IB Music SL can feel confusing, but it becomes simple once you understand what examiners are actually looking for. This guide breaks down all 3 IB Music portfolios, highlights what matters most, and gives practical tips to score highly without overcomplicating things.

AOIs and Contexts (Core IB Music Foundations)

AOIs (areas of inquiry) are how you explain the purpose of the music you are researching/composing/performing. There are 4 AOIs:

• AOI1 — Socio-Cultural and Religious Expression
• AOI2 — Listening and Performance
• AOI3 — Dramatic Impact
• AOI4 — Music Technology in the Digital Age

Context is how you contextualise the music you are studying. When contextualising, there are three possible contexts:

• Personal
• Local
• Global

Portfolio Rules

• Exploring = 2 AOIs + all 3 Contexts
• Experimenting = the other 2 AOIs
• Presenting = all 4 AOIs + all 3 Contexts

Exploring Music in Context (Portfolio 1)

Upload 1 — Written Work

Section 1: Exploration of Diverse Musical Material

Analyse 3–4 pieces, with varying genre, period, location, AOI, and context.

Explain why the piece fits the chosen context and AOI, and give a brief explanation of what the piece is (when was it written, who by etc).

Analyse key musical elements:

• Melody
• Harmony
• Rhythm
• Texture
• Timbre
• Dynamics
• Form
• Tonality

Have timestamps and/or scores to justify your analysis — the examiners aren’t mind-readers.

Have around 1400 words in total (350–400 words per piece).

Section 2: Statement on the Creating Exercise

Compose a 1-minute piece inspired by one of your analysed works.

Use musical features from your analysis to shape your composition into a similar style, but not identical to the reference audio.

Explain what you adapted and why (around 400 words).

Section 3: Statement on the Performed Adaptation

Choose a different analysed piece, and adapt it for your instrument.

In about 400 words, explain:

• What you adapted
• What couldn’t be transferred to your instrument and why
• Challenges you faced and how you solved them

Link back to your analysis in Section 1.

Upload 1 Checklist

File name: “Exploring Upload 1”
Word document — Max 2400 words (excluding citations, track list, scores, and bibliography)

Must include:

• Section 1 — Exploration of Diverse Musical Material
• Section 2 — Creating Exercise
• Section 3 — Statement on the Performed Adaptation
• Section 4 — Bibliography
• Appendix — Track List (of Upload 2 and 3)

Make sure all the contexts and AOIs are clearly stated and explained.

Upload 2 — Audio Evidence

This file contains the audio for Sections 2 and 3:

• Creating exercise (your composition from Section 2) — max 1 minute
• Stimulus excerpt (the stimulus for your performed adaptation) — max 1 minute
• Performed adaptation (your performance from Section 3) — max 1 minute

Upload 2 Checklist

File name: “Exploring Upload 2”
One MP3 — Max 4 minutes
1–2 second pause between tracks

Upload 3 — Audio Reference Material

This file contains the excerpts you referred to in Section 1. Edit your audio down to the specific sections you discussed in the written work, and make sure not to include any auxiliary audio that wasn’t referred to.

Upload 3 Checklist

File name: “Exploring Upload 3”
One MP3 — Max 3 minutes
1–2 second pause between excerpts

Experimenting with Music (Portfolio 2)

This portfolio is about transforming a stimulus through creative trial and development. Examiners want to see progression, risk-taking, and reflection — not necessarily a perfect final product.

Experiment in Creating

Choose a stimulus piece, and make 3 linked composition experiments.

Explore concepts like:

• Harmony
• Rhythm
• Texture
• Form
• Timbre
• Orchestration

Start simple, then increase complexity as you experiment.

Total should be 5 minutes or less.

Examiners are looking for:

• Creativity
• Knowledge of how to adapt musical elements
• Evidence that the 3 experiments build upon each other

Experiment in Performing

Choose a different stimulus piece, and make 3 linked performance experiments.

Explore:

• Articulation
• Tone
• Tempo
• Technology
• Improvisation

Show intent and musical thinking — don’t just “play it differently”.

A common mistake is having the performing experiment be another creating experiment — distinguish between performance elements vs composition elements.

Total should be 5 minutes or less.

Examiners are looking for creativity, knowledge of how to adapt musical elements, and evidence for the 3 experiments, building upon each other.

Upload 1 — Written Component

• Section 1 - Experimentation Report, Creating: rational, stimulus, AOI, context, goals (around 150 words), 3 experiments: what you changed, the effect, and how this leads to the next step (around 200 words each).
• Section 2 - Experimentation Report, Performing: same structure, but based on your performance experiments.
• Section 3 - Track List: In order of your writing. 
• Section 4 - Bibliography

Upload 2 — Audio Evidence

• 1 MP3 — Less than 10 minutes (for both experiments).
• This file contains audio for your creating and performing experiments, in that order.

Experimenting with Music — Checklist

• Upload 1 — Written Component
  • File name: “Experimenting Upload 1”
  • Word document — Max 1500 words

Must include:

• Creating report — stimulus introduced, AOI and context discussed, and 3 linked experiments explained (with reference to audio/score)
• Performing report — as above
• Track list
• Bibliography
• Covers the 2 AOIs not used in Exploring Music in Context
• Upload 2 — Audio Evidence
  • File name: “Experimenting Upload 2”
  • 1 MP3 with all 6 experiments (max 10 minutes)
  • 1–2 second pause between tracks

Presenting Music (Portfolio 3)

This portfolio is about delivering polished, complete musical products with clear artistic intention. Examiners want to see strong performance/creation, supported by clear purpose and justification for the chosen context and AOI.

Creating

• Up to 6 minutes of music creation
• Must address at least one AOI
• Demonstrate your compositional/song-writing proficiency

Performance

• Up to 12 minutes of performance
• Must address the remaining AOIs
• Demonstrate your musical performance skills
• Solo pieces (with accompaniment) are suggested, but ensemble pieces can be selected
• If ensemble pieces are selected, an excerpt of an individual part must be included (up to 2 additional minutes — not counted toward the 12 minutes)
• Show a variety of musical styles, geographic locations, and musical meanings

Upload 1 — Written Component

Section 1 - Program Notes

For each piece you perform/create, you need to:

• Explain what the piece is and its background
• Which context and AOI does it fit in
• Your interpretive choices (tone, phrasing, style, articulation etc)
• Challenges and how you solved them
• This is not a space for analysis or description - the examiners will hear the piece in your audio upload
• Timestamps! Whenever you refer to something (e.g. I found the syncopated rhythms {12:02-12:08} difficult, and I solved this through metronome practicefit…), use timestamps so the examiners can hear what you’re discussing. 
• 600 words maximum

Section 2 - Track List

A list of the composition(s), and piece(s) you included, in chronological order, with timestamps. 

Section 3 - Score for the Created Work

It is highly suggested you include a score for your created work so the examiner can (if they choose to) look at it. 

Section 4 - Bibliography

Presenting Music — Checklist

• Upload 1 - Written Component
  • File name “Presenting Upload 1”
  • Word document, max 600 words
  • Must include:
    • Program notes split into two sections: Creating and Performing.
    • Track list
    • Score for the created work
    • Bibliography
  • Covers all 4 AOIs
• Upload 2 - Audio
  • File name “Presenting Upload 2”
  • 1 mp3 with all audio
  • 1-2 second pause between tracks
  • Max 18 minutes (except if an excerpt of an individual part is included for ensemble performance pieces)

Conclusion

There’s a lot of information throughout this blog post, but hopefully, it has helped clarify the confusing and intricate IB Music SL portfolios.

If you do HL, be sure to check out the blog post on the Contemporary Music Maker — that 15-minute multimodal video beast is the next challenge to tackle.