Action in early movies
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Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how music was used in early movies, and can create music for a typical chase scene in a silent movie.
Key learning points
- The silent movie era was between the 1890s and 1920s.
- In this period, film music was performed live by a solo performer (often improvised) or a group.
- The performers tried to capture and exaggerate the mood of scenes.
- Chase scenes were common in silent movies.
- The music often used a fast tempo, fast rhythms and scalic runs to create a sense of excitement.
Keywords
Silent movie - a film that has no recorded sound, common between the 1890s and 1920s
Chase scene - a scene in which a character is chased
Scalic - a melody that uses segments of a scale
Common misconception
Music for films is always recorded and played through speakers.
Before technology existed to do this, film music was played live by performers in the room. It would often be a solo piano/organ player, who would improvise along with the film. Sometimes, ensembles such as orchestras would play music live instead.
Teacher tip
You can adapt the chase scene task in various ways to suit your pupils. To simplify it, focus on playing the melodic parts (with no bass line) or just create the Dm idea (with no modulation to base it on A). To extend the task, challenge pupils to create contrasting melodic ideas to build variety.
Equipment
DAW and MIDI keyboards, or live keyboards/pianos
File needed for this lesson
Chase scene clip 7.8 MB (MP4)
Download this file to use in the lesson.
Licence
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