IB Music

In this course, students work both individually and in collaboration to experience the creative process as a way of learning to transform ideas into action through intellectual curiosity and creative thinking. The IB Music curriculum is designed to help students come to appreciate the value and importance of researching, creating, preparing and presenting, and critically reflecting as modes of learning and communicating. In the process, students gain a richer understanding of themselves, their personal cultural perspectives, and cultural ideas and practices in the global community. The assessments that together comprise the IB exam score are Exploring Music in Context (a portfolio combining written work, compositions, and musical performances), Experimenting with Music (a 1500-word report supplemented by related excerpts from the student’s compositions and performances), Presenting Music (a collection of program notes, composition or improvisation, and performance), and, for HL students, The Contemporary Music-Maker (a multimedia presentation documenting a real-life project).

The SL and HL music curricula require 6 mods. In addition, all IB Arts students attend the IB Arts Block, which meets for 45 minutes weekly throughout the academic year. Over the course of 11th and 12th grades, IB Music students take at least 4 mods of one of the music ensemble courses (ARP310A, ARP320A, ARP320D). At least two of these mods must be in 11th grade and at least one must be in 12th grade. (Ideally, a student would take all three mods of one of the ensemble courses in 11th grade.) In addition to the 4 mods of Vocal, String, or Wind Ensemble, students take a mod specific to 11th grade IB Music students and a mod specific to 12th grade IB Music students.

Min-Max Credit Hours: 6.0-6.0