If you’re looking for some new classroom composing activities for your secondary music composition lessons or seeking to refresh your existing ideas for learning to compose, here are five ideas to try in the new term…
- Collaborative composition
- Composition speed-dating
- Change one note (working with chords)
- One-note composition
- 1-beat rhythm basket
1. Collaborative Composition
This composing activity gets students working together in small groups to create a short piece of music using statements relating to particular musical elements.
How it works:
- Choose 5 or 6 element categories such as ‘Rhythm’, ‘Compositional devices’, ‘Melody, ‘Structure’ and ‘Dynamics’.
- Create statements for each category e.g. ‘Your piece must include three contrasting sections’ (Structure) and ‘Your piece must include a descending melodic sequence’ (Compositional devices).
- Write / print out the statements. Each category should be on a different coloured piece of paper.
- Place the coloured statements face down in piles and invite one student from each group to pick up one from each pile.
- Groups use instruments/voices to create a short composition using their statements.
- Perform to the class. To encourage active listening you could distribute a handout of key words included on the statements. When a key word is identified, students highlight it on the sheet.
2. Composition Speed-dating
Peer-assessing composition is a great way for students to share ideas and give helpful feedback. This activity can be used as an extended plenary when students are working at computers.
How it works:
- Give out a blank speed-dating sheet to each student (to write 2 positive points (or ‘WWW’ What Went Well) and one point for improvement on). This stays at the computer.
- Everyone moves round to the next computer, in the same direction and listens to the composition, filling in the sheet.
- Students move round again.
- Repeat this a few times and return to the original workstation to read the sheet of comments. There’s usually quite a buzz in the room at this point!
As well as boosting confidence levels, the feedback can be used to form some targets at the start of the next lesson and provide some structure for working on the composition.
3. Change One Note
This composing activity focuses on harmony. Following initial work on triads, students can explore creating a harmonic sequence through changing just one note in each chord.
You may like to frame the task through creating a composing brief such as “You have been asked to create a soothing backing track for the ‘relax’ section of a new wellbeing app” or use it as a starting point for creating an atmospheric film scene.
How it works:
Students can do this activity at keyboards or using a DAW. They may wish to select a sustained strings sound setting or similar. Each chord will be a semibreve/whole note whilst the sequence is created.
- Start with a triad e.g. C major
- In the next bar move one note up or down a semitone (half step)
- From this new chord move one note up or down a semitone.
- Follow this pattern until you have a sequence of eight chords.
- With each new chord remember to change just one note.
Chord sequence example
Chord sequence developed
If using a notation programme students could arrange the notes of their sequences for violin, violin 2 / viola and cello. Then they could explore dynamics and adding some simple changes to one of the parts.
Take it further
- Once the 8-bar string section is in place, why not add a melodic part over the top or a rhythmic accompaniment?
- If you have a school choir, try singing it as a warm up at your next rehearsal.
4. One-note Composition
Starting with a one-note composition might seem a bit simple and unexciting. However, through removing some elements, such as tonality, harmony and melody, space can be created for pupils to focus on other aspects for example: rhythm, timbre, structure and dynamics.
How it works:
- Play Ligeti’s Musica Ricercata as a starting point for discussion and ask students how the composer has created a sense of momentum using just one note.
- Follow this by choosing a note on an instrument and demonstrating how different elements such as dynamics, tempo, rhythm and structure can be applied to create a short piece.
- Take this further by exploring the Sequenzas for various solo instruments by Luciano Berio.
- If you have different instruments available, have students in a circle and ask them to each play the same note in a different way. Who can come up with the most unusual / exciting / boring etc?
- Invite students to create their own short one-note composition.
5. 1-beat rhythm board
A 1-beat rhythm board can be used to reinforce staff notation reading and to support students with creating a 2 or 4-bar rhythm.
How it works:
- Start by playing the code game.
- Clap four cells and students have to work out the code.
- Students could play this in pairs and then move into creating their own 2-bar rhythm.
- This task can be framed by creating a rhythm to reflect something or someone e.g. a film character or animal. For example, a fast, energetic character might have semiquavers and dotted rhythms whereas a a slow-moving person may have a series of crotchets and quavers.
- Build on this by adding pitch (perhaps with a chord sequence created first) to the rhythm to create a melody.
Take it further…
If you’ve found these ideas useful and want to find out more, have a look at my book ‘How to Teach Composition in the Secondary Classroom – 50 Inspiring Ideas’ (HarperCollins)
You could also enrol in our free course: Composition – How to Get Started for more ideas and practical composing tasks.
