GCSE Composing in 10 Steps

Theme and Variations

*1. Ensure that your theme is based on one of the given chord progressions by writing and labelling the given chords on a guide stave beneath the main piano stave.

*2. Unless there is a good reason to do so, each of your variations should also follow this chord progression. (Repeat these guide chords throughout the piece and do not delete this guide stave until your composition is finished and it is ready to submit).

*3. On the strong beats (usually 1 and 3) ensure that your melody mainly uses a note from the given chord. The best melodies move mainly by step and in arch shapes using distinctive, repeating motifs, often in sequences. To create musical phrases, even-numbered bars (especially 4, 8, 12, 16 etc) should end on a longer note.

*4. When your melody moves by jump, it should normally jump from and to a note from the chord. It should avoid repeating the same pitch consecutively. It should avoid repeating arpeggio (broken chord) patterns (repeating arpeggios should be used in the accompaniment, not the melody).

*5. The bass line, however, should mainly follow the given bass line and use mainly notes from the chord (especially the root e.g. F in FAC). It should use repeating patterns such as arpeggios, broken chords and Alberti bass lines.

*6. You can write in just two parts (one note in the treble against one note in the bass) but look at most piano pieces (e.g. Beethoven Sonata in C minor) and you will see that it usually adds a third or fourth voice (e.g. a lower voice in the treble – press ‘L’ on your keyboard, or an upper voice in the bass – press ‘U’). Between voices, use parallel 3rds and 6ths but avoid parallel 4ths, 5ths and low pitched 3rds (at the bottom of the bass stave). Caution: with one hand the pianist can’t play two complex melodies or stretch more than an octave.

*7. In many compositions, the theme and variations are too similar to each other. You must give each variation its own character by using a distinctive motif (e.g. a dotted rhythm, triplet, semi-quaver scale) which persists throughout each variation to unify it.

*8. To create contrast between your variations, if you have not yet done so, consider composing a variation with one of the following distinctive features: a) An Alberti (broken chord) bass line.

*9. A composition with 4 or 5 good, distinctive, contrasting variations is much better than a composition with 8 or 9, boring, repetitive, and inaccurate ones. Be ruthless: if you have not yet done so, choose your 4 or 5 best, most distinctive, accurate variations and work on making them more so.

*10. The duration of your composition must be between 1 min 30 s and 5 min. Long compositions are often boring, and bored examiners are mean examiners. I strongly recommend a duration of 3-4 mins.

Pop Song / Musical Theatre Song

*1. Begin by composing for piano and voice. Later, consider adding bass guitar, drum kit and melody instruments such as violin section or saxophones. You should not compose for guitar unless you completely understand the types of chord it can and cannot easily play.

*2. Base each section of your piece on a different, repeating 4 (or 8) bar chord progression, with the piano playing a distinctive, repeating rhythmic pattern, using notes of the chord in the right hand and bass note in the left hand: use the chord progressions and piano textures from the sheet provided.

*3. Ensure that you have selected suitable lyrics: they should be metrical (i.e. have a repeating rhythmic pattern) and can be borrowed from one or more poems or existing songs. If in doubt, use text from the poems on the sheet provided.

*4. The most important feature of the vocal line is the rhythm. With each new line of text: say the text rhythmically, underline the strong syllables and notate the rhythm (on one pitch) with strong syllables falling on (or just before) the strong beats 1 and 3 (notes falling before the beat are known as push rhythms).

*5. Use the arrow keys to move the notes of the vocal line up and down. The best vocal melodies use a note from the chord on beats 1 and 3, move mainly by step in arch shapes and, most importantly, use distinctive, repeating motifs, often in sequences. Consider repeating B.1-4 of your melody in B.5-8 with a changed ending (B.7-8) to create antecedent and consequent (question and answer) phrases.

*6. Make sure you have repeated this process for each section of your piece (verse, chorus, bridge). Where possible, use the same melody with different lyrics in each verse. Use the same melody and lyrics in each chorus.

*7. Many different structures can be effective. I recommend: Intro, Verse 1, Chorus 1, Verse 2, Chorus 2, Bridge (possibly a different key), Verse 3, Chorus 3 (followed by key change to) Chorus 4 (transposed up a tone or semitone).

*8. Once you have completed the voice and piano parts, add the bass guitar and drum kit. The bass guitar should play repeating, syncopated rhythmic patterns, mainly on the root (the bottom note) of each chord (e.g. mainly C in a CEG chord). It can sometimes move by step and should never play more than one note at a time.

*9. The part played by the drum kit is almost always based on a conventional pattern: do not imagine your drum part from scratch. Base your drum part on one of the ‘Example Drum Patterns’ found on the Music Dep website. In the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th bar etc. consider adding a drum fill. Change the drum pattern between sections.

*10. Do not use an instrument unless you ‘exploit its potential’. If an instrument plays for only a few bars in your composition, delete that instrument, and give this musical material to a different instrument/voice instead.

Jazz

*1. Begin by composing for rhythm section: piano, double bass and drum kit, and two frontline instruments: any two of trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax and trombone. Add a guide piano stave at the bottom of the score and a melody guide stave at the top of the score.

*2. Ensure that your chosen 8 (or 12 or 16) bar jazz chord progression (which should include extended chords) is written on the guide stave and labelled with chord symbols and note names: use the chord progressions from the sheet provided or from a source of jazz standards (such as a fake book which may be found on the music department website). Ensure that these guide chords are repeated throughout most of the piece and do not delete this guide stave until your composition is finished and ready to submit.

*3. Compose a piano part using notes from the given chords in a variety of syncopated (including push) rhythms. Use mainly block chords with occasional single notes. Include subtle changes to the syncopated rhythms to make the piano part sound improvisatory, in the style of piano comping.

*4. Compose the double bass part by copying the piano bass line. The double bass should play mainly the bass notes of the piano, but using more interesting syncopated rhythms or, where possible, moving by step between the main bass chord notes.

*5. After an 8-bar introduction, notate the blues scale from your chosen key on your melody guide stave. Use these notes, organised into memorable, syncopated, repeating motifs moving mainly by step, to compose an 8-bar ‘Head’ or ‘Theme’ melody for the frontline instruments in unison. Consider repeating this head/theme in parallel 3rds or 6ths.

*6. Follow this theme with 8-bar solos for each instrument. These can be more virtuosic than the theme (depending on the instrument). For bass and drum solos, consider using ‘stop time’ (in which other instruments play only on the first and last beats of the bar).

*7. After these solos, consider introducing an 8, 16 or 24 bar Bridge in a new key: an alternative 8-bar chord progression to provide contrast. This can accompany a new theme played by the frontline instruments, or frontline solo(s).

*8. Return to the original key and chord progression final solo(s) followed by the theme/head, repeated to conclude the piece.

*9. Many different structures can be effective. I recommend: Intro, Head/Theme, Head/Theme Repeated, Frontline Solo 1, Frontline Solo 2, Piano Solo, Bass Solo (optional), Drum Solo (optional), Head/Theme (optional), Bridge (new key and chord progression), Final Solo (optional), Head/Theme, Final Head/Theme repeated, Short Coda.

*10. The part played by the drum kit is almost always based on a conventional pattern: do not imagine your drum part from scratch. Base your drum part on one of the ‘Example Drum Patterns’ found on the Music Dep website. In the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th bar etc. consider adding a drum fill. Change the drum pattern between sections.

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