Other melodic devices

Hello, and welcome to today's lesson entitled Other Melodic Devices. My name is Mr. Norris. And today, I'm gonna be taking you through as we delve into some very specific melodic devices and some of the ways we can identify them, as well as some of the ways that composers use them. Our outcome for today's lesson is I can identify a range of common melodic devices, including ornamentation, imitation, and countermelodies. Our keywords. Firstly, trill. This is a type of ornamentation based on alternating rapidly between two notes. Mordent, this is a type of ornamentation that creates the effect of a short trill. Grace note, a very fast note that plays just before a main melodic idea. It's also sometimes referred to as an acciaccatura. Imitation, a melodic device in which part of the melody is copied immediately in another part. And then countermelody, which is a second melody that plays at the same time as the main melody. So we're gonna be exploring all these concepts in more detail as we go. The first part of today's lesson is looking at ornamentation. Ornamentation is decoration of a melody. There are many different forms of it, which composers have used in different musical traditions and periods. Here's some common ornamentation techniques. We've got trills, mordents, turns, grace notes or acciaccaturas, and appoggiaturas as well. Let's start off looking at trills. Trills are common in many musical traditions, including Western Baroque, Classical and Romantic music, as well as other styles such as North Indian classical music, and many styles of folk and pop music. So you'll come across them in lots of different types of music. A trill is a rapid alternation between two notes. That would sound like this, (piano trills) and it's notated like this. So often in Western classical music, you'll see it written with tr above it. And in this case, performance would alternate between the written note, which is G, and the note above it, which is A. So that would translate to this. That would sound like that. Listen to this heavy metal song. Can you identify which instrument is playing a trill? Pause my video and have a listen. So in that example, it was the electric guitar that was playing a trill in the riff. Well done if you picked up on that. Now a mordent is a different ornament, which can be sometimes mistaken for a trill. There are different types of mordent, but they all play the notated note. Then they quickly play either the note above or below it, and then they return to the notated note. So it sounds like a very short trill. That's how it's notated there. You can see the symbol above the G. And in this example, we're doing a mordent, where we play the G, play the A above it, and then straight back to the G. So it's like a very short trill. It would sound like this. In this Baroque piece, two violins play trills and mordents throughout. See if you can pick out the difference between the two. I'd also like you to answer this question. Does the extract start with trills or mordents? Remember, mordents are those really short trills. Trills are a little bit longer. So pause my video, have a listen, and see if you can answer those two questions. Well done in this one if you picked up that the extract starts with mordents. So it's a subtle difference between the two. If you remember that mordents are just really short versions of trills, you'll be able to identify the difference quite easily. Complete the sentence. A what is when you alternate quickly between two notes. I'll give you a few seconds to answer it. And the correct answer is a trill. True or false? In a mordent, the note below is played before the notated note. I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer here is false. I'd like to justify the answer, explaining why. And here, we'd say that in a mordent, the performer plays the notated note, then quickly plays the note above or below, before returning to the notated note. So the notated note is played first. Now a turn is similar to a mordent, but it plays both the note above and below the notated note. This is what a turn sounds like. (piano playing turn) And it's notated with that sort of sideways backwards S shape you can see there above G. And that's what it would look like if we were to notate out each individual note. So it plays the note above the G, then it plays the G, then it plays the note below, and then it plays the G. So it sort of turns around it, both above and below the notated note. This is most common in Baroque and Classical music. And when you know what it sounds like, you'll hear it coming up quite a lot. Listen to this clip. Can you identify the two turns in it? Pause my video and have listen. Now let's look at grace notes or acciaccaturas, which you might hear them called. These are a common type of ornamentation across many different styles, and you might recognize the notation there, where you've got that small note before the main one, and it's got a slash through it as well. The smaller grace note is played as fast as possible before the main note, so it's squeezed in just before the main note plays. It can be above or below the main note, so there's no hard or fast rule about which note a grace note has to be. It's usually notated as the note that the composer wants you to play. In this clip, every note has a grace note before it. So let's hear what that sounds like. Notice how each note has a very quick note playing just before it. (gentle playful music) Hopefully, there you managed to pick out those grace notes before each main melodic note. And again, this is just a really common form of ornamentation. Have a listen to this '60s pop song. Which two instruments play grace notes in it? Pause my video and have a listen. And well done if you picked out that the electric and bass guitars are playing grace notes in this song. Now let's look at appoggiaturas. These are related to the acciaccatura, and they're often used in Baroque and classical music. If we compare the notation, you'll see that it's very similar, but it doesn't have the slash through the note that the grace note or acciaccatura has. So that's how you tell them apart in terms of notation. The key within appoggiatura is that it has to resolve from a non-chord note to a chord note. So the small note beforehand is gonna be a non-chord note that's gonna create a bit of harmonic tension. And then the main note is gonna be a chord note, so it's gonna resolve. Now an appoggiatura is not played as fast as possible. Instead, it takes half of the value of the main note. If we think about what a grace note sounds like, it's as fast as possible before the main note (vocalizes). It's a very fast note. And then appoggiatura is slightly more complex than that. Now in this case, the main note we can see there, that G, is a crotchet. So the appoggiatura is gonna play half of a crotchet, which is a quaver. So this notation we can see here would sound the same as two equal quavers, (vocalizes), rather than a grace note (vocalizes). So it's quite different. If the main note was a minim, which lasts for two beats, the appoggiatura would take half of that value. So it played for one beat. So an appoggiatura has a defined rhythmic length. Now this can be a little bit strange to get your head around initially. Don't worry too much about the specifics of appoggiaturas. The main thing to note is that they're not the same as a grace note and they're usually longer. They're note value is defined by the length of the note they're attached to, and they're not just played as fast as possible. Let's check your understanding. What ornament is played here? Let's have a listen. (vibrant music) I'll play it one more time. (vibrant music) Take a few seconds to choose your answer. And the correct answer was that was a trill, because it got rapid alternation between two notes. Let's have a listen to this second version. Which ornament is heard here? Here we go. (solemn music) Let's hear it one more time. (solemn music) And choosing your answer. And the correct answer was grace notes or acciaccaturas we could hear in that example there. Which ornament is a note that takes half the note value of the main note. Is it a turn, mordent, appoggiatura, or grace note? I'll give you a few seconds to choose your answer. And the correct answer is, is an appoggiatura that takes half the note value of the main note. Task A, I want you to listen to each clip. You can identify which types of ornamentation can be heard in the indicated instrument. So in question one, for example, what ornamentation can you hear played by the saxophone? Question two is clarinet, and question three is a piano. Choose from trill, mordent, turn, and grace note, and there may be more than one in each clip. So if you hear different types of ornamentation, write down all the types of ornamentation that you can hear from those options. You can pause my video now and give this task your best shot. Let's review this task then. So in example one, the saxophone plays grace notes or acciaccaturas. In question two, the clarinet plays trills, a grace note, and a mordent. So a few different examples there. And then in the third question, the piano plays mordents, turns, and trills. Well done if you got all or some of those answers correct. The second part of our lesson is looking at imitation and countermelodies. Imitation is when part of a melody is copied or imitated in another part immediately or shortly afterwards. Listen to this example here. Which instrument imitates the violin? So which instrument can you hear copying something that the violin has played? Pause my video and have a listen. So in that example, it was a flute that imitated the violin. Now with imitation, the notes don't have to be exactly the same, but they should follow the same melodic and rhythmic shape. So it's imitating and doing an impression of what's already been played, but it doesn't have to be exactly the same. In this example, though, there is an exact copy. So one part directly copies exactly part of another part. Can you pick out the three-note phrase that's imitated between the clarinet and piano? So see if you can pick out that imitation between the two parts. Pause my video and have a listen. Imitation can also be used to create a polyphonic texture. This happens when the original melody and its imitation play together at the same time or overlapping. This can create a texture that consists of two melodies together. Remember, polyphonic means two or more, that's the poly part, and phonic means sound. So two or more melodies playing at the same time. Let's check your understanding. What is imitation? Is it when an idea from melody is heard in a later section of a piece of music? When an idea from a melody is copied in another part immediately or shortly after? Or when an idea from a melody is repeated as part of the main melody? I'll give you a few seconds to work it out. And the correct answer here is it's when an idea from a melody is copied in another part immediately or shortly after. Well done if you chose the correct answer there. True or false. During imitation, the notes in the melody need to be exactly the same. I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer here is false. I'd like to justify that. Why is that statement false? Have a think. And the answer here is because imitation doesn't always require an exact copy, it just needs a similar melodic shape and rhythm. Composers often make small changes like adding ornaments or changing the pitch or the note duration, but the key point is that it's doing an imitation of the original melodic idea, not necessarily an exact copy. A countermelody is a second melody that plays at the same time as the main melody. Unlike an imitation, a countermelody doesn't usually copy the original melody. Instead, it will try to create something different and contrast it. A countermelody is different to an accompaniment because it has equal prominence to the main melody. So while an accompaniment might be playing at the same time as the main melody, it's definitely a subsidiary part that sits underneath the main melody. Whereas, the countermelody is just as important and just as prominent as a main melody. Have a listen to this example. Which instrument plays a countermelody in the background of the vocal melody? Pause my video, have a listen. And in that example, it was violins that were playing the countermelody along with the vocals. Now, although countermelodies can use ideas from the main melody, normally, they contrast to ensure that both can be heard and they both sound distinct. Listen to this example here. How does the string countermelody contrast with the main melody? What are some of the ways that it contrasts? Pause my video and have a listen. So in that example, the countermelody uses a much higher pitch than the main melody. It has a contrasting timbre with the main melody and different rhythms as well. And all of these help to make it sound different from the main melody. So when we're writing countermelodies, we're really thinking about creating contrasting ideas that can be clearly picked apart in the main melody. Which two must the countermelody be? Much less prominent than the main melody, as prominent as the main melody, very similar to the main melody, or contrasting with the main melody. I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answers here are a countermelody should be as prominent as the main melody and contrasting with it. Well done if you picked those two. True or false. Imitation and a countermelody are the same thing. I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer is false. Why is that false? Take a few seconds to have a quick think. And here, we'd say that they're related, but they're not the same. Imitation includes copying parts of the melody, normally immediately. Whereas, the counter melody usually contrasts with the main melody, so that it can be heard really separately. Okay, if Task B, we're gonna listen to these clips and answer the questions. For example one, I'd like to answer these questions. Does this clip feature a countermelody or imitation? Justify your answers or explain how you've come up with your answer to question one. And then question three, which instrument or instruments are playing the countermelody or the imitation? And then for example two, same first two questions. Does this clip feature a countermelody or imitation? And then justify your answer. And then which three instruments are playing in this excerpt? So what three instruments can you pick out? So pause my video now, listen to both examples, and answer all the questions. Good luck. Okay, let's go through this task. So for example one, this featured a countermelody. We justify that by saying the second melody is completely different from the main melody. It does not imitate it. And the instrument that's playing is vocals. You might have said male vocals or gone even further and identified it as a tenor voice. So well done if you've got that extra detail. For the second example, this one featured imitation. We justify that by saying that the melodies copy a three-note phrase from the main melody. So they're copying a short section of the main melody. Three instruments that are playing are clarinet, violin, and piano. Well done if you got that correct. Let's review today's lesson. Composers use different melodic devices to develop and enhance their melodies. Ornamentation is a common melodic device in many different styles. Common ornaments are trills, grace notes, turns, and mordents. Imitation is a device where part of a melody is copied in another part immediately or shortly afterwards. And a countermelody is a contrasting second melody. It plays at the same time as the main melody and has equal prominence. So that's the end of today's lesson. I hope you feel like you've got an even better understanding of some different melodic devices now. And when you're doing listening practice in the future, make sure you're trying to pick out these different devices when you can. Thanks for taking part, and I'll see you in another lesson.