Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's music lesson.

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

Let's get started.

Today's lesson outcome is I can compose a simple pentatonic melody with lyrics.

And let's look at some keywords for today.

A G major pentatonic scale.

So that's a pentatonic scale consisting of the notes G, A, B, D, and E.

A phrase, that's a short section of a melody, normally lasting one, two, or four bars.

And an ABAC structure.

So a structure in music is how the different phrases or sections of music are organized.

ABAC is three different sections of music, so A, B, and C, with the first section, A, repeated after the B section.

So today's lesson on "Composing a pentatonic melody" has got two parts.

Part one, "Creating a simple pentatonic melody," and part two, "Setting words to a melody." Let's get started with part one, "Creating a simple pentatonic melody." What typical characteristics of a folk melody can you hear in the Scottish folk melody? Have a listen.

(bright folk music) Izzy says, "It's got a small range and mostly avoids big leaps, although there are a couple." Jun says, "It's quite simple and memorable," and that "it has clear phrases and some repetition." In many folk traditions, melodies are based on the pentatonic scale.

We can use the G major pentatonic scale as the basis of a folk song melody.

You can see G, A, B, D, and E as the notes in the score below, and have a listen.

(gentle piano music) Most folk melodies are conjunct and move mainly in step.

You can use the G major pentatonic scale to improvise ideas.

Let's have a look at some examples.

You could create an ascending pattern.

(gentle piano music) Create a descending pattern.

(gentle piano music) Or create a pattern that does both of those.

(gentle piano music) Melodies also need clear phrases with some repetition to make them more memorable.

Today's lesson is about composing three contrasting phrases, A, B, and C, and performing them in an ABAC structure so that the A section is played twice.

Each phrase should last for two bars, which is eight beats, contrast with the other phrases, and the final phrase should end on the home note, and so a long G, so it sounds like it's finished.

Let's have a look at how we might compose a folk song melody.

So first of all, let's have a look at how we could create an A phrase.

<v Instructor>For my A phrase,</v> I'm gonna improvise some ideas using notes of the G major pentatonic scale.

We've got G, A, B, D and E.

And I could also use this higher G as well.

So I've practiced those notes, I've got used to the feeling of them, and now I'm gonna improvise some phrases based on those notes that move mostly by steps.

So I'm gonna be using mostly notes that are next to each other rather than doing big jumps between notes.

I'm also gonna make sure it lasts for eight beats, that's for two bars, the length of our phrase.

So let's see what I can come up with.

(gentle piano music) So there's lots of different ideas there.

I think the one that I like best is this one.

(gentle piano music) So once I've decided on the idea, I'm gonna write down the notes, memorize the pattern so I really learned it and don't forget it, and that's my A phrase created.

<v ->Then watch how we could create a contrasting B phrase.

</v> <v Instructor>For my B phrase,</v> I want to create a contrasting Nordic idea.

My first phrase, my A phrase, was this.

(gentle piano music) Starts on G, ascends up to D, and then finishes descending back to B.

So I'm gonna create a shape for my second melody, my second phrase that contrasts with that, so maybe I'll do one that starts higher up.

(gentle piano music) So any of these ideas would work.

I quite like this one.

(gentle piano music) It contrasts with the original one, it's slightly higher pitched, it's still using just notes from the G major pentatonic scale, and it also lasts for eight beats.

So that's quite an effective one there.

So far, I've got my A phrase and my B phrase.

My A phrase is this.

(gentle piano music) B phrase.

(gentle piano music) <v ->Then let's see how we could create a contrasting C phrase</v> which ends on a long G.

<v Instructor>Now let's create a final C phrase,</v> and this is gonna be the last phrase of the melody so I want it to end on a minim, that's a long two-beat note on G.

So I'm gonna improvise some ideas that contrast with the other ones and that finishes on that held G.

Here we go.

(gentle piano music) Any of those would work.

I quite like the one that starts on this high G.

(gentle piano music) It contrasts with the other ones and it gives a nice finished feeling when I land on that long G there.

(gentle piano music) So that's my C phrase, I'm gonna write down the notes and memorize that pattern.

<v ->And now let's see an example</v> of playing all of these phrases together in the order ABAC.

<v Instructor>Let's put all three phrases together</v> and the structure we're gonna use is ABAC.

So let's what that would look like with my melody.

A phrase.

(gentle piano music) B phrase.

(gentle piano music) A phrase again.

(gentle piano music) And then C phrase.

(gentle piano music) So I'm gonna string them all together and practice them playing them back to back.

Let's try and do that now.

(gentle piano music) And that's my 8-bar melody with that ABAC structure.

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

</v> Which of these is the G major pentatonic scale? Is it A, B, C, or D? Take a look at the keyboards and see what you think.

Well done if you got C, that's the G major pentatonic scale.

You can see the notes G, A, B, D, and E highlighted.

Have a listen to these clips.

Which one of these uses the G major pentatonic scale? Is it A? (bright music) B? (bright music) Or C? (bright music) Which do you think? Well done if you got A.

So let's do Task A.

We're going to create an 8-bar pentatonic melody in the structure ABAC.

So the success criteria for this is you've created an A, B, and C phrase using the notes of the G major pentatonic scale.

Remember, those are G, A, B, D, and E.

You use a small range, so no more than an octave between the highest and lowest notes.

The phrases last for two bars and they contrast with each other.

They're conjunct.

They avoid big leaps between notes.

You have played or recorded them in the order ABAC.

The C phrase, so that's the last phrase, ends on a long G.

And you've written down the notes of the melody.

Have a go at Task A.

Here's a reminder of the G major pentatonic scale and where it is on the keyboard.

How did you get on? Let's assess this simple folk melody against the success criteria we were using.

What's effective about it and what could be improved? Have a listen.

(gentle piano music) So the effective features are it uses a small range, it uses the G major pentatonic scale, it's got four 2-bar phrases, and it ends on a long G.

However, it could be improved by creating more contrast between the phrases.

At the moment, they all sound really quite similar.

Let's move onto part two of our lesson, "Setting words to a melody." Music was often a way to tell stories, to teach lessons, or to share poetry, so many folk traditions are based on song rather than instrumental melodies.

Typical features of folk music are related to this.

The small range suits most voices, and singing conjunct melodies is much easier than leaping between notes.

Now that we have a melody, we're going to add some lyrics to it.

This might seem like a very simple task but there are some things we need to consider.

It is crucial that the rhythm of the words matches the rhythm of the notes.

So let's have a listen to these two examples.

They use the same words and notes.

Which example do you think sounds more effective and why? Let's listen to the first example.

♪ Saddling my horse at the break of day ♪ <v ->And let's have a listen to the second.

</v> ♪ Saddling my horse at the break of day ♪ <v ->The second example is more effective</v> because the rhythm of the notes fits the words more naturally.

In any sentence, some words have emphasized syllables and some are said faster or slower than others.

So say the sentence "The sun rising red on the lonesome clay" to yourself.

You can hear it has its own natural rhythm.

When you're adding lyrics to a melody, you need to adjust the rhythm of the melody to fit this natural rhythm where possible.

So let's have a look at our lyrics.

Each line of these lyrics fits with one phrase, that's two bars of the melody.

So we've got phrase one, "Saddling my horse at the break of day." Phrase two, "The sun rising red on the lonesome clay." Phrase three, "Music in my heart and tears in my eyes." And phrase four, "For the home I left 'neath the open sky." We can adjust the rhythms of the melody slightly to make the lyrics work effectively.

So let's have a listen to two examples of that.

Let's listen to a version of our demonstration melody where the rhythms haven't been adjusted.

♪ Saddling my horse at the break of day ♪ ♪ The sun rising red on the lonesome clay ♪ ♪ Music in my heart and tears in my eyes ♪ ♪ For the home I left 'neath the open sky ♪ <v ->And now let's listen to a version</v> where the melody has been adjusted.

♪ Saddling my horse at the break of day ♪ ♪ The sun rising red on the lonesome clay ♪ ♪ Music in my heart and tears in my eyes ♪ ♪ For the home I left 'neath the open sky ♪ <v ->That's lots better, isn't it?</v> So to add lyrics to a melody, you're going to want to say the first phrase of the lyrics to yourself a few times to find the natural rhythm of the words.

Sing the words with the notes of the first phrase, so adjusting your rhythm to fit the rhythm of the words.

Repeat that for every phrase.

And try to sing all four phrases back to back.

Let's do a check for understanding.

How do we fit words to a melody? Do we, A, change the words to fit the melody; B, adjust the pitch to fit the words; or C, adjust the rhythms to fit the words? What do you think? Well done if you got C, adjust the rhythms to fit the words.

So let's look at Task B, adding lyrics to your folk melody.

So the success criteria for this is going to be the rhythm of the melody should be adjusted to fit the natural rhythm of the words.

We can work this out one phrase at a time.

Say the lyrics to yourselves a few times to find the natural rhythm of the words.

Sing the words with the notes of the phrase, adjusting your rhythm to fit the rhythm of the words.

And repeat for every phrase.

And then sing all four phrases back to back.

Let's have a go at adding lyrics to your folk melody.

Here are the lyrics.

How did you get on? Sing your melody to yourself or a partner and answer the questions to identify how to further improve it.

So does your melody fit the natural rhythm of the words? Do the phrases still contrast with each other having added some lyrics? Can you sing them back to back without hesitation? Does the melody feel easy to sing and memorize? 'Cause remember, folk melodies should be easy to sing and memorize so they can be passed on easily.

What do you think? Let's summarize today's lesson on "Composing a pentatonic melody." Many folk melodies are based on pentatonic scales such as the G major pentatonic scale and use a repetitive phrase structure such as ABAC.

They often have a small range and are conjunct, which means step by step, which makes them easier to sing and memorize.

When writing a melody, we should consider those features.

We can set lyrics to a melody, adjusting the rhythm to fit with the natural rhythm of the words.

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson.