Download Area of Study 03

Area of Study 03:
Texture and Melody
“Melody”
AQA GCSE Music
Areas of Study
• AoS 01: Rhythm and Metre
• AoS 02: Harmony and Tonality
• A0S 03: Texture and Melody
• AoS 04: Dynamics and Timbre
• AoS 05: Structure and Form
Melody
What is meant by Melody?
• A melody is a rhythmically organised pattern
of single notes arranged in succession, one
after the other. In melody the notes are
arranged horizontally (whereas in harmony
that are arranged vertically)
• Or…..THE TUNE
Melody
• Counter Melody – A second, less important
tune to support the main melody
• Pitch – how high or low the note is
• Scale – a group of notes played in ascending
or descending order
Melody cont…
• Interval – The gap in pitch between two notes
Perfect
Perfect
• Arpeggio – Playing the notes of a chord one by
one (bit like a broken chord)
Conjunct, Disjunct, Triadic and Scalic
• These are all different kinds of melodic note
patterns.
• Conjunct – notes in the melody move mainly by
step (they are mostly next to each other in pitch)
• Disjunct – moves mainly by leaps (big intervals
between the notes)
• Triadic – the melody begins by using notes that
belong to the triad (of chord) e.g. C E G (C Chord)
• Scalic – melody that is made up of notes that
follow the order of a particular scale
Different Scales
• Pentatonic scale – a five note scale. Often used in
Chinese, African and Celtic Folk melodies
• Whole Tone Scale – a scale made up of only whole
tones. E.g. C, D, E, F#, G#, A#
• Chromatic Scale – scale made up of semitones
• Passing notes are the notes in between the notes of
the accompanying chord.
• Blue notes the flattened notes in a Blues Scale. Often
slide up or down to these notes. They make a piece
sound ‘bluesy’.
e.g. - C, Bb, G, Gb, F, Eb, C
Melody Cont.
• Sequence – when a tune is repeated a step
higher (ascending sequence) or a step lower
(descending sequence).
• Pitch bend – bending the note on a guitar or
any string instrument/voice or
keyboard/synthesizer.
Repetition
• 3 Words for same meaning – just use the
correct word for the style of music
• Ostinato – Classical
• Riff – Popular music
• Loop – Electronic/technology based music
Ornamentation
• This is about decorating parts of the melody
• Trills – 2 notes that are next to each other
played rapidly
• 57 seconds and
beyond, shows
Trills being
used.
• All instruments
perform trills,
especially in
Baroque Music
Video 02
• Double Stopping -
Cont.
– This is when ‘2 notes are played at the same time (Two
strings at the same time). This is term only applies to string
instruments.
• 1 Min 20 Secs shows an
example of Double
Stopping
• There is extensive use of
this throughout the piece
• 1 Min 8 Secs – Pizzicato,
followed by staccato
bowed
Video 03
Tremolo
•
•
Another string effect, means, ‘trembling’ or ‘quivering’
Rapid up-and-down movements of the bow on the strings,
creating an agitated or shimmering effect
• Listen and look at the
opening to “Bruckner
Symphony 9”
• The Strings open the
piece, using a
Tremolo effect. Very
short bowing, but
very fast to capture
that shimmering
effect.
Video 5
Glissando
• Glissando (instruments)/ Portamento (voice) –
‘sliding’ between 2 notes.
Track 05
Rhapsody in Blues
• Listen to the
Slide at the
start by the
Clarinet – just
after the trill
On the next slide, look
at video of the guitar
playing a melody. It
focusses mainly on
using Glissando’s
(slides)
Video 04
Video 04
Articulation
• Articulation – how the notes are played:
• Staccato – short, detached notes (Spikey)
Staccato
Non-Staccato
(Legato)
• Legato – notes are played attached, smoothly
Legato
Sometimes
indicated by a ‘slur’
Played Staccato
Articulation cont.
• Pizzicato – Short, plucked notes on a stringed
instrument
• Con Arco –
Simply
means, use
of Bow
Video 01
This example
shows extensive
use of Pizzicato
Melody Cont.
• Phrase – a musical sentence (where you’d
naturally take a breath). Often 2, 4 or 8 bars
long. Indicated by a curved line above the
stave.
• Improvisation – when a player makes the
music up on the spot. In jazz/blues/pop
players will often improvise a solo –
commonly on a guitar/sax/trumpet/keyboard.