Composition: Methods and Craft offers students an in-depth study of a specialised area of music composition. Through this topics course, students explore a particular composer, style/genre, texture/instrumentation, technique, or set of compositional practices. Students will engage with compositional material through both guided and independent artistic research activities, applying new critical, analytical, and technical skills to assigned composition tasks.
Students may complete this course twice for a maximum credit value of 12 units, provided they enrol in a different topic in each instance/semester. Please note that the course content, assessment structure, and reading list will change depending on the topic and the expertise of the lecturer convening the course. Please refer to the class summary for the specific term in which you wish to enrol for a detailed description.
Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- From Solos to Small Groups
- Improvisation as Composition
- Quartets, Larger Groups, and Collaborations
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- recognise and apply terminology, concepts, tools and skills in the context of the course topic;
- work independently and collaboratively in to create new work in the context of the course topic (e.g. composing, staging performances, and recording);
- demonstrate the experimentation of expansion of conceptual and aesthetic principles in the context of the course topic; and
- critically analyse and discuss the musical works of one’s self and others.
Work Integrated Learning
Simulation/Virtual
This course provides students with examples of real wold composition projects and briefs, helping to prepare them for work as composers, arrangers, directors, orchestrators, etc.
Indicative Assessment
- Crit presentation on final project, 10 minutes (20) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Weekly exercises, reflection and consultation (12min of music, 750 word reflection, 15min consultation meeting) (40) [LO 1,3,4]
- Final project, reflection and consultation (10min of music, 1000 word reflection, 15min consultation meeting) (40) [LO 1,2,3,4]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks consisting of lectures, tutorials, workshops, and other activities
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Available on Wattle
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 12
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $4020 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $5580 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Improvisation as Composition | ||||||
| 4048 | 17 Feb 2025 | 24 Feb 2025 | 31 Mar 2025 | 23 May 2025 | In Person | View |
| From Solos to Small Groups | ||||||
| 4049 | 17 Feb 2025 | 24 Feb 2025 | 31 Mar 2025 | 23 May 2025 | In Person | View |
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quartets, Larger Groups, and Collaborations | ||||||
| 9055 | 21 Jul 2025 | 28 Jul 2025 | 31 Aug 2025 | 24 Oct 2025 | In Person | N/A |