Key learning points

1. Mickey-mousing is a common technique in early movies.
2. This is where the music copies the movement of a character.
3. Many early movies also involve scenes in which music is key to creating suspense.
4. Typical suspenseful music uses dissonant chords (such as diminished sevenths) and sudden changes.

Keywords

• Mickey-mousing - a technique in which the film music copies movement on screen (e.g. ascending notes in time with a character ascending stairs)

• Diminished seventh - a chord containing four notes that is useful for creating a feeling of sudden drama

• Dissonance - a combination of notes which create a harsh or tense sound - opposite of consonance

Common misconception