Lesson video

Hi, my name's Mr. Pate and welcome to this lesson on refining your ideas from the unit "Composing to a brief, extending ideas.

" By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to improve your composition by adding expressive detail and making effective musical decisions.

Some of the keywords we'll be using in today's lesson are expression, which is the use of musical elements to add feeling and character to a piece of music.

We'll be using dynamics, which is how loud or quiet the music is.

We'll think about articulation, which is how individual notes, or groups of notes should be played or sung.

And we'll be considering use of automation, which is a feature in a lot of pieces of music software where you can change parameters, like volume or effects over time to add expression.

We'll start by looking at how you can improve ideas with expression and then spend some time refining your compositions.

As your composition develops, you can refine your ideas by making small changes to your composition and adding in expressive detail.

Elements like dynamics, articulation and tempo can help shape your music and bring your ideas to life.

These choices, though, should be used purposefully and to suit your brief and the style that you are working in for your composition.

Refining your ideas is a different stage of the compositional process to the beginning when you might be trying to generate lots of new ideas.

Refining is about making small adjustments and improving those ideas.

It's helpful to refer back to your brief and think about "What's required by this composition and am I meeting these requirements?

" Where possible, try singing or playing parts of your composition back on your instrument to make sure that they are idiomatic.

This is a word that means suitable for the instrument and effective.

So, if you are writing for a violin part, can you or someone else play that part on the violin to see whether it's appropriate and suitable for that instrument?

Alex is composing a piece for instrument and accompaniment to be performed at the launch event for an independent bookshop.

He's done a lot of work on his composition and is now spending some time refining his ideas and looking for opportunities to make it better and to make it more appropriate for his brief.

Let's listen to an extract from Alex's composition.

While refining this composition, Alex has noticed some potential areas for improvements.

He's noticed some chords, which might be quite hard for the piano player to play as they have a lot of notes.

He wrote this piece using some computer software.

So, then by taking it to the piano and actually trying to play those chords with his hands, he realized that's maybe a little bit tricky.

He thought, "I could simplify this chord by taking out some of the notes.

There's a Bb and a G in the right hand, which are already repeated elsewhere in the chord.

So, if I take those out, I'll still get the same basic feel, but it will be more playable on the instrument.

" And he's also noticed that the oboe part is quite low in its range.

While the oboe can play down to a Bb, using the very bottom of its range, might be not quite so appropriate for this brief.

So, what he's decided to do is to transpose his piece and move the key of the piece upwards to put the oboe in a more comfortable range for the player.

These changes that Alex have noticed will make his parts more idiomatic, more suitable for those instruments that he's writing for.

Alex thinks that his composition could be made more suitable for the brief by developing his use of expression, including how he uses tempo, dynamics, phrasing and articulation.

Let's listen to another draft of his composition with that moved key and those simplified piano chords.

And this time, I want you to think about the following.

What kind of tempo could be appropriate for this brief of a launch event for an independent bookshop?

How could dynamics be used in this extract?

And how could phrasing and articulation be used in this extract?

Listen to another draft of this melody.

Then pause the video and answer the questions.

So, now you've had a listen to this second draft.

How could this melody be improved through added expression?

Andeep says, "I think a slower tempo could make this piece more suitable for the brief of an opening of a bookshop as it would create a calmer, more reflective mood, maybe moderato or around 110 BPM.

" Lucas says, "I think an mp dynamic at the start would suit the mood of the piece.

Then as the accompaniment gets busier in bar five, there could be a crescendo to match the pitch rising.

" Sam says, "Phrase markings to separate the musical sentences would guide the performer in how to shape the music, as well as indicate where to breathe.

Accents could be used to emphasize this rhythm.

" These are all great ideas for how you can add expression to this composition idea.

Alex has now spent some time, refining his composition even further and added some expression.

You can see the phrase markings, the use of a tempo marking and dynamic markings, as well as accents to change the articulation towards the end of the piece.

Let's have a listen.

These refinements, these small changes that Alex has made to his composition help to make the parts more idiomatically written, so they're more appropriate for the instruments he's writing for and they help to make his piece more expressive and more appropriate and suitable for his brief.

Let's listen to another example.

Jun is composing a piece of film music in response to a brief based on a scene of divers exploring an underwater world.

He's using a DAW, a digital audio workstation rather than notation software.

So, he's able to use a feature called automation to add expression.

This means changing parameters like the volume over time to create fade-ins, fade-outs and other changes.

Articulation can also be changed in a DAW by altering things like note lengths, or changing the velocity like you can see in these screenshots.

Let's have a listen to Jun's composition so far.

As you listen, I'd like you to suggest how the DAW could be used to add expression to his piece.

For example, could he use automation to change dynamics to shape how the volume changes over time and where would be appropriate to do that in this piece?

Could you automate panning to shift the sounds between the left and right speakers?

Could you change note velocities to adjust the articulation?

And could you even add or adjust effects in the DAW like reverb, EQ or delay?

Let's have a listen to Jun's composition so far.

Then pause the video and suggest how it could be made more expressive.

So, what do you think?

How could Jun's composition be improved through added expression?

Laura says, "I think the dynamics could get louder during the buildup at bar 25, then get softer as the texture changes at bar 33.

" And Jun could use automation to make those changes.

Aisha says, "I think the use of effects, could help make the piece sound even more mysterious.

Perhaps a reverb effect could be used on the piano and the main melody to give it a sense of space?

" Jacob says, "Accents on the piano bass note, could help them sound strong and powerful.

" These are all great ideas to make subtle changes to improve the expressiveness of this composition and make it suit the brief even more.

Now, let's have a listen to Jun's composition again, this time with added expression.

Now, let's spend some time refining your composition.

Refining your composition involves making small changes to improve musical ideas.

You should ensure that your piece is appropriate for your chosen brief, genre and instrumentation.

Adding expression can further enhance your composition, as well.

A pupil is refining a DAW composition for a spa reception area.

Which of the following uses of automation do you think would be most appropriate?

A, gradually increasing the volume to fortissimo at the end, B, panning all of the instruments hard to the left, or C, gently fading dynamics up and down to create a smooth, flowing feel?

The answer is C.

Using gently fading dynamics would be a good way to create a relaxing feel for the spa reception area.

Which of the following, would best help a performer understand where to breathe and how to shape a melody in a piece of notated sheet music?

A, changing the key signature, B, adding phrase markings or C, increasing the tempo?

The answer is B, by adding phrase markings.

It gives really important information to the performer like where to breathe and how to shape a melody.

Now, spend some time refining and improving your own composition.

Think carefully about how suitable your piece is for your brief, for the genre of your music and for the instruments that you've chosen to write for.

Add expression to help shape your composition.

Pause this video now and spend some time refining and improving your own composition.

Now, you've spent some time working on your composition.

How have you refined and improved your composition in today's lesson?

Sam says, "I changed some of the longer phrases in my flute part to make sure the performer had time to breathe.

I added louder dynamics to highlight the dark, stormy B section of my piece and I used light staccato in the outro to create the feel of raindrops.

" Sofia says, "I changed the volumes to balance the different instrumental parts in my composition and used automation to create a crescendo in the bridge.

I added a reverb effect to the vocals and panned my two guitar parts to the left and right.

I made the vocal part higher in the intro as it felt a bit too low to sing.

" These are great changes, which make the parts more appropriate for the instruments they're written for and add expression to make the piece fit the brief even better.

In today's lesson, we've learned that refining focuses on improving existing ideas rather than just adding lots of new material.

Adding expression like dynamics, articulation and tempo can shape the music and make it more engaging.

These expressive features should shape phrases and highlight important moments of the music.

Musical decisions should be purposeful and suit the brief, the genre you are working in and the instruments you've chosen to write for.

Well done for your work refining your composition in today's lesson.

I look forward to seeing you again in the next one.