Linwood High School

N5 Composition

The Building Blocks

of Composing.

Name_______________________

Guide to your assignment

The assignment is worth 30 marks. The marks contribute 15% of the overall marks for the course assessment. 

It assesses the following skills, knowledge and understanding: 

•	planning and reviewing your own music 
•	exploring and developing musical ideas 
•	creating music which is original to you 

This assignment has two sections. 

Section 1 titled ‘composing music’ has 20 marks. 
Section 2 titled ‘composing review’ has 10 marks. 

Your teacher or lecturer will let you know how the assessment will be carried out and any required conditions for doing it. 

In this assessment, you have to: 

•	plan the assignment 
•	explore and develop musical ideas using at least three of the following elements: melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, structure 
•	create one complete piece of music 
•	review the process and identify strengths and/or areas which may be improved 

As you work through the assignment, your teacher or lecturer will check your work before you move on to the next stage. 

Your completed assignment must include all of the following: 

•	an audio recording 
•	a score or performance plan 
•	a composing review 

Composing Music (20marks)				

Follow each step and tick once completed

Step 1: plan										

•	Think about what you would like to create
•	Think about instruments/voices.  Consider instrument(s) you are familiar with.  Your composition should be appropriate for the instrument(s)/voices you have chosen to compose for. 
•	Think about a structure.  For example: 
-	Verse/chorus
-	Beginning  - middle – end
-	ABA
-	AB

•	Make a note of the decisions you have made

Step 2: explore

•	Start simply  - you can always add later
•	Explore musical ideas using at least three of the following elements:  melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, structure
•	Reflect as you experiment – which of your musical ideas are the most effective?
•	Make a note of the decisions you have made.

Step 3: develop

•	Think of ways you could develop your selected musical ideas.
•	Develop your musical ideas
•	Make a note of the decisions you have made.

Step 4:  create

•	Decide what you think works best
•	Use these ideas to create your composition.
•	Make a note of the decisions you have made.
•	Create a score or performance plan.
•	Create an audio recording.

Step 1: Plan

•	What you would like to create?  List to each style below before you choose.

Below are some suggestions:
A song 

A Classical Composition

A Ragtime Composition 
	
A Scottish Composition

Circle your choice or add your own below:

•	What will your structure be:
Possible structures are:       
Verse/chorus (only use for a song)
Beginning  - middle – end
ABA

AB

Circle your chosen form or add your own choice below:
__________________________________________________
•	Which instruments/voices are you writing for. Consider instrument(s) you are familiar with.  Your composition should be appropriate for the instrument(s)/voices you have chosen to compose for!  You may need to research this first.   Aim for a minim of 3 instruments. 

My chosen instruments are:
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

Deadlines:

End of June:               		Chord Progression
September Weekend:		30 secs 
October Break:                      60 secs (first draft)
Christmas Break: 		Final Submission 
After Christmas Break:  	Review  (Under exam conditions)

Step 2:   Explore

Clefs

Most of your composition will be written in treble clef, but your bass line must be written in bass clef. The lines and spaces are different for each clef so be careful!

For reference:

Shortcuts to remembering your different clef notes:

Treble clef lines:    Every Good Boy Deserves Football

Treble clef spaces: F A C E

Bass clef lines:	Glasgow Buses Drive Fast Always

Bass clef spaces:   All Cows Eat Grass

It is important to remember that when you must always start the shortcut from the bottom of the stave not the top!

Chord Triads

WORKING OUT WHAT NOTES BELONG IN A CHORD

A basic chord is made up of 3 different notes played together: notes 1, 3 and 5.

A very quick and easy way of working this out (especially if you don’t have a keyboard in front of you!) is to jot out 2 octaves of alphabet:

A B C D E F G A B C D E F G

If, for example, we wanted to work out the notes of the chord C.

Find a C – this is note 1. Then count up to note 3 which is E, then count up to note 5 which is G.

A B C D E F G A B C D E F G

1	3   5

Use the alphabet example to work out the chord triads (the 3 notes) of the following chords then stack the three notes on the stave. The first one has been done for you:

Chord of C.  Triad notes: C E G

TASK	A B C D E F G A B C D E F G		

Work out the notes that belong in each of these chords and then draw the chord on to the stave.

Chord of G.   Triad notes:

Chord of F.	Triad notes:

Chord of Am.  Triad notes:

Chord of Dm.  Triad notes:

Chord of Em.  Triad notes:

Chord of C.    Triad notes:

Cadences

A cadence is when two chords round off a phrase of music. Chords in music are always labelled with roman numerals.

You only need to know two:    Chord 1 = Chord I Chord 5 = Chord V

At this level, you need to use two different cadences:

Perfect Cadence:   Chord V – I	Sounds complete

Imperfect Cadence: Any Chord – V	Sounds incomplete

When composing your chord structure, it may be helpful to place your cadences first. At the end of each 4 or 8 bar phrase. Your final cadence must sound complete so use a PERFECT CADENCE at the end!

TASK

Choose a key for your piece:

C major, G major, F major or A minor

Then go on and place your cadences into your blank composition.

Making your own chord structure

Once your cadences have been checked you now must choose chords for the rest of the piece. Every key has a different set of main chords. Here are the main chords of the four different keys:

C major main chords: C, F, G and Am (you can also use Em sparingly)

G major main chords: G, C, D and Em (you can also use Bm sparingly)

F major main chords: F, Bb, C, Dm (you can also use Am sparingly)

A minor main chords: Am, Dm, Em, F (you can also use C sparingly)

TASK

Complete your chord structure using the main chords from your chosen key. You need to play the chords so you can hear what it sounds like.

You may complete this task on keyboard or guitar.

TASK

Decide on a style.

You have a choice of:	Scottish, Ragtime or Classical

You will now get a different book of instructions specifically for your chosen style. Now complete the tasks given in that book, before returning to complete this book.

Passing Notes

Once you have a basic melody using the notes from the chord triads, you can then add extra “in between” notes to add interest.

The 1st rule of adding passing notes:

They can only go between notes which are a 3rd apart. This means there is only space for one note between the two notes.

The 2nd rule of adding passing notes:

You must adjust the rhythm so that the bar still adds up correctly!

TASK

Add passing notes to this practice example. Your teacher will complete the first one for you.

There are 6 possible places to add them.

Now go on and add at least 5 passing notes to your melody.

Adding a Sequence to your Melody

The first thing to look for is a place in your chord structure where two or three chords move in alphabetical order, going forwards or backwards.

Then take the melody in the first bar and repeat it up or down in pitch according to the chord. This will mean removing a couple of bars of melody. First try a few practice examples:

TASK

Now go on and find at least one place in your melody where you can add an ascending or descending sequence.

Sibelius

TASK

You will need your teacher to set up your score and then type your melody and chords into Sibelius. From now on you are welcome to bring your own ear/headphones.

Tips for Writing your Countermelody

TASK

You will now compose your countermelody straight onto Sibelius so that you can hear how the notes sound together as you go along. Read these tips before starting your countermelody.

Make your countermelody higher in pitch than your melody. Use different rhythms from your melody. 

Add passing notes to your countermelody 

If your melody has a bar of long notes, do something interesting in the countermelody. 
TASK Tips for Writing your Bassline

Compose your bassline straight onto Sibelius.

You must use bass clef (use the first page of this book for reference if you need to) 

You can use more repeated rhythms for the bass line. Remember, it’s not supposed to be a third countermelody! 

Every time the chord changes use the root note (note 1) of that chord in the bass