Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

Welcome to this lesson on creating and notating a repeating minimalist cell.

This is from our Compose and rehearse unit, where we are going to be creating and combining minimalist cells.

My name's Mr. Croughan, and I'll be guiding you through today's lesson.

Looking forward to it.

Let's crack on.

In this lesson, you will be composing, practicing, and notating a repeating rhythmical minimalist cell.

So if we look at today's keywords, let's cover minimalism.

This is a musical genre originating from the 1960s that includes the layering of multiple short, repeated musical ideas, which we call cells, that subtly change over time.

So a cell is a simple musical pattern, and it can be rhythmic or melodic.

It's like an ostinato in minimalism.

We can have different amount of beats in the bar.

So we can play in two-time, three-time, four-time, five time, and many more besides the organization of the feel of the beats.

And in these bars, we almost always begin with a strong beat Pitch, which is how high or how low a note is, and then rhythm, the patterns of sounds and silences that we play and sing.

We know how important it's to warm up before we crack on with our music.

We want our minds to be alert, our bodies ready, our ears listening, and so we're going to gently warm up, and there is a backing track ready for you to play with an action leader there.

You're gonna pause the video at this point, so you've got chance to choose a leader and maybe you take a couple of goes.

And this is where somebody chooses four simple actions, and everybody copies them.

The idea is that everyone keeps feeling the steady pulse.

Then with your correct posture, I'd like to practice your yawning, that panting, and sighing, just a fully warmup pause here.

Off you go.

And there are three more warmups on this page.

You could chant "H.

E.

L.

L.

O." We're all feeling the steady pulse here.

Same goes for "Fruit Cannon" when we sing that.

And then with "Bele Mama," we can choose to thicken the texture by singing in two or even four parts as a round.

So pause here and work through that where you are.

And if we're now feeling ready for music, our voice and bodies are warm, but also importantly, we're feeling a steady pulse, meaning we're able to play as an ensemble together.

There's three learning cycles in today's lesson.

There is identifying minimalism, where we'll hear some minimalist pieces, learning a melodic cell, and then composing our own rhythmic cell.

Let's begin with identifying minimalism.

So minimalism in music means that they're using short repeating musical cells.

It's music stripped back to its basics.

It's the layering of simple cells with gradual changes over time.

There's limited musical material, ideas or even often instruments.

It might offer a hypnotic effect.

And minimalism uses shifting cells gradually over time.

Now often minimalism cells form an ostinato.

Now that means that we're repeating that pattern throughout the music, and that can help form the structure of the piece.

Ostinato is an Italian word, and it means obstinate or stubborn, and it describes a musical phrase or a rhythm that is repeated persistently.

And as Aisha says, "Obstinate means stubborn." So just a quick check for you.

We're going to pause here.

We're really just making sure we've got a good understanding of what minimalism is, and there are some blanks.

I would like you to pause and have a go at filling them in.

Off you go.

Well done.

Let's see how you did.

Short repeating musical patterns or cells.

Stripping music back to its basics.

Layering of simple cells with gradual changes over time.

Using minimal musical material, ideas or instruments.

Can create a hypnotic effect, and these are shifting cells over time.

If you've got all those, well done.

The American composer, Julius Eastman, composed "Femenine" in 1974.

And in this piece, you can hear many minimalist influences.

One such cell is played with the marimba, which is an instrument on the screen there, a wooden barred instrument.

And it just used two notes, and it's played repeatedly throughout the whole piece.

And the whole piece is an hour and seven minutes long.

So just when you have a listen to this, you're gonna pause and find this, just choose various points and just listen to short excerpts, and can you continue to identify that two-note marimba cell even with other layers of sound building around it? Pause and have a listen.

Fascinating listening.

Now then, we're being asked to listen to six musical excerpts here and all you need to do is yay or nay, whether you think they are influenced by minimalism.

So we're going to pause, and you'll work through each of those six and give a thumbs up if you think yes, definitely minimalism or with strong influences of minimalism or not at all.

Let's pause here and see how you get on.

Let's see how you did.

So the first one, David Brubeck Quartet, "Take Five," that didn't have minimalist influences.

Terry Riley, "In C," certainly, and Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass, "Meetings Along the Edge," yes, minimalism there.

Clara Schumann, "Three Romances for Violin and Piano," not influenced by minimalism, not a minimalist piece.

Meredith Monk with "Ellis Island" was, and Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor," not.

If you got all those, that shows that you're really understanding how to listen for minimalism and what it sounds like.

Well done.

Now then, the second part of the lesson where we're learning a melodic cell.

You can pause here if you'd like to listen again to "Spring's Embrace," composed by Marty Gionis and performed and recorded by the Paraorchestra.

Now the piece is influenced and inspired by Julius Eastman's "Femenine." So pause here.

Have a recap to remind yourself of that piece.

Now what I'm going to play you is the violin cell that you hear throughout the piece.

and it consists of four detached notes ascending in pitch.

So it goes ♪ C, E, F, G, C, E, F, G ♪ Here it comes.

Have a watch of Siobhan playing the cell.

(lively violin music) <v ->So what we're going to do is have a go at singing</v> and signing that violin cell, so we get ♪ Do, mi, fa, so ♪ And we can do that maybe at a slightly slower tempo a few times.

As you begin to do it, we are remembering that the articulation, the way in which the notes are sounded, are detached, so rather than us being ♪ Do, mi, fa, so ♪ in a really obviously legato way or smooth, we are going to be more detached.

So we get ♪ Do, mi, fa, so ♪ ♪ Do, mi, fa, so ♪ And when you're singing and signing, just begin with the first do as the sign.

So you're just gonna go ♪ Do, mi, fa, so ♪ ♪ Do, mi, fa ♪ And then you can add ♪ Do, mi, fa ♪ And build it up, okay? ♪ Do, mi, fa, so ♪ until you're there.

Have a pause and have a practice of that.

Off you go.

Now sometimes Siobhan will make some changes to the cell's pitch or to the rhythm.

So this is slightly altering that cell to create some interest and variety.

I'd like you to identify when the changes happen and describe what is changing.

What is it that is changing when you hear it? So pause, just play the cell again where you are.

And just note down, "Oh, at this point, yes, I think this changed," or, "She did this differently." Okay, off you go.

Lovely.

Now I don't think we need to worry about the exact timings, but what I hope you'll have picked up is that during that piece, the violin cell went up in pitch.

So it went up ♪ From there to there ♪ by whole octave.

And then a bit later on, the violin cell rhythm changes, so with two of each notes played.

So you get that ♪ Ba-da-da-da-da-da ♪ ♪ Takadimi, takadimi ♪ And then it goes back to its original ♪ Yum, pum, pum, pum ♪ later on.

If you notice those changes and were able to to describe what was happening.

, great stuff, well done.

So your second task then is to play that.

♪ Now the do is on a C ♪ And then we play ♪ Mi, fa, so ♪ So we get ♪ C, E, F, G.

♪ So if you look at your first five ascending notes in the key of C, ♪ So C, D, E, F, G ♪ ♪ You're playing C, don't play D ♪ ♪ E, F, G, C, E, F, G ♪ You're going to need to find those on your instruments, skipping over D.

And when you play them, you can work in small groups.

You might take it in turns to play 'cause we won't all be necessarily playing it at the same time.

You could use xylophones or Glockenspiels or whatever you have available to you.

And then once you think, "Yes, I found those notes," play along to the recordings and keep up with that tempo when you're ready to, so you're ♪ Ba-ba-ba-ba ♪ And if you are staying in time, that shows you're really listening and feeling that tempo and being able to play and respond in time.

And then for an extra challenge, you can try changing your dynamics.

Do I get a bit louder towards the middle? Do I then get quieter towards the end? So pause here, work out those notes, make sure we're sharing our instruments, and then play along with the track.

Off you go.

Very well done.

Let's check in with how that playing went.

Were you repeating that pattern, ♪ C, E, F, G ♪ and repeating it throughout? And were you able to play cleanly at the same tempo as the recording? If you did, that shows you're listening and playing at the same time, feeling the steady pulse and not quickening the tempo.

Good stuff.

Jacob says, "Did you listen carefully when other members of your ensemble played?" So either you were listening to see if they were staying in time or you are playing together, listening to each other, making sure that those notes were played accurately and tightly together.

Lastly, Andeep says, "Did you have a chance to explore the dynamics?" Gradually getting quieter or louder, starting off quiet, maybe add a crescendo in the middle.

If you explored with those two, fantastically well done, you.

It's time for our final learning cycle where we are composing a rhythmic cell, and we're being asked to echo these rhythms. Here's the first one, and it has four beats in the bar.

So I will count four.

I will play it and chant it.

And then I'll count four, and you will be able to respond, so make sure you got your hands at the ready or claves if you're using them.

♪ One, two, three, four ♪ ♪ Ta, tadi, tadi, ta ♪ Your turn.

♪ One, two, three, four ♪ (wood block tapping) Very good.

The second one.

There are three beats in the bar, so I'll count three.

This is my turn.

One, two, three.

♪ Takadimi, tadi, tadi ♪ Your turn.

Two, three.

(wood block tapping) Let's do that one twice through, okay, this time.

One, two, three.

(wood block tapping) Very good.

And the third one has five beats in the bar.

So I'll count to five.

It'll be my turn.

I will play it through twice.

Then I'll count to five again, and you will play it through twice whilst chanting.

Here we go, my turn first, One, two, three, four, five.

♪ Takadi, ta, takadi, tadi, ta ♪ ♪ Takadi, ta, takadi, tadi, ta ♪ And your turn.

Two, three, four, five.

(wood block tapping) Very well done.

We're gonna be using these rhythms to compose our own, so the fact that you are playing them and exploring them is really useful for you.

Then next one has four beats in the bar, and it has a rest or a Shh.

So that means I'm going to do nothing on that beat, on beat number three.

So I'll count myself in.

One, two, three, four.

♪ Ta, tadimi, ta ♪ ♪ Ta, tadimi, shh, ta ♪ Your turn.

Two, three four.

(wood block tapping) Let's do it twice through.

Two, three, go.

(wood block tapping) Very good.

The next one, just two beats in the bar, like a little march.

♪ One, two, one, two ♪ ♪ Tami, ta, tami, ta, tami, ta ♪ ♪ Your turn ♪ Go! (wood block tapping) Very good.

And the third and final one on this page.

Back to four beats in the bar.

And with a new rhythm, takami, which is a short-long-short.

So if I put it in the beats of the bar, we hear ♪ One, two, three, four ♪ ♪ Ta, takami, takami, ta ♪ ♪ Ta, takami, takami, ta ♪ Your turn.

You ready? One, two, three, four ♪ Ta, takami, takami, ta ♪ Again ♪ Ta, takami, takami, ta ♪ Very well done.

We have explored six different rhythms now.

Now in this unit, you're going to work in groups to compose your own minimalist pieces of music with multiple cells and layers of sound.

So to begin our composition, I'd like you to divide into groups, and you're going to need at least five musicians in your ensemble, so pause and get into those groups now.

Off you go.

Super well done.

You're now going to begin composing the rhythm of your main melodic cell.

So starting with the rhythm, let's be inspired by the violin cell and what we think makes it more effective.

Now, we've heard it a couple of times.

If you'd like to listen again, pause me here and just listen to that again.

I want you to think about what is it about that cell that makes it effective.

Have a little pause, just a chat, have a listen if you need to, and we'll come back in a second.

So you might have said things like, "Well, there's only four notes," and it just goes up in pitch.

♪ La, da, da, da ♪ The rhythm symbol, it's all steady.

♪ Ba ba, ba, ba, ba, ba ♪ Not complicated.

We've not made it complicated, and it's easy to remember and simple to play over and over again.

This makes it effective and achievable.

Now if we think about Steve Reich's "Clapping Music," when we listened to this cell, we held a sentence in our thinking voice to help us follow the rhythm accurately throughout.

And it was ♪ We are all clapping just one cell ♪ ♪ Minimal music, just like this ♪ ♪ We are all clapping just one cell ♪ ♪ Whichever one you chose, that was fine ♪ Now that can help us, and you might find it helpful to chant a phrase for your rhythm too, whichever one you create.

So we'll come to that in a moment.

In your main cell, you'll choose from these possible rhythms. These are the ones that we've combined.

We've had ta for a beat or shh for a beat or tadi for a beat or takadimi or takadi, tadimi, tami, takami.

You can choose any of those and combine them to create your simple yet effective rhythm.

That new one is the takami, short-long-short.

That's the one we've added in this unit.

Before you start that, you're going to think, "Well, how many beats do I want in the bar?" Do I want it to be a simple ♪ One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two ♪ Or do I like the waltz feel of a ♪ One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three ♪ Or my popular ♪ One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four ♪ ♪ Normal for a four-time ♪ ♪ We hear it quite a lot ♪ Or would you like to go for five beats in the bar? And with five beats, you've got a choice.

You can either have ♪ One, two, three, four, five ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five ♪ ♪ One, two ♪ Do you notice the middle beat there, the third beat, is where the accent is.

Or I can put it on the first beat.

♪ One, two, three, four, five ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five ♪ So there's a bit to think about and choose there, and that's entirely up to you and your group.

What you're going to do is work through these points.

So in your group, try different rhythm patterns.

Play until you find one that you like.

When we put a a tadi with a rest and then a a takami and ta, does that work? I quite like whatever it is.

And just play a few different ones.

You could just take four different ideas, assemble them.

Do I like the sound of it? Oh, what if we change that? Just explore and play around.

What's important is that in your group, you are listening to each other and going, "Yes, we'll try your rhythm idea.

Yes, we'll add your idea to this idea." Saying yes and trying it, you'll get there far quicker than going, "No, no, no, no, no." So working well together is key here.

Your cell would just be one bar along.

So if you put a piece in three time, you choose three things.

You can choose a ta, a tadi, and takami.

Whatever you want to choose, or a ta, rest, takadimi, whatever it is, you've got three beats, and that's all you do.

Make sure you're selecting rhythms that everyone can play as an ensemble.

And what I mean by that is if you are in three beats and counting one, two, three, everyone can play it together.

You might like to chant rhythm names or even create a sentence that helps you play your cell accurately.

That might help you just lock it into your head.

Like when we looked at the Steve Reich "Clapping Music." And then you can notate it so you've got those beats to choose from.

Notate using that stick notation, and you need to keep it safe for next time 'cause we are gonna build on this.

So for example, our ensembles example says ♪ Takadi, takadi, tadi ♪ And it's in three-times, so I count one, two, three ♪ Takadi, takadi, tadi ♪ Or ♪ This is my, this is my rhythm.

♪ Pause here and work through that where you are enjoying creating your one-bar rhythmic minimalist cell.

Off you go.

Well done everyone.

Let's check through your notation <v ->To make sure this is something we can use next lesson.

</v> First of all, has everyone in your ensemble agreed with the rhythm, everyone can play it, and everyone's happy with the result? You might have had to compromise, but you've gotten there, I hope, so can, you all play and chant your rhythm successfully, knowing how many beats are in the bar? So say, for example, from an earlier one we had in the lesson, which was five beats in the bar, would you count one, two, three, four, five? (wood block tapping) ♪ Takadi, ta, takadi, tadi, ta ♪ Or perhaps you chose some words to help you remember it.

So maybe you went with, ♪ Have you got soup ♪ ♪ Why haven't I got soup ♪ ♪ Have you got soup ♪ ♪ Why haven't I got soup ♪ for example.

And then we're thinking, how many beats long is it? And if you are counting that, when you come to repeat it, you've got that steady, ♪ One, two, thee, four, five ♪ ♪ One, two, three ♪ or however many beats are in the bar, but it repeats steadily.

And is your notation clear? The way you've written it down, would you be able to read that again in the next lesson? If not, neaten it up, and if so, very well done.

Super work today, everyone.

Let's have a summary of what you have learn.

So a repeating cell can form the structure of a minimalist composition.

And you've created one today.

Ostinato, an Italian word meaning obstinate or stubborn, and it describes a musical phrase or a rhythm that is repeated persistently.

It sticks around for a while.

And we can use a piece of minimalist music to inspire a new composition.

We took the idea of the cell from "Spring's Embrace" that Siobhan was playing on the violin, and that can inspire a new composition.

Takami is a new rhythm to us.

It's one beat still, but it goes short-long-short, so ♪ One, two, three, four ♪ ♪ Takami, takami, takami, takami ♪ Short, long, short, so forth.

Well done.

Well done exploring your rhythms and your beats and rests to create your minimalist cell today, and I look forward to seeing you next time.

Bye for now.