e.g. I, ii6, V7, vi), then add chromatic labels (secondary dominant V/V, Neapolitan bII6, augmented sixth); always state the key context first, because the same chord symbol means different functions in different keys.

Texture vocabulary: imitative counterpoint (subject answered at a different pitch), canon (strict imitation), fugue (subject, answer, countersubject, episodes), pedal point (sustained note under changing harmony), antiphony (alternating choirs).

Essay component: a comparative essay on set works must cite at least three parameters (melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, form, context) and support each with a specific bar or section reference; unsupported general statements earn no credit.

Historical period markers: Baroque = basso continuo, terraced dynamics, ornamentation; Classical = periodic phrasing, sonata form, homophonic clarity; Romantic = expanded chromaticism, programme music, larger orchestras; 20th century = extended techniques, atonality or modal writing, irregular metre.

Course weight: the 4-period course is the heavier option, adding harmonisation at the keyboard or on paper, sight-reading, and a broader set-work list to the listening and essay components; the practical and written marks are combined in the final Bac grade.

Four-part harmonisation rules: keep the soprano given, double the root in root-position triads (double the third in diminished triads), resolve leading notes upward, resolve sevenths downward by step, avoid parallel fifths and octaves, and keep voices within standard ranges (S–A–T–B).

Cadential formula sequence: approach the final cadence with ii6–V–I or I6/4–V–I; the cadential six-four must resolve to V on the same bass, and the seventh of V7 resolves down to the third of I.

Figured bass decoding: 6 = first inversion, 6/4 = second inversion, 7 = seventh chord, 6/5 = first inversion seventh, 4/3 = second inversion seventh, 4/2 = third inversion seventh; accidentals raise or lower the interval above the bass.

Sight-reading strategy: scan the key and time signature, identify the hardest rhythmic cell, mark the tonality's accidentals, then perform at a tempo where the pulse stays steady - accuracy of pitch and rhythm outranks speed in the marking scheme.

Set-work analysis depth: for each work be able to name the composer, date, genre, performing medium, form, tonal plan, and two distinctive compositional techniques, each illustrated by a bar reference.

Aural skills: interval recognition (major, minor, perfect, augmented, diminished), chord quality identification (major, minor, diminished, augmented, dominant seventh), and melodic dictation in a stated key with a stated starting pitch.

Essay argument standard: state a thesis about the work's style or context, support it with three analytical observations, and address one counter-observation; a purely descriptive walkthrough of the piece does not satisfy the top-band criteria.

Course weight: the 2-period complementary course is assessed on a reduced syllabus; the written Bac examination paper carries the same listening-analysis and essay components as the 4-period course but with fewer set works and no extended harmonisation requirement.

Listening analysis structure: identify genre/period, performing forces, texture (monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic), form, harmonic language, and one expressive device; each claim must be tied to a timed or bar-numbered moment in the excerpt.

Form recognition rules: binary (AB) = two balanced sections, often repeated; ternary (ABA) = statement, contrast, return; rondo (ABACA) = refrain alternates with episodes; sonata form = exposition (two subject groups, transition, codetta), development, recapitulation.

Cadence decision rule: perfect authentic = V–I with both chords in root position and the melody ending on the tonic; imperfect authentic = V–I with the melody on the third or fifth; plagal = IV–I; interrupted/deceptive = V–vi; half cadence = any chord to V.

Harmonic analysis method: give Roman numerals with inversion figures (e.g. I, ii6, V7, vi), then add chromatic labels (secondary dominant V/V, Neapolitan bII6, augmented sixth); always state the key context first, because the same chord symbol means different functions in different keys.

Texture vocabulary: imitative counterpoint (subject answered at a different pitch), canon (strict imitation), fugue (subject, answer, countersubject, episodes), pedal point (sustained note under changing harmony), antiphony (alternating choirs).

Essay component: a comparative essay on set works must cite at least three parameters (melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, form, context) and support each with a specific bar or section reference; unsupported general statements earn no credit.

Historical period markers: Baroque = basso continuo, terraced dynamics, ornamentation; Classical = periodic phrasing, sonata form, homophonic clarity; Romantic = expanded chromaticism, programme music, larger orchestras; 20th century = extended techniques, atonality or modal writing, irregular metre.

Course weight: the 4-period course is the heavier option, adding harmonisation at the keyboard or on paper, sight-reading, and a broader set-work list to the listening and essay components; the practical and written marks are combined in the final Bac grade.

Four-part harmonisation rules: keep the soprano given, double the root in root-position triads (double the third in diminished triads), resolve leading notes upward, resolve sevenths downward by step, avoid parallel fifths and octaves, and keep voices within standard ranges (S–A–T–B).

Cadential formula sequence: approach the final cadence with ii6–V–I or I6/4–V–I; the cadential six-four must resolve to V on the same bass, and the seventh of V7 resolves down to the third of I.

Figured bass decoding: 6 = first inversion, 6/4 = second inversion, 7 = seventh chord, 6/5 = first inversion seventh, 4/3 = second inversion seventh, 4/2 = third inversion seventh; accidentals raise or lower the interval above the bass.

Sight-reading strategy: scan the key and time signature, identify the hardest rhythmic cell, mark the tonality's accidentals, then perform at a tempo where the pulse stays steady - accuracy of pitch and rhythm outranks speed in the marking scheme.

Set-work analysis depth: for each work be able to name the composer, date, genre, performing medium, form, tonal plan, and two distinctive compositional techniques, each illustrated by a bar reference.

Aural skills: interval recognition (major, minor, perfect, augmented, diminished), chord quality identification (major, minor, diminished, augmented, dominant seventh), and melodic dictation in a stated key with a stated starting pitch.

Essay argument standard: state a thesis about the work's style or context, support it with three analytical observations, and address one counter-observation; a purely descriptive walkthrough of the piece does not satisfy the top-band criteria.

Course weight: the 2-period complementary course is assessed on a reduced syllabus; the written Bac examination paper carries the same listening-analysis and essay components as the 4-period course but with fewer set works and no extended harmonisation requirement.

Listening analysis structure: identify genre/period, performing forces, texture (monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic), form, harmonic language, and one expressive device; each claim must be tied to a timed or bar-numbered moment in the excerpt.

Form recognition rules: binary (AB) = two balanced sections, often repeated; ternary (ABA) = statement, contrast, return; rondo (ABACA) = refrain alternates with episodes; sonata form = exposition (two subject groups, transition, codetta), development, recapitulation.

Cadence decision rule: perfect authentic = V–I with both chords in root position and the melody ending on the tonic; imperfect authentic = V–I with the melody on the third or fifth; plagal = IV–I; interrupted/deceptive = V–vi; half cadence = any chord to V.

Harmonic analysis method: give Roman numerals with inversion figures (e.g. I, ii6, V7, vi), then add chromatic labels (secondary dominant V/V, Neapolitan bII6, augmented sixth); always state the key context first, because the same chord symbol means different functions in different keys.

Texture vocabulary: imitative counterpoint (subject answered at a different pitch), canon (strict imitation), fugue (subject, answer, countersubject, episodes), pedal point (sustained note under changing harmony), antiphony (alternating choirs).

Essay component: a comparative essay on set works must cite at least three parameters (melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, form, context) and support each with a specific bar or section reference; unsupported general statements earn no credit.

Historical period markers: Baroque = basso continuo, terraced dynamics, ornamentation; Classical = periodic phrasing, sonata form, homophonic clarity; Romantic = expanded chromaticism, programme music, larger orchestras; 20th century = extended techniques, atonality or modal writing, irregular metre.

Course weight: the 4-period course is the heavier option, adding harmonisation at the keyboard or on paper, sight-reading, and a broader set-work list to the listening and essay components; the practical and written marks are combined in the final Bac grade.

Four-part harmonisation rules: keep the soprano given, double the root in root-position triads (double the third in diminished triads), resolve leading notes upward, resolve sevenths downward by step, avoid parallel fifths and octaves, and keep voices within standard ranges (S–A–T–B).

Cadential formula sequence: approach the final cadence with ii6–V–I or I6/4–V–I; the cadential six-four must resolve to V on the same bass, and the seventh of V7 resolves down to the third of I.

Figured bass decoding: 6 = first inversion, 6/4 = second inversion, 7 = seventh chord, 6/5 = first inversion seventh, 4/3 = second inversion seventh, 4/2 = third inversion seventh; accidentals raise or lower the interval above the bass.

Sight-reading strategy: scan the key and time signature, identify the hardest rhythmic cell, mark the tonality's accidentals, then perform at a tempo where the pulse stays steady - accuracy of pitch and rhythm outranks speed in the marking scheme.

Set-work analysis depth: for each work be able to name the composer, date, genre, performing medium, form, tonal plan, and two distinctive compositional techniques, each illustrated by a bar reference.

Aural skills: interval recognition (major, minor, perfect, augmented, diminished), chord quality identification (major, minor, diminished, augmented, dominant seventh), and melodic dictation in a stated key with a stated starting pitch.

Essay argument standard: state a thesis about the work's style or context, support it with three analytical observations, and address one counter-observation; a purely descriptive walkthrough of the piece does not satisfy the top-band criteria.