--- title: The music education trinity description: Having now had a look at each board’s specifications for GCSE and A-Level Music, my brain has been well and truly inundated with that seemingly eternal trinity of music education – composing, listening and performing.  With the unit structure of each specification being very clearly built around this widely accepted model, it would appear that […] --- [Skip to content](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/06/the-music-education-trinity.html#main-content) [![Teacher and Musician](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/hs-fs/hubfs/81896E98-B64E-4BC2-A2A2-A247BD8FBD34.png?width=100&height=100&name=81896E98-B64E-4BC2-A2A2-A247BD8FBD34.png)](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/) Open main navigation Close main navigation Jun 17, 2015 6:00:00 AM # The music education trinity [John Kelleher](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/author/john-kelleher) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/06/the-music-education-trinity.html) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/06/the-music-education-trinity.html) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/06/the-music-education-trinity.html) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/06/the-music-education-trinity.html) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/06/the-music-education-trinity.html) [![the music education trinity of composing, listening and performing - teacher and musician](https://static.hsstatic.net/BlogImporterAssetsUI/ex/missing-image.png)](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/The+trinity-1.png) Having now had a look at [each board’s specifications for GCSE and A-Level Music](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/search/label/boards%202015), my brain has been well and truly inundated with that seemingly eternal trinity of music education – composing, listening and performing.  With the unit structure of each specification being very clearly built around this widely accepted model, it would appear that it won’t be replaced with anything in the near future.  This is probably for the best; the last thing teachers need right now is yet another externally enforced change. ### Integration It was nice to see that some of the boards have made an effort to integrate these three skills (OCR being the most vocal about this) and I dare say that this is in response to changes at the frontline of music teaching.  Increasingly, teachers are delivering music lessons that combine all three skills.  I don’t mean a lesson/unit that goes along the lines of: 1. Listening test 2. Composing inspired by listening test 3. Perform the composition 4. Listen to each other The type of integration that I’m thinking of pulls these skills together a little more.  Activities where listening is an integral part of performing is just one such example of this.  The aural learning approach of Musical Futures is a particular favourite of mine for this; pupils have to listen to a piece in order to figure out how to play it.  If they can play it well, then they’ve clearly listened successfully (to both the recording and themselves).   If the phrase they’re trying to imitate is beyond their performing ability, then they will often come up with a version that does the same job but is playable for them.  There’s a great example of composing/improvising skills; not dissimilar to the arranging process of popular musicians writing their own parts for a song.   ### Composing, listening and performing I’ve had a go at putting this thinking into a Venn diagram identifying how frequently I believe each combination should fit into a scheme of work.  You can scroll down to see the diagram but, first, I’d like to put a little explanation into each idea.   - **Composing, listening and performing on their own** - **Just performing and composing** - **Just composing and listening** - **Just performing and listening** - **All three together** ### Where I’m going with this I’m looking to come up with some resources to help music teachers when they’re planning and/or reviewing a scheme of work, so a lot of my thinking at the moment is about the things that should be involved in that process.  I’ve had a look back at one of my old posts talking about design tenets and had another read of [Anna Gower’s post](https://mrsgowersclasses.wordpress.com/2014/01/02/should-what-come-before-how/) about what should come first.  Keep checking the blog for resources that will help you in this process and please feel free to [get in touch](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/p/about-me.html) if there’s anything in particular that you’d like to see.   [![the music education trinity of composing, listening and performing - teacher and musician](https://static.hsstatic.net/BlogImporterAssetsUI/ex/missing-image.png)](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/The+music+education+trinity+(2)-1.png) [Blog](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/tag/blog) ## Related posts [Blog](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/tag/blog), [boards 2015](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/tag/boards-2015), [A-Level](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/tag/a-level) ## [Edexcel’s A-Level Music Specification](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/06/edexcels-level-music-specification.html) [John Kelleher](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/author/john-kelleher) Jun 15, 2015 6:00:00 AM [Read more](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/06/edexcels-level-music-specification.html) [Blog](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/tag/blog), [boards 2015](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/tag/boards-2015) ## [Edexcel’s GCSE Music specification](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/05/edexcels-gcse-music-specification.html) [John Kelleher](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/author/john-kelleher) May 21, 2015 6:00:00 AM [Read more](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/05/edexcels-gcse-music-specification.html) [Blog](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/tag/blog), [boards 2015](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/tag/boards-2015) ## [OCR’s GCSE Music specification](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/05/ocrs-gcse-music-specification.html) [John Kelleher](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/author/john-kelleher) May 20, 2015 6:00:00 AM [Read more](https://www.teacherandmusician.com/2015/05/ocrs-gcse-music-specification.html) facebook-f icon linkedin-in icon Twitter icon instagram icon --- Copyright © 2026