Study Guides

Unit Summary

Pupils learn about programmatic and descriptive music and how music can be used to set the scene. They compose a piece of music to accompany a story that includes a recurring motif and demonstrates an understanding of how key/chromatics and other musical elements can have an impact on the mood.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to compose a musical idea in C major which appropriately complements the beginning of a story.

Key Notes

• Composing music using notes of the major scale can create music with a postive and cheerful feel.
• Appropriate use of other elements such as pitch, tempo and timbre can also help to create the desired mood.
• When composing using a major scale, the home note is important in defining the feel of that scale.
• Composin an ostinato in C major.

Vocabulary To Learn

• ostinato: a repeated pattern
• major scale: a set of notes that sound bright and cheerful; the C major scale uses all the white notes on the keyboard
• home note: the main note in any key, often the note that the music will finish on; in C major, C is the home note

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• Using all the white notes is C major will sound cheerful

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Composing music for an extended story Study Guide
• Creating a sense of style Study Guide
• Creating scary music Study Guide
• Developing a motif Study Guide
• The effect of timbre Study Guide