Composition Workbook

This 8 page booklet guides the students through the necessary steps to composing a coherent 16 bar Scottish melody. Using a couple of Scottish waltzes as stimuli, the students are asked to analyse and discover ways in which they can apply the ideas from these waltzes in their own compositions.

I have used this resource both in Scotland and abroad (it fulfills the world music component that way!) and students have enjoyed the straightforward way in which composition is presented. Eventually they have a piece which they can call their own and with which they can develop further (e.g. writing a countermelody above their initial 16 bars to provide a ‘B’ section). It’s certainly not the most creative way to teach melodic writing, but it is functional and provides confidence in composition which many learners often lack.

I have always begun learners using this workbook and then using it in collaboration with MuseScore or Sibelius.