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Criteria for A* gsce music compositions?

My deadlone for my blues composition is really close and i have no idea what the criteria is / or things you can include to get an A*!

My target is A* and it would just be really helpful if someone could tell me what things the examiners are looking for :smile:

thanks

Reply 1

Actaeon

Original post by naomi2121

thanks

What exam board are you doing it with? There should be a mark scheme or success criteria published with it, that could give you some specifics about what they're looking for.

In general though, good compositions are idiomatic with regards to style and instrumentations (the music for each instrument is realistic and explores its musical potential, and is appropriate for the style you're trying to compose in). Have a clear structure, in both phrase lengths and harmony - some clear blues chordal progressions and blues scales within the melody lines for example. And try and include some motivic development - find out what the main characteristics of your melody is, maybe a distinctive interval, rhythm or couple of notes and build on it through diminution/augmentation, sequence, inversion, etc...

So long as it sounds good to you, it should sound okay to the examiner :smile:

Reply 2

RadioBlaBla

I got an A* for mine and I thought it was pants. Depends what board you are doing it on: most look for some melodic development, change of mood, creative ideas, range of rhythms, textures dynamics ect. Your teacher really should have told you this! Mine was always going on about what is needed-.- It worked though, everyone got at least an A xD

Reply 3

littlehighers

I'm with ocr and I really don't like my composition but its gotten me and A*

I composed a simple tune for my instrument(cello) then fiddled with it and used different parts of my instrument with different ranges and some of it plucked and made an accompaniment for piano with a countermelody with the left hand.

Idk if this can be incorporated into blues but it might help if you compose it around a already written piece structure wise for a guide it might help, that's what I did with mine.

like what Actaeon's said I think you should find the mark sceme and critera for your comp

Good luck!