Lesson video

Hello and welcome to lesson four, the Introduction to Keyboard Playing unit from the Oak National Academy.

Today's lesson is called "Adding an Accompaniment to a Melody." My name's Miss Ogunjobi, and let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you should be able to play the melody of "Ode to Joy" with an accompaniment in your left hand.

Our keywords for today's lesson are accompaniment, semibreve, and system.

An accompaniment is a part in the music that supports the melody.

On the keyboard, the accompaniment is usually played with the left hand, while the melody is usually played with the right hand.

A semibreve is an example of a note value that lasts four beats long.

And a system represents all the instruments that play at the same time on a score.

Each instrument gets their own stave.

Some instruments get more than one stave.

In the first part of today's lesson, we're going to be learning how to use semibreves to create an accompaniment for a melody line.

Written out below is the first phrase of the accompaniment for "Ode to Joy".

It features the new rhythmic component we've just been talking about, the semibreve.

A semibreve means that you hold the note for four beats long.

We can identify a semibreve because it has no stem and its note head is hollow.

Below we have a rhythm that incorporates semibreves, crotchets, and minims. Go to the slide deck and click the watch button to have a listen to what this rhythm sounds like.

Now, have a go at clapping the following rhythms over a backing track.

Go to the slide deck and click the listen button to clap along.

It's time for our first check for understanding.

Name this note and its length.

Is the answer A, this is a semibreve and it lasts for two beats? B, this is a minim and it lasts for four beats? C, this is a semibreve and it lasts for four beats? Or D, this is a quaver and it lasts for half a beat? Pause the video now to answer.

Well done if you correctly chose C.

This note is a semibreve and it lasts for four beats.

We can identify that it's a semibreve because it has no stem and its note head is hollow.

Next question, match the durations to the correct note symbols.

Pause the video to answer.

Here's what your answer should have looked like.

Up until now, we've been using our right hand to play the melody line of "Ode to Joy", but when playing the accompaniment, we need to use our left hand.

The numbering system works the same with your thumb being one and your little finger being five.

Have a listen to the accompaniment that's played alongside the melody for "Ode to Joy".

The accompaniment is played with the left hand on the lower end of the keyboard.

The further left you go on the keyboard, the lower the notes will be.

<v Narrator>1, 2, 3, 4.

</v> ("Ode to Joy") <v ->Time for another check for understanding.

</v> Which finger on the left hand plays C? Is the answer A, 1? B, 2? Or C, 5? Pause the video now to answer.

If you chose C, you'd be correct.

In our left hand, C is played by our little finger, which is represented by the number five.

Next question, have a look at the diagram on the screen.

True or false, is the note highlighted a low pitched C? Pause the video now to answer.

Well done if you answered true.

This is a low pitched C.

Now, let's justify the answer.

Is it a low pitched C because A, it's the note left of the two black keys or because B, it's on the left hand side of the keyboard? The correct answer was B.

The further left we go down the keyboard, the lower the notes get in pitch.

In a moment, we're gonna have a go at playing the accompaniment for "Ode to Joy".

In order to be successful when we do this, there are a few things we need to note.

When playing on our left hand, we're going to be using our first and our fifth fingers so our thumb and our little finger to play the notes.

Each semibreve is worth four beats long and each minim is worth two beats long so make sure you count for the right length of time.

Have a go now at practising to play the accompaniment for "Ode to Joy".

Use the finger prompts and the notes to help you figure out which note to play.

In a moment, we're gonna watch a performance of the first two phrases of the accompaniment for "Ode to Joy".

As you watch, have a go at answering the following questions.

Is the tempo the player has chosen suitable for the performance? And are the rhythm and pictures they are playing accurate? (bright piano music) Let's discuss what we just watched.

As we could hear, the notes that the player used were in the correct order, but the tempo they chose to play at was way fast, meaning that they weren't able to hold the note to the correct lengths.

It would've been really hard for them to fit the melody on top of this accompaniment at this tempo.

Congratulations on completing the first half of this lesson.

In the second half of this lesson, we're going to be working on performing the melody and accompaniment of "Ode to Joy" together.

Here's a score of the melody and the accompaniment together.

We can see that both lines move along at the same time, and each of these blocks of two lines is what we refer to as a system.

Watch the video and listen out for the pulse of four beats in a bar and the left hand playing on beat one, so it's in time With the melody above it.

Go to the slide deck and click the watch button.

Time for another check for understanding.

How many systems can you see in this score? Is the answer A, 2? B, 4? Or C, 8? Pause the video now to answer.

If you chose A, you'd be correct.

There are two systems on display in this score.

Each system is made up of two lines, one for the melody line and one for the accompaniment.

Next question, complete the following sentence.

In the first phrase, the accompaniment always plays on beat.

Is the answer A, 3? B, 4? Or C, 1? Pause the video now to answer.

If you chose C, well done.

You're correct.

The accompaniment always starts on beat one of each bar.

We're now going to move on to your final performance task.

You have three options.

You can either perform the melody with a focus on expression using dynamics, tempo, and good phrasing.

This would include things like emphasising the first beat of each bar and phrasing off by playing the last bar of each phrase slightly quieter.

You can perform in a pair with one person playing the melody and the other person playing the accompaniment.

The person playing the melody would play with their right hand and the person playing the accompaniment would play with their left.

Or you can try and perform with both hands, playing the melody in the right hand and the accompaniment in the left hand yourself.

Have a go at one of these tasks.

You can use the number prompts and the notes to help you figure out which notes to play.

Remember to play at a slow tempo to minimise the amount of mistakes and to help you play evenly.

Let's have a listen to these two performances of "Ode to Joy".

As you listen to each, think about the following questions.

Did the player play with a steady pulse? Was the tempo they chose suitable for the performance? How did they use dynamics in their performance? And overall, was the performance enjoyable to listen to and why? Go to the slide deck and click on the listen button for each performance.

In the first performance, the player was able to play at a fast tempo while still keeping a steady pulse.

They were also able to use expressive techniques such as dynamics, shown by the way they started the third phrase quietly and gradually got louder throughout.

The rhythms they played and the notes they played were both accurate.

The last note could have been played slightly longer to help create a suitable ending for the performance.

In the second performance, the player wasn't always able to keep a steady pulse.

They played the notes accurately.

However, they would've made their performance more enjoyable by playing it as a slower tempo with a consistent pulse.

They also didn't use many expressive techniques such as dynamics, as the volume was pretty much loud throughout.

The notes also were slightly disjointed.

Let's summarise what we've learned today.

Melodies often have an accompaniment that's lower in pitch than them.

On a keyboard, the further left you go, the lower the notes get.

Simple accompaniments often use semibreves in their rhythms. These notes last four beats long.

Semibreves can be identified by their lack of stem and their hollow note head.

You can play the melody and accompaniment for a piece of music together from a score.

In a score, the melody and accompaniment will be paired into systems. Congratulations on completing lesson four and on completing this unit.