Lesson video

Hi there.

My name's Mr. Pate and I'm looking forward to composing some great music with you today.

This unit is called Compose and Create, Composing a Major Melody on a Stave.

And this lesson is called Composing and Notating a Major Melody.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to compose and notate a major melody, considering the use of steps and leaps, repetition, and melodic shape.

Here are some of the key words that we're gonna be using in today's lesson.

The major pentachord is the first five notes of the major scale.

That's do, re, mi, fa and so.

A melody is a combination of notes put together to make a memorable tune.

Composing means creating a piece of music over time, and the stave is the lines on which musical notes can be placed, which tells us their pitch.

And we'll cover all of these keywords in our lesson today.

Now, before every music lesson, it's important to warm up your body, your voice, and your mind to get ready to make music.

Warming up helps us stand correctly, helps us with our breathing, and helps us get ready to sing.

We need to gently warm and then stretch our vocal cords to protect our voices from injury.

Join in with these warmups.

<v ->We'll begin with a stretch, arms high into the air,</v> onto our tiptoes.

Hold onto a monkey bar.

And we are going to not let go of that monkey bar, but we are going to lower our heels to the ground, so we're going to get taller.

Lowering to the count of four.

Here we go.

One, two, three, four.

Gosh, you're all super tall.

Drop your fingers and your wrists, and your elbows and your shoulders.

Relax your knees and go.

Brrrrrrr.

<v Students>Brrrrr.

</v> <v ->Very good.

Let's do that one more time.

</v> Stretch up onto your tiptoes.

Hold onto the monkey bar, lowering our heels to a count of four.

Going, one, two, three, four, gosh, you're so tall now.

Drop your fingers and your wrists, and your elbows and your shoulders.

Relax your knees and brrrrrrr.

<v Students>Brrrrrrr.

</v> <v ->Very good.

</v> Now let's take up as much space as we can.

Make a really, really big space, huge shapes.

And we are going to shrink down into a teeny tiny shape.

Tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, like a little seed.

And we are now going to grow back to a big shape.

While you're ready.

One, two, three, go.

Grow, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow.

And relax.

Feet slightly apart.

Arms by our side.

<v ->Now let's warm up our face.

</v> We're gonna start by tapping all over our face from our neck, all the way to the top of our head, to wake ourselves up.

Ready? We're starting on our neck.

And just lightly, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Moving up, tap, tap, tap.

Onto your chin.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Past your cheeks.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Past your eyes to your forehead.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

To the very top of your head.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Bing.

Lovely.

Very good.

Now we're gonna pretend to brush our teeth, but with our tongue.

So our tongue is gonna move all the way across our top and bottom teeth, all the way into the corners of your mouth.

Like this.

Mm.

There we go.

Right to the back.

Coming down, to the other side.

All the way to the back.

Back round.

And there we go.

Hopefully that tongue's feeling nice and exercised.

Now we're gonna do some breathing exercises.

We're gonna breathe in over a count of four.

Then we're gonna hold it for a count of five.

And then exhale, breathe out over a count of six.

It's gonna be a bit like this.

So in.

Now you try.

Ready? So in for four.

Ready? And in two, three, four.

And hold.

Two, three, four, five and out.

Two, three, four, five, six.

Lovely.

And again.

In, two, three, four.

And hold.

Two, three, four, five And out.

Two, three, four, five, six.

Well done.

Here's a tongue twister to get your mouths and voices working.

Repeat after me.

All I want is a proper cup of coffee.

Let's try that again.

All I want is a proper cup of coffee.

The next line will go, made in a proper copper coffee pot.

Try repeating after me.

Made in a proper copper coffee pot.

And again, made in a proper copper coffee pot.

Let's put them both together.

So we'll go.

All I want is a proper cup of coffee made in a proper copper coffee pot.

Now your turn.

Ready? And all I want is a proper cup of coffee made in a proper copper coffee pot.

This is a call and response warmup.

So when I say, hey, oh, captain Jack, you'll repeat after me.

Let's get a bit of a march going.

(upbeat music) Get ready.

Here we go.

Ready, and here we go.

♪ Hey oh, Captain Jack ♪ ♪ Take me down that railroad track ♪ ♪ Got my boots, got my hat ♪ ♪ I'm gonna be in a marching band ♪ Great.

Let's do it again.

♪ Hey, oh, Captain Jack ♪ ♪ Take me down that railroad track ♪ ♪ Got my boots, got my hat ♪ ♪ I'm gonna be in a marching band ♪ Well done.

And again.

♪ Hey oh, Captain Jack ♪ ♪ Take me down that railroad track ♪ ♪ Got my boots, got my hat ♪ ♪ I'm gonna be in a marching band ♪ One more time.

♪ Hey, oh, Captain Jack ♪ ♪ Take me down that railroad track ♪ ♪ Got my boots, got my hat ♪ ♪ I'm gonna be in a marching band ♪ Well done.

These next songs will help us warm up even more, helping us move our bodies and use our voices in lots of different ways.

This first one's called "Ding Dong Digidigi Dong." <v ->Copy me.

</v> ♪ Ding Dong Digidigi Dong ♪ ♪ Digidigi dong my cat she's gone ♪ ♪ Ding Dong Digidigi Dong ♪ ♪ Digidigidigi Dong ♪ ♪ Ding Dong Digidigi Dong ♪ ♪ Digidigi dong my cat she's gone ♪ ♪ Ding Dong Digidigi Dong ♪ ♪ Digidigidigi Dong ♪ <v ->Our next warmup is called "Tongo." Join in.

</v> <v ->Join in the echoes with me.

</v> (rhythmic drum music) ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Chim ne bahe bahe ho ♪ ♪ Chim ne bahe bahe ho ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Oom ba de kim bye oh ♪ ♪ Oom ba de kim bye oh ♪ ♪ Ooh a lay ♪ ♪ Ooh a lay ♪ ♪ Mah le ka ah lo way ♪ ♪ Mah le ka ah lo way ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Chim ne bahe bahe ho ♪ ♪ Chim ne bahe bahe ho ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Oom ba de kim bye oh ♪ ♪ Oom ba de kim bye oh ♪ ♪ Ooh a lay ♪ ♪ Ooh a lay ♪ ♪ Mah le ka ah lo way ♪ ♪ Mah le ka ah lo way ♪ <v ->Finally join in with this warmup song "Inanay."</v> (upbeat music) ♪ Inanay gupu wanna ♪ ♪ Inanay gupu wanna ♪ ♪ Ay ay ay oola ♪ ♪ Oola oola oola ay ♪ ♪ Yippee yay yippee yay ♪ ♪ Goo wana goo wana ♪ ♪ Goo wana goo wana ♪ ♪ Goo wah, choo ♪ ♪ Goo wana goo wana goo wana goo wana ♪ ♪ Goo wah, choo ♪ ♪ Inanay gupu wanna ♪ ♪ Inanay gupu wanna ♪ ♪ Ay ay ay oola ♪ ♪ Oola oola oola ay ♪ ♪ Yippee yay yippee yay ♪ ♪ Goo wana goo wana goo wana goo wana ♪ ♪ Goo wah, choo ♪ ♪ Goo wana goo wana goo wana goo wana ♪ ♪ Goo wah, choo ♪ <v ->So are you feeling warmed up?</v> When you're ready to sing, your muscles will feel relaxed, your throat will feel warm, and you'll be concentrating and ready to learn.

Let's have a look at the learning cycles for today's lesson.

First, we're gonna be composing a major melody for a given rhythm, and then we'll compose a rhythm for a new melody.

Listen to this chant called "Animal parade." Ready? And here we go.

(upbeat music) ♪ Jellyfish, butterfly, float on by ♪ ♪ Bumble bee, chimpanzee ♪ ♪ Lots to see ♪ ♪ Elephant kangaroo, coming through ♪ ♪ Platypus, manatee, swim to me ♪ Here we go again.

Ready? And here we go.

♪ Jellyfish, butterfly, float on by ♪ ♪ Bumblebee, chimpanzee, lots to see ♪ ♪ Elephant, kangaroo, coming through ♪ ♪ Platypus, manatee, swim to me ♪ Now you've had a listen try chanting along with the song.

Ready and here we go.

(upbeat music) ♪ Jellyfish, butterfly, float on by ♪ ♪ Bumblebee, chimpanzee, lots to see ♪ ♪ Elephant, kangaroo, coming through ♪ ♪ Platypus, manatee, swim to me ♪ Here we go again.

Ready? And here we go.

♪ Jellyfish, butterfly, float on by ♪ ♪ Bumblebee, chimpanzee, lots to see ♪ ♪ Elephant, kangaroo, coming through ♪ ♪ Platypus, manatee, swim to me ♪ The rhythms to this song look like this.

For the line jellyfish, butterfly, float on by, the rhythms would go ta-ka-di ta-ka-di ta-di ta.

Maybe you recognize that rhythm, like Andeep does.

It's the same rhythm as the Sagidi sagidi sapopo chant.

And we can use this rhythm as a starting point to compose our own melody.

A composition is a new musical idea that's been created.

And composing is a bit different from improvising.

When we improvise, we make something up on the spot, whereas when we compose, we might write it down, we practice it and we change things until it sounds just right.

Here's an example of a composed melody, but this one doesn't sound very good.

As you listen to it, I want you to think, why doesn't this one sound very good and how could it be better? It's gonna use the same rhythm to the chant we've just heard.

Jellyfish, butterfly, float on by.

But some notes have been added, some pitches.

You'll hear those played on an instrument.

Have a listen and think, why isn't this melody particularly good and how could it be better? (xylophone music) Now you've listened, do you agree with the following? Laura says, "The notes sounded a bit random because there was no repeating patterns." Sam says, "The melody sounded quite jumpy as there were lots of leaps." And Lucas says, "The melody sounded unfinished as it didn't start and end with do." These are some great bits of feedback on that composed melody.

Let's see if we can try it again and make it sound a little bit better.

Have a listen to this example of another composed melody and see if this sounds a little bit better.

(xylophone music) So why does this melody sound a bit better than the example we heard earlier? Well firstly, the first part of each line has the same notes in it, it uses repetition.

Repetition, or repeating patterns is a great tool in composition, 'cause when we repeat something, it makes it catchy and it makes it stick in our heads.

Most of the notes move by step, with only occasional leaps.

What that means is the notes are right next to each other in most cases.

Do and re are right next to each other.

That's a step.

And using lots of steps sounds very melodic.

Some leaps add interest, but we still want most of the notes to move by step.

Finally, the melody starts and ends on the note do.

This makes it have a clear beginning and a nice clear ending.

So as we mentioned, melodies work well when they're mostly made of steps with some occasional leaps.

The melody you can see on the left hand side here uses lots of leaps, which makes it sound a bit jumpy and random.

The melody on the right hand side uses lots of steps and using lots of steps always sounds nice and melodic.

Melodies also sound organized when they use repeating patterns and start and end on the note do.

So with this in mind, which of the following melodies do you think would make the most effective melody? Which would sound best, A or B? The answer is B.

The melody for A uses lots of leaps and it doesn't start or end on the note do.

The melody for B uses mostly steps and it starts and ends on do, which makes it feel nice and concluded.

Now let's start thinking about our own compositions.

First, listen to a chant from the Philippines called "Sagidi Sagidi Sapopo." Ready? And here we go.

♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ <v ->Now try chanting it along with me.

</v> Ready? And here we go.

♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ <v ->This chant can be used for a rhythm game.

</v> The leader will do an action during the first phrase and then you should repeat it a phrase later.

All while keeping that chant going.

Try joining in with this example video.

<v ->Ready, steady.

Off we go.

</v> ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ ♪ Sagidi sagidi sapopo ♪ <v ->"Sagidi sagidi sapopo" has a rhythm</v> but it doesn't have a melody.

It doesn't have notes that we sing or play.

We simply chant the words.

We're gonna compose our own melody to go along with these words, Using pitched percussion instruments.

you might use a xylophone, a glockenspiel, or a chime bar.

We're gonna need the notes of the major pentachord.

And for this song we'll need the notes C to G.

That's C, D, E, F, and G.

You can see the rhythm for the chant that we've been given below.

And to compose a melody, we are going to choose notes from the major pentachord.

That's do, re, mi, fa and so.

And write them underneath the rhythm.

Here's an example.

You can see the chant written out underneath the rhythm.

And then you can see notes that have been assigned.

As you're coming up with your ideas, make sure you try them out on your pitched percussion instrument as you go to see what sounds good.

What I often do is come up with an idea what my first few notes are gonna be.

Play them on my pitched percussion instrument.

And if I like the sound of them, I'll write them down.

Then I'll carry on to the next section and see what's gonna happen next.

I might go back to a bit I did earlier and change it.

And that's okay.

Composing is about trying things out, seeing what sounds good, refining, and then ending up with something that we're really happy with.

Pause the video now and spend a bit of time composing your melody.

When you're happy with it, write the final note names underneath the rhythms for the chant "Sagidi sagidi sapopo." When you're happy with your melody, we're gonna try writing it out on a stave.

First you'll need to draw three horizontal lines.

The image at the bottom of the screen will show you where the notes do, re, mi, fa and so are placed.

The symbol shows us where do is, which is on the bottom line.

And going up re is in the next space and so on.

So take the rhythm for "Sagidi sagidi sapopo." Look at the notes that you've chosen for your melody and try writing it out in stave notation.

Make sure you copy the rhythms correctly and look at this example that you can see to see how it should be laid out.

Pause the video now and spend some time writing out your melody.

So how did you do? Did you compose a melody for the chant "Sagidi sagidi sapopo" using notes from the major pentachord.

That's do, re, mi, fa and so.

Did you use mostly steps in your melody? And did you include some repeating patterns? And start and end on the note do.

Did you write out your melody on the stave using the correct stick notation? In our next learning cycle, we are gonna look at composing a rhythm for a new melody.

We are gonna compose a brand new rhythm for another melody.

The rhythm that we use for Sagidi sagidi sapopo is pictured below.

There are four parts to it, so we call it a four beat rhythm.

Those parts are sa-ga-di sa-ga-di sa-po-po, a four beat rhythm.

Using takadimi, we can label the rhythms like this.

Ta-ka-di ta-ka-di ta-di-ta.

To compose your own four beat rhythm, you would choose four patterns from the rhythm bank below and put them in any order.

You can use rhythms more than once.

A little hint is if you actually finish on a long note like a ta, it can make it feel quite complete, which is nice.

And then when you've composed a four beat rhythm, you can repeat it to make an eight beat rhythm.

Let's listen to an example.

I'm gonna clap and chant this composed rhythm for you and I'd like you to think, what do you like about it? Here it is.

Ready, steady.

Off we go.

♪ Ta-Di ta-ka-di ta-di ta ♪ ♪ Ta-Di ta-ka-di ta-di ta ♪ What did you think Jacob thought,"The repeated ta-di rhythm makes it sound organized." Jun thought that ending on the note ta makes it sound finished.

What did you think? Now we can make our rhythm even more interesting by changing it so the second half of the rhythm, now we've repeated it, is slightly different from the first.

We don't wanna change it too much 'cause repetition is a really good part of composing.

But having some small variation can make it even more interesting.

In this example that you can see, the first rhythm is written out as an exact repetition, ♪ Ta-di ta-ka-di ta-di ta ♪ ♪ Ta-di ta-ka-di ta-di ta ♪ Whereas on the second line you can see a slight variation where we've changed the ta-di rhythm at the end to the takadimi rhythm, that'd sound like this.

♪ Ta-di ta-ka-di ta-di ta ♪ ♪ Ta-di ta-ka-di ta-ka-di-mi ta ♪ See that extra change at the end just adds a little bit of interest.

Try clapping and chanting or playing on your instrument, this rhythm with me.

Ready? Steady.

Off we go.

♪ Ta-di ta-ka-di ta-di ta ♪ ♪ Ta-di ta-ka-di ta-ka-di-mi ta ♪ Should we try that one more time? Ready and off we go.

♪ Ta-di ta-ka-di ta-di ta ♪ ♪ Ta-di ta-ka-di ta-ka-di-mi ta ♪ So what do you like about this new composed rhythm? Jacob says, "The repeated ta-di ta-ka-di rhythm still makes it sound organized." And Jun says, "The second part now sounds a bit like an answer to the first part." So we've heard a few different examples there of how to compose a rhythm.

Now you're gonna compose your own.

First choose from these rhythms in the rhythm bank to compose your four beat rhythm.

Remember, you can use them more than once in any order.

When you've chosen which ones you think sound good.

And remember to clap and chant them as you're coming up with your ideas to see what sounds good.

Try writing it out in stick notation.

Remember, you're gonna repeat the rhythm twice, making a four beat rhythm repeated to make eight in total.

But in the second half, you could try replacing one or two of the rhythms with something different to add a bit of interest and a bit of variation.

When you finish composing your rhythm, you're gonna practice it.

That means you're gonna spend a little bit of time playing it over and over again till you know it really well and feel confident that you can perform it to others.

Pause this video now and spend some time composing and then practicing your rhythm.

Now you've finished composing and practicing your rhythm, what do you like about it? Sophia says, "I started each half with ta-ka-di ta rhythm, and this helped it to sound organized.

I ended with a ta to make it sound finished." Jacob says, "I replaced two ta-di rhythms with two takadimi rhythms in the second half.

It made my composition sound more exciting." What did you like about your own composition? In today's lesson, we've learned that stave notation can tell us the rhythm and pitch of a melody, which we can use to help us perform it accurately.

We've learned that we can compose a melody by selecting pitches from the major pentachord and putting them on an existing rhythm.

In this case, we used Sagidi sagidi sapopo.

We learned that effective melodies start and end on do, are moved mostly by step with some leaps.

And we learned that we can use repeating patterns to make our melody and rhythm compositions sound organized.

Well done for your hard work composing today.

I look forward to seeing you in the next lesson.