A collection of GCSE music composition resources/workshops designed to help GCSE students generate and develop initial musical ideas, and shape well-crafted compositions. The resource 'The Ostinato' is available free when you sign up to our website (which is free to join). It provides examples of melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic ostinati in context, alongside composing exercises that enable students to 'practise being a composer'. The resource 'Harmonic Progressions' explores the fundamentals of functional harmony, the four chord trick, extension chords, parallel harmony, and ways of using harmony to create contrast and shape structures. Each example is presented in context accompanied by short composing exercises. The resource 'Melody Writing' demystifies the craft of creating memorable melodies, looking at the pull of the tonic, phrase structures, and functional harmonic connections with melody. The resource on writing bass lines starts with the absolute fundamentals - root note bass lines and using chord inversions to create melodic bass lines, moving on to pedal notes, ostinati, riffs, ground bass, and characteristics of memorable bass lines. The Countermelody resource connects and reinforces fundamental harmonic foundations, and challenging students to think both vertically and horizontally when combining melodic ideas. Once again, this resource is packed with real musical examples which are taken apart and reassembled in context, so that students can learn not only how to write effectively, but also how and where to deploy a well crafted countermelody. The resource 'Developing Initial Ideas and Shaping Compositions' provides ten exercises for students to experiment with melodic development and extension, using rhythm and metre to shift melodic emphasis, and how reharmonisation can breathe new life into a familiar melody. Composing exercises also explore the idea of simplifying a melody, and using it first to create the illusion of thematic development, employing sequence to lengthen, and pitch inversion to transform. There are exercises on voicing and breaking up chords, checklists to help with architectural planning and simple tricks to lift and define a composition. Each workshop deconstructs existing music, analyses its components, and provides hands-on exercises for students to practise composing, improvising, and refining musical ideas. The resources are suitable for taught workshops, extension work, composing clubs, homework tasks, and coursework support.
