Contrast in grunge

Welcome to the fifth lesson in our Sound of '90s Grunge unit. My name is Mr. Norris. This lesson is entitled Contrast in Grunge, and again, we're gonna be working on our composition skills here, composition skills that will help us with this specific composition, but also more broadly at developing our composition in other styles as well. So today, that focus is really gonna be on how we build contrast into a composition. Our outcome for today is that I can add contrast to my grunge composition through development of a verse and middle 8. So those are the sections that we're gonna be really focusing in on. Our keywords for today's lesson. Musical contrast is the first one. When two sections or musical ideas sound different from each other, we refer to this as musical contrast. Middle 8 is our second key word, and the middle 8 is a section in a song that contrasts with a verse and chorus. It's often eight bars long. That word often is important there, but not always. And then finally, harmonic rhythm. The speed at which chords change in a chord sequence is called the harmonic rhythm. So as we go through this lesson, we'll be building our understanding of these concepts through our composition tasks. The first part of our lesson then is contrast in grunge. Let's delve into it. Songwriters in most pop and rock styles use a balance of musical contrast and repetition to create both interest and familiarity. So songwriters have to find this balance between repeating ideas and using different musical ideas, and that's always a consideration of composers and songwriters in most styles, really. Contrast is created through using different instrumentation, changing texture, changing dynamics, varying the drumbeat, and using different rhythms. So there's lots of different ways we can create this contrast. We're gonna listen now to the verse and chorus of a grunge song. I'd like firstly to think about describing the difference in mood. So how would you describe the mood of the two sections? And then think about how do the songwriters create this contrast musically, so what musical techniques and tools do they use to reemphasize the contrast between the sections? So you can pause my video and have a listen to those clips now. Let's look at that then. Many grunge songs are based on themes of intense emotions. So the musical contrast lends itself to expressing these contrasting emotions. If we have real extremes of emotion in the lyrics, then the music wants to reflect those emotions, those extremes of emotion. In this song, the mood was much more intense and angry and energetic in the chorus of this song. And because of this, the music was louder, the guitar played chords with distortion and the distorted sound, and the drumbeat was more complex. So all of these three features, the dynamics, the timbre, that's the sound on the guitar, and the rhythms on the drums, all of these created this much more energetic, sort of intense feeling, and that matched the lyrics and the mood of the chorus. And this is really common in grunge, where we have this real difference between the verse and the chorus in terms of mood, and therefore, the musical features that go with it. Now, the middle 8 is a section that always contrasts with the verse and chorus. In our standard verse-chorus form, it appears towards the end. So if this is our bog-standard verse-chorus form, where we have an intro and an outro at starting the end, alternating verses and choruses, our middle 8 appears not necessarily in the middle, but towards the end usually, and although it is normally eight bars long, that's why it's called a middle 8, it can be a different length, and often, that'll be 16 bars. There are many different ways to create musical contrast between different sections of music. We're gonna listen now to the verse and the middle 8 of a song. I'd like you to pause my video in a second, and you're gonna listen to both clips and try and identify how does the middle 8 contrast with the verse in this grunge song? So think about those musical features that we were just discussing. How does the middle 8 contrast? So pause my video and have a listen. There are a few ways that it contrasts. The middle 8 is more energetic and has higher-pitched vocals. The guitar sound is distorted, which contrasts with the verse, it uses different chords and different rhythms, and it has a different drumbeat with more fills. So there are loads of differences there, and the middle 8 is often the most contrasting section of a piece of music. It really contrasts with the verse and with the chorus. Let's check your understanding then. So which of these does not describe a middle 8? It contrasts with the verse and chorus. It is typically eight bars long, but can be longer. It is always exactly in the middle of a song. So I'll give you a few seconds to work out which of those does not describe a middle 8. The correct answer then is C, it is always exactly in the middle of a song. That's not correct because normally, it comes towards the end of a song and it is not gonna be exactly in the middle. So in some ways, its name is a little bit misleading. Don't be thrown off by that. For option A, it contrasts with the verse and chorus, well, a middle 8 always contrasts with the verse and chorus. And for B, it is typically eight bars long, but can be longer. That is correct, it could be 16 bars, but usually you would expect it to be eight bars long. Very well done if you correctly identified C as the correct answer there. Which three of the following can be used to create effective musical contrast in the middle 8? A, a changing guitar sound, such as added distortion, B, a different drumbeat with extra fills, C, a change in tempo or D, different chords? So which three can be useful to create effective musical contrast in the middle 8? I'll give you a few seconds to work out those three answers. Just a few seconds left. And let's have a look at our answers then. So the correct answers are A, B, and D. A changing guitar sound, such as added distortion, is an effective way to create contrast, definitely, a different drumbeat with extra fills is another good way of creating contrast and using different chords, although still within the same key, is also a good way of creating musical contrast. It's unlikely that you'd have a change in tempo, and generally, in pop and rock songs, we don't tend to have many changes in tempo during a song. So that'd be not a common or effective way to create contrast in a middle 8. Songwriters can create contrast through changing the harmonic rhythm, and this is how quickly the chords change. If the chord changes every bar, we would say there's a harmonic rhythm of one bar, or in this case, we could say four beats 'cause that's the same thing. So in this example, we can see there's one chord in each bar and the chord changes at the start of each bar, so the harmonic rhythm is one bar because that's how often the chords change. Have a look at this example here. Can you work out what the harmonic rhythm is here? So how often do the chords change? I'll give you a few seconds, see if you can work that one out. In this example then, we would say there was a harmonic rhythm of two beats because the chords change every two beats. So that contrasts with the previous example, where we had a harmonic rhythm of four beats because the chords changed every four beats. There are two clips here, and in a second, you're gonna pause my video, I'd like to listen to the two clips and try and work out the harmonic rhythm of each, so listen to how often chords change in the two clips, and be aware that these two songs have quite a different tempo, so make sure you count in the beat first, count in the pulse, and then working out how often the chords change. Pause my video and give that your best shot. Let's look at the answers then. So in the first clip, the chords change once every bar, or four beats, so this clip has a harmonic rhythm of one bar. And in that one, the tempo is quite fast, so it might feel like the chords are changing quite often, but because it's a fast tempo, it is a harmonic rhythm of one bar. In the second clip, the chords change every two beats, so this clip has a harmonic rhythm of two beats, we would say. And then this one, the tempo is slightly slower, so you had to really make sure you were counting the pulse to get the answer correct. Brilliant effort if you managed to get one or both of those 'cause it's not an easy skill to pick out the chord changes on first listening like that. Let's check your understanding of that then. So what is the harmonic rhythm of a section? Is it how many chords are used, how many times each chord is played, how fast the chords change, or how fast each chord is repeated? I'll give you a few seconds to work out the definition of harmonic rhythm. So the correct answer here would be C. The harmonic rhythm is how fast the chords change, how often the chords change. So we might say harmonic rhythm of one bar is when the chords change every bar. So it's time for task A. For this, we're gonna listen to a few clips. Question one, you're gonna listen to the chorus Of a grunge song and you're gonna answer the two questions. How often do the chords change? And then you're gonna fill in the blank, "therefore, there's a harmonic rhythm of," what? Is it harmonic rhythm of one bar, two beats, one beats, six beats? Try and work that out and fill in the blank based on your answer to question A. For question two, you're gonna listen to the chorus again, and you're also gonna listen to the verse, and give it a couple of listenings to make sure that you can really answer this well. I'd like you to list three ways that the verse contrasts with the chorus. Consider dynamics, pitch, instruments and the the sounds that are produced on those instruments, chords, and rhythm. So see if you can come up with three contrasts between the verse and chorus. So you can pause my video now, listen to these clips, and complete question one and question two. Good luck. Let's go through some answers then. So in the first clip, the chords change every two beats, therefore, we'd say there's a harmonic rhythm of two beats. Really good effort if you manage to identify that. It takes a bit of practise to get used to listening for chord changes, so cracking effort if you've got that one there. Question two, there are lots of ways that the verse and chorus contrast, but some of the main ones are these. "The verse melody is lower-pitched, dynamics are quieter, there's no electric guitar, and it uses different chords from the chorus. In the chorus, the singing is more energetic, there are faster rhythms and louder dynamics in the drum kit and the electric guitar is much more prominent in the chorus." So really well done if you picked up on a few of those contrasts there. There's some really typical tools there for creating contrast. For the second part of the lesson, we're gonna focus on creating a verse. When we're creating a verse for our grunge piece, the process is the same as composing the chorus. We compose a riff based on power chords, we add a bassline using the root note of each chord, and then we create a melody using the A minor scale. So the exact same three steps for creating a verse. The ideas should contrast in some way. Can you think of any ways we might create that contrast? Have a few seconds. Let's look at a few. We can create contrast by playing the chords in a different order, using a different harmonic rhythm, so changing how often the chords change, using a different rhythm in the bassline, adding a different melody, changing the guitar sound, so like using distortion or not, and there are many other ways we can do it as well. We're now gonna watch a video, and this shows us how to create a riff and bassline for our verse. Here we go. To create a riff and bassline for the verse, I'm gonna follow the exact same process that I did when I did it for the chorus. So I'm gonna start by using some power chords to create my riff, then I'm gonna make my bassline based on that. I've got my A power chord, C, D, E, F, and G, and they're all the same shape with the root note and the fifth above them. I'm gonna improvise a two-bar riff until I get something I like, and that's the first step. So I've created a new guitar track, and let's see what I can come up with. Let's loop a couple of bars. (intense rock music) This is for my verse. It's gonna contrast with the chorus. (intense rock music) So there's a few different ideas there. I've got one I like, so I'm gonna record it in. (intense rock music) You'll notice I'm trying to create a contrasting riff compared to my chorus. I'm gonna quickly quantize it, I'm gonna loop it for my verse, then I'm gonna choose a suitable, distorted guitar sounds that I want to use for that, and that's that riff done. I've now created a suitably distorted guitar sound, so I found an electric guitar that I like and I'm just gonna create now a bassline based on that riff. Now, when we did this before, we took the root note of each chord and we had a suitable bass guitar, so the root notes of my chords will be for these power chords I've used here, E, F, and D, and you remember we added some extra rhythm as well. So rather than just sustaining all the notes, we can add a little bit of a faster rhythm, maybe some quavers or some crotchets. Let's see what can come up with, and let's record in the bassline. (intense rock music) So I did E, F, and then D, the root notes for my power chords, but I added a few extra notes at the end of that bassline there. Let's just listen to the bass and the guitar together. (intense rock music) So now, my first section altogether so far. (intense rock music) And then it's back into my chorus. Now, let's watch one that shows us how to create a melody for the verse. So we've done a riff and a bassline. Now, it's have a look at writing a melody. Now I'm gonna create a melody for my verse using the exact same process that I did with my chorus. So I'm gonna improvise some two-bar phrases, record them, and then combine them into an effective phrase structure. Let's put this section of my verse on loop, and I'm gonna have a go create some two-bar phrases. You'll notice here I've chosen a contrasting electric guitar sound so that it really does contrast with the character of the chorus, so this is a slightly less-distorted, less-powerful guitar sound that I'm using here. Let's see what I can come up with. (intense rock music) So I've got a few there I'm gonna a go at recording. Here's my first one. (intense rock music) That's my first one. I can record another one. (intense rock music) Similar but slightly different, and then maybe let's do one more. (intense rock music) So we've got three phrases there. Now, I'm just gonna combine them in a structure that has a bit of repetition and a bit of contrast. So I'll maybe start with my first one, that can be my A, then I'll go for B, and maybe here, I'll do an A-B-A-B structure so I can just copy both of those. So now I've got A-B-A-B, I can combine them together, and let's have a listen to my verse section now. (intense rock music) And then the final thing to do with my verse is I'm gonna copy and paste this riff, bass, and melody into my other verse at bar 25. So now I've got an intro, which I need to do, I've got verse, chorus, verse, chorus, a middle 8, which I need to do, chorus, and then my outro. That's shown us then how we can create a bassline, a riff, and a melody for our verse. We're now gonna listen to an example of a chorus and three different examples of a verse. I would like to know which of these verses creates the best contrast with the chorus and why. So here's the chorus. (intense rock music) Now, let's listen to the first example of a verse, and remember, we're trying to pick out from these three which creates the best contrast and why. Here's the first one. (intense rock music) Here's the second example. (intense rock music) Here's the third one, so which of the three creates the best contrast? Here's our third one. (intense rock music) Okay, so I'll give you a few seconds to have a think, and then we'll talk through it. We'd probably say here there that the second example has the most contrast, as the guitar sound is not distorted and the drum rhythm is less complex. Let's just compare the two again. So here's a little bit of our chorus. (intense rock music) So it's got a really distorted guitar sound and it's got quite a complex, high-energy drumbeat. If we now listen to example two of the verses, (intense rock music) we can hear that there's a very contrasting guitar sound and that the drum kit is playing a much gentler, much less energetic drumbeat as well. So there's contrast in those two aspects, even though the notes are the exact same. So that demonstrates how we can create contrast just through use of the drumbeat and through the use of different guitar timbres, different guitar sounds. Let's check your understanding of that. So I'd like you to suggest four ways we can create musical contrast between the chorus and the verse. Pause my video, come up with your answers, and then when you're ready, unpause it. Here are a few possible answers then. Playing the chords in a different order, using a different harmonic rhythm, using a different rhythm in the bassline or the drums, so changing the drum beat, adding a different melody, or using a different guitar sound, different timbre. There are other ways we can create contrast as well, but those are some of the most common and most useful ones. So really well done if you picked up on any of those. For task B, you're gonna compose a verse for your grunge composition. The steps to take are, first of all, create a power chord riff, choosing from the power chords, A, C, D, E, F, and G. Remember that a power chord has two notes, the root, and the fifth of each chord. Create a bassline using the root note of each power chord, adding some additional rhythms, so remember that we make the bassline more interesting by repeating notes and changing the rhythms in the bassline rather than just sustaining each note. Create a melody in A minor using an effective phrase structure, so balancing, repetition, and contrast in your melody. And then copy the verse so it fill both the first and second verses in the overall structure. The most important thing here that we're going for is to ensure there's contrast between the sections. So one way you can achieve that is by using a different harmonic rhythm, so changing how often the chords change. So now we've got those steps, you can pause my video, have a go at composing a verse for your composition. Good look. For the second part of task B, we're gonna listen to a chorus and a verse. I'd like to know what could this composer do to create even greater contrast between the two sections? Here's the chorus. (intense rock music) And here's our verse, so how could the composer create even greater contrast? Here we go. (intense rock music) So pause my video, see if you can come up with an answer to that one. Here's some possible answers then. The composer could vary the instrumentation so there are different timbres and textures in one of the sections. It can also vary the harmonic rhythm so there was a greater contrast between them. So there's two ways. There are other ways that that composer can create contrast. Really well done if you picked up on some of those. Now, let's move on to the final part of this lesson, which is creating a middle 8. We can also create a middle 8 for our grunge piece with a similar process to what we've already used. We're gonna watch a video that shows us how to do this, and you'll notice it follows very similar steps to creating a verse and a chorus. Here we go. We're gonna create the middle 8. The middle 8 is a section that tends to come towards the end of a piece of music that contrasts with the verse and the melody and sounds quite different. When I'm creating my riff, my bassline and my chords, sorry, my melody for this section, I want to make sure they're contrasting with the chorus and the verse by using different rhythms, different combinations of power chords, and so on. I might even choose to use some different instrument sounds here too. So this is my middle 8 from 41 to 49. I've already come up with a power chord riff that I'm going to use. You will need to do a little bit of improvising to create one, but I'm just gonna record mine straight in. Here we go. (intense rock music) So that's my four power chords, I've used A, C, G, and F. Now, I'm gonna create a bassline based on those, so A, C, G, and F. I'm gonna play the root notes on the bass and maybe add a bit of extra rhythm as well. (intense rock music) That will do, and we can quantize as well if we want, something like that. And then finally, the melody, and I've chosen to use this different-sounding guitar because on one side, it's got my chorus with the hard rock, the really distorted guitar, and on the other side, it's got the same. I'm gonna use this different guitar that I've used in my verse in this section because I think it contrasts nicely. So following the same process I've used before, I'm gonna create some different phrases of melody and then can combine them together. (intense rock music) So I've tried to create a little melodic phrase there that's quite different from the melodies in my other two sections. So I've repeated a lot of notes, which I haven't done them out of the melodies. So that's one phrase done. Let's come up with another one. (intense rock music) Again, that's quite contrasting with my other sections of melody. Now, I've got two phrases there. I think what I'll do is do an A-B-A-B structure for this section. So I've got A-B-A-B, I can combine them together. Let's see how this section sounds. (intense rock music) So you can hear it really contrast with the chorus and I'm quite happy with that. So have a go at your middle 8. Follow the exact same process you've used before, create your power chord riff, try and make it contrast with the other ones, then create your bassline based on that, and then create a melody by building the phrases and then combining them together. And again, the focus in this section is contrast, so try and make it as different from the other sections as you can. Give it your best shot. So with that focus on contrast, there are a few ways we can do this. Varying the rhythms, combination of power chords, and the instrument sounds, and particularly, the use of distortion on the guitar or the way that you create the guitar sound will help really create a contrast there. Which three of these would be the most suitable ways to create contrast in the middle 8? Using different instrument sounds, using a different combination of chords, using a different tempo, or using a different harmonic rhythm? Choose the three that will be the most suitable for creating contrast. I'll give you a few seconds. And the three best answers then will be A, B, and D. Again, just as before, changing tempo in a middle 8, in the middle of a song, is not a common, not particularly effective way, unless it's done very carefully, way to create contrast. However, using different instrument sounds, using different combination of chords, or a different harmonic rhythm are very effective ways of creating contrast. For task C, you're gonna compose a middle 8 for your grunge composition, starting with the riff, then bassline, then melody. The steps are as follows. So follow the same composition process as your did for the chorus and verse, ensuring that the middle 8 contrasts with your verse and chorus, consider creating musical contrast by changing the harmonic rhythm and guitar sound. When you're ready to get started, pause my video and get stuck into that. The final part of task C, you're gonna assess your middle 8 against the success criteria. The first says it includes a power chord riff that uses only a C, D, E, F, or G power chords. The second, it includes a bassline that uses the root notes of the power chord riff with some additional rhythms. And the third one, it includes a melody based on A-minus scale and an effective phrase structure. I then want you to think about question three. How does your middle 8 contrast with your verse and chorus? And remember, you want to create as much contrast here as you can. So you pause my video, complete that, and use that to assess where you're at with your middle 8. To summarise our lesson then, songwriters create musical contrast by making sections or musical ideas sound different from each other. This is exaggerated in grunge, reflecting the emotional lyrics. In songwriting, we use a balance of contrast and repetition. We create contrast through considered use of dynamics, timbre, pitch, texture, rhythm, and harmonic rhythm, amongst other things. The middle 8 is a contrasting section, usually eight bars long, heard in the second half of a song. So that's the end of our lesson. Thank you as always for taking part. I hope you've enjoyed it and hope you feel that your composition now is really start to take shape with its different sections, with it's different, contrasting melodies and riffs and grooves, and that you feel like it's really starting to feel like a piece of grunge music now. I'll see you in the next lesson.