The compositions
- Component 3, Composing music, is worth 30% of the GCSE.
- You write two compositions: one in response to a brief set by AQA (released each year), and one free composition.
- Together they must last at least 3 minutes. Each is marked on developing musical ideas, using musical elements, and technical control.
Starting and developing ideas
- Start with a short idea: a melody, a chord sequence, a rhythm or a riff.
- Develop it with repetition, sequence, variation, inversion, changes of key, rhythm or instrumentation.
- Plan a structure, such as ternary form or verse–chorus, so the piece has contrast and unity.
Using the elements well
- Use a clear harmony plan with cadences at phrase ends.
- Vary texture and dynamics to create interest and contrast.
- Write idiomatically: use each instrument's range and techniques.
- Record or score your piece clearly, with tempo, dynamics and instructions.
Key terms
- Brief
- The task set by the exam board for one composition.
- Free composition
- A composition in any style you choose.
- Development
- Changing and extending a musical idea.
- Inversion
- Turning a melody upside down.
- Idiomatic writing
- Writing that suits an instrument's range and techniques.
- Unity
- The sense that a piece belongs together.
- Contrast
- Differences that keep a piece interesting.