Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's lesson, entitled "Exploring timbre and colour".

My name is Mr. Norris, and today we're gonna be exploring some of the ways that when we're doing our compositions, we can use timbre and colour to really maximise the way that we are using our instruments.

So let's get into it.

Our outcome for today's lesson is, "I can experiment with timbre and colour to create a short composition." Some of the key words that we're gonna be using are, first of all, timbre, and this is the distinctive sound of an instrument or voice.

This might also be referred to as sonority.

You might have heard it referred to as that.

Idiomatic writing.

This is composing for an instrument, acoustic or electronic, or a voice, that makes the best use of the distinctive properties of that instrument or voice.

And finally, vibrato.

And vibrato is when the pitch fluctuates up and down very slightly to intensify the sound and add expression.

Let's get started then.

The first section of today's lesson is idiomatic writing.

All instruments and voices have a distinctive timbre.

Composers select the most appropriate timbres or musical sounds for their compositions.

Making the best of what these instruments do is idiomatic writing.

And when composing, it's really important that at the start, we think about the forces, the instruments and sounds that we are using, because it's really important to write idiomatically for them.

So to write for them in a way that really makes the most of those instruments and the different sounds we're using.

Some styles dictate the timbres that you might choose.

Can you think of any examples of where you might choose specific timbres, specific sounds, or specific instruments or groups of instruments, because of the style that you're writing in? We'll pause my video while you have a quick think.

There are lots of examples of where we might choose specific timbres because of the style.

Blues and jazz, for example, lend themselves to having a rhythm section and a melodic instrument, such as a saxophone or trumpet, for example.

These are really typical and really distinctive of that style.

Rock typically uses vocals, a guitar, bass guitar, and drum kit.

Music in a classical style might use a typical classical ensemble such as a string quartet or an orchestra.

So these are all examples of styles where they have distinctive timbres or sound worlds associated with them.

And whilst there's flexibility with some of these choices, they're a good marker for our initial decisions on choice of timbre.

So although you don't necessarily have to have, for example, a guitar in rock music, it is really typical, and it is one of the key defining features of that style.

So it helps us make it really stylistic and idiomatic.

There are two considerations when we're writing for instruments.

Firstly, is the music playable by the instrument? Is it possible for that instrument to actually play the music you've written for it? And secondly, does it maximise the unique characteristics of that particular instrument? So does it make the most of what that instrument is able to do? I'd like you to think of a specific instrument, maybe an instrument you play, or just one that you're familiar with.

What considerations do we need to make when composing for that instrument? What are some of the things you might have to think about that are specific to that instrument? Pause my video and have a think.

Let's have a think about this then.

These are some of the key features to consider when we're composing for instruments.

The range.

The range is how high or low an instrument can play.

So we have to factor that in when we're writing for it to make sure we're not writing notes that are too high or too low for the instrument to play.

Breathing.

If we're talking about brass or wind instruments, it's really important that we allow the performer to have a chance to breathe.

So you might write differently for those instruments than you would for an instrument that doesn't require breathing to make the sound.

How it's played.

For example, do you want it to be strummed, plucked? What technique do you want to be used to create the sound? Can the instrument play multiple notes at once? You can't write a chord, for example, for a flute.

So you have to think about if the instrument can play more than one note at once.

And there might also be limitations to how many notes it can play.

For example, on a piano, you're limited by the number of fingers that you have.

On a guitar, you're limited by the number of strings to how many notes can be played at once.

Can an instrument manipulate the note once it's started? So for example, on a piano, once you play a note, you can't change the sound once you've started it, other than to decide when it finishes.

However, on a wind instrument such as a clarinet, once you've started the note, you can then change the dynamics, you can add vibrato, you can change and manipulate the sound once it has started.

So that's an important consideration as well.

And finally, is the instrument's timbre appropriate for the desired feel of the music? So depending on the feel and the mood that you're trying to create, you might choose to use one timbre over another.

For example, if you're trying to create a very mellow and calm feeling, you might not choose an instrument that has a very bright and punchy timbre.

You might want something that has a softer and more mellow timbre instead.

Take a look at this melody.

What instruments might this melody not be suitable for? Some things that you might wanna think about are the range, so what instrument could not play these notes? Leaps in intervals.

So what instruments might struggle with that? Opportunities for breathing.

And also if it maximises what the instrument can do.

So you can pause my video, have a look at that, have a think about what instruments might not be suited to this melody.

Let's think through some of these.

So the range would be too high for most low-pitched or bass instruments.

So instruments like a cello wouldn't be able to play that very easily at all.

It's also very high to sing, even for a soprano.

It goes up to I think a high B, which would be very high for most singers.

So it wouldn't be suitable for most voices.

The intervals are quite large, so while it is playable by brass instruments, it would be difficult, particularly with the higher notes.

So it would be easier for some instruments to play than it would be for brass instruments, where there are these big interval leaps that can be more difficult on brass.

And stylistically, it doesn't appear to suit the guitar, and it could be played on a piano, although it doesn't maximise the use of the instrument's ability to play multiple notes.

So it's just one note at a time, whereas we know that the piano has this wonderful ability to play lots of notes or more than one note at the same time.

So it doesn't necessarily maximise that, even though it would sound fine on the piano.

Writing music that is difficult to play does not necessarily mean it is not idiomatic.

But choosing the most appropriate instrument or writing in a way that considers difficulty is important.

So this is not to say that writing something difficult isn't okay, however, it's to try and think about things from that performance perspective, and try and choose the most suitable instrument for what you want to write.

Trying to compose well for an instrument needs knowledge of how that instrument works.

For example, if you are not a wind player or a brass player, you might not ever have to think about breathing when you're playing a melody.

If you're not a guitar player, you might not have to think about crossing strings and different hand positions.

And that's why it's often useful to compose for an instrument that you play.

This doesn't just apply to us.

Many of the most famous composers and musicians around the world have focused a lot of their composition on writing for their instrument or the instrument that they're most familiar with.

And that's because, if you understand an instrument, you can write most effectively for it.

Let's check your understanding.

What musical characteristics do we need to consider when writing suitably for instruments? See how many you can think of.

You can pause my video while you do that.

Here are a few that you might have said.

The range, breathing, how the instrument is played, for example, plucked or strummed.

And if the instrument can play multiple notes at once.

You might also have said if the instrument can manipulate a note after it has started.

Remember that example of the piano and the clarinet, where the clarinet, once it has started a note, can change what it does with a note after it's started, whereas a piano cannot.

Well done if you picked up on any of those.

For task A, you're gonna select an instrument.

This could be an instrument you play, an instrument on a DAW, or your voice.

Consider the main characteristics of the instrument that need to be considered when you're composing for it.

So what are some of the things about that instrument that you really need to think carefully about if you chose to write for it? Once you've done that, I'd like you to choose an existing melody, and this could be a melody that you composed or one you know already.

Practise the melody and consider how it maximises the unique characteristics of your chosen instrument.

So how does that melody work on that instrument that you're writing for? Some things to think about are breathing, how easy or how difficult it is to play, if it suits the instrument stylistically, and the range and intervals as well.

So you can pause my video now and have a go at this task.

Here are some of the things you might have considered.

Is the range appropriate? Is there place to take breath in the phrases? So if you're a wind player, is it possible to breathe and play successfully? Is the level of difficulty manageable on your instrument? And finally, is there an opportunity to be expressive? So for example, if you're playing a violin or a brass instrument, can long notes be coloured by vibrato, or can you change the dynamics after you've started the sound? You might have thought of many other things as well in relation to your instrument.

Let's move on now to the second part of our lesson.

For this we're looking at making the most of the instrument.

Although we describe timbre as the sound of an instrument, each instrument often has a range of timbres or can change its timbre slightly as well.

This can allow us to give shape and direction to our ideas and make the most of what the instrument can do, so really exploiting these timbres is a really useful and powerful tool when you're writing for an instrument.

Let's have a look at this melody for violin.

Without any markings, if you're reading music for violin, you would assume it is arco, so that means played with a bow.

Let's have a listen to what that melody would sound like.

(violin plays melody) So that's it played with a bow, and that's how we might assume it to be played as a default.

What other ways could this melody be played on a violin? Pause my video and have a think.

Let's have a look at a few then.

It could be played pizzicato.

The "pizz" in the music down there tells the player that the notes should be plucked instead of bowed, so played with a finger rather than the violin bow.

What difference does this timbre make to the mood and the character? So I'm gonna play it for you now.

How does this change the mood of the melody? (violin plays plucked melody) So for me, I would say that that makes it more playful.

It makes it lighter and a bit more cheeky.

And dependent on the kind of mood and the kind of character that we're trying to create in our composition, we might choose to use pizzicato instead of arco.

So that's a really good example of how, on the same instrument, a change in timbre can really change the mood.

Are there any other characteristics of the violin that we could change or experiment with that would change the mood and change the character? Have a quick think.

You might have got this, but I'll give you a suggestion.

Here, we've got bowing.

That's arco.

And we've got pizzicato.

But we've also got double-stopping, and this is where two notes are played at the same time.

So if you look in the second and third complete bars there, you will see that we have some chords, some two-note chords.

What is the mood and character of the melody now? So we've added in the double stopping, and we've also got the mix of arco and pizzicato.

Let's have a listen.

(violin plays melody) So it's totally transformed it, hasn't it? It feels quite intense in the first half, and then suddenly we have these lighter pizzicato, more playful notes at the end, so it's much more varied, much more diverse, the timbre that's been used here.

It can also be useful to vary the timbre when musical ideas return, particularly if you're looking to make such ideas more dramatic.

So when we're developing our musical ideas, changing the timbre slightly can really change the way that they come across.

Here, we've got that same melody, but we've added some tremolo.

How has this changed the mood? And if you're not sure what tremolo is, it's when the bow is moved really really fast and repeatedly on the same note.

Let's have a listen.

(violin plays melody) So you can hear there that tremolo sounds really intense, really energetic.

And again, that's transformed that melody, simply by changing the timbre.

This is a good example of how we can develop an idea by changing the timbre.

So it's something when you're composing, you might want to think about.

Get to know the distinctive timbres and capabilities of your chosen instrument, your voice, or your instrument on DAW.

Every instrument has more than one timbre to explore.

These help to create distinctive moods and characters.

So really thinking about all the different timbres that your instrument can create, and making sure that you're making the most of them when you're composing.

Varying the timbre like this also helps to bring your music to life for the listener, so if you think about those different examples of that violin melody we've just listened to, the last few were much more lively, much more interesting to listen to, because they exploited the different timbres and used the different timbres that the violin can produce.

Let's check your understanding.

What does it mean to vary the timbre of a musical idea? Pause my video.

See what you can think of.

Varying the timbre means to use the different sounds that are possible on the instrument or voice.

And always being aware of those different timbres is so important if you want to write idiomatically for your instrument.

Have a look at this example here.

How do you know that this piece of music is written for a string instrument? I'll play it for you now and have a look the notation on the screen.

(violin plays melody) So great thinking about how you know that was written for a string instrument just by looking at the notation.

And hopefully then you picked up on the fact that it uses three different string techniques.

Arco, which is bowed, pizzicato, which is plucked, and tremolo, which is rapid movement of the bow.

So those techniques could not be used on a wind instrument, on a brass instrument, on a piano, for example.

So they indicate that it is written for a string instrument.

For task B, you're gonna select three different instruments that you're considering using in your composition.

This could include voice and it could include DAW instruments as well.

For each instrument, list the different possible timbres that can be used on the instrument, the most effective timbres that you could use when writing for each instrument, any unique characteristics or strengths of the instrument, and finally, any technical challenges you need to be aware of when using the instrument.

So we're really digging deep here into the specific characteristics of that instrument and all the different things we need to consider when writing for it.

So choose your three instruments and list those features.

You can pause my video now and complete this task.

You might have included some of the following features there.

Unique characteristics of the instrument, such as the ability to play multiple notes, explore the full range, playing in the most appropriate range, use of vibrato, glissando, tapping, bends, et cetera.

Use of pedal and alternative picking.

So those are unique, specific characteristics of the instruments.

Specific technical challenges, such as fast tonguing on wind instruments, or particular keys that are more difficult to play in on an instrument.

And finally, changes in timbre, including use of mutes, use of vibrato, or you might have other things that you talked about with your instrument too.

So these are all really important considerations and there will be other things that you will have thought of that relate specifically to your instruments.

Let's move on to the final part of our lesson.

And for this we're looking at making it musical.

It's important to consider how we add expression to a musical line or a melody.

We can change the timbre, including the use of vibrato.

There are also a range of other musical elements we could use to add shape and direction.

And so the way we add this shape and direction is through the use of expressive elements.

Have a look at this example here.

How have expressive elements been used here? So what elements of expression can you see? You can pause my video just while you have a look.

And you may have picked up on some of these then.

The dynamic markings.

We can see mezzo piano at the start, crescendo, and then mezzo forte.

We've got accent markings, particularly towards the end there on the last four notes.

And legato markings at the start and also in the middle.

And we've also got the change to pizzicato towards the end, which really changes the timbre.

So this quite simple melody has been made much more expressive and musical by use of these expressive elements.

Let's check your understanding.

Which three of the following are ways of adding expression? Changing the timbre, changing the dynamics, changing the rhythm, and considering the articulation.

So choose three which are the best ways of adding expression.

(no audio) And the best three answers here then would be changing the timbre, changing the dynamics, and considering the articulation.

Those are three really useful ways to add expression.

For this task, using a musical idea that you've previously composed, consider how you can make the most of the instruments you are using.

And you're also gonna continue to listen to and refine your creative ideas.

A few things to consider when you're doing this.

Are you happy with how your ideas and timbres sound as you play through them? Do all the different playing techniques or sonorities work well in combination? So do they work well together, not just on their own? And is the musical idea appropriate for the instrument being used? Do these similarities capture the desired mood and character that you're going for? And then finally, are there wider compositional choices you can make at this stage, including tempo, dynamics, timbre, and articulation? So looking at that musical idea and then thinking about how you can really maximise the use of instruments and timbre that you've got there.

Pause my video and have a go at this task.

Let's move on to our final task.

And for this you're gonna consider how well the sonority or timbre of your material created so far, works.

There's a few questions that will get you thinking here.

Do your chosen sonorities make the best use of what your chosen resources can do? So do they really exploit the maximum potential of those instruments? What mood and character are suggested by your choice of playing techniques and sonority? So does the mood and character match the timbres that you've used? And is there variety in it as well? What expressive elements have you used at this point? And what expressive elements could you explore further? So what potential is there to add even more expression to your music? So you can pause my video, have a reflection on where you're up to so far.

(no audio) Let's summarise today's lesson then.

When writing for instruments, music has to be playable and maximise the unique characteristics of the instrument.

Range, intervals, and how the instrument can be played is important in idiomatic writing for an instrument.

Some instruments can change timbre.

For example, strings can be played bowed or pizzicato.

And timbre can also be changed for expressive purposes, including using vibrato, for example.

The creative use of timbre can add interest and variety to compositions.

That brings us to the end of today's lesson.

I hope this has given you some real food for thought about the way that you choose and use the forces that you're using in your composition.

It's sometimes overlooked when we focus a lot on the musical theory side of things, whereas actually the timbre, the way we're writing for our instruments is so important, not only in achieving the mood and the character and the expression that we want in our music, but also in showing that we really understand the instruments and the forces that we're writing for.

So hopefully you've got some really good ideas as to how you can go forward with your composing based on that.

Thanks for taking part, and I'll see you in another lesson.