Speed Composing Challenge ii

Roll up people, welcome to round two of your speed composing challenge. Following on from last weeks excellent work, today we will be completing another speed composing task, but this time with a tighter time restriction.

The purpose of this work is to help polish up your sequencing skills and speed up workflow, our aim is to enable you to be able to realise your compositional ideas more quickly and therefore have a more flowing compositional experience..

So for todays SPEED COMPOSING CHALLENGE:


RHYTHM TRACK - 5 MINUTES
1. Create a new GB project - call it SPEED COMPOSING TWO
2. First choose a new tempo - NOT 120 BPM (the default GB tempo).
3. You have 5 minutes to create a one bar DRUM KIT RHYTHM GROOVE
4. Copy (not loop) for four bars.
5. In bar 4 create a stylistically appropriate DRUM FILL.
6. Copy this four bar so that you have a total of 8 BARS.


NOW MOVE ON THREE WORKSTATIONS TO THE RIGHT


HARMONY - 10 MINUTES
1. Add a harmony part - this can be any keyboard instrument or guitar. The sequence should last 4 BARS, so this will be a three or four chord sequence. Remember that if you choose a three chord sequence one of the three chords must last for two bars.
2. Create a contrasting chord sequence to fill the next four bars.
3. Add a bassline to accompany both chord sequences.

NOW MOVE ON THREE WORKSTATIONS TO THE RIGHT


MELODY - 10 MINUTES
1. Add a melody to the both chord sequences. You can use any instrument that is stylistically appropriate.


STOP!


NOW HAVE A LISTEN TO ALL YOUR FABULOUS COMPOSITIONS AND EVALUATE YOUR SUCCESS AND AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Brass Instruments

 These are brass instruments. Trumpets, French Horn, Trombone, Tuba (in the middle). Tuba has the lowest pitch. Get used to the sound. Oh, and this is a brass quintet (5 brass instruments). Brass instruments might use a mute to change the sound. Watch this to see how they work, and how the sound (or timbre) is different.

String instruments

String Instruments consist of:

Violin

Viola (violin on left, viola on right)

Cello

Double Bass (this is the main situation you will come across a double bass - pizzicato bass line)

The ensembles they can be found in are an orchestra or a string quartet.

A string quartet consists of 2 violins, a viola and a cello (no double bass).

Playing techniques: Pizzicato (plucked), Arco (with a bow), tremelo.

Now look at this video - all the playing techniques in a string quartet. Can you recorgnise the sound of each instrument?

Percussion Instruments

Please watch this video to gain an idea about percussion instruments in the orchestra

Woodwind instruments

The main instruments to be able to recognise:

Flute

Clarinet

Oboe

Saxophone

The main playing technique is for the flute - flutter tongue.

World Music Instruments

Today you will be working in groups to find out about some of leading musical lights in the World Music. You will work in small groups to find out key information about each group/artist.

You will create a short google doc powerpoint presentation. Which must include the following elements:

1. What musical style are/were they associated with? Include a brief (no more than 100 words) description of the style.
2. What was their instrument/s? provide a brief description of unusual instruments..include photos
3. What other instruments are associated with that style?
4. Where is this music from?
5. What is the context of this style? i.e. is it dance music? for religious ceremony etc.
6. Please include a youtube link to a typical recording
7. Include information about the typical musical aspects of each style to include something about:

• RHYTHM - tempos, time signatures, grooves
• HARMONY - tonality (major/minor), typical chord progressions etc
• MELODY - scales used, melodic shape, use improvisation etc
• TEXTURE - how are groups of instruments used?

You will have 30 minutes to prepare your presentation which must be no longer than 3 minutes.

The artists/groups:

1. Beuna Vista Social Club

2. Mighty Sparrow

3. Juan Luis Guerra

4. Toumani Diabaté

5. Thomas Mapfumo

6. Fela Anikulapo Kuti

7. Ravi Shankar

8. Ali Akbar Khan


Reliable web research places include:
BBC
National Geographic (http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/)

Notation 2 lesson

During the lesson your 4/4 chord sequence is going to be:

Am / / / - F / / / - C / / / - G / / / 

Your first task is to write out a bass line in notation to accompany this sequence. The bass line must include root notes on the first beat of each bar. You might also include octaves (above) and the fifth of each chord (i.e. for A minor the fifth is E).

BASS LINES

If you need a reminder of the notes in bass clef for a bass guitar, please see below:

GUITAR MELODIES

For your melody lines, the A minor pentatonic scale is below: