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Curriculum - Music
 Welcome to the Rendcomb College Music Department. The website pages that you are about to browse through are designed to give a brief insight into music at Rendcomb. They are, of course, no substitute for visiting us or attending one of our concerts, but it should give at least a flavour of the college's rich musical life of which we are proud.
There are two full-time members of staff; the Director of Music and Assistant
Director.
If after browsing the information on this website you have any further questions of a musical nature, please do feel free to contact the Director of Music by email  or by telephoning 01285 832341.
Academic Courses
All pupils receive classroom tuition in Forms 1 - 3 (Years 7 - 9) and each year a healthy number of pupils opt to continue the subject in Forms 4&5 (GCSE) and 6th Form (AS&A2 Level). A number of pupils go on to study the subject at university or conservatoires.
Instrumental Lessons
A high proportion of pupils take advantage of the expert individual instrumental and vocal tuition available from a team of visiting staff.
Tuition is available in all orchestral and band instruments as well as piano, organ, guitar, percussion, bagpipes and voice. Pupils are encouraged to measure their attainment through graded practical examinations of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Trinity College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as appropriate for the candidate.
Extra Curricular Music
The heart of the music department lies in its rich and diverse variety of
ensembles that rehearse weekly and perform an impressive number of concerts
each year both in school and outside in the wider community. The Department
mounts ambitious projects well in excess of what might be expected of such
a relatively small student population. Recent highlights have included;
Handel: 'Messiah', Haydn: 'Nelson' Mass, Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto with
student soloist. There is also a very live and enthusiastic tradition of
regular pop/rock concerts, servicing of the College's formal public occasions
and music provided for church on Sundays. The College is fortunate to have
recruited a fine band of music scholars and choral scholars who contribute
richly to the musical life of the community.
 Music Scholarships
Music scholarships, both Instrumental and Choral, are awarded by competition each year to candidates who demonstrate talent and future potential on two instruments.
The number and value of awards are wholly dependent on the quality of candidates. The Director of Music will be happy to see potential candidates for a short pre-audition to discuss suitability for an award application.
Scholarship auditions take place annually. Application forms with full details are available from the Admissions Registrar or can be downloaded and printed by clicking here.
Academic Courses
Forms 1-3
All pupils in the 1st - 3rd Forms receive two class music lessons per week. The course is broad-based, drawing together the very different strands of knowledge and experience which pupils possess as they enter the College. The three key areas of Listening, Composing and Performing are explored through class projects which aim to stretch the most able whilst enabling all pupils to gain a basic understanding of the fundamentals of music. Tuition in music theory and class singing also play an important part in the course for this age group.
Forms 4-5
Music at GCSE is a two-year course which aims to develop skills in three main areas: Performance, Composition and Listening & Appraising. The course appeals to all types of musician who wish to further their academic and compositional abilities in addition to practical skills already studied. The Areas of Study cover a wide range of music: classical music, world music and popular music. Pupils receive four academic periods per week, two of which are dedicated to composition tuition.
Academic Courses
6th Form
Music studied in the Sixth Form to AS and A2 Level offers good musicians an opportunity to pursue their academic and practical studies to a high level of proficiency. There are two courses offered and both are well conceived and approachable but largely designed to develop academic musical disciplines and techniques of composition and therefore not suitable for students solely interested in musical performance. Candidates wishing to take the OCR Music course through to A2 Level should, by the summer of the Upper Sixth Form, be able to perform to a high standard (Grade 7-8) on their first instrument or voice.
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