Foundations of Composition addresses a range of topics and skills used by composers. In this course students will develop techniques including how to generate musical ideas and how to structure and orchestrate them, regardless of their stylistic interests. Students will work with a variety of industry standard technologies including notation, recording, audio editing, spectral analysis, computer music, and other software packages. These skills and techniques will be critically examined and discussed in large and small group tutorial settings. Students apply these skills to one or more new original compositions utilising these techniques while developing their own unique compositional style.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- recognise and apply terminology, concepts and core skills fundamental to music composition;
- work independently and collaboratively to acquire skills and knowledge for use in music composition;
- experiment with musical materials to take aesthetic and conceptual risks in the realisation of a completed work; and
- critically analyse and discuss the musical works of one’s self and others.
Work Integrated Learning
Projects
Students complete a final project which is based on a real-life composition commission brief, and must complete it by a deadline.
Indicative Assessment
- Crit presentation and folio of exercises (25) [LO 1,2,4]
- Major project (50) [LO 1,2,3]
- Conference and reflection journal (25) [LO 1,2,4]
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; and
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Prescribed Texts
Orchestration and composition readings will be assigned via Wattle the week before they are to be discussed in class.
Assumed Knowledge
Basic reading of treble and bass clef and a basic knowledge of notation and DAW software would be beneficial to students before beginning this course.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2417 | 17 Feb 2025 | 24 Feb 2025 | 31 Mar 2025 | 23 May 2025 | In Person | View |