Week 5
Greetings All !
- This week we will expand upon Melody : Talk a little more in depth about some terms you saw in the documentary, talk about what kind of effect genre & instrumentation would have on a melody, ETC. Some of the ideas on this page should give you another way of thinking about the terms in the video .
- Part of your Assignment will be a little different this week! It is a research project about Genres. Make sure you follow the link on this page or in canvas - read instructions carefully ! This assignment is a little lengthier , and will serve as one of our larger written assignments. Make sure get started early in the week.
- The Forum this week will pertain to the Materials on Melody. Make sure you still go through this material ! Good Stuff here !
Exploring Genres
Last week we talked about some genres, popular and unpopular, and you were supposed to think about what defines that genre. What must a song contain to be considered part of that category?
This week for your assignment you will explore in depth a genre of your choice (probably one of your favorites) and research how we define that genre , not only by today's standards, but by the standards when that genre was first played/hear/invented.
The basic idea here: We would call Cardi B & Drake Hip-Hop - Put them in that category - But if i go back and LIsten to Run DMC from the 80's when the Genre was relatively new, I would hear some SERIOUS differences; musical things like instrumentation, maybe the way the language is used, what the song is about, A LAUNDRY LIST!
SO how did this happen ? Who decides What a genre is ? How could it change over a period of time ? Who were the influential Artists / influential recordings ?
You will have to research and explain this for a genre of your choosing.
Click here to see an example of research I did on Big Band Jazz . Notice the format, and the things I talk about .
Click here for full Step by Step instructions on doing the project.
EMAIL WITH ANY ISSUES
This week for your assignment you will explore in depth a genre of your choice (probably one of your favorites) and research how we define that genre , not only by today's standards, but by the standards when that genre was first played/hear/invented.
The basic idea here: We would call Cardi B & Drake Hip-Hop - Put them in that category - But if i go back and LIsten to Run DMC from the 80's when the Genre was relatively new, I would hear some SERIOUS differences; musical things like instrumentation, maybe the way the language is used, what the song is about, A LAUNDRY LIST!
SO how did this happen ? Who decides What a genre is ? How could it change over a period of time ? Who were the influential Artists / influential recordings ?
You will have to research and explain this for a genre of your choosing.
Click here to see an example of research I did on Big Band Jazz . Notice the format, and the things I talk about .
Click here for full Step by Step instructions on doing the project.
EMAIL WITH ANY ISSUES
Comparing Melodies : Intro to Melody
Important Terms: Melody , Pitch, Range (high/low) , Accompaniment, Instrumental Music,
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Melody
Definition:A series of musical notes/pitches that the listener perceives as a single entity. -What does a single entity mean? Rule of thumb: What is being sung OR what you would sing back -In most popular music today, the melody is generally provided by the Vocalist, or the Lyrics -Music Where the Melody is Provided by Instruments only is called INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC |
Pitch / Note
Definition: Any Single Pitch. The smallest unit of sound. A Notes and be either HIGH or LOW ,This describes it's Range ---------HIGH--------- Very High Notes Soprano Tenor Basso Profondo ---------LOW-------- |
****** Anything going on in a song other than the melody would be called accompaniment , or accompanying music . I.E. Singer would be Melody, Drums, Piano, Guitar, ETC. would be accompaniment*******
Pitch
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****Pitch and Note with be used interchangeably !! *****
Press play on the recording to the right >>> Here we have one sing note . It repeats 4 times, but never changes notes, or moves up and down in pitch. it is stagnant. |
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Press play to the right >>>>
Now we are hear 2 separate pitches , switching back and forth and back and forth between them |
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Here are those same 2 pitches played simultaneously ( at the same time - as in i acutally pushed the keys on the piano at the same time )
*** It is important for us to make this distinction between notes played Simultaneously (like here) or in succession/one after another (like in the last example) |
Remember that a Melody is a Series of Pitches - This implies that it is multiple Notes and is in a Specific Order
The OG of 'a series of pitches in a specific order' is The Scale - Remember this from Grade School Music lessons ?
OR A group of notes played in succession that sound Good/Right together
They called these MODES
they would choose notes only from the appropriate mode |
Scales
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The biggest thing that scales Share with melody is that Oder is Very Important ! Scales go in order from low to high to low . Although Melodies don't necessarily follow those directions, the order is IMPERATIVE just like with a scale .
EX - The Mary Had a Little Lamb Melody is actually only 4 different notes - If i put those 4 notes in a different order, you wouldn't recognize it has 'Mary Had a Little Lamb"
EX - The Mary Had a Little Lamb Melody is actually only 4 different notes - If i put those 4 notes in a different order, you wouldn't recognize it has 'Mary Had a Little Lamb"
Visualizing Melody......
So, essentially, a Melody is a bunch of Notes mixed together going up and down and up and down in range
Imagine we visualize the notes in a melody.
We wouldn't have a straight line, because that would just be one long note that doesn't change, which wouldn't make for a very interesting song
Imagine we visualize the notes in a melody.
We wouldn't have a straight line, because that would just be one long note that doesn't change, which wouldn't make for a very interesting song
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<<< Push play To hear what this 'straight line' song would sound like
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Hear how there is only 1 Pitch / Note - Calling this a 'song' or 'music' doesn't really even seem right.... at this point it's really more like a 'sound' than a 'song'
Now imagine a song that goes up and down in range (high / low notes) like the squiggly line below. We start on one note, then go down, up, down, up etc. in a steady motion.
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<<< Push play To hear what this 'steady squiggles' song would sound like
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Now imagine a song like the squiggly line below - Not so different from the last semi-squiggly line, but now we are going up and down and up and down in an unpredictable way . Sometimes by a lot, a little, etc. We start on one note, then move up a little, then down a little, then up a lot, the down a little etc.
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<<< Push play To hear what this 'really squigly' song would sound like
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The notes are constantly changing ranges, going low to high in different increments (sometimes jumping around from VERY low to VERY high, and sometimes just moving a little bit)
SO - Let's say that when moving from note to note in a melody, pitches can do one of three things , They can : (1) Move Up in range, (2) Move Down in Range, or (3) Stay on the same note / not move in range. Take a look at this line below, Each movement from note to note is labeled .
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<<< Push play To hear what this 'up/down/same' song would sound like
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Check out how we see the same movements on the sheet music here - can you make a visual comparison ?
Look Below - Although we do not all read music, look at the "Happy Birthday" sheet music below: We can see that the dots (representing the notes) don't just stay on one line or space (like the straight line), but they move around jumping to higher lines (higher range) to lower lines (lower range) and all around.
See If you can sing along with the song and hear the pitches moving up and down as you can see the visual notes going up and down
See If you can sing along with the song and hear the pitches moving up and down as you can see the visual notes going up and down
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So Remember - We can think of melodies as though they are a moving line of sound / pitches. Multiple pitches put together in a specific order.
???? What are some instruments that typically provide Melodic Material in a song ?????
Melody Delivery
When we talk about Delivery, we are Referring to:
1. What Instrument is providing it
1a. How do we describe how the melody is treated (rap/scream etc.)
Let's assume that each instrument is present in a given song to serve a purpose - think of :
-rock song - the singer is providing the melody
-a rap song - the vocalist is rapping the melody
just to name a couple.....
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*** Think of song on the radio - by far the most common method of Melody Delivery is ___________________ *****
1. What Instrument is providing it
1a. How do we describe how the melody is treated (rap/scream etc.)
Let's assume that each instrument is present in a given song to serve a purpose - think of :
-rock song - the singer is providing the melody
-a rap song - the vocalist is rapping the melody
just to name a couple.....
????
*** Think of song on the radio - by far the most common method of Melody Delivery is ___________________ *****
Some Examples of Different Melody Delivery....
Vocal Male
Vocal Female
Instrumental Saxophone
Instrumental Violin
Scream Singing
Foreign Language
Rap/Spoken
Vocal Female
Instrumental Saxophone
Instrumental Violin
Scream Singing
Foreign Language
Rap/Spoken
****Keep in mind that when dealing with vocal melody, there are two parts: The Lyrics + the Melody - I.E. the Melody is made up of the musical notes, and the lyrics words/poem set to that melody. *****
****If we take away the words, there would still be music that could be played on Saxophone, piano, ETC****
****If we take away the words, there would still be music that could be played on Saxophone, piano, ETC****
Discussion / Forum : Melody Delivery
Find examples of 5 different styles of melody delivery. You can only use "vocally sung" once ! (1) Give a link for the song/what to search for to find song , (2) describe the melody delivery, and (3) give a Genre for the example
Example:
1. Heavy Metal - Screamed Lyrics
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Example:
1. Heavy Metal - Screamed Lyrics
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5.