Discover, then Compose

Transcription

1 Discover, then Compose Rediscovering the importance of listening, imitation and exploration in secondary general music. Seth Pendergast! Music Composition Learning Model: Musical Concept o It is beneficial to give students parameters for their compositions. Students who are not given any orientation to the composition task tend to create some of the weakest compositions. Texture, Form, Theme and Melody are few examples of music concepts that can provide focus to a composition project. Students need an understanding of how music works and how great compositions are created. This is where that happens. Musicianship o Music Theory and skills are the bag of tools students will draw upon to compose music. I ve found that stronger musicians often create more coherent and satisfying compositions. This is not to say that inexperienced musicians can t compose music. When inexperienced musicians begin composing they often have some early success thanks to the assistance from the technology on the computer or their own ingenuity. However, they soon become frustrated and their compositions become stale because they don t have the tools to create new or innovative music. Music Theory and keyboarding are essential parts of my class. They are the tools we use to create increasingly new and complex compositions. Composition o This is where the rubber meets the road. The students understand the direction (musical concept) and have the skills (musicianship), now they have to apply these skills and ideas in a composition. For example, when students know their task is to create a well structured melody and they understand the principles of a strong melody, the quality of the compositions will be much higher than if the directions were vague and the composition unstructured. Spiral Curriculum Sequence Introduction to Composition Form Timbre Texture Melody (Part 1) Harmony Melody (Part II) Melody and Harmony Orchestration Theme Unit Design Lesson Concept (Form, Melody, etc.) Listening Imitation/Exploration Composition Assessment

2 Strategies for Teaching Each Unit Concept: Please see the Scope and Sequence attached to this handout. It includes teaching strategies for each unit. Developing Curriculum 1. Use my Ideas: I have attached a scope and sequence that I developed. You are welcome to use it in your own classroom! Feel free to me if you would like additional resources, materials or have additional questions. 2. Use my outline and plug in your own material: This curriculum is designed to be flexible. There is no perfect way to teach this course. 3. Purchase Curriculum: There are a number of well-written and well-developed curriculums on the market. a. Teaching Music Through Composition (Barbara Freedman) b. Making Music with Garageband and MixCraft (Hodson, Frankel, McCreedy, Fein) c. Music Outside the Lines (Maud Hickey) d. e. How or Why to Start a Class 1. Create a hybrid class - Many of these concepts could be woven into current music classes. For example, what if your chorus class simply worked on some of these projects every Friday? This would be a great way to experiment with some of these ideas to see if this is a class that could be offered full time. 2. Start a Music Composition Class - Simple buy some curriculum, gather your resources, and get started! 3. Are you new and struggling to build a program at your school? Recruiting for this class is not difficult. Students who may never have stepped foot in a band room will enjoy making music in this class. As you gain exposure with more students, your program will grow. A rising tide lifts all boats. 4. Supplement your current music program You may have a thriving traditional music program at your school. That is wonderful! Consider that adding diversity to the music program could give your current students a new way to learn and make music. Extra Resources 1. Free Online Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) a. b James Frankel a SoundTree a. Classroom Technology Solutions b TI:ME (Technology for Music Education) a. Music Education Technology National Organization b Musical Futures Project a. A hands-on, student driven curriculum for learning music. b.

3 Getting Started Give it a try! Most music educators I talk to can understand the benefits of teaching composition with technology. Still, many music educators don t attempt it. I would like to challenge you to give this way of teaching a shot. Consider trying a few of these lessons at the end of school, after a concert, or even during a week of testing. Even if you think you don t have enough technology, getting started is still possible. Consider using some free software in your schools computer lab. Perhaps there are some ipads on your campus you could use. Maybe the TV production lab is open a few periods each day. Do your best to get your hands on just a little bit of technology and give music, composition, and technology a shot! Curriculum Teaching Music through Composition (Freedman) Music Outside the Lines (Hickey) limited but FREE! Free Software: PreSonus Studio One with a Little Cash Use existing PC s at your school MixCraft - Garageband for PC $approx. $35 per license Midi Controller: Korg NanoKey 2 - $50 with More Cash ipads with Garageband $200 per ipod or $400 - $500 per ipad Cost Saving Idea: Purchase 10 ipads and inexpensive piano keyboards. This reduces the overall cost and allows you to teach keyboarding on the pianos (musicianship) and composition on the ipads while still accommodating 20 students. with Lots o Cash MacLab - GarageBand and imovie come for free! Estimated Cost: $1,000 - $1,300 per imac Cost Saving Idea: Purchase 10 imacs and inexpensive piano keyboards (see above. Section 3: Give it a try. Use what you have. Watch it grow!

4 Music Composition with Technology Scope and Sequence Unit Objectives Introduction to Composition Objectives: Students will 1. know and understand the role of music in society. 2. be able to define music. 3. know and understand the role of composers. 4. practice asking questions about music they don t understand instead of mocking it. 5. play with sound. Acquire Skills Lesson Concepts: 1. What is music? a. Simple definition: Music is organized sound. 2. Who writes music? a. Composers take sound and organize it in a way that is pleasing to the listener. 3. What do we use music for? i. Communication: I want to tell you something. 1. Emotion, Story, Message, etc. ii. Community: I want to share this moment with you 1. Celebration, grief, accomplishment, etc. iii. Atmosphere 1. Restaurant, Night Club, etc. 4. Music: The familiar and unfamiliar a. We fear what we don t understand. So, seek to understand. When you hear a piece of music that doesn t sound good or make sense to you, make it a habit to ask questions instead of developing conclusions too quickly. Vocabulary: Music Composer Communication Community Atmosphere Listening Examples: 1. Play different musical examples and simply ask: What do we use this music for? Or what is the purpose of this music? When do you hear this music? 2. Show a variety of music examples and rehearse asking questions about the music. Success in this class will be built when students seek to understand. Exploring the Concept / Creating: 1. Sound Discovery Project Students will learn to create virtual instrument tracks in GarageBand. The instructor will display three pictures on the projector. Students must find sounds that represent each picture. Students can even experiment with recording the sounds. 2. Loop Discovery Project The instructor will demonstrate how to use the loop library in GarageBand. Students are free to use the loop library to create small compositions for a specified amount of time. The purpose of this project is simply to explore the loop

5 library and learn to use the software. Musicianship: During this time, students are learning all of the music basics. Positions, note names, counting and writing rhythms, the staff, etc. Each class consists of group instruction, individual practice, and assessment. It is essential that students are acquiring musicianship skills every day. Technology Notes: The projects during these initial lessons have two purposes. First, to give application to the concept being learned and second to give students a hands-on opportunity to learn the program (GarageBand). These initial projects require students to drag and drop music loops to create music. This means that their musicianship can be low but they still compose music that is satisfying to them. Unit Objectives Form Objectives: Students will 1. understand and apply the definition of Form. 2. understand that most music has a structure (Form). 3. diagram the form of different compositions. 4. explore how composers structure their music to create effective compositions. 5. understand the role of different sections of a composition. 6. use a variety of techniques to compose effective beginnings, middles, and endings. Acquire Skills Lesson Concepts: 1. Form Definition the structure or overall plan of a piece of music. a. Relate Form to the structure of the body. 2. Diagram the Form (Structure) of a song. 3. What is the role or function of each section? a. Composing effective beginnings and endings i. Introduce thematic material ii. Capture the listeners attention iii. Create tension / Resolve Tension b. Composing effective middles i. Developing Ideas In the middle of the song the composer takes an idea and does something with it (Hickey). 4. Uniting a Composition a. How is the beginning, middle, and end interrelated. (Hickey) Vocabulary: Form Theme Motive Tension Resolution Variation Listening Examples: 1. Song Diagramming a. Three Little Birds (Bob Marley) b. I Want to Hold Your Hand (The Beatles) c. Viennese Musical Clock (Kodaly) d. Any song that has very clear sections. To illustrate the concept initially, it is best to use music that has very cut and dry sections without much ambiguity. Pop songs work wonderfully for this.

6 2. Effective Beginnings and Endings / Uniting a Composition (Beginning, Middle, End) a. Carmina Burana: I. O Fortuna (Orff) b. The Planets, Op. 32: Mars, The Bringer of War (Holst) c. Four Sea Interludes: Dawn (Britten) d. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: IV: Allegro Con Brio (Beethoven) e. Carmina Burana: VI. Tanz 3. Development a. Doin It Right (feat. Panda Bear) (Daft Punk) b. Twelve Variations on Ah Vous Dirai-je, Maman, K. 265 / 300e Exploring the Concept / Creating: 1. Effective Beginnings and Endings a. Listen to the list of songs. Choose the song with your favorite beginning or ending. Using pre-recorded loops in GarageBand, imitate the song. Create your own beginning and ending that follows the general concepts of the beginning and ending you are imitating. Ensure that your beginning and ending both include thematic material. Make sure that the beginning and ending are united into one composition. 2. Effective Middles a. Listen to the list of songs. Observe how each composer takes the theme from the beginning and develops it in the middle of the song. List several of the ways you observe. Using the theme from the first project, develop it in two different ways. 3. Rondo Form Project a. Using the beginning, endings, and middles from the previous project, piece them together into one coherent piece of music in Rondo Form (ABACA). Musicianship: During this time, students are learning all of the music basics. Positions, note names, counting and writing rhythms, the staff, etc. Each class consists of group instruction, individual practice, peer practice/assessment and formal assessment. It is essential that students are acquiring musicianship skills every day. Technology Notes: The projects during these initial lessons have two purposes. First, to give application to the concept being learned and second to give students a hands-on opportunity to learn the program (GarageBand). These initial projects require students to drag and drop music loops to create music. This means that their musicianship can be low but they still compose music that is satisfying to them. Unit Objectives Timbre Objectives: Students will 1. understand and apply the definition of timbre. 2. describe different timbres from varying sources and instruments. 3. compare and contrast the timbres of different instruments. 4. use a variety of instruments to create groups of similar and contrasting timbres. Acquire Skills Lesson Concepts: 1. Timbre Definition the quality of one sound that distinguishes it from another. a. Relate timbre to the idea of unique smells, tastes, or colors. 2. Describe different timbres. 3. Explore the combinations of timbres. a. Blend

7 b. Unity of Sound 4. Exploring combinations of contrasting timbres a. Using a variety of timbres throughout a composition. b. Using a variety of timbres in a single moment. Vocabulary: Timbre Tone Color Blend Contrast Variety of adjectives used to describe timbres (bright, dark, etc.) Listening Examples: 1. Describing Timbres a. Fanfare for the Common Man (Copland) b. Discombobulate (Hans Zimmer) c. Simple Gifts (Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma) d. Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev) e. Any song or sample that includes solo instrumentation/voice or instrumentation in which it is easy to pick out certain instruments above others. This clarity allows the student to focus on one timbre and describe it. 2. Timbre Combinations (Similar) a. Adagio for Strings (Barber) b. O Magnum Mysterium (Lauridsen) c. Pictures at an Exhibition: I. Promenade (Mussorgsky) 3. Timbre Combinations (Contrasting) a. Discombobulate (Hans Zimmer) b. Fanfare for the Common Man (Copland) c. Candide Overture (Bernstein) Exploring the Concept / Creating: 1. Recording with different timbres a. Record three melodies using GarageBand. Create a total of nine tracks. Copy and paste the first melody onto three of the tracks, the second melody onto three of the tracks, and the third melody onto three of the tracks. The result should be three groups of tracks with a different melody for each group. For one group, choose one of our listening examples and try to imitate the timbres used in that composition. For the second group, choose three instruments that have similar timbres. The goal is to create blend between the three instruments. Finally, for the third group, choose three instruments with contrasting timbres. Musicianship: 1. Method Book: a. At this point, students should have progressed far enough into their piano methods book that they could choose several melodies to record for the project above. They should be capably reading music and moving through the piano method book at a regular pace. 2. Composition a. Students will write rhythms and melodies on staff paper using standard notation. It is important that student gain comfort with writing on staff paper because soon they will need to turn their musical ideas into notation. I would encourage this as a daily drill that takes no more than five minutes. Make the task short each class period and continue the activity over a long period of time. Technology Notes: The new technology idea in this unit is Recording with a Software Instrument. Students will need to create tracks, set the metronome and record material on time. There should be an emphasis on the importance of playing in time with the metronome. If they are unable to master this idea by the end of the unit they will struggle for the remainder of the year because none of their future compositions will be recorded on time. Once students are recording capably, the teacher should show the students how to quantize what they record to make the time perfect. The teacher can also show the students how to edit minor mistakes using the piano roll. Texture

8 Unit Objectives Objectives: Students will 1. understand and apply the definition of texture. 2. understand and identify monophonic/polyphonic texture and the elements within them. 3. understand and identify homophonic texture and the elements within them. 4. apply knowledge of homophonic texture to a composition task. Acquire Skills Lesson Concepts: 1. Texture Definition the combining of sounds (parts) to produce an interesting whole. Descriptions include thick, thin, monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic. 2. Density a. Is the texture thin, thick or in-between? 3. Monophonic Texture a. a single melody with no accompaniment. 4. Polyphonic Texture a. multiple independent melodies occurring at the same time often imitating each other. 5. Homophonic Texture a. melody with accompaniment. 6. Parts of Homophonic Texture a. Melody the tune of the song. b. Accompaniment the parts of the song that support the melody. c. Harmony a group of pitches that create chords. d. Bass line the lowest sounding pitches in the music. e. Rhythm drums and other instruments without pitch. Vocabulary: Texture Density Monophonic Polyphonic Homophonic Melody Accompaniment Harmony Bass Line Rhythm Listening Examples: 1. Monophonic Use any example of instruments playing alone or people singing alone. 2. Polyphonic a. The Art of Fugue, BWV1080 (Bach) b. Ave Maria (Josquin des Prez) c. Missa Pange Lingua: Gloria (Josquin des Prez) d. Sing rounds in class as illustrations (Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Brother John, etc.) e. Renaissance and Baroque works tend to work well for this. Listen carefully and ensure that the music is polyphonic and not homophonic. 3. Homophonic a. Almost any pop song works as an example of Homophonic texture. It is a great starting place because it uses a clear melody with easily identifiable accompaniment parts. b. Serenade in B-Flat, K. 361 Gran partita: III. Adagio (Mozart) c. Concerto in E Major, RV 269, "Spring": I. Allegro (Vivaldi) Exploring the Concept 1. Listening and Identifying After briefly discussing and illustrating each concept, students should immediately begin listening to music and identifying elements of it. Students should begin by identifying the density of the music and then identify the type of texture. Students should justify their answers using the definitions above. 2. Living the Concept Whenever possible, have the students play or sing the different textures. This can be accomplished easily

9 with tried and true classroom methods such as singing a round or singing a melody with piano accompaniment. There are many creative ways to do this. Regardless of the method, students should experience the different textures and not just listen to them. 3. Analyzing a Remix (Freedman) Remixes will be used as a vehicle to further explore the elements of homophonic texture. a. Listening Examples i. Beethoven 5 th Symphony vs. A Fifth of Beethoven by Walter Murphy. Creating: 1. MIDI Remix (Freedman) a. The purpose of this project is for students to interact with the different elements of homophonic texture. There familiarity with this texture will benefit them in subsequent units when they begin to develop melodies, harmonies and orchestration. b. Students will choose one of the MIDI files pre-selected by the teacher. They will open the MIDI file in GarageBand and label each track with its appropriate function (rhythm, bass, etc.). Next, students will cut the regions into pieces according to the section of the song (chorus, verse, etc.). Once this is completed, students will begin to arrange or remix the MIDI file. c. The teacher will demonstrate how to do the following: i. Change software instruments ii. Add prerecorded loops from the loop library iii. Copy and paste regions iv. Split and loop regions v. Change tempos vi. Transpose regions Musicianship: 1. Method Books: a. Students should continue at a regular pace in their method books. 2. Scales a. In addition to what is listed in the previous box, students should begin learning the major scales for C Major, G Major, and F Major. Students should also begin learning the relative minor scales and how Major and Minor relate to each other. The scales should be used as context for the melodies they are writing. Students can be given guidelines such as; Compose a melody within this key or Compose a melody using only the notes between the tonic and dominant of the scale. In regards to reading and writing music on the staff, the students should continue to steadily progress through their method books. 3. Composition a. Students will write rhythms and melodies on staff paper using standard notation. It is important that students gain comfort with writing on staff paper because soon they will need to turn their musical ideas into notation. I would encourage this as a daily drill that takes no more than five minutes. Make the task short each class period and continue the activity over a long period of time. 4. Dictation a. Students will listen to melodies and rhythms and turn them into standard notation. b. This will become an increasingly important skill as the class progresses. It is a skill that takes a lot of practice. Students may not be very good at it initially but with time they will be better and better. Begin each day with a dictation exercise so students are used to writing down musical ideas in standard notation. This is an important skill because very soon students will need to take their musical ideas and turn it into standard notation. Technology: This unit typically reinforces the technology skills that the students have acquired so far. The Remix project will push them a little bit farther on the technical side. The instructor should be prepared to demonstrate how to perform the skills listed below. 1. MIDI Keyboard (connection and use) 2. Instrument browser 3. Add a virtual instrument track 4. Record on a virtual instrument track 5. Change a track from one software instrument to another 6. Changing the time signature

10 7. Turn the metronome on and off 8. Splitting and joining regions 9. Looping a region 10. Copying and pasting regions 11. Transposing regions 12. Editing specific notes 13. Labeling tracks and regions Melody (Part I) Several of the ideas in the following unit are taken from Barbara Freedman s Teaching Music Through Composition. This author would encourage the purchase or Freedman s book for a complete understanding of this unit. Unit Objectives Objectives: Students will 1. understand and apply the definition of melody. 2. learn to play a variety of standard melodies through notation, rote, and by ear. 3. analyze and describe the common qualities of different melodies. 4. compose original melodies following the guidelines derived from standard melodies. Acquire Skills Lesson Concepts: 1. Melody Definition a sequence of single notes that form a musical idea. 2. Creating Melodies Musical Play 3. Learning standard melodies a. See Exploring the Concept below b. Standard Melodies Melodies that have stood the test of time (Freedman). i. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star ii. Mary Had a Little Lamb iii. Frere Jacques / Brother John iv. Yankee Doodle 4. The common qualities of standard melodies a. See Exploring the Concept below b. Common Qualities (Freedman) i. Each melody begins and ends on a home tone. ii. Each melody uses repeated notes and/or repeated groups of notes. iii. Each melody uses repeated rhythms. iv. Typically, when a skip occurs the resolution is by step. v. Each melody uses an even number of measures, typically eight measures. vi. Each melody has a structure or form. 5. Creating Melodies a. Use the common qualities of standard melodies listed above a composing guideline. Vocabulary: Melody Notation Rote Repetition Motion Step vs. Skip Resolve Listening Examples: 1. See Standard Melodies above

11 Exploring the Concept: 1. Create a Melody (Freedman) After briefly discussing what a melody is, direct students to sit at the piano and create a melody. Students should use C as their home tone. As the student composes they will write down a title for their melody and notate their melody on a piece of paper using standard notation or a graphic notation of their own. It is important to note that students should be allowed to choose their form of notation. If they are struggling to figure out how to notate an idea the task really comes to be about how to notate instead of creating a melody. Remove this hurdle by allowing them to focus on composing and less on notating. Students should prepare to play the melody for the class. 2. Learning and Analyzing Standard Melodies (Freedman) Students will open a pre-loaded GarageBand file with several standard melodies recorded. The students will be given a set amount of time to learn as many melodies as they can. Once the students have learned the melodies, they will partner with another student and list the ways the melodies are similar. After the students have completed this they will be provided with the questions below taken from Teaching Music Through Composition by Barbara Freedman. They will answer each question. After this work is completed the teacher will lead a summary discussion with the class. Creating: 1. Constructing a Melody: Students compose and record three separate melodies. Students will be evaluated on their ability to follow the guidelines derived from the standard melodies. Students are required to compose three melodies because, like anything else, composers become better with practice! It is important for students to learn that their first idea may not necessarily be their best idea. Musicianship: 1. Method Books: a. Students should continue at a regular pace in their method books. 2. Scales a. In addition to what is listed in the previous box, students should begin learning the major scales for C Major, G Major, and F Major. Students should also begin learning the relative minor scales and how Major and Minor relate to each other. The scales should be used as context for the melodies they are writing. Students can be given guidelines such as; Compose a melody within this key or Compose a melody using only the notes between the tonic and dominant of the scale. In regards to reading and writing music on the staff, the students should continue to steadily progress through their method books. 3. Dictation c. Students will listen to melodies and rhythms and turn them into standard notation. d. This will become an increasingly important skill as the class progresses. It is a skill that takes a lot of practice. Students may not be very good at it initially but with time they will be better and better. Begin each day with a dictation exercise so students are used to writing down musical ideas in standard notation. This is an important skill because very soon students will need to take their musical ideas and turn it into standard notation. Technology: The skills required in this unit are similar to the Timbre unit. The students must spend a lot of time recording their music on a track. There should be a strong emphasis on playing on time. One feature that may have been passed over during the timbre unit is the idea of quantization. The user can select a region and quantize it so that each note falls exactly on the nearest quarter note or whichever subdivision the user chooses. This is a very useful tool because most inexperienced students will play nearly on time but not perfectly. This is standard practice across the music industry. Unit Objectives Objectives: Students will Harmony (Part I)

12 1. understand and apply the definition of harmony. 2. play the standard major, minor and diminished triads in the major scale. 3. construct chord progressions with an understanding of chord function and harmonic rhythm. 4. notate chords with numbers. Acquire Skills Lesson Concepts: 1. Harmony a group of pitches that create chords. 2. Constructing triads in root position a. Demonstrate how to notate and play root position triads. 3. Playing and composing chord progressions a. Demonstrate four or eight measure chord progressions. Students should understand the idea of harmonic rhythm as the length of each chord in the progression. 4. Chord progression guidelines a. See exploring the concept below. Vocabulary: Harmony Chord Triad Chord Progression Number system Harmonic Rhythm Listening Examples: 2. What Makes You Beautiful (One Direction) 3. All of Me (John Legend) 4. Other standard issues pop songs that generally follow standard harmonic guidelines. Exploring the Concept 1. Progression Exploration It would be easy to immediately teach chord relationships and the standard harmony rules. However, this doesn t leave room for students to discover the chord progressions they enjoy. Nor does it allow students to discover that, in fact, they already follow many of the rules! Instruct the students to create three chord progressions with a specified length and harmonic rhythm. They should simply compose what sounds best to them. Once the chord progressions are completed, students should share in pairs or small groups. Each group should choose their favorite one or two chord progressions. 2. Harmony Guidelines Once the students have completed the project above, write all of the favorite chord progressions on the board. Ask the students to look for the most common chords used and look for relationships between the chords. List as many of these ideas as possible. Most likely, the most common chords used will be chords like I, IV, V, ii and vi. Several of the relationships will be similar to standard harmony rules. Use this list to derive guidelines for future harmonic compositions. This is an excellent way to discover the rules rather than impose them on students. 3. Guidelines in Action Use the listening examples listed above as an example of the harmonic guidelines in action. Write the chord progressions on the board and track through the chord progression as the song plays. This will give students an opportunity to hear the chord changes and recognize that their guidelines were already used by scores of composers. This will also give the students an opportunity to see when composers deviate from the guidelines. Creating: 1. Harmonic Arpeggios: Block chords can easily become very boring. Using the arpeggio function in GarageBand can be a great way to turn block chords into interesting compositions. Students should compose a harmonic progression of eight measures or use one that was previously composed. Students should choose several apreggiations they like in GarageBand and record their chord progressions. These harmonic compositions can be enhanced by playing the progression in different octaves, adding a bass line, improvising a melody or composing a drum-beat. When the project is complete the students will see their harmonic compositions come to life as the computer manipulates their simple block chords. Musicianship: 1. Method Books:

13 a. Students should continue at a regular pace in their method books. 2. Scales a. In addition to what is listed in the previous box, students should complete their major scales for C Major, G Major, and F Major. Students should also begin learning the relative minor scales and how Major and Minor relate to each other. The scales should be used to build an understanding of triads and chord progressions. 3. Dictation a. Students will listen to melodies and rhythms and turn them into standard notation. b. Students will listen to simple I, IV, and V chord progressions and write them on their paper. Technology: The new skill in this unit is using the arpeggio function on a software instrument. This function can be found in the top right corner of the smart controls screen when a software instrument is being used. Melody (Part II) The following unit is derived from Barbara Freedman s Teaching Music Through Composition. This author would encourage the purchase or Freedman s book for a complete understanding of this unit. Unit Objectives Objectives: Students will 1. understand definition of melodic motive. 2. compose melodic motives. 3. learn to play a variety of standard melodies through notation, rote, and by ear. 4. analyze and describe the use of melodic motives (sequence, variation, etc.) 5. analyze and describe the use of form in a melody (question and answer, rondo, etc.) 6. compose melodies using a variety of motives and forms. Acquire Skills Lesson Concepts: 1. Melodic Motive a short piece of melodic material that is repeated and varied throughout a longer melody. 2. Creating Motives a. Create motives based on different rhythmic figures. 3. Motive Variations (Freedman) a. Permutations changing the order of the notes b. Transposition move the motive to a higher or lower note while maintaining the intervals and stay in the same key. c. Inversion upside down. (Instead of going up a third go down a third) d. Retrograde play the motive backwards e. Retrograde Inversion play the motive backwards and upside down. f. Rhythmic augmentation and diminution make the notes either longer or shorter (respectively). 4. Motive Sequences (Freedman) a. Use the transposition variation to create a motive in sequence. Each repetition of the motive is transposed higher. i. Angels We Have Heard on High ii. Do, Re, Mi from The Sound of Music. iii. Beethoven, Symphony no. 5, first movement 5. Melodic Forms (Freedman) a. Question-and-Answer Form In music theory this is referred to as the parallel period. A parallel period is two almost identical phrases except for their cadences. The first cadence ends on the dominant or a not other than the tonic while the second

14 cadence ends on the tonic. b. Rondo Form This melodic structure simply follows the pattern ABACAD. Vocabulary: Melodic Motive Permutation Transposition Inversion Retrograde Retrograde Inversion Augmentation Diminution Sequence Rondo Form Listening Examples: 1. See Standard Melodies above Exploring the Concept / Creating: 1. Creating Melodic Motives (Freedman): Provide students with four one measure rhythmic figures. Students should use the fivenote scale from C G to create one-measure melodic motives based on the rhythmic figures. Students should record the motives they create. 2. Motive Variations (Freedman): Use the motives created in the previous project. For each motive, compose and record a variation based on the variation options listed above. 3. Motive Sequences (Freedman): Use the motives created in the first project (creating melodic motives). Compose four melodic phrases that are each four measures long. In each melody, state the motive and then record the motive in sequence twice. End the phrase with new melodic material. 4. Final Melody Composition (Freedman): Choose the form Question and Answer or Rondo form. Using a combination of the original motives, variations, and sequences from the previous projects, compose and record an eight-measure melody that utilizes the form chosen. Musicianship: 1. Method Books: a. Students should continue at a regular pace in their method books. 2. Scales a. In addition to what is listed in the previous box, students should complete their major scales for C Major, G Major, D Major, F Major, and Bb Major. Students should also begin learning the relative minor scales and how Major and Minor relate to each other. The scales should be used to build an understanding of triads and chord progressions. In addition to this continuing progress through the scales, students should explore chord inversions. Thus far students have only played block chords. The easier they can invert chords the better they are able to orchestrate their compositions in subsequent units. 3. Dictation a. Students will listen to melodies and rhythms and turn them into standard notation. b. This is an important skill for a student s success in the remainder of the class. It is a skill that takes a lot of practice. Students may not be very good at it initially but with time they will be better and better. Begin each day with a dictation exercise so students are used to writing down musical ideas in standard notation. This is an important skill because very soon students will need to take their musical ideas and turn it into standard notation. Technology: There are no new technology requirements for this unit. Unit Objectives Objectives: Students will 1. harmonize a melody. 2. compose a melody based on a chord progression. Melody and Harmony

15 3. record melodies and accompaniment figures based on a harmonic progression. 4. Compose and record bass lines according to chord progressions. Acquire Skills Lesson Concepts: 1. Harmonize a Melody a. The Basic Idea The teacher will provide students with a melody and assign a harmonic rhythm for the melody. List the possible chords for each portion of the melody by matching the notes in the chord and the melody. Play a variety of options and choose which one is best. b. This is a very simple way of teaching this concept. It ignores the idea of non-chord tones for the time being. That is a more advanced topic that can be covered later. This method is based on an exploratory philosophy. There is a little bit of theory and then the students discover what works best through trial and error all the while guided by a teacher gently offering suggestions along the way. 2. Compose a melody based on a chord progression a. Students will essentially compose melodies the same way as the previous unit. However, their choices of notes will be dictated by the harmonic progression. 3. Composing a bass line a. Students begin with a chord progression. Using the root, third and fifth of the chord they will compose a bass line with improvised rhythms. b. Once students understand this idea, they can begin exploring how to match their bass line with the bass drum of a rhythm track. Vocabulary: harmonize bass line root third fifth Exploring the Concept: 1. Improvising Harmonies: Choose a standard melody like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or Mary Had a Little Lamb. Any simple melody that will result in a standard chord progression will work. Before giving instruction on how students harmonize chords, allow them an opportunity to explore by improvising harmonies. There should be some parameters for this exploration such as a harmonic rhythm and a limited number of chords (begin with I, IV, V and then expand to ii, iii, vi, and vii o later). After the students have completed several harmonization s they should choose the one that they feel is best and present it to the class. Once all of the chord progressions have been presented, simply ask the question Why do these chords sound best? Inevitably, students will discover that the chords included notes from the melody! Other possible discussions that could spin off of this one include nonchord tones and even extended chords like 7 ths and 9 ths. Creating: 1. Harmonization Exercises: Students should record simple melodies and practice harmonizing them and recording the chord progressions based on the concepts learned above. Students who seem to be learning quickly could be taught some accompaniment figures or use the arpeggiator in GarageBand to make the accompaniment more interesting. 2. Melody Based on Chord Progression: Design projects based on projects from the previous unit. However, their choices of notes will be dictated by the harmonic progression. Students should record the melody and harmony. Students should record their harmonies in block chords. Students who seem to be learning quickly could be taught some accompaniment figures or use the arpeggiator in GarageBand to make the accompaniment more interesting. 3. Final Project: Re-Mix (Part 2): Record a common melody like Marry Had a Little Lamb or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Begin by arranging the melody and using the desired instruments. Next, re-harmonize the melody and record the block chords for this melody. Finally, use compositional techniques like chord arpeggiations, different rhythms and different instruments to record the accompaniment parts. Musicianship: 1. Method Books: a. Students should continue at a regular pace in their method books.

16 2. Scales a. In addition to what is listed in the previous box, students should complete their major scales for C Major, G Major, D Major, F Major, and Bb Major. Students should also begin learning the relative minor scales and how Major and Minor relate to each other. The scales should be used to build an understanding of triads and chord progressions. In addition to this continuing progress through the scales, students should explore chord inversions. Thus far students have only played block chords. The easier they can invert chords the better they are able to orchestrate their compositions in subsequent units. 3. Dictation a. Students will listen to melodies and rhythms and turn them into standard notation. b. This is an important skill for a student s success in the remainder of the class. It is a skill that takes a lot of practice. Students may not be very good at it initially but with time they will be better and better. Begin each day with a dictation exercise so students are used to writing down musical ideas in standard notation. This is an important skill because very soon students will need to take their musical ideas and turn it into standard notation. Technology: There are no new technology requirements for this unit. Bibliography Freedman, B. (2013). Teaching Music Through Composition: A Curriculum Using Technology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Hickey, M. (2012). Music Outside the Lines. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.