Song Writing
Compose two original pieces of music
AS91092
6 Credits
This assessment activity requires you to compose two original compositions. For each piece, you may work either as an individual or in a group of between two and five students.
Your final assessment grade will be based on the overall weight of evidence across the two compositions.
Your compositions should be long enough to show that you can develop and structure your musical ideas. You may choose to include an accompaniment if you are writing for an instrument that is capable of playing only one line. If you do include this as part of the composition, it will be assessed.
Each composition must include both audio or audio-visual recording and visual (written) representation. You can visually represent your composition using standard music notation, lyrics and a chord chart, a lead sheet, tab, graphic notation, a narrative description, or a combination of these. You should use the notation most appropriate to the style/genre of your pieces. Include appropriate performance markings on your scores.
To achieve you must have:
A recording of your song
A chord chart and lyric sheet
Filed in you group evaluation
Filled in you group logbook
a few examples of different song structures:
Intro
Verse 1
Verse 2
Chorus
Verse 3
Verse 4
Bridge
Chorus
Chorus
Intro
Verse 1
Chorus
Verse 2
Chorus
Bridge
Verse 3
Chorus
Outro
Verse 1
Verse 2
Chorus
Verse 3
Verse 4
Chorus
Bridge
Chorus
Outro
Intro
Verse 1
Chorus
Verse 2
Chorus
Bridge
Chorus
Chorus
Outro
SONG STRUCTURE
Intro:
The introduction is usually a unique part of the song that starts it off. Most of the time it only has music
and doesn’t have any words/singing. Sometimes it is the same chords as the chorus or verse. It could
also just have drums and bass to introduce the ‘groove’ or ‘beat’ of the song.
Verse:
There are usually two or more verses in a song. They have a pretty much identical melody (tune) each
time but the lyrics are different. Lyrically the verse has the details of the song, the story, events, images
and emotions the you want the listener to know.
Chorus:
The chorus repeats at least once lyrically AND musically (same melody and words). It should have a
thicker sound than the verses (maybe with more backing vocals, or extra instruments added) and should
tell the listener the main theme or message for your song. It is usually the most memorable and catchy
part of the song, you want listeners to be able to learn it easily and sing along (because that's what
popular songs let you do! Usually has different chords than the verse.
Bridge:
A bridge is usually like another verse but with a different melody and different chords. It is used as a
break or a transition (it takes you from one part of a song to another). A lot of the time they just go back
and forth on two chords. They give the song interest. By the time you have repeated your verse and
chorus twice each the listener is ready for something new. You want the listener to become familiar with
your song but not get bored.
Outro:
This is how you end your song. IT could be a fade out, it could be the chords from your verse played
through once, it could be the first line of your verse sung again or it could just be that you end after you
have played the chorus twice.
WRITING LYRICS
There are some important tips to remember when you are writing lyrics. You could try listening to other
songs to get ideas, could writing heaps of lyrics and picking the best from them. Also you don’t want to
tell people things you want to show them, explaining something without saying it really obviously. Have
a look at this article for some great steps for writing your lyrics.
Remember: your lyrics can’t have swearing, drugs, alcohol or gang related stuff!
Rockquest
There is a possibility of taking some of our groups as solo/duet OR as bands to RockQuest to compete and perform their original songs. If you think you could be interested in this checkout the website here: