Year 10 - Music
Combining melody and harmony
Fundamentals of composition
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit explores fundamental components of composition. It embeds and develops pupils' understanding of writing melodies, including idiomatic features and making a melody sound 'melodic'. It also explores effective writing of chord sequences, and how these intertwine with melodic writing.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to compose a melody that fits with your chord sequence, including the use of passing notes.
Key Notes
- Melody and harmony must use some of the same notes to sound musically coherent.
- Chord tones should form the basis of a melody.
- Passing notes can make a melody interesting and more 'melodic' by creating conjunct movement.
- Melodies should still follow a recognisable or repeated phrase pattern.
Vocabulary To Learn
- chord tone: any note that is included in a chord (e.g. a C chord has the chord tones C, E and G)
- phrases: a short section of a melody, often lasting 1, 2 or 4 bars
- passing notes: a non-chord tone that links two chord tones by step
- conjunct: a conjunct melody has small changes in pitch between one note and the next (moving by 'step')
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- A melody must be completely conjunct.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Melody and harmony must use some of the same notes to sound musically coherent. Chord tones should form the basis of a melody.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'chord tone'
any note that is included in a chord (e.g. a C chord has the chord tones C, E and G).
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: A melody must be completely conjunct. Correction: This is not true - great melodies often use disjunct movement. However, when learning to compose melodies, sticking to mostly conjunct movement and small intervals helps them to sound melodic.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 10 Music guide library.