Pearson Education Ltd · RQF Level 4
Pearson BTEC Level 4 HNC Diploma in Music
You don’t just earn this. You learn to use it, one-to-one, on your own real work.
- LevelRQF Level 4
- Total credits120
- Guided learning480 hours
- Units in this qualification52
Awarded by Pearson Education Ltd · on the Ofqual register
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See how this course maps onto your role
Ten quick questions, one per Future Fluency, asked against this qualification rather than a generic one.
About 5 minutes · No card · Nothing to commit to
What you’ll learn
What each unit actually teaches you to do
These are the units Pearson Education Ltd registers against this qualification. It is a catalogue, not a syllabus. Which of them you take depends on the combination the qualification requires, and that is set by the awarding body rather than by us. Every unit here is regulated, and every one you earn is yours to keep.
Accessible Music TechnologyReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand current dedicated hardware technology for creating an accessible computer environment
- Understand current dedicated software technology for creating an accessible computer environment
- Understand alternative uses of hardware MIDI equipment for wider accessibility in music making
- Prepare accessible music technology equipment for others to facilitate the music creation processes
AcousticsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the physical properties of sound waves
- Understand how the timbre, scale and intonation systems of musical instruments relate to the harmonic series
- Understand the physiological and perception processes involved in hearing
- Measure the behaviour of sound in physical spaces
- Understand how to control sound in physical spaces
Applied Music Production TechniquesReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand significant developments in music production techniques
- Understand current developments within music production practice
- Implement specific recognised production techniques appropriate to genre, era and style.
- Implement and develop an individual creative production technique.
Audio ElectronicsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand safe and effective workshop practice
- Understand the function and use of passive electronic components
- Understand the function and use of active electronic components
- Build working examples of audio circuits
Audio Mastering and ManufactureReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Identify faults and problems in a recording and plan the mastering process
- Apply creative and corrective techniques in the mastering process
- Understand the technical considerations needed to suit various formats and clients’ needs
- Prepare a master recording in readiness for the manufacturing process
Audio Post ProductionReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand how key developments in sound and moving image technology have impacted on working practices
- Apply production and post-production recording techniques
- Edit a variety of audio tracks for different media
- Mix soundtracks for a final delivery
Aural PerceptionReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the stylistic elements of music
- Recognise the melodic and rhythmic elements of music
- Understand the structural elements of music
- Transcribe the harmonic elements of music
Band Rehearsal and PerformanceReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Contribute to the planning of a performance
- Understand musical direction and rehearsal techniques
- Participate in a series of public performances
- Evaluate rehearsals and performances
Community Music ProjectsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the history and context of community music
- Manage projects
- Apply workshop skills
- Take part in group work
Composing for Film and TelevisionReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand definitive examples of music composed for the moving image
- Apply compositional techniques involved in the composition of music for film and television
- Understand practical considerations involved in composing for film and television
- Use studio technology in the production of music for film and television
Composition in ContextReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Compose in different styles
- Compose for different combinations of sounds
- Create a piece of music according to a commission
- Create a portfolio of compositions
Computer Music Composition and ProductionReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Use computers to synthesise and process sound
- LO2 Understand protocols used to control music software and hardware
- Understand the tools used for composing and arranging using technology
- Produce musical material using a range of techniques and technology
Computer Music SystemsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the computer technology available for the composition and production of music
- Understand the software available for the composition and production of music
- Understand the software available for the creation and manipulation of sound
- Store and back up data
Creative Arts Professional PracticeReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand current developments in the relevant specialisms within the industry
- Sustain and extend a current personal profile as a practitioner
- Understand how to sustain employment opportunities within the relevant specialism
- Apply the relevant legal and statutory framework to the art form
Creative Arts Research SkillsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Select effective methods and techniques for undertaking research activities
- Understand the validity of appropriate research material from primary and secondary information sources
- Formulate critical opinions on a selected research subject
- Present outcomes based on research using a recognised format
Critical Music ListeningReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- LO1 Understand individual musical characteristics in a performance or recording
- LO2 Understand essential musical ingredients that contribute to a performance or production
- LO3 Understand sonic problems that may have a negative effect upon music performance or production
- Accurately balance combinations of musical and other sonic elements in a performance or production
Employability SkillsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Determine own responsibilities and performance
- Develop interpersonal and transferable skills
- Understand the dynamics of working with others
- Develop strategies for problem solving
Harmony and ArrangingReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Produce a portfolio of arrangements for a variety of ensembles in an assortment of styles
- Understand different jazz and popular music harmony and notation conventions
- Apply appropriate arranging techniques
- Produce both recordings and live performances of their work
Harmony and CompositionReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand harmonic conventions
- Understand contrapuntal conventions
- Generate musical ideas
- Create a portfolio of original compositions.
Improvisation in MusicReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the relationship between musical elements and improvised material
- Develop individualised instrumental learning programmes
- Practice and rehearse improvisation
- Improvise from musical resources
Keyboard SkillsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- LO1 Be able to perform a repertoire of short solo keyboard works
- LO2 Be able to develop keyboard skills using sustained rehearsal schedules
- LO3 Be able to perform keyboard works using creative practical techniques
- LO4 Be able to demonstrate keyboard applications in creative music technology
Live Sound For Large VenuesReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand sound system design theory
- LO2 Understand sound system requirements for a wide range of medium and large scale performance circumstances
- LO3 Understand medium and large scale live sound equipment specifications
- LO4 Be able to sound check and operate live sound systems
Live Sound Systems Specification and OperationReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand sound system design theory
- Understand sound system requirements for a wide range of performance circumstances
- Understand equipment specifications
- Sound check and operate live sound systems
Live Sound for Small VenuesReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the theory required to operate sound systems in small venues
- Understand the type of equipment, connections and set-up procedures for small sound systems
- Soundcheck and communicate with performers
- Operative live sound systems to facilitate the performer's communication with the audience
Managing A Creative BusinessReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- LO1 Understand the structures of small businesses in the arts sector
- LO2 Understand sources of funding and support available to small businesses
- LO3 Be able to apply financial administration techniques important to small business enterprises
- LO4 Understand management issues relevant to small business enterprises
Marketing the Creative ArtsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles and theories of marketing and promotion
- Understand techniques of audience development
- Develop strategies to successfully market specific products or events
- Use a range of marketing tools and techniques effectively
Music Composition TechniquesReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Create and manipulate melodic ideas
- Create and manipulate rhythmic ideas
- Create and manipulate harmonic ideas
- Use structural devices in compositions
Music Electronics and MaintenanceReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand how to maintain studio equipment
- Understand electronic circuits used in music technology
- Understand digital control circuits used in music technology
- Repair music production equipment
Music NotationReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Read scores using various systems of notation
- Read and write rhythms
- Read and write pitches
- Understand how to interpret chord signs and symbols
Music Performance SkillsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Perform solo instrumental or vocal skills
- Develop group performance skills
- Perform instrumental or vocal skills in a varied repertoire
- Develop effective and relevant rehearsal techniques
Music Performance StudiesReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- LO1 Be able to practise a varied repertoire of music in order to improve instrumental or vocal skills in solo performances
- LO2 Be able to practise a varied repertoire of ensemble music with others in order to improve instrumental or vocal skills as a group performer
- LO3 Understand rehearsal techniques
- LO4 Be able to read music notations in practice and performance
Music Production AnalysisReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- LO1 Understand the musical factors that define musical styles and genres
- LO2 Understand the technological factors that define musical styles and genres
- LO3 Understand studio production practices through listening and analysis
- LO4 Be able to apply studio production techniques to creative recording.
Music Studio ProductionReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Use the components of the modern recording studio
- Understand sound theory and digital audio concepts
- Record instruments and voices within the technical and creative boundaries of the product
- Mix a recording to a professional technical and creative standard
Music TechnologyReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand sound production within contemporary music making
- Create and control MIDI sequences using hardware and software
- Apply recording practice and technique to music creation
- Create a music composition using a software sequencing application
Music in ContextReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the key developments in different genres of music
- Understand a variety of musical genres
- Understand the cultural contexts that musicians work within
- Understand the effects of globalisation on music within a wider cross-cultural context
Music, Health and the LawReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the effects on health of exposure to noise
- Understand the potential physical hazards of working with music and stage equipment
- Understand health and safety legislation relevant to the music industry
- Understand the ways in which music can have a positive effect on health and well-being
New Media TechnologyReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand methods and systems for internet collabouration and distribution
- Create different file formats for audio, graphics and moving image
- Design and operate websites
- Understand current and future developments in new media technologies
OrchestrationReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the characteristics and capabilities of traditional and non-traditional instruments
- Understand notation techniques for traditional instruments
- Understand notation techniques for electronic, non-traditional and world instruments
- Use orchestration techniques for various instrumental ensembles and groups
Planning for Public PerformanceReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- LO1 Understand event management planning procedures
- LO2 Be able to plan events using pre-production processes
- LO3 Understand current legislation related to public performance
- LO4 Be able to demonstrate performance processes
Preparation, Process and Production in the Creative ArtsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand own and others' process, production and planning roles in creating a role
- Plan using production processes
- Work safely in a role that the individual has clearly defined within the negotiated project
- Prepare and produce work to deadline
- Evaluate the effectiveness of contributions to the preparation, process and production of the project
Principles of Musical SoundReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the theory of sound
- Understand the theory of hearing
- Understand the acoustic properties of instruments and voices
- Understand the acoustic properties of performance areas
Public Performance TechnologyReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand performance orientated software
- Understand performance orientated hardware
- Understand current applications for performance technology and their current practitioners
- Stage a public performance
Research ProjectReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand how to formulate a research specification
- Implement the research project within agreed procedures and to specification
- Evaluate the research outcomes
- Present the research outcomes
Singing Techniques and StylesReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the structure and physiology of the human voice
- Implement a wide range of vocal techniques
- Apply techniques to contrasting singing styles
- Perform a collection of songs for solo, duo and group
Songwriting Techniques and SkillsReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Use advanced techniques in relation to the setting of song lyrics
- Understand advanced techniques in relation to the use of melody, harmony and instrumentation
- Develop songwriting skills through workshop and rehearsal techniques
- Compile a showreel of original compositions
Sound Creation and ManipulationReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the theoretical basis of synthesis and sampling
- Operate synthesisers
- Operate samplers
- Create and control sound in virtual environments
Sound System MaintenanceReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- LO1 Understand maintenance and safety procedures relevant to the sound industry
- LO2 Be able to test circuits
- LO3 Understand synchronisation systems, interfaces, networks, protocols and time-codes
- LO4 Be able to assess technical problems in order to inform clients of costs and interruption
Studio Recording and EngineeringReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Rectify factors affecting audio quality
- Understand and use essential studio equipment
- Implement the treatment of sound creatively and correctively
- Demonstrate effective recording studio session organisation
Studio and Facilities ManagementReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- LO1 Understand business practices involved in studio and facilities management
- LO2 Understand the day-to-day processes involved in studio and facilities management
- LO3 Understand the technical elements of studio operation
- LO4 Be able to set up and run studio sessions
The Music Business in the 21st CenturyReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the roles and responsibilities of music business organisations
- Understand the principles of copyright and royalties
- Understand how music businesses work
- Understand the management of a portfolio career
World Music Composition and PerformanceReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand how the core musical elements of a selected culture are used
- Understand the traditional and contemporary elements within the selected genre and the factors that have influenced it
- Integrate identified elements into new compositions
- Realise new compositions through live performance, recording or technology
World Music StudiesReal unit · Pearson Education Ltd
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the musical elements of the selected genre using correct terminology
- Understand how instrumentation, arrangement and performance characteristics are used within the selected genre
- Understand contextual factors have influenced the development of the selected genre
- Present findings in a negotiated format using selected examples
The honest bit
You’ve started things before
Most courses were built for a room full of people who aren’t you. A cohort moves on whether or not your week allowed it, and by the third week the thing you’re behind on becomes the reason you stop opening it.
There’s no cohort here, and no timetable to fall behind. Before anything starts, Zavmo asks when you’re sharpest and how long you can realistically sit down for, then builds the sessions around those answers. A bad fortnight changes your pace. It doesn’t put you behind.
And you only pay once you start learning. Searching and planning are free, and you can cancel any time — so the cost of finding out is an afternoon, not a year.
Your passport
Every credit is a stamp you keep
Level 4 credits are regulated. They don’t vanish when a subscription ends or a website closes. They travel to any employer, and Zavmo keeps the map of what you’ve earned and what’s next.
Each stamp is a real unit registered against this qualification.
Who’d teach you this
The Evidence Evaluator
Assessor
Helps you show what you can actually do, gathering the evidence that proves it as you learn.
Meet all twelve tutorsWhere this connects
Where these credits take you
A qualification is never a dead end here. See the jobs its credits open, the national occupational standards its units map to, and the future skills they quietly build.
- Cost a project and negotiate with a client
- Deliver finished sound to image
- Identify and select key creative contributors and talent
- Mix recorded sound
- Record dialogue and narration
- Research and identify new business for public performance, broadcast, international and on-line
- Research information to support ideas for arts projects and live events
- Use music to complement visual material
Where this can lead
Performance Engineer
Your journey here as a Performance Engineer is just the beginning. We're committed to providing opportunities for you to grow, learn, and make a real difference, whether you want to become a technical guru or lead a team. It's an exciting path, and we're keen to see where you take it.
See the whole journey →Skills it covers
What the job actually needs. These are the standards the units are built against, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.
How you’ll actually learn this
One-to-one, on your own real work
A qualification is usually something done to you: sit the class, sit the exam, hope it sticks. Here it’s the opposite. You learn it one-to-one with a companion, on your own real work, and you keep going until you can use it, not just recall it.
Applied to your work in any of these jobs
- Remember
- Understand
- Apply
- Analyse
- Evaluate
- Create
Built for Pearson BTEC Level 4 HNC Diploma in Music
52 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by Pearson Education Ltd.
- Accessible Music Technology
- Acoustics
- Applied Music Production Techniques
- Audio Electronics
- Audio Mastering and Manufacture
- Audio Post Production
and 46 more in the full unit list below.
One to one, not one to many
No two people run this the same way
A course is written once and handed to everyone. This is assembled around you, and keeps changing as it learns you. Five things it reads, and what each one changes.
- Your actual work Every unit is taught against a live piece of your own work, not a worked example from a textbook.
- What you already know The first conversation finds your starting point, so you skip what you can already do and spend the time on what you cannot.
- The conditions you learn under Not a learning-styles quiz. The evidence does not support those. The dimensions the research does back, read once and used to shape the plan.
- How far you got last time It picks up mid-thought. The tutor knows what you said, what you struggled with, and what it asked you to try.
- Which tutor suits the moment Twelve of them, each for a different kind of thinking. The one who walks you through a first idea is not the one who stress-tests it.
See how you learn, free. Eight questions, no sign-up. A directional taster; the diagnostic inside Zavmo goes deeper and keeps adapting.
Why it sticks
Most courses stop at remembering
There’s a well-known ladder of how deeply you learn something, called Bloom’s Taxonomy. Most courses get you up the first two rungs: you remember some facts, you pass a test, you forget it. Real skill lives at the top. Judging, deciding, creating. And this isn’t a generic ladder: every rung has a named Zavmo tutor who walks you up it.
- 6CreateThe Creative Catalyst
- 5EvaluateThe Evidence Evaluator
- 4AnalyseThe Analyst
- 3ApplyThe Coach
- 2UnderstandThe Connector
- 1RememberThe Builder
Where most courses leave you Where Zavmo takes you
The value
Why the companion is worth £70 a month
You’re not paying for the units. They’re regulated, and the same wherever you earn them. You’re paying for the one thing that decides whether you actually get there: a companion that makes them stick, on your real work.
That is one-to-one on this qualification, every day, on the work you already do, for £70 a month. Your first module is free, so you can see the teaching before you pay for any of it. Billed monthly, cancel any time and billing stops.
Earned on your own work, taught to the top.
Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your first module is free, so you can see the teaching before you pay for any of it.
Build my plan, freeNo card. See how this qualification maps onto your role and meet the tutors who’d teach it, free. The learning begins when you subscribe. It’s £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.