Year 10 - Music
Creating a 16-bar melody
Fundamentals of composition: extended
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Unit Summary
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Lesson Summary
You will learn to write an effectively structured 16-bar melody and chord sequence.
Key Notes
- A typical 16-bar classical melody has a contrasting section of harmony and melody in bars 9-12.
- This usually ends with chord V, creating an imperfect cadence.
- The melody and harmony in bar 13-16 typically copy bar 5-8, ending with a perfect cadence.
- An anacrusis is an interesting melodic feature that can help to make a melody sound more unique and interesting.
Vocabulary To Learn
- tonic: chord I, which feels finished
- dominant: chord V, which feels unfinished
- imperfect cadence: where part of a chord sequence finishes on the dominant chord (V), which feels unfinished
- anacrusis: when a melody starts before the downbeat (beat 1)
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- There are no 'rules' for writing a chord sequence.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
A typical 16-bar classical melody has a contrasting section of harmony and melody in bars 9-12. This usually ends with chord V, creating an imperfect cadence.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'tonic'
chord I, which feels finished.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: There are no 'rules' for writing a chord sequence. Correction: While to some extent this is true, in Western classical music there are very typical patterns that are used very regularly. These include the position of perfect and imperfect cadences, and what the chords do throughout the 16 bars.
More Lessons In This Unit
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