Composing: overview of the SQA Advanced Higher Music composing assignment

Composing is the creative coursework of SQA Advanced Higher Music: the assignment, in which you explore and develop musical ideas to create an original piece, submitted with a reflective review of how you made it. It is not the written exam; it is developed across the year and rewards creative, controlled use of the musical concepts and critical reflection on your own decisions. This page is a short index to the composing assignment and how it is judged.

What Composing involves

Composing is an original piece plus a review, developed over the year. The detail is on the dedicated page.

Composing and the assignment. How the assignment is marked (the music and the review), why development of ideas matters most, and how to approach the piece and write a reflective review.

How Composing is judged

The marking rewards two things:

1. The music. Invention and, above all, the development of ideas, the controlled handling of harmony, texture, rhythm, form and timbre, and the coherence and effect of the piece.
2. The review. A reflective account of the concepts and techniques you used, why you chose them, how you developed your ideas, and how you solved problems, tied to the actual music.

The central skill is development: working a few strong ideas thoroughly, not collecting many undeveloped fragments.

How to approach it

1. Generate and select a small number of strong ideas with real potential.
2. Develop them with craft, varying, extending, combining and transforming the material.
3. Use the concepts deliberately, applying your knowledge to make purposeful choices.
4. Write a reflective review that reasons about your decisions rather than listing activities.

For the official course specification

The SQA publishes the full Advanced Higher Music course specification and coursework guidance at sqa.org.uk. Always check the current assignment requirements, the review and the marking against the official documents.