This is your opportunity to use the musical ideas we've studied this semester to create something of your own and reflect on how music communicates meaning, culture, and identity. You do not need prior musical training to succeed. You are expected to apply basic concepts thoughtfully, not to compose something professional or complex.
Basic musical idea and a short paragraph explaining your option and concepts so far. Commitment, not completion.
More complete version with clearer form and a revised reflection explaining what changed and why.
Share your project with the class. A brief introduction, your music, and a few words about what it means to you.
Drafts are graded for completion and effort, not perfection.
Select one of the three options below. Each links to a full guide with scale and chord materials, a lyric writing space, a worked example, and reflection prompts to help you get started.
Compose a short folk-style song using a clear scale and simple melodic motion. Reflect on how folk music expresses community values and shared identity.
Compose a 12-bar blues using an AAB lyric structure. Connect your piece to the African American cultural and historical roots of the blues.
Create a short popular-style song with a clear melodic structure and basic harmony. Reflect on how popular music functions as personal and global expression.
Your final project has two components. Every option requires both.
This can be handwritten or digital notation, a lead sheet, a chord chart, an audio recording (voice memo, phone recording, or DAW export), or a combination. The goal is clarity, not polish.
Explain what musical ideas you used, why you made the choices you made, and what expressive, cultural, or personal meaning your piece carries. Use course vocabulary, but write in your own voice.
Include the basic structure of your piece and at least one clear musical idea (a melody, chord loop, rhythm, or form). Add a short paragraph explaining which option you chose and which concepts you are working with so far. This draft is about commitment, not completion.
Your second draft should show clearer form, more intentional pitch and harmony, and a developing connection to cultural or expressive goals. Your reflection should explain what changed since Draft 1 and how course concepts shaped your decisions.
No. You may use recordings, instruments, or notation only. The final presentation is about sharing your work, not performing it.
Creativity in this assignment means making choices, not inventing something new. Choosing a scale, writing a line of text, and deciding what it means: that is the work.
Yes. Phone recordings, GarageBand, DAWs, and notation software are all welcome. If your recording is a voice memo made on a walk, that counts. Use whatever helps you capture the idea.
Yes, but check with me first.
During the final week you will briefly introduce your project (1-2 minutes), share your music live or recorded, and say a few words about what it means to you. It is a low-pressure, supportive environment. You are not being judged as a performer.
This project is about applying the language of music, exploring how music communicates meaning, and connecting musical structure to real human experience. You are not expected to be an expert. You are expected to try, reflect, and explain.