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IB Music SL & HL Tutoring

Online IB Music tutoring at SL and HL for the current course, first assessed in 2022. Get help with the exploration portfolio, the experimentation report, your presenting music submission and, at HL, the contemporary music-maker project. There is no listening paper: everything is coursework.

IB Music is assessed entirely through coursework, with no listening paper and no timed exam. Every student submits an exploration portfolio, an experimentation report and a presenting music submission of finished compositions and performances with programme notes. HL students add the contemporary music-maker, a real-life project shown in a multimedia presentation of up to 15 minutes. Your tutor teaches you to analyse diverse music, shows with model pieces how creating and performing experiments are designed, coaches your performance technique and explains what each task's criteria and limits reward, while your submissions stay your own. Sessions are online and one-to-one, with verified tutors who scored 40+ IB points.

Quick answer: IB Doctor offers 1-to-1 IB Music SL & HL tutoring for course content, each assessment component and coursework. Lessons follow the syllabus and assessment criteria, and the work stays your own. Review tutor verification, student results and methodology before booking.
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Music tutoring prices

From £52.50 to £70 per hour, depending on bundle size. Each bundle covers one subject.

  • Taster Bundle
    3 hours
    £210
    £70 per hour
  • Starter Bundle
    5 hours
    £330
    £66 per hour
  • Coursework Bundle
    10 hours
    £650
    £65 per hour
  • Assessment Bundle
    20 hours
    £1,250
    £62.50 per hour
  • Guardian Bundle
    50 hours
    £2,900
    £58 per hour
  • Ultimate Bundle
    100 hours
    £5,250
    £52.50 per hour
See full bundle details

What You Get with IB Music SL & HL Tutoring

Comprehensive support designed to help you achieve your target grade

Exploring and Experimenting

  • Exploration portfolio: written work of up to 2,400 words on diverse musical material, plus a creating exercise and a performed adaptation
  • Experimentation report: a rationale and commentary of up to 1,500 words
  • Planning three creating and three performing experiments in two areas of inquiry
  • Music technology, a compulsory part of the course at both levels

Presenting Music

  • Choosing a programme that covers all four areas of inquiry
  • Composition and/or improvisation: shaping up to 6 minutes of finished created work
  • Performance coaching for up to 12 minutes of solo and/or ensemble performance
  • Programme notes of up to 600 words that explain your choices

HL Contemporary Music-Maker

  • Planning a real-life, collaborative music project, from proposal to realisation
  • Documenting your process and evaluation as you go
  • Editing a continuous multimedia presentation of up to 15 minutes
  • A timeline that fits the project around your other music submissions
Real student results

Students Improving Their Music Grades

5 → 7
"My tutor transformed my approach to the listening paper. I went from guessing at musical terminology to confidently analysing scores and identifying stylistic features."
D

Daniel W.

Music HL, May 2024

4 → 7
"Working with my tutor on composition was incredible - they helped me develop my ideas into a polished piece while staying true to my musical voice."
A

Amelia G.

Music HL, May 2024

4 → 6
"I was nervous about performing solo, but my tutor's coaching on expression, phrasing, and stage confidence made the performance assessment feel natural."
L

Leo C.

Music SL, May 2024

How It Works

Simple steps to get started with IB Music SL & HL tutoring

1

Buy a Bundle

Choose 3 to 100 hours based on your needs. Split across subjects if needed.

2

Complete Onboarding

Tell us your course and level, weak areas, goals, and scheduling preferences.

3

Get Matched & Start

Matched within 24 hours. Schedule your first session immediately.

First Session Guarantee

Not satisfied? Contact us within 24 hours. We'll address concerns, offer a rematch, or provide a full refund.

Music HL vs SL: What's the Difference?

Understanding the requirements at each level

SL
HL
Teaching Hours
150 hours
240 hours
Exploring Music in Context
Exploration portfolio, 30%
The same task, 20%
Experimenting with Music
Experimentation report with practical evidence, 30%
The same task, 20%
Presenting Music
Finished works with programme notes, 40%
The same task, 30%
Contemporary Music-Maker
Not taken
Real-life project, multimedia presentation of up to 15 minutes, 30%
Written Exam
None
None

IB Music SL & HL Topics We Cover

The course is built on three musical processes, exploring music in context, experimenting with music and presenting music, which you work through as researcher, creator and performer. Musical content is not prescribed: you study music through four areas of inquiry in personal, local and global contexts. The IB recommends 150 teaching hours at SL and 240 at HL, with 90 of the HL hours for the contemporary music-maker.

Areas of Inquiry

  • Music for sociocultural and political expression
  • Music for listening and performance
  • Music for dramatic impact, movement and entertainment
  • Music technology in the electronic and digital age

Exploring Music in Context

  • Engaging with diverse musical material
  • Personal, local and global contexts
  • A creating exercise with a written statement
  • A performed adaptation of a musical stimulus

Experimenting with Music

  • Connecting theory to practical work
  • Three experiments in creating
  • Three experiments in performing
  • A rationale and commentary for each process

Presenting Music

  • Programme notes (600 words maximum)
  • Presenting as a creator: composition and/or improvisation
  • Presenting as a performer: solo and/or ensemble
  • Works drawn from all four areas of inquiry

Contemporary Music-Maker (HL)

  • The project proposal
  • The process and evaluation
  • The realised project, or curated selections of it
  • Collaboration inspired by real-life music-making

Musicianship

  • Critical analysis with accurate terminology
  • Applying theory to creating and performing
  • Working with music technology
  • Researcher, creator and performer roles
Assessment breakdown

IB Music SL & HL Assessment Structure

IB Music (first assessed in 2022) is assessed entirely through coursework, with no listening paper and no written exam. Externally assessed: exploring music in context (SL 30%, HL 20%) and presenting music (SL 40%, HL 30%). Internally assessed: experimenting with music (SL 30%, HL 20%) and, at HL only, the contemporary music-maker (30%). Internal tasks are marked by your teacher and moderated by the IB.

Exploring Music in Context (externally assessed)

External Assessment
SL: 30%
HL: 20%

A submitted portfolio, not a timed exam: written work on diverse musical material plus practical exercises in creating and performing

Written work up to 2,400 words | A creating exercise and a performed adaptation, submitted as audio

Experimenting with Music (internal assessment)

Internal Assessment
SL: 30%
HL: 20%

An experimentation report with practical evidence of your creating and performing processes in two areas of inquiry

Report up to 1,500 words | Three creating and three performing experiments | Marked by your teacher, moderated by the IB

Presenting Music (externally assessed)

External Assessment
SL: 40%
HL: 30%

A submitted programme of finished works drawn from all four areas of inquiry, with programme notes

Programme notes up to 600 words | Created work up to 6 minutes | Performances up to 12 minutes

Contemporary Music-Maker (HL, internal assessment)

Internal Assessment
HL only: 30%

A continuous multimedia presentation of a real-life project: the proposal, the process and evaluation, and the realised project or curated selections of it

Multimedia presentation up to 15 minutes | Marked by your teacher, moderated by the IB

Key Assessment Notes

  • There is no listening paper and no timed written exam. External tasks are submitted coursework marked by IB examiners.
  • Every task includes practical music-making, so you can no longer specialise only in performing or only in composing.
  • Resources written for the course examined before 2022, with a listening paper and a musical links investigation, do not apply to the current course.
  • Your programme for presenting music must draw on all four areas of inquiry, so plan your repertoire early.
IB Music grade distribution and average gradeHow students actually scored in the latest IB results: the share of each grade, HL vs SL, and how many got a 7.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about IB Music SL & HL tutoring

Yes. SL and HL share three tasks: the exploration portfolio, the experimentation report and presenting music. HL adds the contemporary music-maker project, and the weightings shift to make room for it. Every tutor scored 40 or more IB points and is verified, and sessions are online and one-to-one. Your tutor plans sessions around your level, your instrument or voice, and the task due next.

No. Since the current course was first assessed in 2022, IB Music has had no listening paper and no timed written exam. Analysis now happens inside your coursework, mainly in the exploration portfolio and the experimentation report. If a resource mentions a listening paper, a musical links investigation or a choice between performing and creating, it describes the old course and does not apply to you.

It is the externally assessed task for exploring music in context, worth 30% at SL and 20% at HL. You submit written work of up to 2,400 words showing engagement with diverse musical material in personal, local and global contexts, plus practical exercises: a creating exercise and a performed adaptation. A tutor teaches you to analyse unfamiliar music accurately, using pieces outside your submission, and to link analysis to creating and performing, while your choice of music and your writing stay your own.

It is the internal assessment for experimenting with music, worth 30% at SL and 20% at HL. You submit a report of up to 1,500 words, giving a rationale and commentary, with practical evidence of three creating and three performing experiments in two areas of inquiry. A tutor shows you, with model experiments, how to design one that genuinely tests an idea and how to explain what it taught you, while your experiments and report stay your own.

Presenting music is externally assessed and worth 40% at SL and 30% at HL. You submit finished work as a creator, composition and/or improvisation of up to 6 minutes, and as a performer, solo and/or ensemble performance of up to 12 minutes, drawn from all four areas of inquiry, with programme notes of up to 600 words. Tutors coach performance technique and teach composing and programme-note writing on practice material, while your submitted pieces and notes stay your own.

It is the HL-only internal assessment, worth 30%. You plan and collaboratively create a real-life music project, inspired by how music is made today, and submit a continuous multimedia presentation of up to 15 minutes. It must show the project proposal, the process and evaluation, and the realised project or curated selections of it. A tutor can help you test whether a project idea is realistic and explain, using other examples, what strong documentation looks like, while the project stays yours.

You need to perform, because every task includes practical music-making and presenting music asks for solo and/or ensemble performance. You also create, through composition and/or improvisation. The course does not prescribe musical content, so you can work in the styles and genres you know while exploring unfamiliar music. A tutor can talk through which styles show your strengths and coach your technique, while the choice of repertoire stays yours.

In May 2026 (IB provisional statistical bulletin) 7.9% of Music HL candidates and 4.2% of SL candidates got a 7. The mean grade was 4.8 at HL and 4.4 at SL. At HL the most common grade was a 5 (32%), and at SL a 4 (29.1%). There were 1,503 HL and 1,455 SL candidates that session.

HL is more work: 240 teaching hours against 150, and the contemporary music-maker project worth 30% on top of the three shared tasks. The shared tasks carry less weight at HL to make room for it. In May 2026 the mean grade was 4.8 at HL and 4.4 at SL (IB provisional statistical bulletin). HL suits you if you enjoy running projects and working with other musicians.

Yes. Close to a deadline, sessions usually focus on performance practice, composing and writing techniques practised on other material, and what each task's word and time limits require. You are usually matched with a tutor within 24 hours. Earlier support helps more, because experiments and finished pieces take time, and all submitted work must be your own.

We offer a first session guarantee. If you're not satisfied after your first session, we'll rematch you with a different tutor or give you a full refund.

Recommended Guides

IB Internal Assessment: What It Is, Methods, Structure

How teacher marking and IB moderation work for the experimentation report and the HL project.

Read guide

IB Assessment Criteria Explained: How IB Marking Works

How criteria and markbands work across your Music submissions.

Read guide

IB Citation Format: Referencing Your Extended Essay

Referencing habits for the sources and recordings you cite in your written work.

Read guide
View all resources

Related Subjects

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