Hello, and welcome to today's music lesson.

I'm Ms. Mansell, and I'm gonna be your teacher for today.

Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is, "I can analyze how different techniques are used to develop melodic ideas in a composition and can use some of these in my own composition.

" Let's look at some keywords for today's lesson.

Phrase: a short section of a melody typically lasting for one, two, or four bars.

Melodic shape: the overall shape of a melody.

This takes into account whether it ascends or descends and is conjunct or disjunct.

Imitation: when a short part of a melody is copied or imitated in another part.

Today's lesson on melodic development is in two parts.

Part one is analyzing melodic development in a composition, and part two is melodic development in your own composition.

So let's get started with part one, analyzing melodic development in a composition.

Melodic development is an important part of composition.

Using completely new melodic ideas throughout a composition makes it lack coherence.

So developing a few main melodic ideas keeps the coherence while adding variety and interest.

Let's explore how this composer develops the melody in a composition for wind quintet.

In the opening section, we are introduced to the two main melodies in their original forms.

Have a listen to the first melody.

And have a listen to the second melody.

It's important to present melodic ideas in their entirety early in the composition.

Melodic development is the most effective where the listener has already heard and recognizes the melody that is being developed.

Have a listen to the middle and final sections of the composition.

Can you identify any different ways that the original melodies have been developed?

Have a listen to those now.

In this example, notes are added or changed from the original melody.

So let's compare the original to this example.

Can you spot where notes have been added or changed?

Have a listen to the original and follow through the score.

And then have a listen to the developed version.

What changes have been made to the notes?

So you can see highlighted here, the start of the second bar, we've got some semiquavers where we've had quavers previously and a slightly different melody.

We've added some ascending quavers into the next bar, and again at the end of the bar.

And then you can see a couple of changes in the melodic pattern in the quavers.

The composer also takes short phrases or fragments of the melody and develops those.

Have a listen to the original melody, then this short section of development.

Can you identify the short section of the original melody that the composer has used?

So have a listen to the original.

And then have a listen to the version that uses fragments of the original melody.

So I hope you could hear that the composer takes this short phrase.

So you can see this at the beginning, the four quavers and the minim, and spreads it between four different parts to develop the melodic idea.

So you can see it in the horn part, then in the bassoon, then the clarinet, and then the oboe.

In that example, the composer has also reharmonized the melody by using similar melodic ideas with different chords.

Compare the original with the developed versions.

Can you hear the changes in harmony?

Have a listen to the original.

And then listen to the reharmonized version.

The composer also uses imitation to add interest to the melody.

Can you spot the imitated phrase in this example?

Have a listen.

I hope you spotted that the phrase from the flute melody is immediately imitated by the oboe.

Let's do a check for understanding.

Describe two ways that the composer develops the first melody in this piece.

Pause and have a think.

What did you think of?

You might have said: Adding or changing notes from the original melody, developing a short fragment of the original melody, reharmonizing the melody, or using imitation.

The second melody is developed in similar ways.

What method has been used here that was also used to develop the first melody?

Have a listen to the original second melody.

And then the developed version.

The composer has added notes to develop the melody while keeping the same overall melodic shape.

So you can see here the difference.

There's some additional quavers here, some additional quavers here, moving down to the tied C, and then again, some additional quavers here.

What methods have been used here?

You can see the original, and have a listen to the developed version.

So this example takes a short fragment from the melody and develops it using imitation.

So you can see the short fragment from the melody, and then you can see it in the clarinet part, the oboe part, and the flute part, and then goes back into the clarinet part.

In this example, the composer uses staccato articulation to create a different mood in the melody.

They also use an interesting technique that splits the rhythm of the original melody between the different parts.

Can you spot that?

Have a listen.

So the rhythm of the original melody stays almost the same, but it's split between the parts.

Can you spot it?

So here, you can see it starts off in the bassoon, then it moves into the flute and the oboe, and then goes back into the bassoon.

In summary, this composer develops melodic ideas by creating new patterns based on short fragments of the melodies, adding additional notes, changing the pitch and timbre of the melody, using different articulation and rhythms, reharmonizing melodic ideas, using imitation, splitting the melody between parts.

The melodic ideas are still recognizable to the listener as they are developed.

This is because they keep core elements the same, including melodic shape, rhythm, or both.

Let's do a check for understanding.

Why is it often best to avoid developing melodic ideas straight away at the start of a composition?

Pause and have a think.

This is because the listener needs to hear the melodies in their original form.

This is so that when the melodies are later developed, they still recognize them.

So for task A, listen to the whole wind quintet.

Write a paragraph exploring the different ways that the composer has developed melodic ideas.

So pause the lesson video, have a listen, and write your paragraph.

How did you get on with your paragraph?

You might have included something like: creating new patterns based on short fragments of the melodies, adding additional notes, changing the pitch and timbre of the melody, using different articulation and rhythms, reharmonizing melodic ideas, using imitation, splitting the melody between parts.

These are all the different ways that the composer developed melodic ideas.

Let's move on to part two of our lesson, melodic development in your own composition.

Melodic development can also be influenced by conventions in the style or genre of the music.

For example, in jazz, melodic development often comes through improvisation, where players develop a short idea by adding passing notes, blue notes, and rhythmic changes.

In the classical period, melodies tended to develop in a balanced and structured way.

Short motifs were repeated, extended, or slightly altered within clear phrase patterns.

In film music, melodic development often follows the narrative, with leitmotifs being transformed, for example, major to minor, slower to faster, to match character or mood changes.

Our analysis showed us how we can develop only a few melodic ideas to create a varied and interesting composition.

For your composition, consider the following: How are the melodies developed in the style or genre you're using?

Are your main melodic ideas recognizable and distinct from each other?

Are there any particularly memorable fragments or phrases that you could use for melodic development?

Are developed melodic ideas still recognizable to the listener?

Let's complete this sentence.

When you develop melodic ideas, it is important that they are still what to the listener?

Using the same or a similar, what or what helps to achieve this?

What are the missing words in those sentences?

So hopefully you realized it was, "When you develop melodic ideas, it's important that they are still recognizable to the listener.

" "Using the same or a similar melodic shape or rhythm helps to achieve this.

" So let's move on to task B.

We want you to reflect on your composition.

Identify where melodic development might add variety and interest to it.

Consider the norms for the style, then identify some ways that you can develop your melody.

Consider creating new patterns based on short fragments of the melodies, adding additional notes, changing the pitch or timbre of the melody, using different articulation and rhythms, reharmonizing melodic ideas, using imitation, or splitting the melody between parts.

Develop your composition, focusing on those steps to develop your melodies.

Pause the lesson video and have a go at developing your composition.

How did you get on?

Reflect on the changes you've made to your composition.

Use these questions to guide how you can further develop the melodic ideas.

Have you created some variety by developing your melodies?

What techniques have you used to develop them?

Are those techniques typically used in the style or genre of your piece?

Do your developed ideas sound recognizable to the listener?

Does your composition still feel coherent, or do the melodic ideas now create too much variety?

Are there any other techniques that might work effectively?

Let's summarize today's lesson on melodic development.

Composers develop melodic ideas to create variety while maintaining the coherence of a composition.

The techniques vary between styles and genres, although some are common across different styles.

Typical techniques include using fragments of melodies, adding notes to decorate melodies, and changing notes.

It is crucial to keep melodies recognizable when they are developed.

Thank you for joining me for today's lesson.