Music Technology Edexcel A Level, what's it like and should I take it?

I am considering taking AS Level Music Technology next year as I am passionate about Music, but I didn't do Music GCSE, I did the BTEC Level 2 and got a Merit. Could I still do the course? Anyone who's done it. What's it like? Did you enjoy it? Do you need a great level of understanding of the software such as Logic before you take the course, or could you be either a beginner or have limited knowledge and be able to do the course?

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

ombtom

Original post by nathangeorge99

I am considering taking AS Level Music Technology next year as I am passionate about Music, but I didn't do Music GCSE, I did the BTEC Level 2 and got a Merit. Could I still do the course? Anyone who's done it. What's it like? Did you enjoy it? Do you need to be able to play an instrument and read Music? Also, I know you would need to have a basic understanding of Logic, but is a basic understanding all you need before taking the A Level or should you be familiar and comfortable with most of it?

I did Music Technology AS-level without GCSE Music and got the highest grade in my class (albeit a class of 6 people). It's great if you are truly interested, and your school has good equipment.

Being able to play an instrument helps a lot. I could only play piano, whereas everyone else could only play guitar. I think they'd all agree that piano was more useful, as we spent a lot of time using keyboards to input notes on the DAW (we used Cubase). We had all completed a level 2 BTEC the year before, so we were familiar with the software, but it wouldn't have taken long to get to our level from being a complete beginner.

Being able to read music helps; for the coursework, which is most of the A-level, you are given a basic score to build a composition from. Basic music reading ability is required for the exam. The AS exam is hard, but not impossible. You will need to learn how to read very basic sheet music, but it shouldn't take long.

I definitely enjoyed it, although it was one of my hardest subjects, simply because of the amount of time it took up. If you're naturally good at composing/electronic music then it will be fairly easy. Having said that, the exam board has messed up a few times; I think three out of six of us had to get our coursework remarked. In the exam a year before mine, they gave everyone a mono CD and asked them about panning, which sums up Edexcel quite well.

Make sure you have a teacher who knows what they're talking about – it will be
much harder without one.

I'd say do it if it's already a hobby, or if you're interested in a relevant career. You'll learn a lot about the recording process, but it will become tedious if you don't enjoy it.

Hope this helps. :smile: