Edexcel GCSE Music Component 2: composing techniques quiz quiz

One

Three

Two

Four

About one minute

Around two minutes

Five minutes

Three minutes

Pearson releases them each year, linked to the areas of study

The student writes their own brief to respond to themselves

The class teacher writes the briefs for the whole class to use

They are chosen by the student from old past exam papers

Out of 10

Out of 20

Out of 30

Out of 60

It must always be much longer than the brief composition

It cannot use any music technology or software at all

It is marked by a written exam paper rather than by coursework

It is set by the student in any style, with no brief to follow

Sequence

Inversion

Augmentation

Modulation

Turns the melody upside down

Changes the idea into a new key

Lengthens its note values

Makes the whole idea much louder

A full orchestral score showing every single part

Guitar tablature on its own with nothing else added

No written score is needed for the piece at all

A lead sheet (melody plus chord symbols and lyrics)

The marks reward development (transforming ideas), not just repetition

The repeated idea will always end up sounding far too quiet to hear

Repeating an idea unchanged is strictly against the exam board rules

Repeating an idea many times always takes up far too much of the running time

A written essay about the piece

A filmed video showing the live performance

A recording (live or studio-produced)

Nothing else at all is needed

It is played at a very loud dynamic throughout the piece

It uses as many different instruments as is possible all at once

It lasts for exactly three minutes from start to finish

It is unified, with a clear structure and technical control

Every requirement of the brief (style, mood, instrumentation or stimulus)

The length of the compositions that have been written by the other students in the class

The price of the music software you might want to use

The date of the written listening exam paper