Nat 4Nat 5HigherAdvanced Higher
General MIDI
General MIDI is a standard set of instrument sounds and MIDI behaviour used for compatibility.
Also called: GM
Level relevance: introduced at Nat 4; tagged for every later level where the same concept remains useful.
Explanation
General MIDI helps a MIDI file play back with predictable instrument categories on different compatible systems. It does not guarantee identical sound quality, but it gives a shared map of program numbers and instruments.
Topics
MIDISequencingCompatibility
Curriculum statusofficial concept
Review statusdraft
Sources
- National 5 Music Technology course specification, May 2023, version 3.0 · accessed 2026-07-08
Used for the National 3, National 4, and National 5 technology and music concept tables.