VCE Music Style and Composition
Externally-assessed Task: Advice for
teachers 2015
It is recommended that all teachers read the VCE Music Study Design and associated
documentation each year to ensure that all tasks are being correctly addressed.
The candidate number needs to be written on every page of submitted work, and all notation and
audio files need to be labelled clearly with the candidate number and component, e.g. Unit 3
Documentation.
Please note that contrast is defined in the study design as a change that occurs, rather than two
sounds appearing together.
Unit 3: Creative Exercises and Documentation
Students need to identify the nominated work/s studied. To name a composer is not enough. The
musical characteristics and/or compositional devices that they are using as stimulus material for
their exercises must also be included.
Please note that the task for students is to respond to aspects contained within music works and
not to any extra-musical or stimulus visual stimulus that is associated with the music works.
Avoid submitting more than one exercise based on the same work.
Teachers should make sure that tasks assigned for Unit 3 exercises are directly related to the
compositional approach seen in the works studied.
Time limits/bar lengths must be adhered to.
Unit 4: Music Work and Documentation
Contrast, repetition and variation should be an integral part of this work and perhaps should be
considered at an early stage in its development.
In the documentation, include indications of where contrast, repetition and variation occur in the
work.
Documentation should address the process of the creation of the work and not just present pure
analysis of the finished work.
Only full scores are required, not individual parts.
Compositions generated on music notation software still need to show idiomatic understanding of
instrument capabilities.
Please ensure that time limits/bar limits are adhered to.
Word limits must be considered in the documentation that is submitted.
Word counts should be included at the end of each piece of documentation.
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