IB Music SL case studies
IB Music SL · Put your knowledge to work in context.
IB Music SL is the standard-level music course within the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, designed for students who want a rigorous, academically framed music education alongside their other subjects. It suits capable musicians who read notation, have some performing fluency, and are curious about music from different cultures and eras - not only Western classical repertoire. The IB Music SL case studies are 5 cases and about 2,812 words.
1Cross-rhythm or polyrhythm? Defending terminology in an unfamiliar-music excerpt
In a timed SL listening exercise, a candidate hears a 42-second field recording of an Ewe drum ensemble from Ghana. The excerpt is in a repeating cycle; a double bell plays a steady pattern, an axatse (rattle) plays offbeats, and three drums enter at different points.
593 words, about 3 min2Ritornello, rondo or ABA? Correcting form labels in a prescribed-work answer
A candidate is preparing for the prescribed-work section. The work is a Baroque concerto grosso movement, and the teacher provides a 90-second excerpt: the opening tutti in D major, a solo episode for two violins in B minor, a shortened tutti return in D major, a second episode with a sustained pedal, and a final tutti.
558 words, about 3 min3When the MLI link is asserted, not demonstrated: revising within the word limit
An SL candidate has drafted a Musical Links Investigation comparing two works: a 1965 jazz recording of a standard and a gamelan gong kebyar piece. The stated link is 'improvisation and cyclical structure'.
552 words, about 3 min4The 15-minute recital: stamina, page turns and a tempting showpiece
An SL trumpet candidate plans a 15-minute solo recital. The programme is: (1) a lyrical Baroque transcription with piano, 4:20; (2) an unaccompanied 20th-century piece using straight mute and flutter-tonguing, 5:10; (3) a swing arrangement with piano, bass and drums, 6:15.
533 words, about 3 min5Software playback sounds good, the rehearsal does not: revising an SL composition
An SL composition candidate has written a 4:10 piece for string quartet plus drum kit, based on a folk tune. The score alternates 5/4 and 4/4 every two bars; the cello divides into three parts in the final section; the viola has double stops with a minor ninth; the drum kit part is fully notated but was created by mouse-clicking in notation software.
576 words, about 3 min