Pop Song Project

Pop Song Project

Name: ______

Teacher: ______

Riff

Definition: ______

______

______

______

Purpose: ______

______

Task

Play the following riffs on keyboard or tuned percussion.

Another One Bites the Dust (Queen)

Bounce (Calvin Harris)

Tainted Love (Soft Cell)

Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple)

Chasing Cars

Task 1

1. / 2. / 3.
4. / 5. / 6.

Listen to the following examples and state whether a riff is present in the music. If a riff is present, write down the name of the instrument playing the riff.

Task 2

Listen to this song by Bruno Mars and highlight the lyrics where you hear a riff present. Highlight the middle 8 using a separate colour.

Introduction

Well, lookie here, lookie here
Ah, what do we have?
Another pretty thang ready for me to grab

But little does she know
That I'm a wolf in sheep's clothing
'Cause at the end of the night
It is her I'll be holding

I love you so
That's what you'll say (that's what you'll say)
You'll tell me
Baby, baby, please don't go away(don't go away)
But when I play, I never stay (I'll never stay)

To every girl that I meet, yeah
This is what I say

Run, run, runaway, runaway, baby
Before I put my spell on you
You better get, get, get away, get away, darling
'Cause everything you heard is true

Your poor little heart will end up alone
'Cause Lord knows I'm a rolling stone
So you better run, run, run away, run away, baby

Well, let me think, let me think
Ah, what should I do?
So many eager young bunnies
That I'd like to pursue

Now even now they eating out
The palm of my hand
There's only one carrot
And they all gotta share it

I love you so
That's what you'll say (that's what you'll say)
You'll tell me
Baby, baby, please don't go away (don't go away)
But when I play, I never stay ( I'll never stay)

To every girl that I meet, yeah
This is what I say

Run, run, runaway, runaway, baby
Before I put my spell on you
You better get, get, getaway, getaway, darling
'Cause everything you heard is true

Your poor little heart will end up alone
'Cause Lord knows I'm a rolling stone
So you better run, run, runaway, runaway, baby

See I ain't try to hurt you, baby
No, no, I just wanna work you, baby, yup, yup
See I ain't try to hurt you, baby
No, no, I just wanna work you, baby

If you scared you better run
You better run, you better run
You better, you better, you better

Run, run, run away, run away, baby
Before I put my spell on you
You better get, get, get away, get away, darling
'Cause everything you heard is true

Your poor little heart will end up alone
'Cause lord knows I'm a rolling stone
So you better run, run, runaway, runaway, baby

Composing Task 1

You are now going to compose your own riff. Remember, a riff must be short and memorable for your listener. You should play your riff to your peers to judge how memorable it is. Remember to include a time signature.

Instrument: ______

Key of the music: ______

Guitar TAB (riff)

Composing Task 2

You are now going to listen back to your riff on the computer. Set up a score on Notion and input your riff to the computer. We will return to your riff later.

Evaluation

Pupil
Comments
Teacher/
Peer
Comments

Writing Chords

Task 3: Watch the video from Axis of Awesome on 4 chord songs and in the space below write down as many songs as you recognise.

______

Now think about the pieces that you are learning in class. Do any of these works use a repeated chord pattern? In the space below, write down the names of any songs you have learned which feature a repetitive chord structure and the chords used in that song. Find at least four songs by discussing your answers with your peers.

Title of Song / Chord Progression
Chasing Cars / A, E, D, A

Composing Task 3

Degrees of the scale / I / ii / iii / IV / V / vi / vii
Chord / m / m / m / dim
Notes of the chord

In the space below, write down the key of your riff, the scale associated with this key and the notes of the chord in each degree of that scale.

Key of my riff: ______

Composing Task 4

You will now compose an 8-bar chord progression using the chords found in the table above. You must:

·  Begin and end with chord I.

·  Use a mixture of major and minor chords.

·  End with a perfect cadence (V-I) to make the music sound finished.

Bar / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8
Chord

Cadences:

A perfect cadence (chord V-chord I) makes the music sound finished (like a full stop at the end of a sentence).

An imperfect cadence (chord IV-chord V) makes the music sound unfinished (like a question mark at the end of a sentence).

Evaluation

Pupil
Comments
Teacher/Peer
Comments

Accompaniment Patterns

You are now going to select an accompaniment style to input your chord progression into the computer using your template on Notion. Select an accompaniment style from below or compose your own using the manuscript provided.

Broken Chord I

Broken Chord II

Syncopated Chordal

Own style (optional)

Composing Task 5

Now input this template into Notion and change the pitches of the notes to match your chord sequence.

Instrument playing the accompaniment: ______

Evaluation

Pupil
Comments
Teacher/Peer
Comments

Adding a melody to your chord sequence

You are now ready to add your melody to the chords you have chosen. You can do this in a number of ways:

1.  Add a rhythm to each bar. Remember, each bar must add up to four beats. Your next step would then be giving each of your note heads a pitch using notes of the chord AND passing notes.

2.  Experiment with notes of the chord and passing notes of your chord sequence and invent a rhythm as you compose using these notes.

3.  Sing a melody over your chord sequence played back on the computer. Record this using a field recorded and notate the pitches onto the stave.

Task 4: Do melodies repeat?

Let’s look at the use of repetition in some of the melodies that you or your peers may have learned in class. Highlight the use of repetition on the scores shown below and comment on the structure of the music.

Comments: ______

______

______

Comments: ______

______

______

Comments: ______

______

______

Comments: ______

______

______

Composing Task 6

Write your eight bar melody in the space provided and insert it onto your template on Notion.

Instrument: ______

Evaluation

Pupil
Comments
Teacher/Peer
Comments

Counter-melody

Definition: ______

______

______

______

Step 1: Harmonise your melody

The first step is to harmonise your melody, demonstrating that you understand what notes are in your chosen chords. This will give you a template to work with.

·  Draw two minums (two beat notes) in each bar of your counter-melody.

·  Give each minum in your counter-melody a note of the chord which is different to the melody note played at the same time. For example, in bar 1 the first note of the counter-melody cannot be ‘g’ as there is a ‘g’ in the melody. Therefore, your options for the counter-melody are either ‘b’ or ‘d.’ It is up to you to choose the note that you think sounds best.

Step 2: Adding passing notes

The second step is to develop your counter-melody by adding passing notes.

·  Look for any instances where the notes of the counter-melody are a third apart (for example ‘b’-‘d’ in bar 1) and insert a passing note in between these. Remember to alter the rhythm accordingly so that there is always four beats in a bar.

·  Passing notes are non-harmony notes and so should generally by of a shorter rhythmical value to harmony notes.

Step 3: Developing the counter-melody

You now want to try and make your counter-melody sound more tuneful.

·  Play over your counter-melody and alter any pitches to improve the tune where you think it is necessary.

·  Add points of imitation into your counter-melody. For example, in bar 1 the rhythm of the first two beats of the melody are imitated in last two beats of the counter-melody. This pattern is continued in bar 2.

Step 4: Avoid vertical clashes

You should always listen back to your piece to ensure that you like how it sounds. Play your work to your classmates to evaluate your work.

·  If you hear any clashes between parts, check that there are no vertical clashes between the melody and the counter-melody. You cannot harmonise with two letter names which are adjacent in the alphabet written on top of each other. For example, if the first ‘b’ in the counter-melody lasted for two beats, it would clash with the first ‘a’ in the melody as it does in ‘Step 1.’ This is because we have the notes ‘a’ and ‘b’ playing at the same time. We have avoided this by placing a passing note in the counter-melody.

Composing Task 7

Write an 8 bar counter-melody to accompany your melody. You must follow steps 1-4, using notes of the chord, passing notes and points of imitation. Write your counter-melody in the space provided and input this into your template on Notion.

Instrument: ______

Evaluation

Pupil
Comments
Teacher/Peer
Comments

Adding a bass line

You will now add a bass line to your piece. Try experimenting with the different bass line patterns shown below. Remember, your final bass line must also include examples of passing notes.

1. Using the root of the chord

2. Using the root and 5th of the chord

3. Using the root, 3rd and 5th of the chord

4. Moving by step

5. Bass riff

Composition Task 8

Compose an 8 bar bass line to accompany your melody. You should write your bass line using the notes of the bass clef.

Notes of the bass clef follow a different set of rhymes to notes in the treble clef.

Notes on a space – All Cows Eat Grass

Notes on a line – Glasgow Buses Drive Fast Always

Write your bass line on the stave below and insert it

into your template on Notion.

Instrument: ______

Evaluation

Pupil
Comments
Teacher/Peer
Comments

Developing your melody

You are now going to write a further eight bars of music by developing your material. This can be done in a number of ways:

1. Sequence

Definition: ______

______

2. Modulation

Definition: ______

______

In bars 9-16 you may wish to use more minor chords than previously used (or vice versa with major chords!).

3. Developing rhythmic ideas

Take an interesting rhythm from bars 1-8 and continue to weave this into your melody.

4. Incorporate your initial riff into your melodic material.

Think about our previous analysis of Runaway Baby.

Composing Task 9

Write a further 8 bars showing evidence of developing your initial melody. You must include a bass line, counter-melody and accompaniment pattern, following the steps used to create bars 1-8. Create this on Notion (or on manuscript) print your work to staple onto your booklet.

Ways in which I have developed my melody in bars 9-12: ______

______

Evaluation

Pupil
Comments
Teacher/Peer
Comments

Returning to the riff

By this point you should have completed a 16 bar melody which demonstrates and understanding of:

·  Music notation (writing rhythms and pitches on the stave).

·  Keys signatures and how to work out the chords associated with a specific key.

·  Cadences (perfect and imperfect).

·  How to create an effective chord progression.

·  Harmony.

·  Passing notes.

·  Riffs.

·  How to develop a musical phrase using repetition, sequence, imitation and modulation.

·  Music ICT software (Notion).

Composing Task 10

You are now going to incorporate your riff into your score on Notion. You may have to change the pitches of the notes depending on your chosen chords. For example, the notes of the riff in Chasing Cars are slightly altered to fit the chords of the melody.

Evaluation of your piece as a whole

Pupil
Comments
Teacher/Peer
Comments

Rhythm Bank

On the beat

Off the beat/syncopated