Composer Questions 1 Exploring Composing KS3/4/5 (Teachers) >

A collection of Q &As with living composers about their practice and creative process. 

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Teacher Guidance

Teacher Guidance

There are 2 main ways to use this resource:

To teach the process of composing and help solving particular  problems in developing a composition

  • Work with individual students - help them look through the questions to see which one is most relevant to their problem of the moment, and reflect on the answers one or more of the composers gave. NB the student may need help to gain a full understanding of the text - discuss the language and thinking processes with them.

  • Work with the whole class, either by leading a whole-class activity in which you as teacher model the composing process, or by setting up a group activity. Stop at key moments to refer to the list of questions; look at the answers some of the composers gave. You could use Literacy Strategy techniques, e.g. give each student a different set of answers, they work in pairs and later in groups to compare and analyse what each composer has said.

To give pupils a general understanding of how composers work and what composing is about

  • Ask the class to make a list of the questions they would ask a composer. Compare it with the questions used in the resource, and discuss similarities and differences.

  • Take a detailed look at the composers’ answers to one of the questions. You can use Literacy Strategy techniques such as underlining, think-pair- share, group discussion, snowballing, note-taking, making tables or diagrams. Some of the answers might trigger research activities, e.g. terms such as ‘cell’, references to Stravinsky, following up the examples of extra-musical inspiration - useful homework assignments.

  • Students are now ready to interview a real live composer for themselves!

NB this could be good preparation for future work with a composer on a workshop or residency.

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