Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's music lesson.

I'm Miss Mansell, and I'm gonna be your teacher for today.

Let's get started.

Today's lesson outcome is: "I can explain how harmony and tonality help shape films and have reharmonized the melody." Let's look at some keywords for today's lesson.

Tonality: the set of notes that a piece is based on, for example, major, minor, atonal.

Diatonic: music that uses only notes from within a key.

Chromatic: music that uses some notes from outside of the key.

Modal: music based on a mode, a type of scale different from major and minor scales.

Reharmonization: when a composer keeps a melody the same but changes the harmony.

Today's lesson on harmony and tonality in film music is in two parts.

Part one is how harmony and tonality shape films, and part two is reharmonizing a melody.

Let's get started with part one: "How harmony and tonality shape films." Tonality is one of the most important factors in shaping the mood and atmosphere in film music.

This refers to the set of notes that a piece is based on.

When we talk about tonality, usually we're thinking about whether the music is based in a major or minor key.

However, there are other types of tonality, including atonal music, that are less commonly used in film music.

Major and minor keys create different moods that suit different kinds of scenes and films. What kind of mood does the major key create in this scene? You'll need to find a clip here from composer John Williams. It's a positive, uplifting mood.

That's from "E.

T." And what kind of mood does the minor key create in this scene? Here you are listening to a piece by Rachel Portman from "The Duchess." Creates a sad, mournful mood.

When the music uses only notes from the key, we refer to this as diatonic harmony.

If the notes are taken from either the major or minor scale, this is diatonic.

This contrasts with chromatic harmony, which uses notes from outside of the scale.

Atonality is where there is no key, no tonic home note.

It often sounds dissonant and unusual.

What mood is created by the atonal music in this scene? You're listening to a piece by Bernard Herrmann here.

What did you think? It's a tense, creepy mood.

That's from "Psycho." Modal music is based on a mode, which is a type of scale.

Most modes sound different from major and minor scales.

This film theme uses a mode called the Lydian mode.

Which of the following best describes the feeling that it creates? Wondrous and exciting, dark and sinister, or calm and mysterious? Here you're listening to a piece by Alan Silvestri.

Wondrous and exciting.

This is from "Back to the Future." This title theme uses a mode called the Dorian mode.

It can be used to create many different moods.

How would you describe the mood established in these opening titles? Here you're going to be listening to a piece by Ramin Djawadi.

What did you think? This one's quite intense and dramatic.

That's from "Game of Thrones." Let's do a check for understanding.

What type of tonality would be effective at creating a sense of something scary and unusual? Is it: A, diatonic major; B, diatonic minor; C, atonal; or D, modal? Which do you think? Well done if you said C, atonal.

The way that harmony is used also creates different emotional effects.

Where film themes use mostly primary chords, they sound clear and confident.

How many different chords are heard in this example? And here we're listening to a piece by Howard Shore.

Should have been able to hear four different chords: I, IV, V, and VI.

And of course, that's from "The Lord of the Rings" soundtrack.

Using secondary chords, for example, II, III, or VI, or extended chords, for example, an F7, creates more complex, varied harmony.

This can create more nuanced emotions for a scene.

Do you recognize this famous film theme? It's by composer John Williams. It's from "E.

T." by John Williams. Composers use chromatic harmony to add complexity to the emotions of the music.

Chromatic notes come from outside the key.

This is the opposite of diatonic harmony, where only notes from within the key are used.

This theme creates an uncertain, mysterious mood through the use of chromatic harmony.

Here you'll be listening to another section of "The Lord of the Rings" by Howard Shore.

Did you hear how it sounded? That's the music that represents Gollum.

Although chromatic harmony uses notes from outside of the key, that doesn't make it atonal, because it still has a key.

Atonal music has no key or tonic, or home note that it's based on.

To summarize, there are a few key types of harmony and tonality: Diatonic harmony, for example, major or minor, which uses notes from within the key.

Chromatic harmony, which uses some notes from outside of the key, but still has a key and tonic note.

Atonality, which has no key and no tonic note.

Let's do a check for understanding.

Which of these moods would best suit chromatic harmony? Is it: A, energy; B, uncertainty; or C, confidence? Which do you think? I hope you said B, uncertainty.

True or false? Atonality and chromatic harmony are the same.

Is that true or false? It's false.

That's because chromatic harmony still has a tonal center and uses some notes from outside of the key.

Atonality has no fixed key and no home note.

So for task A, we want you to listen to each clip and answer the questions.

You're going to need to find these clips.

So, for example one, you're going to need to find "Hook" by John Williams. And we want you to answer: what's the tonality of this clip? How would you describe the harmony, and what mood does this create? And for example two, which is from the "Harry Potter" soundtrack by John Williams, we want you to answer: what is the tonality of this clip? How would you describe the harmony, and what mood does this create? Pause the lesson video, find those clips, and answer the questions.

How did you get on? So, for example one, the tonality of the clip was major.

You could describe the harmony as using mostly primary chords with some secondary chords and chromatic notes.

And some of the words you could have used to describe the mood are "exciting," "adventurous," and "hopeful." For example two, the tonality of the clip is minor.

You could describe the harmony as very chromatic and dissonant.

And some words you might have used for the mood it creates are "creepy," "ominous," "dark," or "threatening." Let's move on to part two of our lesson: "Reharmonizing a melody." Reharmonization is where a melody that has already been heard is played with different harmony underneath.

It allows composers to maintain a sense of familiarity by using a familiar melody, but to create variety and a different mood by changing the harmony.

Have a listen to how this famous theme is reharmonized.

Have a listen to the original theme.

This is "Star Wars" by John Williams. Then you can hear the reharmonized melody.

This version reminds us of the character, but in a more nostalgic, peaceful mood.

And then you have a version that's reharmonized again, but this time the harmony creates a more energetic, busy mood.

Hope you enjoyed listening to all those different versions of that famous theme.

What kind of character might this motif represent, and why? Have a listen to it.

(bright soft orchestral music) So it has a major tonality, uses primary chords, and has a relaxed tempo, soft dynamics, smooth articulation, and small intervals.

This might suit a good, calm, and peaceful character.

We can transform the mood of this leitmotif by reharmonizing it.

Compare these three versions; all three use the same melody but with different harmony.

What are the differences in mood? So have a listen to version one, (bright orchestral music) version two, (gentle orchestral music) and version three.

(tense orchestral music) What did you think? Version one, you might have said, was "calm," "peaceful," and "positive." Version two, you could have said "sad" and "mournful." And version three, you might have said something like "more unusual," "eerie," and "scary." To reharmonize a melody, consider the kind of mood you want to create.

So, for example, if you want to create a happy, positive mood, you might choose a major key.

If you want to create a sad or negative mood, you might choose a minor key.

If you want to create a strong, clear, and confident mood, you might want to use primary chords.

And if you want to create a more complex mood, you might consider using some secondary chords.

Watch this video about reharmonizing the leitmotif in a major key.

<v Instructor>Let's take a look at how we reharmonize</v> our simple melody.

Now this melody has four notes.

It looks like this: C, D, up to F, and then finishing on E.

And then the version that we've heard so far, the chords that go with that are a C chord, (piano chord chimes) then a G chord, (piano chord chimes) then an F chord, (piano chord chimes) then back to a C chord.

(piano chord chimes) So we're in the key of C major, and those are our primary chords.

Chord one, which is C; (piano chord chimes) chord five, which is G; (piano chord chimes) chord four, which is F; and then finishing back on chord one, that's a C chord.

(light piano music) And that works because each one of the melody notes fits with those chords.

So our first melody note, C, fits with the C chord.

(piano chord chimes) Our second melody note, D, is part of the G chord.

(piano chord chimes) Our third melody note, F, is part of an F chord.

(piano chord chimes) And then our final melody note, E, fits with a C chord as well.

(piano chord chimes) So they correspond to one of the notes from the chords.

Now, firstly, we're gonna have a go at reharmonizing this, staying in the same key of C major, but what we're gonna experiment with is using some different chords instead.

So what I want to do is, for each one of those melody notes, I'm gonna find a different chord that fits with it.

So a different chord that includes the note.

So my first melody note is C.

(piano note chimes) Now I could play a C chord with that.

(piano chord chimes) But there are also some other chords in that key that feature the note C.

One of those would be an F chord, because in an F chord, we have F, A, and C.

So I could start on an F chord.

(piano note and chord chimes) I could also consider starting on an A minor chord, that's our chord six in C, because that has a C in it as well.

(piano notes chiming) A, C, and E.

(piano chord chimes) So I've got three options for my first note: C chord, (piano chord chimes) an F chord, (piano chord chimes) or an A minor chord.

(piano chord chimes) Then I can do the same for the second note, which is D.

(piano note chimes) I can work out which chords fit with that.

And here we've really got two options.

I could use my G chord, G, B, and D, (piano notes chiming) because it's got a D in it there.

(piano chord chimes) Or, if I'm gonna use some secondary chords, I could use my D minor chord, which is D, F, and A.

(piano notes chiming) So I've got two options for that: I've got my G chord, (piano chord chimes) and I've got my D minor chord.

(piano chord chimes) And I'm gonna follow that process for each one of the chords.

And then I'm gonna try and come up with a combination of those chords that sounds quite different from the original.

So for my first chord, let's try starting on an F chord.

(piano chord chimes) Then let's try going to a D minor chord.

(piano chord chimes) For my third one, I could maybe go to an F chord.

(piano chord chimes) And then for my final one, maybe I'll try something different, maybe let's try a secondary chord, an E minor chord.

(piano chord chimes) So that's quite different.

(light piano music) Sounds very different from the original.

I could try something else.

So instead of my C chord for the first chord, I'm gonna try an A minor chord.

(piano chord chimes) Then for my second chord, maybe I'll go to G.

(piano chord chimes) My third chord, maybe D minor.

(piano chord chimes) And then my final chord, maybe A minor.

(piano chord chimes) So you see here, different combinations of those chords, thinking carefully to make sure that the note from the melody fits with one of the notes from each chord, and experimenting with some secondary chords there to come up with some different combinations.

So the one I'm gonna choose for my reharmonization is this: starting on F, (piano chord chimes) then go to G, (piano chord chimes) then D minor, (piano chord chimes) then E minor.

(piano chord chimes) And we can hear that really contrasts with the original.

The melody is the same, but the chords around it have changed.

<v ->And then watch this video</v> about reharmonizing the leitmotif in a minor key.

<v Instructor>We can also reharmonize into a minor key.

</v> So we are at the moment in C major, (light piano music) which is all the white notes on the piano with C chord, C, E, and G, tonic chord, our home chord.

Now we can reharmonize it into A minor quite simply.

And what we're gonna do is we're gonna base the harmony around our A minor chord instead of our C chord.

So our A minor chord is A, C, and E.

(piano notes chiming) And to begin with, I could start on that chord because that has the note C in it, which matches with the melody note.

(piano chord chimes) Now, if I want to make it feel like it's in the key of A minor, I want to use the primary chords from the key of A minor.

We've got our A minor chord, that's chord one.

We've got a D minor chord, that's chord four.

And then we've got an E chord as well.

(piano chord chimes) And we can use a G sharp in the middle of that.

That'll really help it make it feel like it's in that key.

So that's E, G sharp, and B.

So we've got three primary chords: A minor, (piano chord chimes) D minor, (piano chord chimes) and E.

(piano chord chimes) And I'm gonna try and use those to fit with my melody.

So for my first chord, I've got a C in the melody, so I'm gonna use my A minor chord, because that also has a C in it.

(piano chord chimes) For my second note in the melody, we go up to D, and for this, that will fit best with a D minor chord, 'cause that also has a D in it.

(piano chord chimes) My third melody note is F, and that would also fit with this D minor chord, so we can see there's an F in the middle of that there.

(piano chord chimes) And then my final melody note is E, so that would work with an E chord 'cause we've got an E in there, or it would work with an A minor chord 'cause we've also got an E in there.

So we could have it like that (piano chord chimes) or like that.

(piano chord chimes) So I'll show you two options I've got here: starting on A minor, (piano chord chimes) D minor, (piano chord chimes) D minor again, and then E; (piano chord chimes) or A minor, (piano chords chiming) D minor, D minor, A minor.

So we can see there, it really feels like it's in that minor key, and that's because we've really grounded it in those primary chords in A minor.

The melody has stayed the same, but the mood has totally changed because we've changed the tonality from C major to A minor.

<v ->To reharmonize, work out the chords</v> which include the leitmotif notes, and for each note, choose another suitable chord.

Let's do a check for understanding.

When reharmonizing, what must stay the same? Is it A, the harmony; B, the instrument; C, the melody; or D, the chords? Which of those is it? Well done if you said C, the melody.

The melody must stay the same when you're reharmonizing.

So let's have a look at task B.

We want you to reharmonize this melody by changing the tonality.

You can either reharmonize the melody in C major, but using different chords, including some secondary chords, or you can reharmonize the melody in A minor using mostly the primary chords, A minor, D minor, and E.

The success criteria for this is going to be that the melody remains the same, the chords are different from the original.

If you're reharmonizing in A minor, you use the primary chords A minor, D minor, and E, and start on A minor.

If you're reharmonizing in C major, you reharmonize the melody by using different chords from the original.

And that the chords fit with the melody notes.

When the melody note is C, the chord underneath also has a C in it, for example.

So pause the lesson video and have a go at task B.

Hope you got on well with reharmonizing.

Let's compare these two versions of a melody.

How has the harmony or tonality been changed in the second version? So have a listen to the first version (gentle orchestral music) and then the second version.

(gentle orchestral music) I hope you notice that the second version has been reharmonized into a major key, which contrasts with the minor tonality of the first one.

Let's summarize today's lesson on harmony and tonality in film music.

Harmony and tonality have a significant impact on the mood of film music.

Composers use atonal, diatonic, which means major or minor, or modal tonality to create different moods.

The choice of chords and use of chromatic harmony are also important for creating the correct emotions for the scene.

Reharmonizing a melody by changing the harmony is an effective way to develop a melodic idea in a film.

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson.