Transcript Composing

5th Grade General Music
Marshall Middle School
2011

Writing your own music.

Someone who composes is called a
composer.

Who are some famous composers?

What is the difference between composing
and arranging? Improvising?

Just like a good writer needs tools like
grammar, spelling, a vocabulary, a composer
has tools to help write music.

Notes, Rhythms, Time signatures, Clefs

Instruments and Voices

With a partner, write a short song for
unpitched percussion.

The song should be unision.

The second time may be a duet.

With an partner, create a simple ostinato for
body percussion and add a vocal melody.

The ostinato will act as an accompaniment.

When writing lyrics it is best to first form a
topic. The lines may rhyme but rhyming is not
required.

You will compose a simple melody for a
mallet instrument. The melody must be
written on a staff, with a clef, time signature,
bar lines, a rhythms (it must look like music)

A few hints: a good melody moves scalewise, ends and starts on the same note, and
uses quarter notes and eighth notes.

This will use all of the skills we have
developed so far.

In small groups, you will write a song with
multiple parts (not unison) using all of the
musical tools (notes rhythms etc.) that is at
least 16 measures in length.
You may use mallets, unpitched percussion,
body percussion, or vocals.





Use a variety of instruments
Write all of you ideas down and then decide if
you will keep them.
Don’t be afraid to experiment or make a
mistake.
If you write more than one melodic part
choose notes that work well together; usually
space notes sound good with other space
notes and lines notes sound good with other
line notes.