MATSEC IM Music cheat sheet

MATSEC IM Music: Syllabus Content Essentials

• The MATSEC Intermediate Music syllabus is organised into three assessed strands: a written/applied theory component (harmony, counterpoint, analysis), a history and set-works component, and a performance/practical component; each strand carries its own weighting in the final grade.

• Set works are examined through score-based analysis: candidates must identify form, harmonic language, instrumentation, texture and stylistic context from the printed score, not from memory of recordings alone.

• Harmony at Intermediate level requires four-part (SATB) writing in the common-practice idiom: correct voice-leading, no parallel fifths or octaves between outer parts, resolved sevenths, and recognised cadence types (perfect, imperfect, interrupted, plagal).

• Figured bass realisation is assessed as a practical skill: candidates realise a given bass with correct chord tones, doubling, and cadential decoration, then identify the resulting harmonic progression by Roman numeral.

• Melody writing and stylistic composition tasks require a coherent phrase structure (typically antecedent–consequent, 4+4 bars), a defined key with modulation to a related key, and idiomatic treatment of the given instrument or voice.

• Aural perception is tested through interval, chord, cadence and rhythmic dictation: candidates should be able to name intervals by quality and number, identify major/minor/dominant/diminished triads and their inversions, and notate rhythms from dictation.

• Historical study covers the main style periods (Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, twentieth century) with representative genres, composers and characteristic devices; dates are used to situate works, not as isolated memorised facts.

• Analytical vocabulary must be applied precisely: terms such as sequence, pedal point, suspension, augmentation, stretto, ostinato, ground bass, sonata form exposition/development/recapitulation, and through-composed are expected in written answers.

• Performance assessment at Intermediate level requires technical control, stylistic awareness of the period, and programme choice covering contrasting periods or styles; sight-reading and/or a viva on the programme may form part of the practical examination.