Welcome to the 2026/27 A Level Music Composition Brief Breakdown series. Following the success of the GCSE Composition brief series, several teachers asked if I could do the same for the A level briefs.
This series is designed to save you time with planning for the composition briefs. For each of the main exam boards – AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas, and OCR – we break down the set briefs into clear, actionable components tailored to A Level standards. Inside each guide, you’ll find overviews, curated exemplar listening lists, advanced technique breakdowns, key moderation pitfalls to avoid, and suggested starter activities.
Bookmark this page, grab a cup of tea, and explore the breakdown for your board below to help your A Level cohort hit the ground running this term.
This guide is designed for teacher planning and general skill-building prior to controlled assessment. In accordance with JCQ rules, the activities, suggestions and listening examples provided here must not be used as pre-prepared candidate work or model solutions for live NEA. This guide is not endorsed, affiliated with, or approved by Edexcel. Always refer to the official specification and JCQ guidelines for definitive assessment requirements. Briefs are accessed through the exam board secure portal.
At a glance summary
| Focus | Summary | |
| Brief 1 | Vocal Music | Vocal ensemble piece for a crowd scene in Opera or Musical Theatre. Minimum 3 voice parts plus accompaniment. |
| Brief 2 | Instrumental Music | Instrumental dance (e.g., Mazurka, Polka, Waltz) for a New Year’s Day Concert of Viennese music. |
| Brief 3 | Music for Film | Continuous music for at least 3 scenes or characters in an epic film set in an ancient civilisation (e.g. Rome, Greece). |
| Brief 4 | Popular Music & Jazz | A song celebrating almost six decades of Heavy Metal music. Must contain vocal parts. |
| Brief 5 | Fusions | Instrumental piece combining Scottish Country Dance music with Western Pop music for a documentary soundtrack. |
| Brief 6 | New Directions | Chamber piece for up to 5 instruments evoking a tropical rainforest. Must use imaginative and inventive approaches. |
Brief by brief breakdown
1. Vocal Music
Brief focus:
Composing a vocal ensemble piece for a crowd scene in an opera or musical theatre piece. Use at least three voice parts with accompaniment. Solo voice passages can be included. The piece can be in any musical style and the text can be pre-existing text or written by the student.
Decoding the brief
Students must capture the drama and physical movement of a crowd. The piece must feature at least three distinct vocal parts (e.g. SSA, SAB, SATB) with accompanying instruments. Students should avoid simple homophonic block chords throughout, exploring contrapuntal dialogue and overlapping entrances to simulate crowd chatter and physical movement.
| Feature | Detail (suggested) |
| Harmonic vocabulary | Extended chords, secondary dominants, chromatic mediants, diminished 7ths. |
| Structure & motivic development | Call-and-response between solo voices and full ensemble, rhythmic augmentation/diminution on key phrases, and a clear structure to drive the momentum. |
| Instrumentation & orchestration | 3+ voice parts (e.g. Soprano, Alto, Bass), accompaniment (piano, chamber orchestra, or pit band), vocal extended techniques (spoken chorus, whispers, shouting effects), and imaginative accompaniment to enhance the drama. |
Exemplar listening
‘One Day More’ from Les Miserables by Claude-Michel Schönberg
The quintessential crowd scene ensemble! This demonstrates how distinct melodic themes and solo lines are introduced individually before layering into a complex polyphonic ensemble.
‘Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope’ by Micki Grant
This is a landmark work by the first African American woman to write the book, music, and lyrics for a Broadway show. It’s a great example of combining multi-part vocal ensemble layering, gospel call-and-response, and crowd interaction within a modern theatrical setting.
‘Old Joe has Gone Fishing’ from Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten
Opera example demonstrating how fugal vocal entrances and ostinato accompaniments build dramatic tension in a mob setting.
‘A Weekend in the Country’ from A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim
Example of vocal ensemble writing, using overlapping vocal lines, snappy rhythm, and contrasting textures.
Getting started activity
Ask students to take a 4-line text stanza and compose a 4-bar chord progression using a variety of chord types (maj-min-dim-aug / extended / suspended etc.), as appropriate to the text. Improvise a melody over the top of the chord pattern. Then try line 1 as a solo entry, line 2 as a 2 or 3-part vocal entry using staggered imitation, and lines 3–4 with full homophonic crowd impact over a moving accompaniment.
Further resources:
- Resource: Musical Theatre Listening Pack
- Online course: How to Modulate (learn to move to 12 different keys)
- Free blog series: Advanced Harmonic Techniques
Note: all resources and courses are included in the Teacher Access Plan (better value!)
2. Instrumental Music
Brief focus:
Composing an instrumental dance (any instrument or combination of instruments) such as a Mazurka, Polka or Waltz, for a New Year’s Day Concert of Viennese music.
Decoding the brief
This brief requires a clear understanding of dance form (Mazurka; Polka; Waltz) with a solid structure and sophisticated harmonic interest.
| Feature | Detail |
| Harmonic vocabulary | Classic Viennese chromaticism, diminished 7ths; Neapolitan 6ths, secondary dominants, modulation to distantly related keys in the Trio section (for example), and use of appoggiaturas. |
| Structural & Motivic Development | Suggestion: Ternary Form (A-B-A with Trio); phrase extension (turning 4-bar phrases into 5 or 6 bars), use of rubato/hesitation techniques typical of Viennese waltz. |
| Instrumentation | Any instruments are allowed but students may wish to consider: full classical/romantic orchestra or chamber ensemble (strings, woodwind pairs, horns, trumpet, snare, timpani, harp); divisi string writing; pizzicato bass lines; woodwind embellishments. |
Exemplar listening
Voices of Spring by Johann Strauss II
Originally written as a concert waltz, this example features light, virtuosic woodwind and string lines with ornamental flourishes.
Jazz Suite no.2: VI Waltz by Dmitri Shostakovich
A brilliant 20th-century waltz example featuring a minor-key main theme on alto saxophone, demonstrating how to balance memorable melodic writing with a rich orchestral accompaniment and light percussion.
Bal Masque, Op 22 by Amy Beach
A light, elegant concert waltz demonstrating how rich late-Romantic harmony, chromatic voice-leading, and rich orchestral textures can create an inviting ballroom atmosphere.
Mazurka in A minor by Frederic Chopin
Contemporary example of a piece using features of the boogie-woogie style.
Getting started activity
Ask students to compose an 8-bar dance theme (they may wish to create a chord sequence first) and write a light “oom-pah-pah” accompaniment. Then explore orchestration, using pizzicato lower strings, placing middle harmony chords on inner strings/woodwinds, and giving the melodic line to upper woodwind (or perhaps exploring a different instrument, like in the Shostakovich).
Further resources:
- Online course: How to Compose a Waltz
- Online course: Composing for Instruments
- Free blog series: Advanced Harmonic Techniques
Note: all resources and courses are included in the Teacher Access Plan (better value!)
3. Music for Film
Brief focus:
Composing continuous music for at least three scenes or characters in an epic film set in an ancient civilisation such as Rome or Greece.
Decoding the brief
Students must compose a continuous film score cue that moves across at least three distinct scenes or characters. The music must evoke an ancient epic setting (e.g. Rome, Greece, Egypt, Troy). High marks require motivic cohesion – using leitmotifs that adapt and transform as the story moves between characters or settings – alongside impressive orchestration.
| Feature | Detail |
| Harmonic vocabulary | Suggested: Use of modes (Phrygian, Dorian, Lydian), chords with omitted 3rd; parallel harmonic movement; chromatic mediants; cluster chords (for battle tension). |
| Structure & motivic development | Leitmotif transformation (altering a character theme’s tempo, mode, and orchestration as the scene changes). |
| Instrumentation | Epic orchestral scoring e.g. low brass (Trombones, Tuba), horn fanfares; exotic percussion (frame drums, tam-tam, anvils), woodwind (Aulos/Flute simulations), and use of string techniques (e.g. col legno, sul ponticello etc.). |
Exemplar listening
Jason and the Argonauts by Bernard Herrmann
Demonstrates interesting orchestral choices (heavy brass and percussion, no bowed strings) to convey both power and conflict. Listen out for the rhythmic and melodic ostinato patterns.
Earth from Gladiator by Hans Zimmer
Example of a simple lyrical melody line passed between solo instruments, gradually building to the emotive cello and harp solo.
Main Titles from Ben Hur by Mikláos Rózsa
Students must listen to this! Essential example for ancient Roman epics, using powerful brass fanfares, lyrical string melodies and driving march rhythms.
Getting started activity
Watch clips from films like Ben Hur and Jason and the Argonauts for students to immerse themselves in the epic film style. Ask students to write 3 scenes from a film (e.g. meeting the main character(s); chariot race; battle) and map out how the various musical elements will change according to the scene. They could initially use a table like this (add more elements down the left):
| Scene 1 | Scene 2 | Scene 3 | |
| Instrumentation & texture | |||
| Rhythm and metre | |||
| Harmony & tonality | |||
| Melody |
Further resources:
- Online course: Compose a Melody using the Defining Feature Approach
- Online course: Composing for Instruments
- Online course: How to Modulate (learn to move to 12 different keys)
- Free Blog Series: Top Tips for Teaching Film Music (includes the epic film scores like Ben Hur)
Note: all resources and courses are included in the Teacher Access Plan (better value!)
5. Fusions
Brief focus:
Composing an instrumental piece that combines traditional Scottish Country Dance music with Western Pop music. The music will be the soundtrack for a documentary on the Scottish Islands.
Decoding the brief
This fusion brief requires a creative blending of two specific styles: Scottish Country Dance (Reels in 2/4 or 4/4, Jigs in 6/8 etc.) and Western Pop music (contemporary drum patterns, pop chord progressions, synth textures, bass lines). It serves as a documentary soundtrack depicting island evolution.
| Feature | Detail |
| Harmonic vocabulary | Suggested: Mixolydian and Dorian modes; pentatonic melodies; hexatonic/heptatonic note sets; pop extended chords (e.g. added 7th and 9th chords), and pedal points. |
| Structure | Traditional Scottish 8-bar phrasing combined with pop verse-chorus; Scotch snap rhythmic motif development, change of metre (e.g. 6/8 Jig converted into a 4/4 pop beat), and polyrhythmic patterns. |
| Instrumentation | Traditional Scottish instruments (Fiddle, Accordion, Bagpipes, Tin Whistle, Bodhrán – although Irish in origin, it was adopted into Scottish music) fused with Western Pop production (electronic drums, bass guitar, synthesisers, electric guitar, acoustic guitar). |
Exemplar listening
Liberation by Martyn Bennett
This is an excellent example of Scottish/electronic pop fusion. It shows how traditional fiddle, pipe and vocal tunes can blend with modern beats and synth basses.
Better Days by Tide Lines
This example demonstrates how uplifting, folk-style acoustic guitar and accordion hooks can be driven by pop-rock drumming.
Each-Uisge by Niteworks
This example layers repeated melodic ideas on traditional Scottish instruments over electronic synth bass lines and four-on-the-floor dance beats.
Getting started activity
Ask students to compose an 8-bar Scottish Jig or Reel melody in 6/8 or 2/4 in the Dorian or Mixolydian mode featuring Scotch snaps (lombardic rhythm). Then layer the melodic line (fiddle or accordion) over a modern pop rhythm section. Experiment with metre changes, moving between 6/8 and 2/4 perhaps to define the sections of the song.
Further resources:
- Online course: Composing for Instruments (Strings, Woodwind, Brass)
- Resource: Fusion Music Listening Pack
Note: all resources and courses are included in the Teacher Access Plan (better value!)
6. New Directions
Brief focus:
Compose music for up to five instruments intended to evoke the sights and sounds of a tropical rainforest. Your music should explore imaginative approaches to melodic construction such as the use of modes, micro-tonality or the invention of your own scale structures.
Decoding the brief
This chamber brief (maximum 5 instruments) asks students to depict a tropical rainforest. The critical constraint here is the exploration of alternative melodic/tonal construction: modes, micro-tonality, quarter-tones, or synthetic/custom scale structures (e.g. octatonic, whole-tone, pitch-class sets).
| Feature | Detail |
| Harmonic vocabulary | Post-tonal palettes, polytonality, whole-tone/pentatonic sets, dissonance; ambient electronic modal pads. |
| Structure | Non-linear forms: musical collage (montage technique – Stravinsky), minimalist additive structures, spatial panning loops. |
| Instrumentation | Extended instrumental techniques (e.g. prepared piano, bow on cymbal etc.), live synthesis, field recordings, and spatial audio manipulation. |
Exemplar listening
Melodien by György Ligeti
Demonstrates intricate interlocking textures, and non-traditional scale structures creating dense, organic soundscapes.
Uirapuru by Villa-Lobos
Written in 1917, this composition uses rich orchestration, exotic rhythms, and melodic instrumental motifs to portray the dense, exciting atmosphere of a tropical jungle.
Panambi Suite by Ginastera
This example is a ballet suite by an Argentine composer, inspired by the South American wilderness and nocturnal jungle scenes.
Getting started activity
- Invite students to choose aspects of the rainforest to depict in their composition e.g. birdsong, rainfall, sunlight through the trees and so on. Consider which instrument (they only have 5) would suit each aspect best.
- Ask students to create a 6-note pattern/scale (e.g. C-Db-E-F#-G-Bb). Then compose a 4-bar motif using using only these pitches, incorporating extended techniques for the chosen instruments (e.g. flutter-tonguing, key clicks, sul ponticello etc.) to build a tropical wildlife soundscape.
Further resources:
- BCMG resources: Composing with Contemporary Music
- Online course: Composing for Instruments
- Resource: Descriptive Music Listening Pack
- Inspiration page (free).
Note: all resources and courses are included in the Teacher Access Plan (better value!)
