Lesson video

Welcome to today's lesson entitled, Making More of Rhythmic Ideas.

My name is Mr. Norris.

I'm gonna be taking you through today as we at some slightly more sophisticated ways that we can develop rhythm in our composition.

So let's get stuck in.

Our outcome for today's lesson is I can create longer phrases of material by developing small rhythmic ideas.

So it's this idea of taking small rhythmic cells or small rhythmic ideas and developing into something larger.

Some key words, our first is augmentation.

Augmentation is when you proportionally increase the note lengths of a rhythm.

Diminution.

Diminution is when you proportionally decrease the note lengths of a rhythm.

So these two are kinda opposites.

And then counter melody and a counter melody is a secondary melody played at the same time as the main melody.

So we'll be getting more into these concepts as we go through the lesson.

The first part of today's lesson is looking at augmentation and diminution.

Rhythmic ideas can be a useful starting point for musical development.

This might be if we're developing a new section of a piece of music, or if we just want to extend a melody or a section that we've already created.

There are a variety of different rhythmic devices that can be used for this purpose and we're look at a few specific ones.

Can you think of any, any rhythmic devices that you could use to develop or extend a melody? Have a little think.

Here are a few common ones that we might use.

Ostinato, so that's a repeating, short rhythmic idea, using syncopation, so adding syncopated rhythms in, use of triplets, cross rhythms and polyrhythm.

They're all different rhythmic devices that we might use when we're composing, but we can also use augmentation and diminution to extend a musical idea.

We're gonna have a little look now at what those are.

Augmentation is when we proportionally lengthen a rhythmic idea.

So we take a rhythmic idea and we make it longer, but we do that proportionally.

I'll show you what I mean.

We're gonna look at a rhythmic idea here.

And this has been augmented by doubling all of the note value.

So all of the notes have been changed by the same proportion.

There's our original, that would sound like this.

(gentle music) And now here's our augmented version.

And here we can see every single note has been doubled in length.

The crotchets have been turned into minims and the quavers have been turned into crotchets.

That would sound like this.

(gentle music) So though it sounds familiar, we've changed the rhythm by doubling the length.

But the key point here is that we're changing each node proportionally by the same amount.

So they've been doubled or they've been tripled or they've been quadrupled, and that's been applied to every note in the rhythmic idea.

When we proportionally shorten the note values, we call this diminution.

So this is the same process, but the opposite really, proportionally shortening the notes.

In this example here, the note values are halved.

So here is our original idea.

(upbeat music) And then if we use some diminution, it turns into this, we can see the minims have been turned into crotchets and the crotchets into quavers, that would sound like this.

(upbeat music) So again, exactly the same notes, same pitches, same intervals, same pattern, but all the notes have been halved in length.

And again, when we are using diminution, the key here is to make sure that every note is changed by the same proportion.

So we're halving it or we're quartering it or we're dividing it by eight.

But whatever we're doing, we're doing the same to each note.

Augmentation and diminution provide a way of developing material to make a section longer or as the basis of a new section.

So we could use this to extend an idea, but also to create something new.

And they can also have an effect on the character of the music.

They change the mood and the feeling.

We got two examples here.

The first one is just the original melody, and then the second one is an augmented version.

What effect does this augmentation have on the character of the music? So how does it change the character and the mood of this? Here's the original.

(gentle music) Sure that's quite familiar melody there.

Now let's do some augmentation.

And how does this change the mood or the character? (gentle music) So it's augmentation and note values have all been doubled in that instance.

I would describe this as adding a sense of grandeur or calmness, it feels like there's less movement, there's less urgency in the melody, and that's simply just by augmenting the note lengths.

Diminution often has the opposite effect, creating a sense of urgency.

Let's take that same melody that we've been looking at there and let's hear a diminuted version of it.

(upbeat music) So it's much more urgent, it's much more energetic, and that creates the opposite effect.

So depending on what we're going through in our composition, which kind of mood and character we're trying to create, these can be really useful tools for affecting the mood.

True or false, diminution can create a sense of urgency.

I'd like you to justify your answer using one of the statements below.

The notes are made shorter and therefore played quicker, or the notes are made longer and therefore create a sense of calm.

I'll give you a few seconds to complete your answer.

Okay, let's have a look at this one.

So the correct answer is true.

It can create a sense of urgency, and that's because the notes are made shorter and therefore they are played quicker.

So well done, if you picked up on that.

What is augmentation? Is it when the notes are made proportionally longer, when the notes are made proportionally shorter or when the notes are played or louder? I'll give you a few seconds to get this one.

The correct answer here then is when the notes are made proportionally or longer.

And the key there is it's proportional.

We're not just changing the length of some of the notes, we're changing the length of all the notes by the same proportion.

We're doubling it, we're tripling it, quadrupling it, but we're doing that to all notes in the rhythm.

For task A, you're gonna create two different versions of this melodic idea below, or you could use a melodic idea that you've already created if you prefer.

Let's just have a quick listen to what it sounds like.

(gentle music) For this, your success criteria is that one version should use augmentation and one should use diminution.

So I'd like you to experiment with using both of those techniques.

And remember, you can select the amount of proportional change and how much in the material you use.

So you could decide for augmentation, for example, that you want to double it or you could decide actually that you wanna triple it or even quadruple the note values.

And equally with diminution, you choose to halve it, to divide it by three, divide it by four, but make sure we're doing it to all the notes that you use it.

And you can also choose to just use part of that melody if you want as well.

So you don't have to use the whole thing.

You might just choose to use a little section of it and to do some augmentation or diminution based on that section of the melody, that bar or that group of notes.

So you can get stuck into this, give it your best shot.

Let's move on to the second part of this task.

And here I'm gonna show you an example of an attempt that's in diminution augmentation.

I'd like you to comment on the musical success of these two ideas based on the task, success criteria.

So we've got the original melody and we've got two versions of it here.

Thinking about that success criteria, let's have a listen, this is the first one here.

(gentle music) I'll play it one more time.

Like you to think about how successful you think that works and if you can explain what a composer has done there.

(gentle music) Now let's do the same with the second example.

Here we go, it's a bit shorter this one.

(gentle music) And one last time, that second one.

So what's the composer done and how successfully has it been done? (gentle music) You can pause my video just while you complete your answer for this one.

Okay, let's take a look at this.

So in the first example, augmentation has been used.

That's augmented version of the original melody.

The note values are all double the length of the original melody.

So that works really well and that's been done very successfully.

The second example uses diminution.

The note values are halved and it is mostly rhythmically accurate, but if you look carefully, note six and seven should use a dotted rhythm.

So in the original, we have a dotted crotchet on the D, which means if we're halving it using diminution, we should have a dotted quaver, whereas this composer hasn't used that dotted rhythm.

That's not to say it doesn't work musically, but that technically wouldn't be classed as diminution because the rhythm hasn't all been proportionately changed.

Those two notes there, the sixth and seventh notes haven't been proportionately changed in the same way.

Well done if you picked up on any of those comments there.

The next part of the lesson, working at using augmentation and diminution for extended ideas.

Have a look at this example here.

How has diminution been used? I'm gonna play you it through and try and follow the notation through as we're listening as well.

Here we go.

(upbeat music) I am gonna play it one more time.

See if you can come up with how diminution has been used here.

(upbeat music) So again, we're using that same familiar melody.

Let's see if you picked up on this.

So in this example, motifs from the melody have been developed into a counter melody by using diminution.

If we look at the first four notes in the flute part, that's the upper part, those quavers.

Those are based on the melody and a diminuted version of it.

So we've got quavers being used there as opposed to minims in the original and here they're being used as a counter melody.

So this flute is playing a counter melody, which is a secondary melody that goes alongside the main melody.

And hopefully you agree here that this is quite a successful use of diminution.

It doesn't sound like it doesn't work musically.

It works really well musically, but we can hear that that counter melody is derived and taken from the original melody.

Diminution and augmentation do not have to use the whole melody.

And that example there we saw an example of just little bits of the melody being taken and diminuted and then made into something new.

So when we're using these techniques, we don't have to always use a whole melody.

We can choose a short motif or a short section.

Using only part of a melody is a successful way of creating new material to extend ideas as well.

So if we're looking for some inspiration of how to extend the melody or how to create a new melody or new counter melody, using part of it and developing it through diminution and augmentation can be a really effective tool.

It's also an effective way of showing development of ideas and it's still has a composition to feel this sense of unity.

Remember, one of the key principles when we're composing is having this balance between unity and variety.

And if we're using diminution and augmentation, it means that we're still using some of the melodic material that we've already got.

So it creates that sense of unity.

That's familiarity when we hear those notes.

However, because we've done something different with it, it also creates that variety.

So it helps to strike that balance between the two.

Let's check your understanding.

Which of these three examples uses diminution of the melody in the counter melody? So this is our main melody here.

It's the same melody we've been using for this part of the lesson.

And I'd like you to listen out and try and pick out which one uses diminution of this melody to create a counter melody.

Here's example A.

(upbeat music) Here's example B.

(upbeat music) Finally, example C.

(upbeat music) So let's go through this answer and the correct answer here was example B, that was this one, let's have a quick listen again.

(upbeat music) And the reason that's correct is 'cause we can hear that the counter melody has been based on diminution of the original melody.

Although example C also had a counter melody, it was based on completely new material, so there's no diminution of the original melody used there.

So real well done if you managed to identify that correctly.

For task B, you're gonna use the melody below or you can use a melodic idea that you've already created.

And I'd like you to compose a counter melody.

Let's have a quick listen to this melody again.

(gentle music) So you're gonna somehow use that to create a counter melody.

And some success criteria are, you have used a motif from the original melody as a starting point.

So take part of that melody and use it as a starting point for your counter melody.

You've used augmentation of diminution with this motif to create a counter melody.

So once you've chosen that section of the melody that you want to use, you've chosen that little motif.

You've then used some augmentation or some diminution to help you write your counter melody.

And then finally, you've listened to how the two ideas work together musically, and that includes starting the counter melody at different points in the bar that added rhythmic interest.

So experiment a little bit with starting your counter melody at different places in the bar and you'll probably find it creates some interesting effects.

So you can pause my video now And give it your best shot.

Okay, let's move on to the second part of this task.

For this, I'm gonna play you an attempt at writing a counter melody, and I'd like you to comment on its musical success.

So how well do you think this works based on the success criteria from that task? Here we go.

(upbeat music) Gonna play it one more time.

Make sure you're following notation through as you think about this as well.

Here we go.

(upbeat music) While you're finishing your answer, you can just pause my video.

Okay, let's go through this one.

The counter melody is derived from the original melody, but the first five notes are played using diminution.

So if we look at the first five notes for both parts there, we can see that the top part, which is the counter melody uses the same pitches, but they're half the note value so it's used diminution to come up with that first part.

After this, the notes of the counter melody change from the original to fit more effectively with the main melody.

So bar two of the counter melody, that's where you can see descending quavers.

Five notes there, it goes down to a G, but in the original melody it doesn't do that.

So the composers changed the counter melody, added some extra notes in to make it work more effectively with the melody.

The counter melody also starts on beat three of the bar, which creates more interesting rhythms and a more interesting rhythmic effect.

So remember, experimenting with where you start these ideas can be really effective.

Well done if you picked up on any of those points.

Now we're gonna move on to the final part of this lesson.

And for this we're looking at using rhythm in your musical ideas.

Consider the main musical ideas in a composition that you're working.

How could you use augmentation and diminution to create another musical idea, instrumental part or section? I'd like you just to pause my video and consider that.

Here are a few things that you might have thought of.

You could repeat the melody using augmentation or diminution.

So extending it, you could use augmentation or diminution or part of the melody to create a counter melody.

Or you could use augmentation or diminution or part of the melody to create a melody for a new section.

So there's lots of different ways we can use these techniques and you might have thought of some other ways that suit your composition as well.

We can also consider how we use rhythm more broadly while we're composing.

Some possible considerations are ensuring that when one part has rhythmic variety, the other part is simpler or more repetitive.

So getting that balance so there's not too much going on at the same time, starting new ideas and counter melodies on different beats of the bar.

That can be a really interesting, that can be a really interesting thing to experiment with.

Considering using rhythmic devices such as ostinato, syncopation, triplets, swing rhythms, and using specific rhythms that are characteristic of the style.

So whatever style you're composing in, thinking about the rhythms that already typical there.

Which three of the following are rhythmic devices, tempo, ostinato, syncopation or triplets? I'll give you a few seconds to choose three answers.

And the correct answers here then are ostinato, syncopation and triplets, those a rhythmic devices.

Tempo is not a rhythmic device, that's something separate.

So well done if you picked up on that.

For task C, I want you to consider how you can use augmentation and diminution to extend or create new musical ideas.

Some success criteria.

You've played through the rhythmic ideas and are happy with how they sound.

Remember, you listening back and judging how things sound and if they create the mood and character that you create is a real good gauge for how successful your composition is.

So always use that, always keep coming back to that.

You've used augmentation or diminution to develop or extend an idea.

Patterns sound interesting and you've experimented with starting rhythmic ideas on different beats.

Finally, you've considered some wider compositional choices, including things like tempo, dynamics and articulation, broader expressive elements that really help give character to your composition.

So you can pause my video now while you complete this task.

The final part of this task, I'd like to consider how the success criteria applies to your rhythmic material created so far.

Here are a few questions that will help you reflect on that.

Have you used augmentation or diminution to create a new musical idea? Have you considered where in the bar the new musical idea starts? What mood and character is suggested by your choice of rhythm? Is there variety and is there interest? And what expressive elements have you used as well? You can pause my video and have a reflection on those questions.

Let's summarise today's lesson.

Composers should carefully consider how to use rhythm.

They can use augmentation and diminution to develop musical ideas such as new melodic ideas or counter melodies.

Our composing skills develop through making the most of small musical ideas and using rhythmic devices creates interest and variety to the listener.

So that's the end of our lesson.

Hopefully today you've got a few ideas and a few bits of food for thought as to how you can go and develop the rhythm in quite sophisticated way in your composition.

And also more importantly, how you can take ideas that you already have and develop and extend them to keep that balance of unity and variety in your composition.

Good luck with your composing and I'll see you in another lesson.