Lesson video

Hi, my name's Mr. Pate, and welcome to this lesson on making ideas more musical from the unit, Composing to a brief: extending ideas.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to refine a musical idea so it has a clear shape, rhythmic interest, and it fits your chosen style.

Some of the key words we'll be using in today's lesson are contour, which means the shape of a melody and how it rises and falls, interval, which is the distance in pitch between two notes, like, for example, a fifth or an octave, and inversion, which is when the notes of a chord are to the root note is no longer the lowest note in the chord.

In our lesson, we'll start by looking at what makes an idea musical, and then we'll look at developing your own ideas.

When composing to a brief, it's important that your musical ideas fit both the requirements of the brief and whatever genre that you've chosen to work in.

It's also important to consider how effective your ideas are musically.

You can improve those initial ideas by thinking about things like melodic shape, the use of intervals, rhythm, and how you've used chords.

When you're composing a melody, using mainly step wife movement and balancing repetition with development of ideas can help it flow and feel really connected.

To add interest, though, expressive use of leaps, along with careful shaping of contour and phrasing, can make the melody sound more musical and more engaging.

Let's take an example.

Listen to the following melody.

The brief that this student has chosen asks for a piece in the western classical style to be performed at a museum.

What do you think works well about this melody and what could be improved?

So now you've had a listen, what works well and what could be improved?

Andeep says, "The melody uses lots of stepwise movement, which makes it feel smooth.

There are some repeating ideas, which help the melody to feel connected.

" Lucas says, "Almost all the intervals are steps with hardly any leaps.

This can sound slightly uninteresting as the melody progresses.

The rhythms are simple, using just crotchets and quavers, which can get quite repetitive.

" Sam says, "The contour, or the shape, of the melody doesn't change very much, and it stays at roughly the same pitch range.

The phrases aren't clear, so it's hard to tell when musical sentences begin and end.

" So this melody is a good starting point, but it lacks a little bit of interest, and the structure isn't that clear.

Let's see how we can improve it.

Musical sounding melodies usually use mostly stepwise movement with some leaps.

They usually repeat ideas with development of these ideas.

They often use longer notes to show when phrases end.

And they start and finish on the home notes to give a sense of key.

Importantly, the notes that you choose can change the character and feel.

So it's important to listen to how it sounds and try small changes in pitch and rhythm to see if this is more or less effective when you've made these changes.

So which of these following features would you not usually hear in a really musical-sounding melody?

Would it be, A, mainly stepwise movement, B, starting and finishing on the home note, C, variety throughout with each bar being different, and D, repetition and development of ideas?

The answer is C.

You normally wouldn't hear each bar being different in a really musical melody because repetition and development of ideas is important to give your melody structure.

Use of leaps can add interest and shape to a composition, but if you use them too frequently, they can make the melody sound quite disjointed or unpredictable.

When you have leaps that outline a chord, for example, an arpeggio going up a C-major chord, for example, C, E, G, that tends to sound quite natural and cohesive.

When you use larger intervals though, a useful guideline is to balance that leap by following it with a step, and that stepwise motion will often be in the opposite direction of the leap.

And that can help the melody feel grounded and controlled.

So if you leap upwards a sixth, then going down a step can help to balance that leap.

Here's an example of a leap followed by a stepwise movement in the opposite direction.

We can see a larger rising interval here, the leap, followed by stepwise falling movement to help balance that leap.

Melodies are most effective when they're organized into clear phrases, often ending with longer notes to define their shape.

Remember that phrases are a bit like musical sentences, and separating our melody out into these phrases helps to give it structure.

Rhythmic interest comes from balancing new ideas with repetition.

Too much of either can reduce clarity or engagement.

Too much repetition sounds a bit boring, but not enough repetition can make it less clear how your melody structured.

The contour of a melody refers to its shape, and it's important to think about how this shape develops over time, including where it rises and falls.

Sometimes if you think about planning the highest and lowest points in your melody, that can help give the melody the direction and use a stronger sense of narrative.

So if I decide, for example, in my third phrase, that's gonna be the peak moment where my melody reaches the highest, then I can plan out how the melody will get to that point, and then what will happen next, how it will fall back down to perhaps the range it was in previously.

Let's listen to an improved version of the melody that we heard before.

While you're listening, I want you to label the following.

Can you find any use of leaps followed by steps, which are often in the opposite direction to that initial leap?

Can you label what these melodic phrases are?

There are four phrases in this melody.

Label where they would be.

And also, describe any new rhythmic ideas, other than just the crotchets and quavers that were used originally.

Finally, describe the contour, the shape of the melody.

Where's the highest point in this melody?

Have a listen to this new, improved version of the melody.

Then pause the video and label these features.

Now you've had a listen to the melody and labeled some features, let's see if you spotted these.

Here are some examples of some leaps followed by steps in the opposite direction.

By using a leap followed by a step in the opposite direction to the leap, you balance that leap and make it sound more musical.

The four phrases of this melody would look like this.

There are roughly two bars per phrase, but some of the melodic ideas, for example, in the last two bars, start with an upbeat, or an anacrusis.

So that musical sentence feels like it starts a little before the beginning of the bar.

You might have described the contour or the shape of the melody a bit like this.

The melody starts low and gradually rises.

Each phrase reaches higher, with the third at the highest point, before the final phrase descends to a low ending.

You might have also spotted some different rhythms used in the piece.

Dotted rhythms have been used to add interest as well as some semiquavers in the final phrase.

So these changes take our initial musical idea and make it more interesting, more engaging, and make the structure of the melody more clear.

As well as the melody, we can also consider how to make the harmony more musical.

In this example, the following harmonization uses mostly primary chords, which is chords I, IV, and V in root position.

Let's have a listen.

So how could we improve that chord sequence?

Well, this chord sequence could be made more interesting by using some secondary chords, as well as I, IV, and V, we could experiment with using chords II, chord VI, and chord VII.

We can also try using some chords in different inversions, like using first inversion or second inversion chords instead of those chords always being in root position.

We could also try varying the harmonic rhythm.

Instead of the chords changing always the same place, we could try changing the chords at different points rather than mainly every two beats.

Which of the following do you think would make a chord sequence more interesting?

Do you think, A, using all primary chords, B, using mainly primary chords with some secondary chords, C, varying the harmonic rhythm, or D, using only root position chords?

Which two of these do you think would make a more interesting chord sequence?

The answer is B and C.

We still want to use mainly primary chords, but some secondary chords can really help add interest.

And when we vary the harmonic rhythm, it can create a feel of different movements within that section of the piece.

Let's have a listen to an improved version of the harmonization of this melody.

While you are listening, I want you to label some of the features that have been improved.

Can you spot any secondary chords?

That's chord II, chord VI, and VII that have been used.

Can you spot any point where the harmonic rhythm changes?

Where there are more or less chords per bar?

And can you spot any chords that are in different inversions?

When it's in an inversion, we write a b next to the chord name.

So if it's chord II in first inversion, we'd write IIb.

If it's in second inversion, we write c.

So if it's chord I in second inversion, we write Ic.

Let's have a listen, then pause the video and label these features.

So how did you do?

Did you spot the following musical features?

You can see labeled several uses of secondary chords, like chords II, VI, and VII.

You can also see some chords in different inversions.

Those labeled with b are in first inversion, and those labeled with c in the last bar is a second inversion chord.

You can also see in the first bar of the second line a faster harmonic rhythm, with the chords changing every beat instead of every two beats, as is the case in the rest of the piece.

Now let's have a look at developing your own ideas.

It's over to you to develop your own compositions, aiming to make your ideas more musical.

First, think about the contour of your melody and how carefully placed leaps can make it more expressive.

Think about where the highest and lowest points of your melody will occur and what makes them effective.

Sometimes mapping out, this is gonna be my peak moment with the highest point of my melody, can be a really effective way of shaping the contour of your melody.

Next, think about rhythmic variety.

You've gotta balance, repetition, and change to keep your composition sounding unified.

Too much repetition, and it's boring, but too much change, and it won't sound like a unified, complete melody.

Also, think about the phrases in your melody.

When do your musical sentences start and end?

This will give your melody structure.

Finally, think about how harmony is used in your composition.

Can you add some interest to your chords by using some secondary chords or some chord inversions?

Could there be any points where there's a change in harmonic rhythm?

What do we mean by the phrase, contour?

Do you think it means, A, whether the melody uses steps or leaps, B, the shape of the melodic line, or C, the key that a melody is in?

The answer is B, contour means the shape of a melodic line.

How do you think you should use repetition in your composition?

A, musical ideas should not be repeated, B, musical ideas should only be repeated in special circumstances, or C, use repetition to create unity, but balance it with contrast for variety.

The answer is C, use repetition in your composition.

It's a great way of creating structure and creating unity within your piece, but you want to balance it with contrast to keep your melody varied and interesting.

So now it's over to you.

Spend some time developing your musical ideas by considering the following, how you use leaps and steps in your melody, what the contour of your melody will be like, can you add some rhythmic variety and some use of phrases to your melody, can you add any secondary chords in your harmonization, can you add some first inversion chords, can you change the harmonic rhythm at any points in your melody.

Remember, as you're doing this to refer back to your brief.

How will the changes that you make help your piece of music suit its intended purpose?

Pause the video now and spend some time developing your musical ideas.

So now you've spent some time developing your musical ideas, how does your composition sound at the end of this lesson?

Jun says, "I added some leaps to my melody and changed some rhythms to add interest.

" Laura says, "I used some secondary chords in my composition and changed the harmonic rhythm in my chorus so the chords changed faster.

" Jacob says, "I thought carefully about the contour of my melody and decided that the end of the verse would be the highest point.

This would create drama.

" These are some great changes that these students have made to their compositions to make their pieces more musically interesting.

So in today's lesson, we've learned that melodic ideas are shaped by the use of intervals, the contour of a melody, and use of phrasing.

We've learned that rhythmic variety makes ideas more engaging and more interesting.

We've learned that creative use of inversions and changing the harmonic rhythm adds interest to a chord sequence.

And when making all of these changes, we've learned that we should always make sure that our ideas are purposeful and they fit the brief and the chosen genre that you are working in.

Thanks for all your work developing your compositions today.

I will see you in the next lesson.