Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Charatan and welcome to my lesson on how different melodies can work together.

We're going to start today with a warmup.

Firstly, I'd like you to repeat the rhythms after me.

Fantastic, you repeated those really well.

We are now going to challenge ourselves a bit more.

I'm going to clap rhythm and I'd like you to create a contrasting rhythm on top.

My rhythm is going to have long notes in it.

So you're rhythms needs to have short notes to go over the top of mine so it sounds different.

So if for example, my rhythm is going to be this.

And your rhythm might be something contrasting like this.

Let's have a go.

Here's my rhythm and I'm going to repeat it over and over again.

Can you pound top? Last time.

And stop.

Thank you very much.

Let's get started.

Okay, we're all warmed up and now it's time to get ready.

In this lesson you will need the following equipment.

You need a piece of paper, a pencil or something to write with as well as your voice an instrument or an app.

In terms of apps for the iPhone, I really like virtual piano it looks a bit like this.

And on Android there's something called perfect piano that you can use.

Or if you are on a desktop computer you can use online pianist.

Pause the video go and get those things ready now and see you back here in a minute.

We're going to start of by recapping on knowledge of the Baroque period.

We're then going to go on to explore countermelodies of Canon in D Johann Pachelbel.

We're then going to learn how to name pictures on a scale.

We will compose a countermelody of your own using the scale and then you're going to perform your countermelody with me or by yourself.

So let's have our recap.

Firstly, which texture was most common in the Baroque period? Say it now.

Excellent, polyphonic texture was the most popular texture.

What is polyphonic texture? Tell me now.

I hope you got that right.

Polyphonic texture is when we have lots of different layers happening at the same time.

And these layers all have roughly equal importance.

Look at these instruments below.

What are they? Can you label them? Excellent, here are these labels.

Now we need to narrow it down, which of these existed and were used to in a Baroque period.

Think about it now.

If this is too easy for you, can you think about how these instruments make a sound and are played? Okay, let's check your answers.

So we need to say goodbye to the clarinet and the piano.

This is because they were in the process of being invented.

So there was not, they were not featuring in concerts and pieces at that time.

So we have four instruments remaining.

There were many other Baroque instruments but these were some of the most important ones.

So we had the harpsichord which you may have heard of before.

The harpsichord makes a sound through plucking the strings with a mechanism, similar to the piano, but with plucking rather than hitting the strings.

The recorder we blow down the instrument, the file in, we use a bow.

You might want to notice if you're a violinist how is this bow different to the bow that maybe you use today? We'll come back to that in a moment.

And lastly, we have a trumpet again.

What is the difference between those two trumpets we can see in the picture.

So let's go back to the violin.

And that is a Baroque violin bow which is a little bit shorter and it would therefore make a slightly different sound.

And then for the trumpets we can see the one on the left has valves.

Things that you press down like this.

And the one on the right does not.

So the one on the right is a Baroque trumpet without valves.

Which means it can play slightly fewer notes.

We can see here a picture of a Baroque ensemble.

You might notice that they have their own parts to play beforehand, they would likely shared some music.

We can see another Baroque instrument there which has the lute.

And we can also see an instrument on the left-hand side which looks a little bit like a cello.

That is a base vile, which is a precursor to the cello.

Let's now think about dates.

What were the approximate dates of the Baroque period? Read through and choose in now.

Have you chosen? You were correct if you put 1600 to 1750, well done.

Now some things about Pachelbel's Canon, which key is it in? C major, C minor, D major or D minor? Have a think.

The correct answer is D major.

Therefore it is called Pachelbel's Canon in D.

What are the two sharps in D major? Take a look now and decide which of the correct answers.

You were correct, if you put F sharp and C sharp, well done.

Okay, we are now going to have another quick recap of some musical symbols.

Match these symbols below to the definitions.

Okay, are you ready? So on a top line with that blue line we have it played smoothly and this is called legato.

We play it like this.

And therefore at the bottom it's short and spiky and staccato played like this.

Okay, let's check where we are at.

We have already recapped our knowledge of the Baroque period, well done.

And now we're going to move on to explore counter melodies from Canon in D.

So we've got two melodies here.

Two questions for you.

What is a melody? And how did we describe melodies one and two.

I'm going to play you these melodies now to remind you about what they sounded like.

Okay, that should have given you lots of thinking time.

So let's now look at melody's one and two.

So we described melody one as it moving by step, melody two moves all by step, except from a small leap at the end.

They are both descending So going downwards by step.

So I'm going to introduce to you a new melody.

So firstly, looking at the score, looking at melody three what are the differences between melody one and two and melody three? Okay, just by looking at it you might already see that it moves in crotchets in one bit rather than in minims, which was two bits.

Let's now listen and see if we can hear any more differences.

Okay, did we hear any more? So we had some many more leaps than we had previously.

So before the other two melodies moved by step this moved by leaps and leaps of third and fifth and with a little bit of stepwise movement as well.

So we can see here with the arrow.

It is ascending and descending.

So the other two are only descending but this one goes up and down.

Let's now listen to the countermelodies in Pachelbel's Canon in D.

So again, can you spot when the countermelody comes in? What instrument plays it and how does the texture change when the countermelody comes in? Lets listen.

Pause the video and write down your answers to these questions.

If you need to listen to this one again, just rewind the video.

Great, let's go over these answers.

So hopefully you spotted when the counts melody came in it was after the first few seconds.

The viola first played the countermelody, and then the cello played it.

So countermelodies can be passed between different instruments.

The Viola, if you're not quite sure is like a bigger version of a violin.

So it was a little bit lower and a bit more mellow.

How does the texture change? So when we have more layers, it gets thicker, so it becomes much more polyphonic and busy.

We're now going to have a go playing these countermelodies on your instrument or singing them.

Before we play a melody it's really important that we know what notes we're going to play.

You can see that some notes missing on countermelody three.

Take a moment now to pause the video and fill in those missing notes, using face in a space and every good boy deserves football.

Great, let's check your answers.

Here were the notes, I hope you got them correct.

We are now going to learn the countermelody on your instrument.

If you have an instrument, go and get it now.

I'm going to show you on the keyboard but you're welcome to play on any instrument that you like.

I'm now going to show you how to play counter melodies three and five on the keyboard.

You need to first make sure that you've got the correct fingers on a correct starting note.

So I start to notice D B find this by finding a C then counting up to a D.

So it will be between two black notes.

And it says number one on our score, that means we use our first finger on it.

Make sure now that your fingers are over the keys, one, two, three, four, five and are nicely curved.

My hand looks a bit funny because of the webcam I need to play at a slight angle.

So you all should be looking a little bit more straight than mine.

Each note last one bit.

I'm going to play the first two bars for you.

Copy my fingers now.

So my hand plays, it stays in the same place.

I'm playing staccato, nice and attached.

But the second two bars I need to do something with my fingers.

So I go one on D, I put my hand over to play two on B, but to one, like this.

So I'm going from the final two bars from D, B, D one two, three four.

So now I'm going to play the whole counter melody.

You can play it with me.

I'm going to count you in one, two, three, four.

That is countermelody number three.

If this is too easy for you, let's try countermelody number five.

So I start on my second finger on F sharp.

So I find my F move up one to F sharp.

And I need my second finger which is this one.

Please be really careful with this one, because not all the notes are the same lengths as in countermelody three.

So we can need to make sure we count to four so we hold them on for long enough.

I'm going to play the first two bars for you.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

So you need to make sure that your two is on here and your one is on D.

I'm now going to play the last two bars.

These are a little bit more tricky.

So you need to make sure your fifth finger is on B up here.

And your third, here, on G.

One, two, three, four.

And then I got up to here, so a big stretch.

I don't use to stretch it, or I can just move.

And then get ready to go back to the beginning to be play round.

So I'm going to play this for you.

I'm going to count you in and you can pay with me if you like.

One, two, three, four.

And now I'm ready to come back to the beginning.

You're now going to pause the video to complete this task.

You will learn countermelody three on your voice, on your instrument or using technology.

You need to play with staccato articulation.

If it's too easy, try countermelody five which I showed you idea, or try paying countermelody one and two at the same time as the countermelody.

You could even try playing with legato and staccato articulation.

Pause the video now.

This task should take you about 10 minutes to complete.

Fantastic, I'm sure there was some wonderful playing of your new countermelody there.

So let's have a recap.

What is a countermelody? Choose your answer now.

You are correct it is a secondary melody, which goes with the main melody.

What other note values in melody three is it quavers, crochets or minims? Say you answer now.

Correct, if you said crochets, that last one beat.

And how do we play countermelody three? Is it legato or staccato? And what do these words mean? Say your answer now.

We played is staccato and that means detached and short as opposed to legato, which means to move.

So where have we got to? We have recapped our knowledge and explored countermelodies from Canon in D.

We're now going to learn how to name pitches and we're going to compose our own countermelody once we've labelled some pitches You're now going to pause the video to complete this task.

I want you to write down everything you remember about the D major scale.

So for example, how many shops do we have? What are they? How do we build the scale and how do we play the scale? Resume the video once you were finished? So what did we remember about the D major scale? It has two sharps, so well done to you if you remembered those, they are F sharp and C sharp.

And how do we build it? So we start on D and we work our way up the scale making sure we sharpen the F and the C.

It sounds like this, D, E H sharp, G, A, A, C sharp D.

You may have noticed I've numbered these letters of the scale.

So D is one going up to C sharp, which is seven.

You are now going to play this scale on your instrument and you're going to decide which notes are more important.

Is it number one, is it number four, number six.

Have some answers and tell me in a minute.

You're now going to pause the video to complete this task.

So what did we decide? Which notes were more important than the others? The most important notes are the following.

Number one is very important, that is D, and eyes on home note.

Number three is also very important 'cause that's what makes the scale sound major.

If I didn't have number three it wouldn't really sound major or minor.

The three makes it sound major or minor.

In this case major.

Number five is also really, really important.

'Cause number five helps us lead on to back to one when we look at cords.

So we have one, three and five are really important.

Number eight is important in its own way.

What note is number eight the same as? You're correct number eight is the same as number one.

They are an octave apart.

So we have a root, this is number one.

We have a third, this is number three because I count up D E F sharp one two, three.

The fifth is number five, that is A, and the octave is the distance between the low D here, and a high D up here.

It's the same note name, because it sounds the same, except one is higher than the other.

So here's the high one, here's the low one.

So that is how we labelled the notes in the scale.

These notes are really important because they help us make a deep major triad.

A triad is three notes played at the same time.

The triad has made up at the following notes.

Is made up of the root, which is D.

It is made up of the third which is F sharp.

And it's made it for the fifth which is a A.

That makes a triad.

And that is our D major triad.

D, F sharp and A.

So, why did these countermelodies fit so well together? The answer lies in what notes have been chosen for the countermelodies.

So we can see our first three notes are D, D and F sharp.

As you remember, D is our first our root note and a sharp is the third.

So therefore they sound good Together.

They sound consonant.

How do you see on spot any other D's and F sharps and A's which fits together in their score? Pause the video and take a minute to look.

Great, you may have spotted an F sharp here.

That also fits well.

And there's another instance of D, and A sharp and this time in A.

Sorry, later run in the score.

This would also fit together.

As we go through these melodies, we will notice even if not all, D I shop in a, they are all using triads.

The first, the third and the fifth of the scale.

This means they will sound good together.

And they wrote this down clashy.

So if we look at this green box here, so the first notes we have is D and F sharp And then we're now in the green box.

And this again is using one which is A three C sharp and then five which is E.

And that goes on in a very similar way throughout the piece.

So then we have a next, next green box looks like this.

And sounds like this.

And the next green box sounds like this.

And another green box sounds like this.

And they are all using first, third and the fifth.

And that means they sound really good together.

If I used the second, for example, it was sounds really clashy.

So if I put D and E together, it wouldn't sound very good and the countermelodies, wouldn't fit together.

You might see there are some notes which might clash.

So we've got A, C sharp and E while we've got G next to it.

You might think that means it doesn't fit together, but if the G just goes between other notes, it doesn't really matter.

It sounds like this if I play it completely.

A, G.

And we can hear that the G doesn't sound clashy.

So you need to make sure you're using your ears when you're create a countermelody.

'Cause that means that it can sound good together.

So let's have a quick recap.

What is the first degree in a scale called? What is the first note? Say it now.

Excellent, it's called a root.

How many notes are in a triad, showing your fingers now? Correct, it is three.

So triad, tricycle triangle that should give you a really good play.

What degrees of the scale do we use to make a major triad? Is it one, two, three, one, three, five, or one, five, eight? It is one, three and five.

One, three, five sounds like this.

One, two, three would sound horrible like this.

And one, five, eight wouldn't sound like a major triad 'cause we don't have three.

It sounds like a, quite an empty cord.

What is the gap between these two notes called? So we have a D, and a high D.

Choose your answer now? Correct, it is an octave.

You are now going to create a countermelody to go with melody one.

We need to now look at the notes in melody one and decide what notes will go and match well with them.

So let's find a D because we know what notes fit well with D.

If we can find one here, what notes fit well with D? Correct, it's an F sharp and an A because that's the third and the fifth of the scale.

So any of these notes will fit well with the D.

Let's know find so other notes that we know what fits with them.

So we've got an F sharp and we've got an A.

So for F sharp, we've got a D and an A that fit well.

And for this A, an F sharp and a D that fit well.

So we have got the fast scaffold of our countermelody.

So I'm going to start with my F sharp.

And I think I'm going to choose an A, to be the fascinate of my countermelody.

That fits really, really well.

But now we need to decide what to do with this E.

So I'm going to play an E and I can use my ear to work out what note fits well with it.

It's not going to be one next to E, 'cause it will sound really clashy.

So I might choose, I might choose it an A.

And it's okay to sit on the same note.

For D, I can, might choose an F sharp.

So this now sounds like my countermelody.

I have A, A, an F sharp.

Together with melody one sounds like this.

That's a bit boring and I might want to add a passing note in between.

So for example, I've got an A.

And I might add a G here going down to the F sharp.

So it'll sound like this fluently.

I could even try and repeat that pattern.

So my countermelody sounds like this.

So I've used a combination of my musical ear as well as my knowledge about what notes fit well with the melody one.

So on here are some more pointers for you on what notes fit well and what ones you can choose.

You've now got two options.

If you're capable and can play both of the melodies at once, melody one and new countermelody, please do that.

If you just want to create a countermelody, you can test it against my melody later to check that it fits.

In a moment you're going to pause the video to complete this task.

You're going to create your own countermelody that goes with melody one.

You can use your voice your own instrument or technology, like an app.

You're going to use minims and crochets particularly crochets 'cause that's going to contrast with melody one.

If you find it too easy you can think about using even shorter note values like quavers or compose more than one countermelody.

When you think you have finished, resume the video to test it against melody one.

Great, you're now ready to perform your countermelody but first you might want to check it works with melody one.

I'm going to play melody one now and you're going to play your countermelody with me and check that it fits.

If it sounds good, move on, if it doesn't sound good I'm going to give you further instructions.

One, two, three, four.

If that sounded harmonious and consonant without clashing notes, then you're ready to move on and do a full performance with me.

If you have some notes, which sounds a bit like this.

a lot of the time, or need some more practise, that's fine.

Just rewind me or go back to two slides before and look at those notes that go with melody one and have another try.

Your final checklist.

Let's look at this now.

So does it fit with melody one? How does it fit together? Does it sound really pleasing or does it sound a bit clashy? But it sounds a bit clashy you might want to revisit and edit some parts of it.

Why have you used minims and crochets for your melody? How do you know that you can play it fluently? So, firstly see that purple box.

Why do you use minims and crochets? That's because it's going to contrast with melody one.

'Cause we want it to be different and stand out.

You will know that you can play it fluently by not stopping and starting when you're playing it and knowing it off by heart.

It's now time for your final performance.

So you've got two options.

You might want to play it by yourself with melody one.

That's fine.

Particularly if you could play the piano with both hands.

The other option is to play in time with me.

You're going to pause the video, to create this task, to complete this task and decide which option you're going to do.

Have one final practise and you're ready to perform to your friends and family at home.

Great, are we ready for our final performance? I'm going to count you in and you're going to play your count, your countermelody on top of me playing melody one the ground base.

Let's go one, two, three, four.

One more time.

Excellent, I hope there's someone around you giving you a big round of applause.

Let's now revisit our key question from the beginning of the lesson.

How can different melodies work together? Choose the correct options from the choices below, pause the video and resume when you're ready.

Great, let's check your answers.

So I'm going to remove the ones that are not correct.

So we're left with the ones that are correct.

I'll briefly explain why, so that you know why these are the incorrect answers.

So using the same instruments is not correct.

That is because, it doesn't matter what the instruments are.

We need to look mainly at what the notes are.

Okay, the instrument doesn't make much difference whether the melodies fit together or not.

Using the same notes lengths is also incorrect because then we use the same lengths, the melodies, are not going to work that well together because they're going to sound too similar.

Using notes that are next to each other is also incorrect because if we're using notes which are right next to each other it's going to sound really clashy like this.

Finally having the same melodic shape is not always going to make the melody to work well because they're going against some too similar.

Creating a countermelody is all about contrast.

And we can create contrast by using notes that are from the same scale.

That means they're going to fit, by using different note lengths, I'm using notes one, three, and five of the chord.

That means they're going to sound good together.

Having a contrasting melodic shape will also create a really nice bit of contrast for your melody.

Well done for completing today's lesson.

If you'd like to, you can share your work with Oak National.

You should ask you a parent or carer to share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging Oak national and using the hashtag #LearnwithOak.

You have done some fantastic work today.

Don't forget to show how much you have learnt by completing the quiz.

Well done for your hard work, take care and see you next time.