Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's music lesson.

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

Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is that I can compose a melody that uses both conjunct and disjunct movement effectively.

Let's look at some keywords for the lesson.

Interval, that's the distance and pitch between two notes, for example, a fifth.

Chord tone, that's a note that's included within a chord.

Disjunct, the movement between notes that involves intervals larger than a second.

So moving by leap.

Balanced phrasing.

Melodic phrases which are equal in length and have complementary melodic shapes.

This is also called question and answer phrasing.

Melodic shape, the overall shape of a melody or part of a melody, including where essence or descends, and where it is conjunct or disjunct.

So here's our lesson outline for today's lesson on composing effective melodies.

We have part one using intervals in melody writing and part two, creating balanced phrasing.

So let's get started with part one.

Western classical melodies are based mostly on conjunct movement, where notes move by small intervals or steps.

This can help melodies to sound more melodic.

When done carefully, melodies can use disjunct movement very effectively.

These melodies use both conjunct and disjunct movement.

Which one sounds more effective and why? Have a listen to the first one.

(playful music) And then let's listen to the second.

(playful music) Which do you think was more effective? The second melody sounds more effective because of the types of disjunct tools that it uses and the specific notes that it uses in those disjunct intervals.

We measure an interval, so that's the distance between two notes by counting up the scale, including both notes.

So have a listen to what's on the score there.

(gentle music notes) That's C to D.

So one, that's the C and two, that's the D, so that's a second.

This is conjunct because the notes are next to each other in a scale.

We apply the same process for other intervals.

So have a listen to a third.

(gentle music notes) So you can hear C to E.

So it's a third, C, D, E, one, two, three.

And then let's listen to a fourth.

So that's C to F.

Let's listen to a fifth.

(gentle music notes) So C to G.

Sixth.

(gentle music notes) C to A.

And a seventh.

(gentle music notes) So C to B.

So counting all the way up to seven.

An octave consists of eight steps.

So have a listen to that.

(gentle music notes) One to eight, and that's of course the same note, but just an octave higher.

So C to C.

Let's do a check for understanding.

What interval is this? Did you get a third? If so, well done.

This is G to B, so G, a, B.

So one, two, thee.

Which note is a fifth above this C? It's a G.

A G is a fifth above C.

So you can count up five to G.

Certain disjunct intervals are more commonly used than others in Western classical music.

A normal chord is based on intervals of a third, fifth, and octave.

So we can have a look at this F major chord here.

So you can see the third between the F and the A.

There's a fifth between the F and the C, and then the octave between the F and the F.

Using these intervals can be very effective in a melody to jump between chord tone.

The disjunct intervals in this famous melody are third and fifths.

These jump between cord tone.

So the disc joint movement works well.

Have a listen to the melody and see if you can work out what it is? (playful music) Did you hear the third and the fifth? Also, I hope you spotted its jingle bells.

Fourths and sixth are more difficult to use effectively.

However, if they're used to link chord tones, they can sound effective.

Can you spot the fourths and six in this melody? Have a look at the score and then have a listen.

(playful music) So there are some six.

And a fourth, and of course, that's a bit more jingle bells The sixth and the fourth jump between chord tones, C, E, and G in this example.

A seventh cannot link chord tone in normal triad cords.

As a result, it's difficult to use effectively and is best avoided.

So you can see here you can use the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and octave, but it's not recommended to use the seventh because it's not in that normal triad chord.

So if you think of a C major chord, you've got your C, E, G, and then the C up the octave.

Seventh is a B, so you wouldn't normally use it.

Let's do a check for understanding.

Which interval is least effective in a melody.

Is it A, fourth, B, the fifth, C, the sixth, or D, the seventh? Have a think Well done if you've got D, that's the seventh.

The seventh is the least effective interval in a melody.

Which of these intervals is not disjunct? So is it A, a second, B, a third, C, a, seventh, or D, an octave.

Well done if you've got A, a second is conjunct, not disjunct.

We can create an effective melody of record sequence that mixes disjunct and conjunct movement by carefully selecting intervals.

Watch how to do that for this first two bar phrase, <v Narrator>I'm gonna create a melody for my first two bars</v> that uses a mixture of conjunct and disjunct movement.

As we can see on my notation software here, I've added a new stave with a suitable instrument for a melody at the top.

At this stage, it doesn't really matter what instrument you use, as long as it's something that will normally be used for melodic parts.

If I'm using a dot, I'm gonna do the same thing here.

I've created a track here where I'm gonna use my melody.

Now focusing on the first two bars and my chords in the first two bars are chord one.

So in that case, this case, that's a C chord, C, E, and G.

(gentle music notes) Those three notes there.

Now when I'm using dis junk movement, I need to make sure that any intervals that are disjunct only jump between the chord turns.

So if there are any jumps in my melody, it's only linking C, E, and G or a combination of those notes.

So I'm gonna start off by improvising over the first two bars to see if I can just come up with some ideas.

I'm gonna try and build some interesting intervals in.

So I might start by basing my melody on a fifth (gentle music notes) jumping between C and G.

And then I'll maybe see what happens after that.

(bright music) So there's lots of different ideas there, and a lot of them are trying to use leap.

So your notes, I use this leap of a fifth from C to G.

Used that quite a lot, I could do it the other way around.

(gentle music notes) I also did some leaps of a third.

I did some like this.

(gentle music notes) And I did some from E to G as well.

(gentle music notes) There are a few different ways I was using disjunct movement there, and you will have noticed that I used some passing notes to link them as well.

So I did some things like this with a disjunct interval.

(gentle music notes) And then I linked to the next note with a passing note.

(gentle music notes) This is a mixture of conjunct and disjunct, and when I'm using those conjunct intervals, I'm always jumping between the chord tone.

And in this case, that's C, E, and G.

So I've got a melodic idea that I like.

I'm now gonna record in my first two-bar melody.

(bright music) So that's my melodic idea recorded in.

And if I was using notation software, I'd just be writing in my notes for these first two bars here, <v ->And then watch how you can create</v> a contrasting two bar phrase.

<v Narrator>I've composed my first two bars of the melody.

</v> And now let's do the next phrase, which is bars three and four.

Here, my chords are a little bit more complicated because they change.

So in bar three, I use chord four.

(gentle music notes) By F chord and in bar four, I use chord five, (gentle music notes) the G chord.

So my melody in bar four needs to be based around the chord tone of F.

And my melody in bar five needs to be based around the chord tone of G.

And if I'm doing disjunct movement, it needs to jump between those chord tone.

So in bar three, any disjunct movement has to jump between notes of the F chord.

And in bar five, any movement as to jump between notes of the G code.

I'm just gonna try and make sure that this phrase contrasts with the first one so that it doesn't sound too similar.

So I want this phrase to not be too similar in melodic shape or rhythm.

Let's try out some ideas.

(gentle music) So you see there are lots of different ideas there.

One particular one that's quite interesting to talk about is this.

(gentle music notes) So that's a big interval that I've gone octave.

And then a fourth down to the G, it down to the D, sorry.

But it works because when I played it over the G chord, it was just jumping between those chord tone, G, B and D.

So if you're doing big intervals like that, it can work really effectively as long as you're jumping between only chord tone.

I did some conjunct movement there as well.

You might have seen this idea where I length the notes of the F chord, which are F, A and C.

(gentle music notes) I link them together with passing notes in between.

So that contrast between those sort of conjunct ideas where I'm linking notes with passing notes.

And disjunct ideas where I've got some big jumps going on.

(gentle music notes) That's what's gonna create a really distinct and memorable melody.

Let's record an idea in.

(bright music) Okay, so there I ended up using mostly conjunct movement in the first bar.

(gentle music notes) Based around A and C from the F chord.

And then in the second bar, I jumped between D and B.

(gentle music notes) Which are chord tone from the G chords.

So it's this jump movement, but I've made sure it's between chord tone.

That's how I do it.

If I'm working on a door.

If I was doing this in notation software, I'd then just have to write my notes in in bar three and bar four.

<v ->Let's do a check for understanding.

</v> Disjunct movement should what a jump between non-core tones? B, jump between a cord tone and a non-core tone.

C, jump between chord tones, or D, jump between any notes.

What do you think? Well done if you've got C.

Disjunct movement should jump between chord tone.

So now we're going to do task A.

Create a four-bar melody over the first four bars of your chord sequence.

So the success criteria for this are used two contrasting two-bar phrases.

Use both conjunct and disjunct movement.

The disjunct movement is mostly based on thirds, fifths, or octaves.

Disjunct movement is always between chord tones.

The melody is mostly based on chord tone, but you can also use some passing notes.

So have a go at creating your full bar melody.

How did you get on? Let's analyze this melody, focusing on the intervals.

In which bar is the disjunct movement least effective? And why? Have a listen and follow along with the score.

(bright music) What did you think? It's least effective in bar seven.

Is this because it's using sevenths and jumps between non-chord tones? Let's move on to part two of our lesson, creating balanced phrasing.

In much Western classical music, melodies use balance phrasing.

This is also known as question and answer form, where the first phrase poses a question, and the second phrase answers the question.

Balance phrasing is achieved through melodic shape.

The shape of a melody refers to how it ascends and descends and where it's conjunct or disjunct.

So how would you describe the shape of this melody? Take a look at it and have a listen.

(playful music) So this is ascending conjunct melody.

So it's going up, moving by step.

The melodic shape can also be more complex.

So how might we describe the shape here? Again, have a look and have a listen.

(playful music) So this melody has an ascending disjunct phrase and then a descending conjunct phrase.

Consider the melodic shape in this famous melody.

So listen to the first four bars.

(playful music) What did you think of the shape? It uses a distinct rise and fall melodic shape with mostly crotchets and ending on a D, which feels unfinished.

So let's now listen to the second four bars.

(playful music) So the second four bar phrase is the same length, uses the same rhythm and melodic shape, but finishes on a C, which feels finished.

Hope you enjoyed the tune from Beethoven "Ode to Joy." This is typical balanced phrasing because the phrases are an equal length, they use the same or similar rhythm.

The first phrase feels unfinished, and then the second phrase feels finished.

They use the same melodic shape.

So to create an effective eight bar melody, we can use balanced phrasing.

Watch the video to see how to copy the rhythm of your first four bar phrase into the second phrase.

<v Narrator>To create some balanced phrasing,</v> first, I'm gonna start by copying the rhythm of bars one to four and pasting it into bar five to eight.

At the moment, the melody won't fit because I haven't sorted the pictures out, but that gives us that melodic rhythmic shape that I'm then gonna adjust to fit with the chords.

If I was doing this on a door, I could either copy the rhythm of these two phrases in, or it might be quicker just to record it in separately once you've worked out what notes to use.

<v ->And then watch the second video to see</v> how to adjust the pitch to fit more effectively with the chords in bars five to eight.

Make sure that the second phrase feels finished by ending on the tonic.

Watch the video.

<v Narrator>Now I'm gonna adjust the pitch</v> of this second half of my balanced phrasing to make sure that the notes fit with the notes of the codes.

Let's just have a listen to this first bar as it is at the moment, bar five.

(lively music) Now it sort of works, but it doesn't really work very well because there's a big disjunct interval that goes from a C to a G, whereas my chord is an A minor chord.

So what that means is we're jumping to a note that is not a chord to here in that G.

So I'm gonna adjust it so that this only jumps between chord tone, which are A, C and E in this case.

I'm gonna move it down.

(gentle music notes) so it starts on an A.

Then I'll make this one a chord tone (gentle music notes) E would do, and then to keep them all shape, gonna move these both down as well.

(gentle music notes) So now I've got a jump disjunct interval between two chord tones, A and E.

Then I've got a passing note that links that chord tone to another chord tone, which is C, because my chord tones in this chord are A, C and E.

Let's have a listen to that bar.

(lively music) That sounds pretty good now, I'm happy with that.

So now let's move on to bar six.

Here, the chord is D minor, so D, F, and A.

But at the moment I've got C, D, and E, so that's not gonna fit at all.

(lively music) Doesn't sound good at the moment that, but there's real easy fix.

I'm gonna make sure that this first note is a chord tone.

And the nearest one to this is gonna be a D.

So I can move it to that D there, make sure I get rid of any sharps or flats.

And now I've got a chord tone there, (gentle music notes) a chord tone there.

(gentle music notes) And then just a passing note linking them as well.

So both of the first and the third notes fit with that chord with that D minor chord.

Let's have a listen now.

(lively music) Sounds much better.

Let's hear it with bar five.

(lively music) So that's sounding very good.

It sounds very minor, that section, doesn't it? 'Cause we've got those minor chords.

And then let's look at the last two bars then.

So here I've got a G chord and then a C chord.

Now we've got a perfect cadence at the end, chord five, chord one.

In bar seven, I want to make sure it's based around the chord tones of a G chord, which are G, B, and D.

So I want to start it on one of them, and I could use, let's try starting it on B.

Let's get rid of any sharps.

(gentle music notes) So I'm starting it on B.

We've got a B, a D, a B and a D.

So those are all chord turns.

And then there's some passing notes in here as well.

That's C.

And that C just linking together the chord turns.

Let's hear this bar.

(lively music) Sounds good.

And then the last bar, I want to make sure I'm finishing on a C so it feels nice and concluded and home.

(gentle music notes) And then, because it's gonna be a disjunct interval, I want this to be another chord tone.

(gentle music notes) So let's go for an E.

So I've made sure that both of these two long notes are chord tones with this C chord, C, E, and G.

Let's hear at that bar, that final bar.

(lively music) So each bar individually sounds quite good.

Let's hear the whole second half now.

(lively music) I'm happy with that.

And if we compare that with my first four bars, then we should find that it feels a bit like a question and answer sort of balanced phrasing there.

Let's have a listen to the whole thing.

(lively music) <v ->Let's do a check for understanding</v> what best describes this melodic shape.

Is it A, ascending in conjunct, then descending in disjunct, B, descending in conjunct, then ascending in disjunct, or C, ascending and disjunct, then descending in conjunct.

What do you think? It was C, ascending and disjunct, and then descending in conjunct.

So let's move on to task B, completing an eight bar melody by using balanced phrasing.

The success criteria for this is the new second phrase.

Bars five to eight uses the same rhythm and melodic shape as the first phrase.

It finishes on a long tonic that's gonna be C to feel finished.

The notes have been adapted in bar five to eight to fit more effectively with the chords of these bars.

So pause the video and have a go at completing your eight bar melody.

Hope you enjoyed your composing.

Take a look at this, how success was the balanced phrasing in this example.

Use the success criteria to identify two effective features and improvement.

Have a listen.

(playful music) What did you identify? So for the effective features, the two phrases use the same rhythm and they use a similar melodic shape.

And the pictures have been adapted to suit the chords in bath five to eight.

In terms of improvement, the final phrase doesn't feel finished because it doesn't finish on the tonic note of C.

It would be more effective and would answer the question if it finished on C.

Did you identify those things? Let's summarize today's lesson on composing effective melodies.

Melodies that use disjunct movement can be very effective where disjunct intervals are chosen carefully.

Intervals of a third, a fifth, and an octave tend to be most effective.

Disjunct movement should jump between chord tones.

Balanced phrasing is a key feature of Western classical melodies.

With this, phrases are an equal length and use a question and answer form with a similar rhythm and melodic shape.

I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.