Myths about teaching can hold you back
- Year 9
Tension in early movies
I can explain how music in silent movies helps to create tension and suspense.
- Year 9
Tension in early movies
I can explain how music in silent movies helps to create tension and suspense.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- Mickey-mousing is a common technique in early movies.
- This is where the music copies the movement of a character.
- Many early movies also involve scenes in which music is key to creating suspense.
- 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
A diminished seventh chord is just like any other extended chord - a triad with added notes.
A diminished seventh chord is quite unique as every interval is the same size (three semitones). It is different from extended chords that add notes to a triad. It has been used for centuries as a tense, dramatic chord, including in silent movies.
To help you plan your year 9 music lesson on: Tension in early movies, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 music lesson on: Tension in early movies, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
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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.
File needed for this lesson
- Suspense scene 5.76 MB (MP4)
Download this file to use in the lesson.
Equipment
DAW and MIDI keyboards, or keyboards/pianos
Licence
Lesson video
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