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Lesson 3 of 4
  • Year 8

Developing texture and timbre in EDM

I can create a chordal part and develop the texture and timbre in my EDM remix.

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Lesson 3 of 4
New
New
  • Year 8

Developing texture and timbre in EDM

I can create a chordal part and develop the texture and timbre in my EDM remix.

Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and

Copyrights help

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In EDM the texture can vary between thick and thin to create excitement and interest.
  2. Texture in EDM is often described as thick or thin depending on the number of different layers in the music.
  3. The main layers in EDM music are the melody, the chords, the bass line and the drum groove.
  4. You can develop texture by adding, removing and changing instruments and tracks.

Keywords

  • Chord sequence - A chord sequence is a pattern of chords that usually lasts for 4, 8 or 16 bars.

  • Texture - The texture of a piece of music is how many layers of sound are heard at the same time and how they fit together.

  • Thick texture - A piece of music has a thick texture if there are many different musical layers playing at the same time.

  • Thin texture - A piece of music has a thin texture if there are very few musical layers playing at the same time.

  • Synth pad - A synth pad is a synthesizer that creates a sustained sound suitable for thickening texture.

Common misconception

Having lots of layers of music playing simultaneously is effective use of texture.

It is easy to create a texture that is too thick and too busy. Encourage students to experiment with both thin and thick textures and reiterate that adding too many layers simultaneously can make music sound ineffective.


To help you plan your year 8 music lesson on: Developing texture and timbre in EDM, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage students to develop their texture in depth, by creating further opportunities where possible. Doing this effectively requires extensive trial and error, so encourage students to embrace the process and be willing to make changes that don't work initially.
Teacher tip

Equipment

A DAW or other suitable compositional tool or instrument

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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