Action in early movies
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 7.78 MB (MP4)
Download this file to use in the lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these is not a role of film music?
Q2.What is a title theme?
Q3.What could a leitmotif represent? (Choose all that apply)
Q4.Which of these is the term for something that we link a certain musical genre or sound with (e.g. a place)?
Q5.When a performer makes something up on the spot, we would say that they are __________.
Q6.What is a scale?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.When was the era of silent movies?
Q2.What is a silent movie?
Q3.Which statement is true about music in silent movies?
Q4.Which statement is true about music in silent movies?
Q5.Which of these is a typical feature of music in chase scenes?
Q6.Which is a very common feature of melodies in chase scenes?
To help you plan your 9 music lesson on: Action in early movies, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 music lesson on: Action in early movies, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 music lessons from the Film Music unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.