GCSE Music Composing Guide: Briefs, Timings and Ideas
For GCSE Music you compose two pieces, worth 30% of the GCSE in England. With AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas one piece answers a brief the board releases in September of the exam year, and the other is your own choice. Together they must last at least 3 minutes; Eduqas and CCEA ask for 3–6 minutes.
Works in the UK and the US. This version uses UK music words (bar, crotchet, stave); the US version uses measure, quarter note and staff. · US version of this page
Key facts
- You compose two pieces for every GCSE Music board.
- AQA, Edexcel and OCR: at least 3 minutes in total; Eduqas and CCEA: 3–6 minutes.
- Board briefs come out in September of the exam year (Eduqas in the first week; check your board’s exact date).
- Composing is 30% of the GCSE in England and Northern Ireland, and 32.5% with WJEC in Wales.
- AQA: each composition must use at least four musical elements.
Classfern’s composing guide on lessonplanner.info covers every board, with a chord progression player to try ideas and a checklist to print.
Chord progression player
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Choose a key and a progression to hear it on the piano and see the chord names and Roman numerals – then hum or play a melody over the top. Use it to find the chords for your first idea.
How it is assessed: Self-assessed – a practice tool for trying ideas. Your teacher marks the real composition.
Composition checklist (print it)
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Ten questions to ask about each composition before you hand it in. Tick what is done, then print the list for your folder.
How it is assessed: Self-assessed. Your teacher marks the composition with the board’s mark scheme; your ticks are not saved.
How long should a GCSE Music composition be?
With AQA, Edexcel and OCR your two compositions must last at least 3 minutes together; Edexcel also asks for at least 1 minute each. Eduqas and CCEA ask for 3–6 minutes in total. Pieces that are too short lose marks, so time your recording.
| Board | Pieces | Brief | Total length | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AQA | 2 | One to one of four AQA briefs (released in September of the exam year); one free | At least 3 minutes | 30% |
| Pearson Edexcel | 2 | One to a Pearson brief (released in September); one free | At least 3 minutes; each at least 1 minute | 30% |
| OCR | 2 | One to an OCR brief (released in September, with a choice of stimuli); one in the integrated portfolio | At least 3 minutes | Part of two 30% components |
| Eduqas | 2 | One to one of four WJEC briefs (first week of September); one free | 3–6 minutes | 30% |
| WJEC (Wales) | 2 | One to a WJEC brief (released in September of the first year of study); one to your own brief; plus a reflective log | 3–6 minutes (recommended) | 32.5% |
| CCEA | 2 | One to a pre-release stimulus; one free | 3–6 minutes | 30% |
How do you start a GCSE Music composition?
Start small: choose the brief, pick a structure such as ternary (ABA) or verse–chorus, and write a four-chord progression. Then make up a short melody that fits the chords, and develop it with devices like sequence, repetition and changes of texture.
- Read the brief twice and underline the instruments, the occasion and the style it asks for.
- Choose a structure. Ternary (ABA), rondo (ABACA), theme and variations or verse–chorus all give you a plan with contrast and return.
- Choose a key and a progression. Try the chord player below: I–V–vi–IV is common in pop; i–VI–III–VII suits a film-style minor mood; the 12-bar blues gives a ready-made form.
- Write a 2–4-bar melodic idea using notes of each chord on the strong beats.
- Develop it. Repeat it higher (sequence), turn it upside down (inversion), change its rhythm, pass it to another instrument or add a countermelody.
- Plan the texture and dynamics so each section sounds different, and finish with a clear cadence.
What gets high marks in GCSE composing?
High marks go to pieces that develop their ideas, use the musical elements with control and suit the brief and the instruments. AQA, for example, asks each composition to use at least four elements: two from rhythm, metre, texture, melody, structure and form, and two from harmony, tonality, timbre, dynamics, phrasing and articulation.
Read your board’s mark scheme with your teacher – each board describes its levels differently. In general, examiners look for a clear, memorable idea; development rather than straight copy-and-paste repetition; harmony that fits; a convincing structure; and writing that is idiomatic (it suits how the instruments are really played). The composition checklist below turns these into ten questions to ask yourself.
Can I compose GCSE Music on a computer?
Yes. You can compose with notation software or a digital audio workstation, as long as the music is your own and you hand in the notation, lead sheet or written account your board asks for. Check how your board wants software sounds and loops credited.
Which compositional devices should I use?
Useful devices are repetition, sequence (repeating an idea higher or lower), imitation, ostinato, inversion, augmentation and diminution (making note lengths longer or shorter), pedal notes, and changes of key or texture. Use a few well rather than many badly.
- Ostinato or riff: a short repeated pattern that holds a section together.
- Sequence: repeat your idea one step higher – instant development.
- Imitation: a second instrument copies the tune a bar later.
- Pedal note: hold the tonic or dominant in the bass while the chords change above it.
- Modulation: move to the relative minor or the dominant key for the B section.
Classfern is not connected with or endorsed by ABRSM, Trinity College London, RSL Awards (Rockschool), AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR, WJEC/Eduqas or CCEA. Board names are used only to describe and compare their exams. Nothing here is an official syllabus, specification or past paper. Facts were checked against the boards’ own published pages; rules change, so always check the current syllabus or specification.
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