Composition Activity

1. Create a musical representation of two contrasting groups.

2. See if you can express their similarities and differences, and the overarching sense of community that binds them. 

3. Consider writing your themes for two communities or two parts of a community, for example: students (A) and teachers (B); cops (A) and robbers (B);  Jets (A) and Sharks (B); Boys (A) and Girls (B)

4. In terms of representing the ‘differences’ within the community, how many aspects of music can you think of that can be contrasting? 

Community A

Community B

Intervals (large/small leaps/no leaps)

Rhythms (straight/syncopated; fast/slow)

Repetition (repeated notes or rhythms/different notes and irregular rhythms) Ascending/descending patterns

Length of notes (long/short)

Tonality (major/minor; assonent/dissonant) 

Dynamics (forte/piano; crescendo/diminuendo) 

Timbre (voice/instruments; tuned/untuned percussion)

Composition Instructions

1. Create a table of contrasts and opposites with the students and go through to show them how each is notated musically. 

2. Using this table of contrasting elements, write two melodies, A and B. 

3. A (four bars) and B (four bars) should have as many (and at least three) contrasting qualities from the list above as possible: if A is major, B should be minor; if A is a steady, slow series of quiet notes, B could be loud, quick and syncopated. 

4. For the composition to work, A and B should – despite their differences – have the same chord progression (this could be seen as a metaphor for the aspects that bind together the different groups as a community). 

5. It would therefore be a good idea to specify a tonality and a series of chords (e.g. I – IV – V – V, with I – IV – V – I at the end). 

6. Before you start composing, make sure you understand which key they are working in, and which notes are included in their series of chords. 

7. The piece should be constructed as 16 bars: 

   • 4 bars of A

   • 4 bars of B

   • 4 bars of A+B

   • 4 bars of A+B with development – A taking aspects of B, and B taking aspects of A 

8. Compose groups of 5 or 6 and use NoteFlight or Sound Trap.

9. When each group comes to perform their piece, one or two students from each group will be responsible for providing the harmonic structure (chords on a keyboard or guitar) throughout the 16 bars of the piece. 

10. Two students will play A, two students will play B, then all four will play together for the last eight bars. 

Reflection Questions

1. How did your piece both reflect differences between groups and an overall sense of community 

2. How did your piece reflect a sense of community within the group during the composing exercise. 

3. Can you identify some points at which there were messy differences within the group? 

4. What did you do to resolve these differences? 

5. Did the group require a leader, or were better results achieved when each person could make his or her own contribution autonomously?