IMPACT IGCSE MUSIC CURRICULUM
A STRUCTURED APPROACH TO LISTENING, PERFORMING, COMPOSING & MUSICAL UNDERSTANDING
IMPACT IGCSE MUSIC
The IMPACT IGCSE Music Programme provides a structured two-year pathway through Cambridge IGCSE Music in Years 10 and 11.
The programme connects the three core disciplines of Listening, Performing and Composing, allowing musical knowledge, practical musicianship and creative skills to develop together throughout the course.
Students progress through the seven Areas of Study while continually developing musical language, analytical listening and score-reading skills. Performing and composing develop alongside this work through progressive practical preparation, guided composition tasks and increasingly independent application.
Year 10 establishes the musical language and stylistic understanding required for the course. Year 11 extends this knowledge through the remaining Areas of Study, integrated listening and score analysis, coursework development and preparation for the final examination.
ASSESSMENT STRUCTURE
YEAR 10 — BUILDING MUSICAL LANGUAGE
Year 10 begins by identifying students’ existing strengths and areas for development in listening, performing, composing, notation and score reading. The course then develops through a deliberate progression:
Core Musical Language
Notation, clefs, rhythm, metre, key signatures, intervals, form, harmony, chords and cadences, establishing the foundations for listening and score reading.
Baroque Music
Concerto, concerto grosso, basso continuo, imitation, polyphony, ornamentation, ritornello form and Baroque performance practice.
Classical Music
Balanced phrasing, homophonic texture, harmony and cadences, sonata and rondo form, key relationships and thematic development.
Romantic Music
Expanded orchestration, chromatic harmony, expressive freedom, programme music, nationalism and thematic development.
Music and Words
Art song, choral music, popular song and musical theatre, including text setting, word painting, accompaniment, vocal texture, expression and structure.
Throughout Year 10, students develop their listening and score-reading skills alongside solo and ensemble performance. Composition develops progressively from short guided tasks towards increasingly independent and sustained creative work.
YEAR 11 — APPLICATION, COURSEWORK & EXAM PREPARATION
Year 11 introduces the final three Areas of Study while developing greater independence in listening, performing and composing.
Music for Dance
Tango, Salsa and EDM, developing understanding of rhythm, metre, syncopation, instrumentation, structure, layering and production.
Music for Small Ensemble
Chinese Silk-and-Bamboo Music, Hindustani Classical Music and Arab Takht, including instrumentation, texture, heterophony, improvisation, rāga, tāla, maqām and īqā‘āt.
Music for Stage and Screen
Ballet, theatre, film and video-game music, with a focus on character, movement, atmosphere, narrative, leitmotif, orchestration, synchronisation, layering and thematic transformation.
Students then revisit and connect learning across all seven Areas of Study through unfamiliar listening, score reading, stylistic comparison and integrated musical analysis, while completing coursework and preparing for the final listening examination.
Year 11 includes:
Listening Development
Full-syllabus listening, unfamiliar extracts, score reading, musical language, stylistic comparison and evidence-based written responses.
Performance Development
Selection, rehearsal, refinement and recording of solo and ensemble repertoire.
Composition Development
Development and completion of two original compositions, applying melody, harmony, structure, texture, instrumentation and musical expression through planning, refinement and final presentation.
Examination Preparation
Integrated revision, unfamiliar listening and score extracts, timed practice and complete examination-style assessment.
CUMULATIVE MUSICAL LANGUAGE
Musical language is developed and revisited throughout Years 10 and 11 rather than being taught as a series of isolated topics.
Students apply the same musical concepts across listening, score reading, performing and composing, building greater independence as the course progresses.
PERFORMING PROGRESSION
Performance develops continuously from the beginning of
Year 10.Students move from diagnostic performance and repertoire selection towards technical development, regular performance opportunities, recorded progress checks and final solo and ensemble recordings in Year
11. COMPOSING PROGRESSION
Composition develops progressively from short musical ideas towards complete, independent compositions. Students learn how to create and develop melodic material, fit melody to harmony, shape musical phrases and use harmony, texture and structure purposefully.
The composing course develops through a clear sequence: basic ideas and melodic development, melody and harmony, musical periods and sentences, functional harmony, harmonic development and small ternary form. Students then apply these techniques when planning, composing, refining and presenting their own original music.
By the end of the course, students complete two original compositions. They are expected to make increasingly independent musical decisions and demonstrate purposeful control of melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, structure, instrumentation and musical expression.
THE IMPACT APPROACH TO IGCSE MUSIC
The IMPACT IGCSE Music Programme is not intended to replace the Cambridge syllabus.
It provides a structured teaching pathway through it.
The aim is to help students connect what they hear, perform, read, understand and create, so that listening, performing and composing reinforce one another throughout the course.
Musical language, score reading and analytical skills are developed progressively and revisited across different styles, traditions and Areas of Study, while performing and composing develop alongside the listening curriculum.
One course. Three interconnected disciplines. Progressive development from Year 10 to final assessment.