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Lesson 5 of 5
  • Year 10
  • Eduqas

Arranging and analysing video game music

I can arrange a video game composition and analyse unfamiliar video game music.

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View unit
Lesson 5 of 5
New
New
  • Year 10
  • Eduqas

Arranging and analysing video game music

I can arrange a video game composition and analyse unfamiliar video game music.

Download all

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Video game composers must check that transitions between sections work musically, in all possible sequences.
  2. Dovetailing of melodies is an effective way of linking sections.
  3. Key changes, in particular, can sound unnatural and jarring.
  4. When analysing unfamiliar music, we can analyse the use of vertical layering and horizontal resequencing.
  5. Identifying the type of loops used and the mood created can suggest what type and era of video game it is.

Keywords

  • Horizontal resequencing - where a new section of music begins in response to a player's action

  • Vertical layering - where layers of music are 'stacked' on top of each other and change in response to the player’s actions

  • Linear loop - a repeating musical idea in a video game that can be looped indefinitely

Common misconception

Sudden tempo changes do not work in horizontal resequencing.

Sometimes tempo changes can sound jarring and unnatural, but sometimes video game composers want to create a sudden change of pace. If done carefully, tempo changes can work effectively.


To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: Arranging and analysing video game music, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

The first task is an opportunity for pupils to tweak their compositions. Often juxtaposing different sections highlights features that don't work musically. If necessary, guide them as to what sounds 'unnatural' - often it will be using chords from a different key, or timbres that contrast too much.
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.
Horizontal __________ is an important feature of video game music.

layering
Correct answer: resequencing
looping
modulation

Q2.
Vertical __________ is an important feature of video game music.

Correct answer: layering
resequencing
looping
modulation

Q3.
Which of these are true about vertical layering?

Correct answer: It adds or removes musical layers in real time.
It swaps entire sections of music.
Correct answer: It responds to the player’s actions.
It always stays the same during gameplay.

Q4.
What is horizontal resequencing?

adding extra instruments to a section
Correct answer: switching between different sections of music
looping the same section repeatedly
slowing the tempo gradually

Q5.
Which term describes the way that video game music must change in response to a player’s actions?

Correct Answer: adaptive

Q6.
Which of these would not be a suitable feature in a fast-paced racing game?

dDriving rhythms
high energy percussion
Correct answer: slow, quiet melodies
fast, steady pulse

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these changes is most likely to make a transition between sections feel unnatural and jarring?

Correct answer: key change
dynamic change
tempo increase
adding percussion

Q2.
is where the end of a melody naturally flows into the start of the next melody.

Correct Answer: dovetailing

Q3.
To dovetail melodies, the last note of the first melody must reach the first note of the second melody by .

Correct Answer: step

Q4.
Which of these would suggest that a video game music clip is from an early video game?

High-quality orchestral sounds.
Correct answer: Short, simple loops with few parts.
Complex harmonies and rich textures.
Adaptive music changing in real time.

Q5.
Which of these are ways that video game music has developed over the last 50 years?

Correct answer: Music has become adaptive to player actions.
Correct answer: Music can now use realistic, high-quality sounds.
Music always repeats in the same fixed way.
Correct answer: Music can respond dynamically to changes in gameplay.

Q6.
Which of these is not a similarity between modern video game and film music?

both create mood and atmosphere
Correct answer: both are adaptive in real time
both can use recurring themes
Both help tell a story