Creating a sense of style

Hello, I'm Dr. Southall, and this is a unit called Atmospheric Music. Join me for our learning today, and we'll see how we get on. This lesson's called Creating a Style. And in it, we're going to be able to identify and compose common features in our compositions to develop a sense of style. Let's begin. There's three key terms for this lesson. So we're gonna try and use these in our sentences today when we are looking at trying to describe different things in music, the first is stylistic elements, which refers to the musical choices made by the composer to give the piece a sense of style. The second is motif, a short melodic idea that recurs throughout a piece of music. And the third is rhythm. A selection of long and short note durations in a pattern. All melodies have a rhythm. This lesson's in two parts. The first is using common musical ideas. Let's begin. We're gonna start by listening to three different pieces of music. They're all from the same song, so they're at different points in the song, but I want you to think about what common features each of them have. So listen to the first one, then the second one, and see if there's any commonality between them. And then finally, the third one, and you're looking for a theme across the three. Download the clips and listen to them and then come back to the video. So although they're not exactly the same, the main melodic idea has been developed from the same motif. This helps give the music its identity. The motif becomes a common idea, which recurs in some form throughout the piece. So in the first clip you have that classic, da da da-da, and in the other two clips, you have that same melody, that same structure of four notes where the first three are the same and then the fourth one drops. But it's they're, they're different notes. They start higher up, but they're instantly recognizable as the same motif. How do we know these two excerpts are from the same piece of music? I want you to download these two clips, listen to them, and then come back to the video for me. Well, the rhythm of the underlying ostinato is the same. The melodic motifs also have some similarities in the scoring. They use similar instruments, shape and texture, and that is enough for us to identify similarity. What other common features might we use throughout a piece of music? You may have suggested articulation or a musical technique as a feature, or the same instruments being used, or the main instrument being the same. Style is often associated with genre characteristics. To create spooky music, there are certain features a composer might include, which we've covered before, but let's recap on a few of them. Chromatic movement, pedal notes. we've similarly mentioned things like silence before. However, creating a sense of style is also about using common features throughout the music, so it doesn't sound totally random in the way that you would if you're building a house, you'd want to use the same windows and doors so that there's uniformity. We can refer to these in music as stylistic elements. So anything that is a common feature can become a stylistic element of that piece of music. So in the first three clips we played, there is a stylistic element across the three clips that is that sense of similar notes, a similar rhythm like the da da da-da sound. Other examples could be the use of a similar motif throughout, which is what we had in that first one, or using different pitches, but the same rhythm and shape. Again there was an example of that, keeping the same articulation and focusing on a prominent instrument. Finally, using the same musical techniques or like trills or note clusters. Time for a check for understanding. Creating a sense of style means A, using common features throughout the piece. B, using exactly the same features throughout a piece. C, using the appropriate stylistic features, or D, using lots of features once only. Select two of those as your answer. Well, the answer is A and C. Creating a sense of style means using common features throughout the piece and using the appropriate stylistic features. We're gonna listen to three pieces of music now, which two of these ideas have a related rhythm and shape? Let's listen to the clip for A. (somber piano music) That was A, so now let's listen to B. (lively piano music) And then finally the clip for C. (dramatic piano music) Now you can listen to those clips again if you want to just by rewinding the video. The two that had related rhythm and shape were A and B. Suggest four musical features that you might use as common ideas throughout a composition. Think about that key vocabulary that we've used so far as part of your answer. Well, here's some ideas. You could keep the same motif, use the same rhythm or note shape, use the same articulation, use one or two prominent instruments or timbres, or use the same few musical techniques. Hopefully you got some of those. Let's move on. So for this task we're going to be listening to a piece of music and answering questions. We'll go through the questions first and then we'll play the clip. But of course, you can repeat the clip as many times as you want by pausing and rewinding the video. So question one is how many different notes can you hear in the opening motif? It may be useful to count them on your fingers as you hear them, and then write down your answer. Question two, what other features make this motif distinctive? Think about the articulation, the rhythm, and the shape. Question three, how does this motif change throughout? Question four, which instruments play the opening motif at the start and play throughout? Is it strings, brass or woodwind? Question five, which percussion instruments play in this excerpt? Let's listen. (lively classical music) That's lovely music. If you would like to listen to that again, please do. I suggest you listen to it at least three or four times. There are four different notes being played in that opening motif. For question two, what features make this motif distinctive? You may have said something like this. The notes are all played staccato, and it is short and detached with silence at the end before it repeats. The rhythm is mainly quavers and the shape is jumpy, as the first six notes go back and forth, there are clicks and woodblock sounds on each note. Question three, has the motif developed throughout? You may have said something like, it is played on different instruments, flutes are added the second time, the staccato quaver pattern is used to extend the motif with a different shape. The accompaniment changes around it and the texture gets thicker. Question four, you could hear strings, and question five, describing the other two motifs, you may have written something like, one is a low pitched rising pattern in the marimba. The second is a contrasting higher glockenspiel melodic idea with longer notes. If your answers don't reflect the sorts of things that we've written here, then maybe compare and choose some keywords from these model responses that you could use next time. Let's move on to part two, applying this to your composition. We're going to listen again to the piece of music from just a moment ago, and I want you to think about what the stylistic elements are to the soundtrack. (lively classical music) So you may have said, the music is characterized by a back and forth short, detached quaver motif, which is played throughout. It sort of sounds like, la-la la-la la-la la la all the way through. The rhythm is a key feature. The main instruments are strings and the distinctive glockenspiel and clicks in the background. And there are three recurring motifs or repeated ideas. Most of the notes are played staccato. It's important to find a balance. Not everything has to be the same or repeated. You might choose to use a staccato motif as your main idea, but playing that motif in a legato style for a different effect would still bring an element of continuity. However, having a recurring motif is important in your piece to have a sense of style and structure. Your stylistic elements should include: a motif developed from your initial ostinato, which is heard more than once. It could include a similar rhythm or note shape for your motif at different points in the music, and using the same group of instrumental timbres or a prominent instrument throughout. It could also include the same articulation or musical techniques recurring in a similar way. True or false? Using a recurring motif more than once is important in creating a sense of style and identity. Well, I think I know this one. It's true. Well done. Using a recurring motif helps the music to sound memorable and recognizable and gives the piece a structure. True or false, you should use only one timbre throughout the piece in order to create a sense of unity. No, it's false. Only using one or two prominent timbres is helpful in giving the piece a sense of style, but only using one instrument won't necessarily offer enough variety and color. Time for your practice. Complete your scary story soundtrack, considering how you bring a sense of style to the piece. To be successful, you need to decide what your common stylistic elements could be, add them to your current musical ideas, use a recognizable motif more than once, and use one main timbre and only two or three overall. Good luck, I hope you enjoy it. I'm excited for what you produce. Okay, now that you've finished that, here's some prompts for a bit of evaluation and reflection. How many times did you use a recognizable motif? And where in the story does that arrive? What are the common stylistic elements that you have used? What is the main timbre in your piece? What other timbres did you use? And overall, how well does your music reflect and accompany the story? Okay, we've come to the end of this lesson and indeed the end of this unit. Let's have a quick recap of some of the key themes and ideas before we close off for today. We can use common features to create a sense of style in our compositions. Using a recurring motif or rhythm can help with the music having an identity, but having a prominent instrument or other recurring musical features is also suitable. We've completed our scary story soundtrack and considered how we use common features and stylistic elements to give our music a sense of style. You've accomplished a lot in this unit. Really, really well done. I hope you've enjoyed it, and I'll see you next time. Goodbye.