IB music first assessment 2022
Work as researcher, creator and performer across personal/local/global contexts and four areas of inquiry: sociocultural/political expression; listening/performance; dramatic/movement/entertainment; electronic/digital age. School provides actual scores/audio and performance opportunities.
No written examinations. SL exploring portfolio 30%, experimentation 30%, presenting 40%. HL exploring 20%, experimentation 20%, presenting 30%, contemporary music-maker project 30%.
Exploring music in context · Musical analysis and context
Texture describes how musical parts relate; timbre describes sound quality.
Analysis should identify audible or notated evidence and relate it to context, purpose and a practical musical response.
Checked example
Create a short original four-note phrase. Play it alone, then add a sustained note underneath.
Compare texture, tension and balance, and connect what you learn to a researched musical example with appropriate attribution.
Limits and practice
Do not generalize a musical culture from one recording or claim a score proves how every performance sounds.
The exploration portfolio needs diverse actual musical material, practical exercises and sources.
What changes most directly when a sustained part is added?
Answer: The texture and harmonic context of the phrase.
Experimenting with music · Controlled creative experimentation
A musical experiment tests a purposeful transformation of material.
Record the starting point, intended change and practical evidence; compare trials as research rather than choosing a favourite without reasons.
Checked example
Keep the pitches and instrument fixed while changing the rhythm of an original phrase. Record both versions and explain how accent changes its character.
Then choose a new experiment informed by that result and connect it to a local or global context.
Limits and practice
The experimentation report supports actual musical evidence in creating and performing, not a hypothetical plan alone.
School confirms current submission details, contexts and areas of inquiry against the guide.
Why keep pitches fixed in the first experiment?
Answer: To make the effect of the rhythmic change easier to identify.
Presenting music · Resolved work and programme notes
Presenting music integrates researcher, creator and performer roles through finished work.
Practise technical and expressive targets, document revisions and prepare concise notes about context and intention.
Checked example
Choose a manageable original composition or improvisation and a performance with contrasting material. Record a rehearsal, identify one weak transition and refine it.
Programme notes explain a specific musical choice and its context; the recording demonstrates the result.
Limits and practice
The course requires engagement with all four areas of inquiry.
Do not create a written mock exam for presenting; teacher supervises real practical submissions and checks attribution and recording rights.
What belongs in programme notes?
Answer: Relevant context and intentions that help interpret the actual musical work.
HL contemporary music-maker · Collaborative real-life music project
HL develops a real-life project integrating musical competencies and roles.
Agree contributions, resources, permissions and evidence collection before production; evaluate both process and outcome.
Checked example
Plan a short collaborative performance or sound installation within school resources. Keep musical drafts, rehearsal decisions and individual contributions.
A continuous multimedia presentation connects the proposal, changes, evaluation and realized work.
Limits and practice
The HL project is not satisfied by an imagined event or the SL presenting portfolio alone.
School supervises collaboration, safety and authenticity and verifies current multimedia limits.
Which evidence distinguishes a realized project from a proposal?
Answer: Actual musical outcome and documented decisions connecting the plan to what happened.