Lesson video

Hello everyone, how are you? Hope you're feeling really good.

I'm so pleased that you're here.

My name is Ms. Afsal, and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling very pleased about that because we're looking at film music, which I think is so interesting.

Our lesson is called Motivic Transformation.

I wonder if you've heard of that before.

And our lesson comes from the unit of work, film music.

So if you're ready with some energy, focus, and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can transform a leitmotif to reflect changes in a character.

We have some keywords in our lesson, leitmotif, motivic transformation, and melodic shape.

So what do these keywords mean? Leitmotif.

This is a musical idea that represents a specific character, place, or idea.

Motivic transformation, when a leitmotif is musically changed to represent a change in the story or character.

And melodic shape, the shape of a melody, including how it ascends and descends and where it is conjunct or disjunct.

So these are our keywords, leitmotif, motivic transformation, and melodic shape.

Let's look and listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Our lesson is called Motivic Transformation and it has two learning cycles.

First of all, what is motivic transformation, and then transforming a leitmotif.

Let's begin by exploring what is motivic transformation? As well as representing characters or ideas, leitmotifs can also represent changes in those characters or the story.

When the leitmotif develops, this is called motivic transformation.

Listen to the original Luke Skywalker leitmotif in "Star Wars." How does each version change the mood whilst using the same melody? Pause the video while you go and listen to the audio of the original theme.

And now pause video while you go and listen to the audio for transformation one.

And now pause here and share with someone, how did the second version change the mood whilst using the same melody? Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you noticed there's now a calm, peaceful mood.

And now I would like you to pause the video while you go and listen to the audio for transformation two.

Thanks for listening.

And how has the mood changed from transformation one to transformation two, whilst using the same melody? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

We can see that there's now an energetic, playful mood.

Well done if you noticed these changes.

And now let's move on to transformation three.

Pause the video here while you go and listen to the audio for transformation three.

Thanks for listening.

And now share with someone, how did the mood change from transformation two to transformation three? Well done if you noticed a tense, anticipating mood.

Almost any aspect of a leitmotif can be transformed, including the pitch, tempo, rhythm, meter, different time signature, tonality and harmony, major minor key, use of chromatic notes.

Articulation.

Can you think of any others? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What is motivic transformation? Is it A, creating a new leitmotif? Is it B, repeating a leitmotif? C, changing how a leitmotif is used? Or D, combining more than two leitmotifs? Pause here while you decide, what is motivic transformation? Well done if you selected answer C, indeed, motivic transformation is changing how a leitmotif is used.

And now I'd like you to compare the original with the first transformation.

What musical features have changed? So pause the video here while you go and listen to the audio for the original.

Thanks for listening to that.

And now pause the video while you go and listen to the audio for transformation one.

Thanks for listening.

So comparing these two, what musical features have changed? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's hear from Andy.

"The dynamics are softer.

The harmony uses different chords.

The rhythms in the accompaniment are simpler and slower.

The instruments, french horn and woodwind, have a more mellow, softer timbre." And now let's see, what features have changed between the original and the second transformation? So pause the video here while you go and listen once again to the original.

Thanks for listening.

And now pause the video and go and listen to the audio for transformation two.

Thanks for listening.

So what musical features have changed between the original and the second transformation? Pause here and share with someone.

What did you notice? Thanks for sharing.

Let's hear from Sam.

"The rhythm of the melody has changed.

The rhythms in the accompaniment are faster and repeated.

The harmony uses different chords.

The articulation in the melody is smoother and less accented.

The tempo is faster." I wonder if you picked up on some of these changes.

And now what musical features have changed between the original and the third transformation? You know what to do, pause the video here and go and listen to the original audio.

Thanks for listening.

And now pause the video here while you listen to the audio for transformation three.

You're back, okay, so what musical features have changed between the original and the third transformation? Pause here and share with someone nearby.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's hear from Izzy this time.

"The dynamics are softer.

The rhythm in the accompaniment uses sustained cords and articulation is legato.

The tempo is much slower.

The harmony changes halfway to move into a different key.

And the melody is broken up into phrases played by different instruments." Perhaps you noticed some of these changes too.

Each motivic transformation tells us something about the story or the character.

What could this leitmotif transformation tell us about the situation that the character is in? Pause the video here and listen to this audio.

Thanks for listening.

And now share with someone nearby, now that you've heard this audio, what could this leitmotif transformation tell us about the situation that the character is in? Thanks for sharing.

Let's hear from Lucas.

"It sounds tense and like the character is in trouble.

This is because of the loud dynamics, chromatic notes and pedal, accents, and thick, heavy instrumentation, including lots of brass and percussion." I wonder if you came up with ideas like these.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which two are transformations of this leitmotif? Let's listen to the audio clip.

(suspenseful music) Select two out of these three clips.

Here's audio clip A.

(suspenseful music) Let's listen to audio clip B.

(suspenseful music) And let's listen to audio clip C.

(suspenseful music) So pause here and share with someone, which two are transformations of this leitmotif? And we'll hear that leitmotif one more time.

Here it is.

(suspenseful music) Well done if you selected audio clips A and C, these two are transformations of the leitmotif.

Let's have another check for understanding.

Suggest five ways that we might adapt a leitmotif.

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you came up with answers like these.

By changing the pitch, tempo, rhythm, meter, tonality and harmony, articulation.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to listen to this original leitmotif and then answer the questions.

So pause the video while you go and listen to the original leitmotif.

Good to be back with you.

Now here are your questions.

First of all, identify two features that the composer has changed in this motivic transformation.

So pause the video here while you listen to the next audio clip.

Good to be back with you.

So I'd like you to identify two features that the composer has changed, and how would you describe the change in mood? Good to be back with you.

And now I would like you to listen to this second transformation and identify two features that the composer has changed from the original.

So pause the video while you go and listen to the audio clip of the second transformation.

Now that you've listened, I'd like you to identify two features that the composer has changed from the original, and how would you describe the change in mood? Thanks for listening to these audio clips and answering these questions.

So how did you get on with that task, listening to the original leitmotif and answering the questions? I asked you to identify two features that the composer has changed in this motivic transformation.

Perhaps you said slower tempo, less clear pulse, thicker texture in accompaniment, very fast rhythms in accompaniment.

How would you describe the change in mood? Maybe you said it feels ominous and sinister, but not as energetic as the original.

Then we listened to the second transformation and identified two features that the composer had changed from the original.

Perhaps you said faster tempo, long sustained notes in between phrases, different chords in accompaniment, less rhythmic accompaniment with sustained chords, quieter dynamics.

And in terms of how you describe the change in mood, maybe you said it feels less dramatic and high energy, though still dark and sinister.

Well done for having a go at this task.

And now onto our next learning cycle, transforming a leitmotif.

A transformed leitmotif must still be recognizable or it won't relate to the character it represents.

Let's listen to this leitmotif.

(suspenseful music) This transformation uses higher pitch, a different rhythm, and faster tempo.

How is it still recognizable? Let's have a listen.

(suspenseful music) So pause here and share with someone, how is this transformation still recognizable? Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you said something like this.

The melodic shape stays the same and it makes it recognizable.

Both versions ascend and descend or move by step or leap in a similar way.

This is the key to motivic transformation, changing aspects of the melody, but keeping the same shape.

A character may go through many different moods and situations during a film, including moments where they are in their normal state, scared, upset, angry, excited, happy.

This allows opportunities to transform the leitmotif accordingly.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following helps to keep a leitmotif recognizable? Is it A, the key or tonality, B, the melodic shape, or C, the rhythm? Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer B, indeed, it's the melodic shape that helps to keep a leitmotif recognizable.

Let's take a look at some feelings.

How might we represent these feelings musically? Feeling angry, upset, or sneaky.

Love that image.

Pause here and share with someone.

How might we represent these feelings musically? Thanks for sharing.

To make an angry version of a leitmotif, we can use accented or aggressive articulation, strong rhythms, minor tonality, loud dynamics.

Now let's watch the video.

<v Instructor>If I want to make my leitmotif sound angry,</v> there are a few things I can do.

The first is I need to think about my articulation.

I want to use accented and really emphasized articulation, almost aggressive articulation if I can.

So I want to play those notes aggressively.

The second thing in line with that is using some loud dynamics.

If someone is angry, they're gonna be loud, they're gonna be passionate, you want that to come through in the way you play your leitmotif as well.

And then a third factor is using minor tonality.

So I want to change my leitmotif so that it is based on a minor scale to make it sound sort of angry and negative.

And finally, I want to use some strong rhythms. So I'm gonna be playing rhythms that sound punchy, strong, and confident because that fits with that mood as well.

So let's take this leitmotif as my starting point.

(instructor playing piano) That's my leitmotif.

And so I can start by thinking about the articulation.

I can accent it a bit more to make it sound a bit more angry.

(instructor playing piano) And that's also got louder dynamics as well.

At the moment however, it doesn't really sound very angry, and that's because it's still in a major key, this one.

So I want to use minor tonality.

Now remember, when we transform a leitmotif, I want to keep that same melodic shape.

So the same pattern of ups and downs and steps and leaps.

So this is my current leitmotif.

(instructor playing piano) And that's in C major, it starts on C.

So what I could do is I could take that same pattern, but move it down to start on A so that it's an A minor.

(instructor playing piano) Now because that's now in a minor key, it immediately sounds more angry.

I've transformed that leitmotif from something that sounded quite positive into something that sounds more negative.

Now if I play it in that A minor tonality with my accented articulation, my strong rhythm, and my loud dynamics, it will sound like an angry version of my leitmotif.

(instructor playing piano) <v ->Thanks for watching.

</v> To make an upset version of a leitmotif, we can use smooth legato articulation, soft dynamics, sustained notes, minor tonality.

Let's watch the video.

<v Instructor>To make my leitmotif</v> sound upset or sad or mournful, there are a few things I can do.

The first is I want to make sure it's in a minor key.

So I've already shown my original in C.

(instructor playing piano) But I moved it to A minor to start on A, keeping that same melodic shape.

(instructor playing piano) Now I can make it sound upset or sad firstly by using really smooth articulation.

So in my angry version, I was using some more accented, aggressive articulation.

Here I want to keep it smooth.

(instructor playing piano) So there aren't gaps between the notes.

And you'll see there I played with some soft dynamics.

So I played it quite quietly.

That helped to give it that sort of sadder, more mournful feeling.

The same thing that goes with that is using sustained notes.

So I want to use long notes, and I might actually change the rhythm slightly to give that feeling too.

(instructor playing piano) So you can see there I've done smooth articulation, soft dynamics, I've made it out of long notes, I've used sustained notes by changing the rhythm slightly, and I've made sure it's in a minor tonality.

So my original.

(instructor playing piano) And now my sadder, more upset version.

(instructor playing piano) <v ->Thanks for watching.

</v> To make a sneaky version of a leitmotif, we can use staccato articulation, erratic rhythms with short notes, chromatic harmony, quiet dynamics.

Let's watch the video.

<v Instructor>To make a sneaky version of my leitmotif,</v> there are a few things I can do.

The first is I want to be using staccato articulation, so short notes, and I want to use some quiet dynamics.

So if I take my original leitmotif.

(instructor playing piano) If I play that quietly using staccato notes, that'll be the first step.

(instructor playing piano) So that already sounds sort of sneakier.

Now a couple of other things I can do.

The first is I can change the rhythm to make it a little bit more erratic.

And by that, I mean less predictable.

At the moment, it uses quite a simple rhythm, but I can use more rests and more unpredictable rhythms to make it sound a bit more sneaky.

So instead of.

(instructor playing piano) I could do something like this.

(instructor playing piano) So that already sounds a little bit more sneaky, sort of almost like playful and cheeky as well.

And then I can also play around with the harmony a little bit.

In this sort of scene that we might have or this sort of idea in a film, we might have a bit of unpredictability, a bit of playfulness, and with that, we could have some chromatic notes in there as well.

So at the moment, my leitmotif is based on the notes of the C major scale.

I could try adding in some different notes, changing some of the notes to notes outside that scale, for example, the black notes to make it a bit more sneaky, a bit more cheeky and playful.

So I could try something like this.

(instructor playing piano) Or something like this.

(instructor playing piano) It's still just recognizable as the original leitmotif because they've still got the rough shape of the original.

But because we've got that staccato articulation, the quiet dynamics, that different rhythm, and the chromatic notes, it sounds much more sneaky and playful.

So my original.

(instructor playing piano) And now my sneaky version.

(instructor playing piano) <v ->Thanks for watching.

</v> Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of these dynamics would best suit an angry transformation of a leitmotif? There's A, quiet/piano, B, moderate, C, loud/forte.

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, loud/forte would best suit an angry transformation of a leitmotif.

Let's have another check for understanding.

Which of these articulations would best suit an upset transformation of a leitmotif? A, staccato, B, accented, C, legato? Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected legato.

Indeed, this would best suit an upset transformation of a leitmotif.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to transform your character's leitmotif to suit two contrasting moods and play the original with both transformations to show the character changes.

Keep a similar melodic shape in each version.

To make an angry version, use accented or aggressive articulation, strong rhythms, minor tonality, loud dynamics.

To make an upset version, use smooth legato articulation, soft dynamics, sustained notes, minor tonality.

To make a sneaky version, use staccato articulation, erratic rhythms with short notes, chromatic harmony, and quiet dynamics.

Pause here while you have a go at this task of transforming your character's leitmotif.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? And let's reflect, how could this leitmotif be adapted to sound more sneaky? Let's listen to the audio clip.

(soft music) Pause here and share with someone.

So how could this leitmotiv be adapted to sound more sneaky? Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you said something like this, using staccato articulation, erratic rhythms, short notes, chromatic harmony.

In our lesson, Motivic Transformation, we've covered the following.

Composers use leitmotif to tell us about a character or idea, but also to show changes that occur.

This is done through motivic transformation, changing aspects of the leitmotif to represent changes in the character.

We can change most aspects of a leitmotif, but must keep the melodic shape similar so that it is still recognizable.

Changing articulation, rhythms, dynamics, tempo, and harmony can transform a leitmotif to create very different emotions.

Well done everyone for joining in with the lesson.

It was great to explore motivic transformation with you to focus on which aspects we change, what we keep the same, and to transform our leitmotifs according to different emotions.

I've really enjoyed teaching you, and I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.

I look forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.

Until then, stay musical.