Sample work Music Stage 5: Composing for percussion
Work samples aligned to grades assist teachers to develop their understanding of the achievement standards at each grade level.
Description of activity
Students create a group composition in pairs that explores characteristics of the piece Defying Gravity for between 4 and 8 contrasting percussion parts. The work should be produced on computer and should use a variety of tone colours, and a 5/4 metre with a variety of rhythmic values and rests. Students must create both a score and a recording.
Context
This activity is from a skills-based unit where students have been developing composition and improvisation skills within the context of Australian percussion music. In this unit students particularly focused on the pieces Defying Gravity and The Percussion Symphony by Carl Vine.
Outcomes
A student:
- 5.3 performs music selected for study with appropriate stylistic features demonstrating solo and ensemble awareness
- 5.4 demonstrates an understanding of the musical concepts through improvising, arranging and composing in the styles or genres of music selected for study
- 5.6 uses different forms of technology in the composition process
- 5.9 demonstrates an understanding of musical literacy through the appropriate application of notation, terminology, and the interpretation and analysis of scores used in the music selected for study.
Criteria for assessing learning
(These criteria would normally be communicated to students with the activity.)
Students will be assessed on their ability to:
- compose a work for between four and eight percussion parts
- use computer technology to create a score and recording of their work
- select a variety of tone colours appropriate to their composition
- demonstrate an understanding of 5/4 metre and variety of rhythmic tone colours and rests.
Graded student work samples
Work sample feedback
Casey
Casey has produced an engaging piece of music demonstrating a thorough understanding of musical concepts. Technology has been employed to create a score and a recording that demonstrate a detailed understanding of writing for the chosen media.
The piece is notated with appropriate manipulation of software but performance directions are not evident. The choice of instrumentation is appropriate but the xylophone part lacks development. The piece begins with independent rhythmic layers; however, they are not developed through each part. There is interplay between parts that shows stylistic understanding. There is a good collection of tone colours, creating tonal variety, and a good balance between sound and silence. The manipulation of duration in 5/4 metre is successful, although the ideas are simplistic. This work sample demonstrates characteristics of work typically produced by a student performing at grade B standard.