Harmony and tonality in film music
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how harmony and tonality help shape films and have reharmonised a melody.
Key learning points
- Harmony and tonality have a significant impact on the mood of film music.
- Composers use atonal, diatonic (major or minor) or modal tonality to create different moods.
- The choice of chords and use of chromatic harmony are also important for creating the correct emotions for the scene.
- 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.
Teacher tip
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.
Equipment
DAW, notation software, keyboard or other suitable instrument as a composition tool
Licence
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.A leitmotif is a __________.
Q2.Which of these is not a role of film music?
Q3.__________ transformation is when a leitmotif is developed to match story changes.
Q4.Which type of tonality would best suit a sad or tragic scene?
Q5.Which type of rhythm would best suit an energetic, action-filled scene?
Q6.Identify with a single word why early films did not have recorded music before the late 1920s?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these is not a type of tonality?
Q2.Chromatic harmony is using notes outside the .
Q3.Which mood would best suit chromatic harmony?
Q4.__________ is when the melody stays the same, but the harmony changes underneath.
Q5.Why might a film composer reharmonise a melody?
Q6.Which chords help make the new key very clear and obvious?
To help you plan your 10 music lesson on: Harmony and tonality in film music, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 music lesson on: Harmony and tonality in film music, 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 4 music lessons from the Film music: developing ideas and understanding unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.