Grade by Grade
A. Dance / C. Music · Music and Dance

Music: Composing and Performing with Expression

C1.3 C1.4 C1.5 C1.2 C2.3About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can compose music for a specific purpose and audience.
  • I can read and perform sforzando (sfz) and phrase markings.
  • I can record my composition with standard notation or devised notation, with a key.
  • I can use the tools of musicianship when I perform, and name my strengths and areas for growth.

Words to know

compose
To create your own music.
purpose / audience
Why the music is made / who will hear it.
sforzando (sfz)
A sudden, strong accent on one note or chord. Say it "sfor-TSAN-doh".
phrase
A musical sentence: a group of notes that belong together.
phrase marking
A long curved line over a group of notes, showing they form one phrase, sung or played smoothly as one idea.
devised notation
Symbols you invent to write down sounds, with a key that explains them.
musicianship
The skills and habits of a good musician: posture, breathing, steady beat, listening, watching the leader, and following the markings.
interpreter
A musician who performs music someone else wrote, deciding how to bring it to life.

Remember from Grade 3

In Grade 3 you composed music for a purpose (to celebrate, to calm, to go with a poem), used dynamics (p, f, crescendo, decrescendo) and articulation (staccato, legato), and practised posture, breathing at the end of a phrase, and watching the conductor.

This year your compositions will be written for a specific audience, and you will add two new expressive markings: sforzando and phrase markings.

Two new markings

  • Sforzando (sfz): a sudden, strong accent on one note or chord, even in the middle of soft music. It's like a musical "Boo!". In Joseph Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony, a quiet melody is suddenly interrupted by one very loud chord. Listeners jump!
  • Phrase marking: a long curved line over a group of notes. It shows that those notes make one musical sentence. Sing or play them smoothly, as one idea, and breathe at the end of the phrase, not in the middle. A breath mark looks like a comma ( , ).
sfz,breath
A phrase marking (the long curve) joins four notes into one musical sentence. The third note has a sforzando (sfz). The breath mark (,) shows where to breathe.

Composing for a purpose and an audience

Before you compose, ask:

  1. Purpose: What is this music for? (To welcome people? To make a video exciting? To help a little sister fall asleep?)
  2. Audience: Who will hear it? (A kindergarten class? Grandparents? A school assembly?)
  3. Elements: Which choices fit? Think about tempo, dynamics (including sfz), tonality (major or minor), rhythm (syncopation?), form (intro? coda? repeats?) and timbre (which instruments or voices?).

Then write it down so someone else could perform it: use standard notation (notes on the staff, rhythm names) for melodies and rhythms, and devised notation (your own symbols, with a key) for special sound effects.

An empty school music room with chairs and music stands in a semicircle facing a conductor's podium with a baton on its stand.
When you perform for an audience, the conductor stands at the front. Good posture and watching the conductor help the group play with expression. AI-generated image
1. PurposeWhat isit for?2. AudienceWho willhear it?3. Elementstempo,dynamics,major or minor4. Write itso otherscan play it5. Performand thenreflectExample: welcome song for kindergarten → major key, medium tempo,easy steps and lots of repetition
A composer's plan in five steps. Decide the purpose and audience first, then choose the elements that fit them.
Worked example

Example: Let's compose a welcome song for a kindergarten class

Purpose: welcome the kindergarten class to the school's winter concert. Audience: 4- and 5-year-olds and their families.

  1. Elements for young children: a major key (bright and friendly), a medium tempo, simple steps and repeated notes that are easy to follow, and lots of repetition.
  2. Melody: using only the notes C, D and E (do, re, mi): "Wel-come, wel-come, here we are": E E D D C D E (mi mi re re do re mi).
  3. Rhythm: ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ta. One bar of 4/4 (1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 4 beats).
  4. Form: a short introduction on a drum (4 steady beats), the song twice (with repeat signs), and a coda: a slow, held "Wel-come!" with a fermata.
  5. Expression: a phrase marking over the whole line so it's sung smoothly; one sfz on the final "Wel-COME!" for a happy surprise.
  6. Write it down on the staff with the letter names, rhythm and markings, so a friend can perform it.

Every choice fits the purpose (welcome) and the audience (young children): simple, repetitive, major, friendly, with a fun surprise at the end. It is written down so others can perform it.

Performing like a musician

The tools and techniques of musicianship in Grade 4:

  • Posture: sit or stand tall, shoulders relaxed.
  • Breathing: breathe at phrase markings and breath marks, not in the middle of a phrase.
  • Follow the markings: dynamics, sfz, staccato and legato, fermatas, repeat signs.
  • Watch the leader: for starting together, fermatas and cut-offs.
  • Listen and blend: in two-part music, hear the other part and match its volume, but keep your own part.
  • Steady beat and singing in tune.
Just for fun

A popular story says Haydn put the sudden loud chord in his "Surprise" Symphony to wake up listeners who had dozed off. Nobody knows if that's true, but the sfz still makes audiences jump today!

RoleStrength exampleArea for growth example
Performer"I breathed at the ends of phrases.""I want to stay in tune on the high notes."
Creator (composer)"My piece really fit its audience.""I want to write my rhythms more clearly."
Interpreter"I made the sfz really surprising.""I could make the phrases smoother."
Audience member"I listened quietly and gave specific feedback.""I want to notice the timbre more."
Musicians think about their strengths and areas for growth in every role.
Hands-on activity

Compose a jingle

You need: paper, a pencil, any instruments you have (a keyboard app, glasses with water, a pot and spoon, a shaker), and an audience.

  1. Choose a purpose and an audience. Ideas: a jingle for a family recycling day, a song to get little cousins to tidy up, a fanfare for a family birthday.
  2. Choose your elements: tonality, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, form.
  3. Compose 4 bars of 4/4. Include at least one ti-ta-ti, one phrase marking and one sfz.
  4. Write it down: letters or notes on a staff for the melody, rhythm names, and markings. Add devised notation with a key for any sound effects (for example, a squiggle = a shaker shake).
  5. Rehearse using musicianship tools. Perform it for your audience.
  6. Tell your audience one strength and one area for growth for yourself as a composer and as a performer.

Your turn

1

What does sfz mean? Show it by clapping 4 soft claps with one sfz.

2

What does a phrase marking look like, and what does it tell you?

3

Where should a singer breathe?

4

Name the purpose and audience for a lullaby you might write.

5

What is devised notation, and what must you always include with it?

6

Name three tools of musicianship.

7

Name one strength and one area for growth for yourself as a performer.

More practice: warm-up

1

What does compose mean?

2

What is a phrase in music?

3

What does a breath mark look like?

4

Is sfz a sudden accent or a slow fade?

5

Who is the audience of a piece?

More practice: on your own

1

Which elements would fit a fanfare to start a school assembly? Name three.

2

Why would a composer use an sfz in a quiet piece?

3

Your composition for kindergarten children has lots of leaps and a long, complicated melody. What would you change and why?

4

A choir breathes in the middle of the word "to-ge-ther". Which musicianship tool should they work on?

5

Turn this into a specific self-review: "My song was OK."

Challenge

1

Compose 2 bars of 4/4 for a spooky Halloween scene. Choose tonality, tempo and dynamics, include one sfz, and write the rhythm names.

2

Explain how a composer, a performer and an audience member each help a piece of music come to life.

3

Write devised notation for a 4-sound pattern: a soft shaker, a loud drum hit, a whoosh, and silence. Include a key.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

sfz (sforzando) means ___.

2.

A long curved line over a group of notes is a ___.

3.

Where should a singer breathe?

4.

For a lullaby for a baby, which choices fit best?

5.

What must devised notation always have?

6.

Which is a tool of musicianship?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Students create compositions for specific purposes and audiences (C1.3), apply the elements to create an effect (C1.2), use standard notation on the staff and devised notation to record their music (C1.5), use the tools and techniques of musicianship in performance (C1.4), and identify their strengths and areas for growth as performers, creators, interpreters and audience members (C2.3). New Grade 4 expressive markings: sforzando (sfz) and phrase markings.

How to help at home:

  • Ask the composer's questions: "Who is it for? What should it make them feel? Which elements will do that?"
  • Be an encouraging audience. Afterward, name one specific strength ("Your sfz really surprised me!").
  • Listen to Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony (No. 94, second movement) together and wait for the loud chord.

Common difficulties:

  • Bars that don't add up. Count the beats in each bar together.
  • Devised notation without a key. Ask, "Could I play this without you here?"
  • Breathing mid-phrase. Sing the phrase slowly, then try it on one breath.
  • Vague self-assessment. Use sentence starters: "As a performer, I..." / "Next time I will..."