Hello, I'm Dr.

Southall, and this is a unit called Atmospheric Music.

Join me for our learning today and we'll see how we get on.

In this lesson, you're gonna be able to compose a musical idea in C major which appropriately compliments the beginning of a story.

Let's begin.

There's three key terms for this lesson.

The first is ostinato, which means a repeated pattern.

The second is major scale, a set of notes that sound bright and cheerful; the C major scale uses all the white notes on the keyboard.

The third is home note, the main note in any key, often the note that the music will finish on; in C major, C is the home note.

There's two parts to this lesson.

The first is introducing the story.

Listen to the following story and consider the moods throughout the story and where and how they change.

Let's listen.

(upbeat music music) <v Narrator>"Almost done with this," Jake said,</v> carefully blending the colors on his palette.

Just one more shade.

"Better not take too long," Zara's voice called from down the hall, "Library closes soon." Jake smiled to himself, "Don't worry, I'll be out before you are." Jake often stayed behind after school to finish his artwork in the quiet of the empty classroom.

The golden evening light slanted through the blinds, striping the floor in warm, dusty bands.

The school was quiet now.

(gentle music) Almost too quiet.

(suspenseful music) As Jake finally left the classroom, the corridor was dark and the only sound was the faint hum of the drinks machine in the hall.

He walked towards the library, then stopped.

Bang, a locker slammed shut behind him.

He spun around, silence.

"Zara," he called, his voice echoing down the empty corridor.

No answer.

(tense music) A cold breeze curled around his ankles as if something had opened behind him.

(dramatic music) He bolted forward, convincing himself it was only the wind through one of the open classroom windows.

He stepped into the library, scanning the dim rows of books.

In the corner, a figure stood.

"Zara," he called.

It turned and moved forward.

(suspenseful music) Not Zara.

He staggered back, gasping, "Wait, who are you?" No.

Crikey, I'm a bit scared from that one.

So the opening starts nice and cheery and is carefree.

However, the mood changes halfway through and becomes much more sinister, doesn't it? I thought so for sure.

Okay, we're gonna listen again to the opening part of the story, which was the less scary part.

Which of the following can you identify in the music? So listen out for ostinato, chromatic notes, fast tempo, staccato, and pedal.

What other features support the mood? Let's listen again.

(upbeat music) Okay, did you hear any of these particular features of the music? Well, we had ostinato, there was fast tempo and there was staccato all evident in that introduction.

The music at the beginning sounds positive because of the musical choices that the composer has made.

The main timbres were light sounding and mainly high pitched instruments, including flute, piano and high string sounds.

The pitch of the melody is high.

The tempo is fairly fast.

Let's watch this ostinato pattern, and I want you to think and what do you notice when you watch it? Let's see (upbeat music) The notes use the white notes on the keyboard and no chromatic notes.

The white notes from C to C on the keyboard create the C major scale.

Major scales naturally sound bright and positive.

Here is a keyboard, and here's an example of what the C scale looks like, the C major scale looks like.

And you can see it in musical notation above the keyboard as well.

Let's check for understanding, which two of the following are generally suitable for creating cheerful music? A, fast tempo, B, light and high pitched timbre, C, pedal, or D, chromatic notes? Well done for trying.

The answer is A, fast tempo, and B, light and high pitched timbre.

Well done.

Now see if you can think of a word that fits at the end of here.

Music in a major key generally sounds what? Well, as an example, you may have said cheerful or bright or positive.

Anything along those lines fits the bill.

Well done.

Okay, let's listen to the notes of a C major scale when you start on A instead of C.

And I want you to think about how that change makes an impact on the feel of the music.

Let's watch.

(upbeat music) Hmm, it does feel different, doesn't it? It's important that the C feels like the main note as it's the home note.

Remember that key terminology from the beginning of this lesson? Home note or tonic note in the C scale.

We can show this by starting on a C and finishing on a C and returning to C throughout the main musical idea.

Now, we are going to compose a musical soundtrack for the audio story.

So think of the story in two sections.

The first is cheerful, the second, which will be longer, has more tension.

So we've got two different types of sounds fitting together for our piece.

The first section should have an ostinato as the basis of the music.

This gives us a recognizable idea and a set of notes, which we can use later as the main motif throughout the story.

Which three of the following could help to create the feeling of a home note? A, starting on that note, B, finishing on that note, C, returning to the note frequently, or D, playing that note constantly? Well, the one that it isn't is D, playing that note constantly.

So the three options that help create the feeling of a home note are A, starting on that note, B, finishing on that note, and C, returning to the note frequently.

Well done.

Which is the home note of the key C major? Well, it's C.

Time for an independent practice.

Compose an ostinato as the first main musical idea in your story soundtrack.

Your success criteria for this task are that the idea should be a short, simple and repeated one.

It should use the notes of the C major scale.

Now, remember, that means C to C.

Make sure C feels like the home note by using it regularly and starting on it and finishing on it.

And choose elements which contribute to the music sounding happy.

For example, fast tempo, high pitch or suitable light timbre.

Best of luck.

Enjoy.

So time for a bit of self-evaluation.

Have you used a short, simple, repeated idea? Did you use the notes of the C major scale? And when you did, did you compose a pattern where C feels like the home note? And which elements have you used to create the happy feel for your ostinato? Did you use timbre, pitch and tempo, for example? And how did you use them? Time for part two of this lesson, refining your motif.

Listen to this example ostinato.

Why is it successful as an opening idea for the story? (upbeat music) Hmm, interesting.

Is it that it's repetitive, high pitched, fast tempo? This is all ideas from Jun.

Also, it uses only a few notes, a light sounding timbre, and it's using notes of the C major scale.

I hope you got some of those ideas.

How have these examples being extended? What features have stayed the same, and what features are different? So listen and watch the first video.

(upbeat music) And then consider how they've changed for the second video.

Let's watch.

(upbeat music) I noticed a few differences there.

We added a base note based on the home note.

The melody has added harmony.

It's played in thirds.

And in both examples, the original music idea was still recognizable and prominent.

To refine and extend your ostinato pattern, consider this: the notes you've chosen, are they close together and easily memorable? And if not, you could change that as part of your refining.

Is the rhythm interesting? You could add a second part based on the home note of the scale.

You could add harmony, such as playing it in thirds, like we saw in the video.

We could develop the idea in a sequence.

Or you may have your own ideas that are similar to these, but slightly extended in different ways.

Remember, this is just a guide.

Listen to your pattern to check its suitability for the story.

Which of these does not have to apply to a successful ostinato? A, it only uses a few notes, B, the notes are close together, C, it has to repeat, or D, it's staccato? Answer is D, it is staccato.

This is not something that has to apply to a successful ostinato.

Well done.

Suggest two ways that we can extend a musical idea.

What could they be? Well, as an example, you might have repeat it but in a sequence, or you might add a second part, or you might add harmony to the idea.

Right, let's try some practice.

I want you to refine and extend your ostinato pattern.

It should be simple with notes close together and only use a few notes.

It should develop by using one of the following: a sequence, a second part based around the home notes, or an added harmony playing in thirds.

If you want to revisit any of those ideas, please rewind the video and find the appropriate section.

Good luck.

Enjoy.

When you've made those changes, I want you to do some reflection and ask yourself, have you extended the original idea by using a sequence or adding harmony? And have you composed a second part based on the home note? I hope you enjoyed this lesson and really enjoyed refining your compositions.

Let's just quickly revisit some of the main ideas from this lesson.

Music can be used to create a positive and cheerful mood.

This is done by using notes from the major scale and appropriate use of other elements such as pitch, tempo and timbre.

When composing using a major scale, the home note is important in defining the feel of that scale.

We have composed an ostinato in C major as the main idea in our musical story task today.

I hope you've enjoyed it.

See you next time.

Bye.