Composing overview quiz - WJEC A-Level Music quiz

One free composition only

Two compositions, one to a brief and one free

Four compositions in different styles

Three compositions, all to set briefs

1 to 2 minutes

4 to 6 minutes

10 to 12 minutes

20 to 25 minutes

A non-examined assessment submitted as coursework

A two-hour written listening paper

A live improvisation test in the exam hall

A multiple-choice theory exam

It must be exactly 12 minutes long

It answers a WJEC-set task that may fix style, mood, forces or stimulus

It cannot use any musical instruments

It is the only piece that is not marked

Choosing your own starting point, style and forces

Only copying an existing famous piece

Writing with no notation or recording at all

Ignoring all of the musical elements

Stacking as many unrelated ideas as possible

Convincing handling of the musical elements and clear structure

Avoiding any sense of key or tonality

Making the music impossible to play

Because development is banned by the specification

Because a little strong material, transformed, makes a coherent piece

Because many ideas always sound more professional

Because development shortens the piece below one minute

Music that is playable and well voiced for the chosen forces

Music written only in foreign languages

Music that ignores the abilities of the instruments

Music with no melody at all

Nothing, only the title is needed

A score or detailed written account and a recording

A photograph of the composer

A printed copy of the whole specification

To make the recording shorter

To demonstrate range across style, forces or mood

Because identical pieces score double

To avoid having to develop any material

How loud the recording is

How convincingly it answers the brief

How many performers appear on stage

How short the score is

Deleting it after the first bar

Sequencing, inverting, fragmenting or reharmonising it

Never letting it return

Playing it once and stopping the piece

10 per cent

25 per cent

40 per cent

75 per cent

It is irrelevant as long as there are many notes

A recognisable form gives the listener a sense of journey

It must always be the same for every candidate

It prevents any modulation between keys