Composition and Arranging
This domain assesses whether you can write coherent music to a brief: a short pastiche in a named style, a continuation of a given opening, a setting of a given bass or chord progression, or an arrangement for specified instruments. Examiners weigh idiomatic writing, control of phrase structure, clear cadential goals and correct notation as heavily as invention.
Development techniques for a short motive
- Repetition and sequence (restate the motive a step or third higher or lower).
- Inversion (mirror the intervals), retrograde (reverse the order), augmentation and diminution (stretch or compress rhythm).
- Fragmentation (use only the head of the motive), rhythmic displacement, reharmonisation.
Idiomatic writing
- Strings: slurs mark bowing; double stops and pizzicato are available; viola uses alto clef.
- Woodwind: slurs and staccato mark articulation; respect breathing and practical range.
- Brass: valve and slide writing, mutes (con sordino), written pitch must be transposed for B♭ and F instruments.
- Keyboard and harp: chord spacing and, for harp, pedal-friendly harmony.
Worked example
A four-bar motive in G major runs G–A–B–D in crotchets. To develop it: inversion around G gives G–F♯–E–C♯ (a whole-tone outline, so check the harmony); retrograde gives D–B–A–G; augmentation doubles the values into minims and semibreves, suiting a slower middle section. Reasoning: each variation keeps the contour recognisable while changing one parameter, which is exactly what a development section does.
Traps
- Writing outside a practical range or ignoring transposition in the score.
- Pastiche chorale writing with parallel fifths or octaves between voices.
- Sequences that never reach a cadence, leaving the phrase open.
- Ignoring the brief's length, key, forces or required style markers.
- Missing performance directions: tempo, dynamics, articulation, slurs.