Integrate aural skills into written representation
AS 91420 is a Level 3 external Music exam (4 credits) where you listen to pieces of music and write down what you hear. You do this in two ways: musical transcription (writing out melodies, rhythms, and chords in notation) and written description (explaining or analysing what the music is doing). The exam covers a range of musical styles and genres. Because it is external, it is sat under exam conditions and marked by NZQA examiners — your teacher does not mark it.
You can describe what you hear using some basic music vocabulary. You can notate rough melodic contours and some rhythmic patterns (though not always complete phrases). You can identify some individual chords, but you may not always tell major from minor and you are likely to miss inversions.
You explain how the musical elements and features create an effect, using correct terminology. Your melodic and rhythmic notation is clearly written and mostly accurate in both contour and grouping. You can identify chord progressions (pairs of chords in sequence) and some inversions or 7th chords.
No students reached Excellence in the 2025 exam. According to the marking schedule, Excellence requires consistently accurate transcription of full melodic and rhythmic phrases, identifying complete chord phrases including inversions, and analysing how all the elements and features work together across a whole passage — not just describing or explaining individual moments.
Standards typically taken alongside or after this one. Same subject, grouped by level.