What is right or wrong anyway?

Assessment of composition tends to be a bit of a thorny issue. There are question marks over what we assess as well as how we assess. On the one hand, setting criteria can help take the subjectivity out of a composition assignment, on the other hand however, it could mean that a very creative work may end up not fitting the criteria and therefore may not score very highly.

The nature of composition as an individual pursuit, surely and intrinsically must suggest that the setting of criteria needs to be both broad enough and flexible enough to catch all styles thrown at it.

However, assessment has a much broader scope than just the summation of some notes on a page or recording. Conversation and feedback are incredibly powerful and motivating factors in developing a young persons skills in composition.

It should be said also that learning in music is not a linear process. It is not the case that the starting point at A and the finishing point at B is travelled along in a straight line. The input that learners need will be individualistic. I would very rarely conduct a whole class composition lesson as there are young people with a range of different experiences in music. Some may be high level performers, others just starting out, leading to diverse levels of conversation about their compositions. What is also important to recognise is the approaches taken when working in different styles. The feedback and conversation around someone writing a song will be very different to the nature of the feedback given to a pupil composing a piece for saxophone. What is key to all of this is recognising which students need the 'breadcrumb trail' and those which can be shown the 'goodie cupboard' and be left to explore.

Reflecting on some of the conversations I have had with learners recently tend to fall under several categories:

Finding out who you are as a composer:

This tends to be a more advanced level of conversation to be had with pupils who have some experience of composing. It does not necessarily mean just older students, as younger students who have experience with basic harmony can benefit from this level of conversation. It comes down to knowing how little help a young person will need to be able to forge ahead. Each pupil will bring with them a range of different experiences which will shape how they respond creatively. It could be that students look for a harmonic language that they like, or melodic fragments which catch their ear, or even a single chord which captures the essence of what they are hoping to achieve. Finding out who you are and what you do is empowering for the pupils, but also helps them begin to identify gaps for further exploration.

Technical conversations:

This type of conversation never really stops but the level of complexity for this type of conversation becomes more in depth based on either what the pupil is hoping to compose or level of experience. Technical conversations work well on a drip feed, need to know basis particularly at the early stages, and again, related to what the individual is working on. There are great examples of some younger composers finding unusual harmonic changes through experimentation and selection. All to often the conversations around composition centre on the technical aspects, and for some learners this is appropriate, others may thrive on creative freedom.

Taking Time:

In this day and age of quick fixes and instant access to just about, well anything! reinforcing the importance of taking time to experiment and try out different ideas, not just settling on the first thing that falls under the fingers. When planning for composition, it is vital that time for experimentation is built in to the planning. The learners through this stage can need quite a lot of reassurance that it is both valid and important that they take the time and not feeling unduly under pressure to work from start to finish of a composition in a short time frame.

Is there a mood in there?

Often there are conversations around what they are trying to communicate through their music and how they are going about this. This often leads back to conversations about what they are listening to, or to point them in the direction of pieces of music which they might benefit from listening to as a frame of reference for their own compositions.

Putting composition first:

This can be another interesting notion. Sometimes the composition will be based on where finger naturally fall on an instrument such as guitar or piano. They may get locked into musical patterns based around hand shapes. This is not a great problem if this is the intention of the young composer, however if it is just working around chords because physically that is where their hands sit, then the conversation will aim to help them think how they can grow and develop the music they are writing.

Just not in the mood:

Particularly amongst the senior students, I would have a weekly touch base with compositions. This is not the hour once I week when I only expect students to compose, this would be the time I catch up with where they are, what progress they have made, have a conversation about next steps and leave them to press on. Having a regular once a week 'composition lesson,' can often not be conducive to creative work. Maybe a pupil just doesn't 'feel it' for that particular hour, then no problem, have the conversation to ensure that there head is clear and they are confident about pressing on again when the moment is right.

All in all, these conversations are incredibly valuable. they help shape the individual responses to a creative activity, provide a deeper level of insight into the development of the young person through formative assessment and ultimately help a young person get to know what they do and who they are as a young composer.