Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's music lesson.

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

Let's get started.

Today's lesson outcome is, "I can develop my string quartet composition by developing the texture and using a countermelody." Here's some keywords for today's lesson.

String quartet.

That's a common Western classical ensemble consisting of two violins, a viola and a cello.

Countermelody.

Countermelody is a second melody that plays at the same time as the main melody.

Texture, the layers of music that are playing and how they fit Together.

Melody and accompaniment.

A texture in which there is a clear melody and separate accompanying lines.

Today's lesson on developing an ensemble composition has two parts.

Part one is writing a countermelody, and part two is developing texture in a small ensemble.

Let's get started with part one.

A countermelody is a second melody that plays at the same time as the main melody.

It's different to an accompaniment because it has equal prominence to the main melody.

This is a technique that is used in both classical and pop music styles.

Have a listen to this clip.

Which instrument is playing a countermelody underneath the first violin? (upbeat music) Well done if you identified that the countermelody is played by the second violin.

Countermelodies can use ideas from the main melody, but normally use contrasting melodic ideas.

The contrast means that both can easily be heard.

Listen to the melody and countermelody on their own.

How does the second violin countermelody contrast with the main melody? Have a listen.

(upbeat music) How do you think the countermelody contrasted? It uses staccato notes contrasting with the legato melody.

It's at a lower pitch than the main melody and has different rhythms. Let's do a check for understanding.

Which two of these must a countermelody be? Is it A, much less prominent than the main melody, B, as prominent as the main melody, C, very similar to the main melody, or D, contrasting with the main melody? Which two of these? Well done if you got B and D.

A countermelody should be as prominent as the main melody and contrasting with it.

There are certain features that can make countermelodies more effective.

It's not just about having two melodies playing at the same time.

Have a listen to these two examples and compare them, which countermelody works better and why? Let's listen to the first example.

(upbeat music) And now the second.

(upbeat music) Which one do you think works better? The second countermelody is more effective because the rhythms contrast more.

In the first one, the two melodies play similar rhythms at the same time.

Countermelodies should do something interesting during the less busy moments of the main melody, in rests or sustained notes.

We can have a look at the least busy moments in this melody.

So you can see here where there's a rest, and then you can see there's a minim there, so it's less busy.

Two minims in this bar, another rest, another minim and another minim.

So all those moments are less busy.

You can use these moments for more rhythmically and melodically interesting parts in the countermelody.

Have a listen to this version.

(upbeat music) You can see the more rhythmic and melodically interesting parts in the countermelody here.

Pitch is also important when writing a countermelody.

Why is the pitch range of the second example more effective? Listen to the first one.

(upbeat music) And now listen to the second.

(upbeat music) Why is the pitch range more effective? It's because the pitch of the countermelody contrasts with the main melody.

The first example used similar pitches, so they clash and you can't pick them out easily.

In this example, the countermelody is nearly an octave lower than the main melody most of the time.

This means that we can hear them both easily.

There you can see the differences in pitch.

Check for understanding.

Which of these should contrast with the main melody in a countermelody? So, A, pitch, B, key, C, rhythm, D, tempo? What do you think? Hope you got A and C.

Pitch and rhythm should contrast.

In a string quartet, the first violin plays the main melody, so countermelodies are typically played by the second violin or viola.

The cello can also play a countermelody, but this is harder to do effectively as it would normally play the bass part.

If you're replacing any part with a countermelody, the countermelody should be based around the chord tones that the instrument is already playing.

So to add a countermelody to the second violin, we need to consider the notes it's already playing.

Have a listen to the second violin part.

(upbeat music) These notes become the basis of the countermelody, and we still hear the important core tones that create the harmony.

So have a listen to the new countermelody.

(upbeat music) And you can see how these notes have been used to create it.

However, the rhythm of this countermelody clashes with the busy sections of the main melody.

You can see that highlighted here on the screen.

We can adapt the rhythms of the countermelody to play the more complex parts during the longer notes and rests in the main melody.

Have a listen to this version.

(upbeat music) So you can see the busy rhythms are alternating within the two parts.

So to write a countermelody, copy bars one to 16 into bars 17 to 32.

Choose the instrument for your countermelody.

So you need to choose second violin or viola.

You can watch the video to see how to do this.

<v Instructor>The first step when writing a countermelody</v> is that we need to create a section of our composition where we're gonna add it.

Remember, this countermelody, we're using it to develop the texture, so we don't want it playing in our first section, we want it playing in a second section so it can develop what we've already heard in this first section.

So I'm gonna copy my first 16 bars, and I'm gonna paste them in from bars 17 to 32.

Now I've got two identical sections.

And then I'm gonna choose which instrument I want to create my countermelody on.

And for this, I think I'm gonna use second violin.

And that's probably the easiest one to do and probably the safest bet.

Now, it I'm doing this on notation software, exactly the same, I'm gonna copy my 16 bars, all four parts, and paste them in from bar 17.

So now if I zoom out, I should have 32 bars' worth of music, and that's two sets of 16 bars that are identical.

<v ->Then you'll need to compose a countermelody</v> based around the core tones That the instrument already plays.

Watch the video for an example of this.

<v Instructor>So I've created my second section,</v> and I've decided I'm gonna use my countermelody in my second violin part.

So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna delete the second violin part in the second half 'cause that's where I'm gonna record my countermelody.

Now, the key when we're doing this is to base the countermelody around the chord tones that the second violin is already playing.

So what I'm gonna be doing for each bar is looking at what chord tone it plays and then trying to create a melodic idea based around that note.

So it should be playing that note for quite a bit of the bar.

So let's have a look here in my second violin part.

And in the first bar.

(violin note ringing) It's playing an E.

(violin note ringing) It's playing that note there.

So for my first for the countermelody, I'm gonna be trying to create an idea based around that note.

So I'm gonna experiment, trying to come up with some ideas that I mostly use that note, but then move around a bit as well to sound melodic.

(upbeat music) So you can see all of those ideas are starting on E.

(violin note ringing) And they're finishing on E, and they're just moving around using conjunct movement to the notes around.

(upbeat music) So that means that the harmony is unaffected because we still have that really important chord tone being heard quite a lot.

If I created something totally different using different notes, we'd be missing that E from the C chord, and that would mean it wouldn't sound as effective in terms of the harmony.

So I've got an idea I'm gonna record in for that bar.

(upbeat music) Let's have a listen to what I recorded.

(upbeat music) So it's mostly based on E, isn't it? And that's fine.

And then we'll do the same for the second bar.

So let's go back to bar two.

Let's see what we had there.

So that note in bar two is a C.

(violin note ringing) That one there.

(violin note ringing) So in bar two, I want to base my countermelodic idea around the note C.

Same idea, mostly based around C, but moving a little bit around as well.

(upbeat music) Any of those ideas will work quite well.

So let's record one in.

(upbeat music) And then we follow the same process for each bar.

So if we now look at bar three.

(violin note ringing) It's also a C, so I'm gonna do the same idea as bar two, a melodic idea based around the note C.

(upbeat music) And then I'm gonna follow that process for the whole 16 bars.

So I'm gonna go through, look at what chord tone it was playing in that bar, create a melodic idea based on that.

And remember that between bar 21 and 25, your melody and harmony are an exact copy in bar 29 and 32.

So you'll be able to copy your countermelody from these four bars into these four bars.

If I was doing this on notation software, I'd be following exactly the same process.

So I'd be going through, looking for each bar, that's bar one there, where it's putting an E, creating a melodic idea in bar 17 based around E, and remembering to delete that second violin part to make space for my countermelody.

And I'll be going through each bar, writing in my countermelody, and remembering I can copy the four bars from 21 to 25 into 29 to 32.

So what I'm gonna do now is I'm gonna finish off my 16 bars and then I'll show you what my end product looks like.

Let's have a look at what I've come up with then.

And this is my countermelody I'm working at in the second violin.

(upbeat music) <v ->And then adapt the rhythms or shape as necessary</v> to make sure that it doesn't clash with the main melody.

Watch the video to see a demonstration of this.

<v Instructor>Now, I think my countermelody</v> works reasonably well.

However, there's one thing that I really want to adapt, and that's the rhythm.

If I look at the moment, we'll notice that most of the busiest sections of my countermelody are also at the same time as the busiest sections of my melody.

So if we look in this bar here, bar 19, we'll see that both of them are playing their sort of interesting bit of the bar at the same time.

And then when they're playing their sort of slower rhythms, their more sustained notes, they're doing that at the same time, so it means it's harder to pick the two melodies apart.

The same applies in bar 17 here.

They're playing those quavers together, they're doing the more interesting bit of the melody in this bar at the same time, and so on.

So what I want to try and do is just to try and adapt the rhythms so the more interesting parts of this current melody are in the less interesting bits of this main melody.

Let's take a look at bar 17, this bar here.

Now, here, the most interesting section of the main melody is towards the end of the bar.

So what I could do is I could move this part of my countermelody to the start of the bar so it's easier to pick out.

(violin note ringing) I'm just gonna copy and paste it.

(violin note ringing) And then I can do something less interesting in the second half of the bar.

So maybe I can do crotchets in that half of the bar.

So now we've got the interesting part of the countermelody here, and the interesting part of the main melody here.

I'm gonna do the same in bar two.

So instead of playing the quavers, the sort of more interesting bit of the countermelody at the start of the bar, when the melody is also doing this more interesting section here, I can move these quavers towards the end of the bar, when the melody is playing this long sustained note.

(violin notes ringing) So copy and paste that.

(violin note ringing) And then maybe I'll just do a sustained note at the start of the bar instead.

(violin note ringing) And I'm gonna follow that process for every bar.

So again, in this bar here in bar 19, the most interesting bit of the melody is the start of the bar.

So I'm gonna make the most interesting bit of the countermelody the end of the bar.

(upbeat music) And I'm gonna follow that process all the way through my countermelody to make sure that I can hear them both equally well and that they're not clashing with each other and interfering with each other very much.

And if you're doing this on GarageBand or on Adore, you'll be doing the exact same thing, just working through, adapting your melody.

You don't have to rerecord it necessarily, although you could if you wanted, just adapting the melody to change it so that it doesn't clash.

And we're using your ears to identify those places where it does clash and where the rhythms will be better separated out.

So I'm gonna complete mine now, and then I'll show you what it looks like when I've adapted all of the rhythms. So I've been through, I've adapted the rhythms. Now let's have a look at what the whole countermelody sounds like.

And in particular, pay attention to how the countermelody and the melody relate to each other, particularly in terms of the rhythm.

So making sure that the interesting bits of the countermelody rhythm aren't at the same time as the interesting bits of the main melody rhythm.

Here we go.

(upbeat music) <v ->Let's do a check for understanding.

</v> Which instruments typically play countermelodies in a classical string quartet? So, A, violin, B, viola, or C, the cello? It's A and B.

It could be the violin or the viola.

So let's move on to Task A, Add in a countermelody to your string quartet composition.

The success criteria for this is, choose either second violin or viola to play the countermelody.

Copy your 16-bar composition into bar 17 to 32.

Base the countermelody around the core tones that the instrument is already playing.

Make sure that the rhythm and pitch contrast with the main melody.

The countermelody plays its most interesting parts, doing long notes or rests in the main melody.

And you need to record and notate it.

So have a go at adding countermelody to your string quartet composition.

Hope you got on well with that.

Let's analyze this melody and countermelody.

How could this countermelody be adapted to be more effective? Have a listen to it.

(upbeat music) It could be more effective if it played its more interesting rhythms during sustained notes or rests in the main melody.

It would also be more effective if it used more contrasting pitch.

At some points, the pitch of the two instruments clash.

Let's move on to part two of today's lesson, developing texture in a small ensemble.

Small ensembles all have their limitations due to the small number of instruments.

A string quartet consists of four-stringed instruments, so there are limited options for changing timbre.

You can't just add a trumpet, for example.

You need to stick to your four-string instruments.

This can be helpful as a composer because it forces you to be creative with other aspects of the music, including texture, rhythm and articulation.

These two examples of the same piece of music both have a melody and accompaniment texture.

Remember, that's where you've got a melodic line and a clear accompaniment as well.

How is the texture different in the second one? Let's listen to the first example.

(upbeat music) And the second example.

(upbeat music) How's the texture different? The texture has been developed by adding a countermelody and developing the rhythm of the accompanying parts and moving some of the parts into a different octave.

There are many different ways to develop the rhythm of the accompanying parts, and these can be very effective.

In this example, the viola part uses faster repeated notes rather than long sustained notes.

Have a listen to the version that has long sustained notes.

(downbeat music) And then have a listen to the version that uses faster repeated notes.

(upbeat music) Creating a simpler, thinner texture can be effective because it creates space for the melodies to be heard.

If the accompaniment is busy, it can sound too chaotic.

In this example, the rests create musical space.

Have a listen to the example.

(upbeat music) Moving parts into a different octave can also develop the texture.

This is easiest to do with the cello bass part.

So have a listen to this original version.

(upbeat music) And then have a listen to this version that's down the octave.

(low-pitched upbeat music) Did you spot a problem with the second version? So in this example, the last note, the G, is below the range of the cello.

So this note is going to need to stay in the higher octave.

If you're adjusting the octave, make sure that the notes are all still playable, the melody and countermelody are still easily heard, same chord tones are used so the harmony is effective, and that the cello is still the lowest-pitched instrument.

Watch this video about developing the rhythm of the accompaniment.

<v Instructor>Let's look at developing the rhythm</v> of the accompaniment parts to develop the texture in the second half of the composition.

Now, in particular, I'm gonna be focusing here on my viola and my cello because those are my two accompanying parts.

And the second violin is now playing a countermelody, and obviously my first violin is playing a melody.

So it's these two parts we're focusing on.

And I'm just gonna focus on the viola part.

You might decide to change the rhythm of both, and that's okay, but I'm just focusing on the viola for mine.

Now, let's take each bar at a time.

So my first bar here.

(viola note ringing) We've got the note G.

And we want to keep that same note so that the harmony still works properly, so we've still got all the core tones playing.

There's a few ways I could go with this.

The first is, instead of doing this long sustained note, I could create a faster repeated rhythm.

So maybe some repeated crotchets, or quavers, or a pattern based on those.

Or I could try and create a rhythm that has more space in it.

Because now we've got two melodies playing, it might be nice to create a bit of space so we can really hear those melodies as well.

So that's another option as well.

(viola note ringing) If I was doing the repeated rhythms, I could try something like this.

I could maybe do some crotchets, and maybe some quavers.

(viola notes ringing) Something like this.

(viola notes ringing) And I could even do something like add some staccato notes on the quavers.

(viola notes ringing) To make them sound a little bit more sort of unique.

(viola notes ringing) That's quite a nice light rhythm that one.

Now, if I'm using that rhythm, I want to use a similar rhythm in each bar, so I'm not gonna create a different rhythm for each bar.

I'd probably use the same rhythm and just copy it to the note that that bar is playing.

So bar three, I've got an A, so I'm gonna be changing that to an A.

And this bar we've got a B, so I'm gonna be changing it to a B, but using that same rhythm.

Remember, you want an accompaniment to use similar patterns, not changing all the time.

So whatever rhythm or pattern you come up with, repeat it in each part.

So that's a sort of repeated fast rhythm.

I could also do something with rest.

So for example, I could just have the viola playing on beat one and beat four.

(viola notes ringing) Something like that.

That might create quite a nice bit of space to really hear the melodies.

And again, if I'm doing that, I'm gonna do the same in every bar.

Just make sure I'm using the right notes.

So A, in this bar here.

Got a B in this bar.

Let's have a listen.

(upbeat viola music) I quite like that actually.

I might stick with that one.

So those are a couple of ways you can do it.

And of course, be a bit creative with the rhythms that you use, you don't have to use what I've used there.

But that's a couple of examples of how you might develop that in the second half.

If I was working on Adore, it's dead simple.

I'd go into my viola track, and I can see each bar here.

So that's my G in the first bar of this section.

(viola note ringing) I'm just gonna edit the note to change the rhythm.

So if I want that rhythm where I have it on beat one and beat four, I can do a bit of copying and pasting to change it.

(viola note ringing) I can make shorter notes, longer notes, just editing it like this, I could add extra notes, et cetera.

Make sure again that you're just using the chord tones that you've already got.

So don't go adding in lots of passing notes and extra different pitches as well.

If you wanted, you could rerecord the part if that's easier, just making sure that you are sticking to the same chord tones, and doing it really carefully to make sure that we're not missing any chord tones in each chord.

<v ->And now let's watch the video</v> to see how to adjust the octave of the cello part.

<v Instructor>The final way I'm gonna look</v> at developing my texture is by adjusting the octave of the cello part.

And this is our bass line, remember.

Let's have a look at these four bars here.

So at the moment, I've got C.

(cello note ringing) Then E.

(cello note ringing) Then F.

(cello note ringing) Then a big jump down to a low G.

(cello note ringing) Now, the simplest thing I could do here is just move this all down an octave.

And that works really well for the first three bars.

(upbeat cello music) However, you'll notice if you're using notation software that this G here has been highlighted red, and that's because that's below the possible range of a cello.

So a cello cannot play that G.

So that one is gonna have to go back up the octave.

And it goes black when it's a note that can be played by that instrument.

So you might have to do a bit of chopping and changing between octaves to make sure you fit the range of the instrument.

Let's have a look at my next four bars.

Got A, D, B, and C.

Now, here it's a little bit trickier because that A, if I put it down at octave, is below the bottom note of a cello.

So we can't use that.

This B would be the same, that'd be too low.

This C would work, and this D would work, but what it would mean if I put that down the octave is there'd be a lot of jumping around, which might not sound so great in the bass part.

If we look here, we're jumping down, jumping up, jumping down.

So really it'll work better if I don't change this set of bars.

And you'll have to use your judgment as to what works and what doesn't.

Try and avoid too many massive jumps, try and keep your bass notes relatively close together.

But if you have the opportunity to put it down the octave, why not? It'll sort of develop the texture a bit.

This next four bars would work really well because I can put them all down the octave, and they're still within the range of the instrument.

We can see there, they're still all black, and there's no massive jumps between them.

So go through, adjust it, and just keep an eye out for any notes that are outside the range of the instrument.

If using Adore, it's a bit harder to tell what the range of the instrument is, so you'll follow the same process and you can just move the notes by dragging them up or down.

(upbeat cello music) However, it may not be as obvious whether it's outside the range of the instrument or not, particularly if you're using the string ensemble setting like I've got.

So what you'll need to do is carefully check what the range of the cello is, find which C is the lowest C.

In this case, it's gonna be that one that says C1.

And make sure that none of your notes are below there.

(upbeat cello music) So that C would be the lowest note a cello can play.

And if I went down here, that would be impossible for the instrument to play, so we don't wanna write that.

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

</v> If adjusting the octave of the cello part, which two of these are key? Is it A, the cello plays lower notes than the viola, B, the cello plays a countermelody, C, the cello plays higher notes than the viola, D, the cello still uses the same chord tones as before? Which two do you think? Well done if you got A and D.

The cello should be playing lower notes than the viola and using the same chord tones as before.

Creating a thinner texture in the accompaniment means that, what? Is it A, the texture becomes too simple, B, the texture becomes too busy and chaotic, C, it is harder to hear the melody and countermelody, or D, it is easier to hear the melody and countermelody? Which of those do you think? Well done if you got D.

A thinner texture means it's easier to hear the melody and countermelody.

So let's move on to Task B, developing the texture in the second half of your composition.

The success criteria for this is the texture is developed by changing the rhythms of the accompanying parts and/or adjusting the octave of the cello, the bass part.

The melody and countermelody can still clearly be heard.

The accompanying parts still play the same chord tones as before.

The cello is still the lowest-pitched instrument.

And you record or notate the adjusted parts.

So have a go at developing the texture in the second half of your composition.

Let's reflect on how you've done.

How does your string quartet composition meet the success criteria? Identify ways that you could further improve your 32-bar composition.

So as a reminder, the criteria are bars 17 to 32 use the same melody and chord sequence as bars one to 16.

Bars 17 to 32 contrast with bars one to 16 by developing the texture.

The melody and countermelody can be heard clearly at all times.

The first violin plays the highest note and the cello the lowest note in each bar.

The second violin and viola play pitches in the middle and the viola is the lower part of the two.

The cello, viola and second violin.

Collectively play all three chord tones in each bar.

The melody and harmony in bars nine to 12 and 25 to 28 contrast and feel unfinished.

Have a go at reflecting on your composition so far.

Let's summarize today's lesson on developing an ensemble composition.

Adding countermelodies and developing texture are effective ways to develop an ensemble composition.

A countermelody is a second and equally prominent melody that plays at the same time as the main melody.

In a string quartet, the second violin or viola normally play countermelodies, although sometimes the cello does.

When adding countermelodies or developing texture, it is crucial to make sure that every part can still be heard well.

It is also important to make sure that the core tones of each chord are still played so that the harmony is effective.

I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.