New
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Lesson 1 of 5
  • Year 10
  • Edexcel

Harmony and tonality in film music

I can explain how harmony and tonality help shape films and have reharmonised a melody.

Lesson 1 of 5
New
New
  • Year 10
  • Edexcel

Harmony and tonality in film music

I can explain how harmony and tonality help shape films and have reharmonised a melody.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Harmony and tonality have a significant impact on the mood of film music.
  2. Composers use atonal, diatonic (major or minor) or modal tonality to create different moods.
  3. The choice of chords and use of chromatic harmony are also important for creating the correct emotions for the scene.
  4. Reharmonising a melody, by changing the harmony, is an effective way to develop a melodic idea in a film.

Keywords

  • Tonality - the set of notes that a piece is based on (e.g. major, minor, atonal)

  • Diatonic - music that uses only notes from within a key

  • Chromatic - music that uses some notes from outside of the key

  • Modal - music based on a mode, a type of scale different from major and minor scales

  • Reharmonisation - when a composer keeps a melody the same but changes the harmony

Common misconception

Chromatic and atonal are the same thing.

Atonal music sounds chromatic, because there is no clear tonal centre. However, chromatic music isn't necessarily atonal - a piece can be in a key, but use chromatic notes from outside of it.


To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: Harmony and tonality in film music, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage confident pupils to explore their reharmonisation of the melody using extended chords. They should experiment creating their own 4- or 5-note chords to reharmonise the melody with more complexity.
Teacher tip

Equipment

DAW, notation software, keyboard or other suitable instrument as a composition tool

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).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
A leitmotif is a __________.

Correct answer: short recurring theme linked to a character, place, or idea
random tune used once
type of rhythm pattern
specific chord progression

Q2.
Which of these is not a role of film music?

to build tension
to tell us about characters
Correct answer: to improve picture quality
to establish mood

Q3.
__________ transformation is when a leitmotif is developed to match story changes.

Dynamic
Correct answer: Motivic
Rhythmic
Harmonic

Q4.
Which type of tonality would best suit a sad or tragic scene?

atonal
major
modal
Correct answer: minor

Q5.
Which type of rhythm would best suit an energetic, action-filled scene?

Correct answer: fast and lively
slow and calm
random and free
long and sustained

Q6.
Identify with a single word why early films did not have recorded music before the late 1920s?

Correct Answer: technology

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these is not a type of tonality?

major
minor
modal
Correct answer: chromatic

Q2.
Chromatic harmony is using notes outside the .

Correct Answer: key

Q3.
Which mood would best suit chromatic harmony?

calmness
joy
Correct answer: mystery or unease
celebration

Q4.
__________ is when the melody stays the same, but the harmony changes underneath.

Extension
Modulation
Variation
Correct answer: Reharmonisation

Q5.
Why might a film composer reharmonise a melody?

Correct answer: To match the mood of a new scene.
To delete the melody completely.
Correct answer: To create contrast and surprise.
To confuse the audience.

Q6.
Which chords help make the new key very clear and obvious?

Correct Answer: primary, tonic, dominant, subdominant