Transcript Unit 5B Musical Cliches

♫ 5B Musical Clichés ♫
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For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation
Teacher’s notes included in the Notes Page
Flash activity. These activities are not editable.
Composing
activity
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Listening
activity
Performing
activity
Sound
Worksheet
Record
your work
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Learning objectives
To learn how clichés are used in television
and film music to set a scene.
To learn how clichés increase the dramatic
effect of a film.
To understand conventions about how
music can begin and end.
To learn how clichés can be used in songs.
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Television and film music
Clichés are used frequently in television and film music
because they increase the dramatic effect.
Silent movies were the first kind of film,
and started being shown publicly in 1895.
Recording and playing
back sound with
pictures was technically
challenging at the time,
so a pianist would sit in
the cinema and play
appropriate music to
accompany the film.
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Television and film music
With the help of the following ideas, make your own musical
cliché to accompany these scenes which come from the
silent 1925 film, Battleship Potemkin:
Crowds of people hurtling
down the Odessa steps.
Soldiers open fire.
A couple crouch down by
the steps in terror.
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fast tempo, constant
rhythms, sequences
gun shots, loud and dynamic
dissonant sustained chords
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Beginnings and endings
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Songs
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Analysing a song
♫ Listen to this song and discuss
your response to the music. ♫
♫ How is the mood
of the song reflected
in the music? ♫
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Learning objectives
To create a composition using clichés.
To use appropriate notation to develop your ideas.
To perform, record and discuss your composition.
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Composing horror film music
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Beginnings and endings
Think about how you are going to set the scene at the start,
and how you are going to leave people in suspense at the end.
You could:
end suddenly in the
middle of a phrase
use short, loud chords
use diminuendo
(getting quieter)
use longer and longer
silences.
♫ When your compositions are complete, perform
them to the rest of the class and record them. ♫
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Writing it down
Develop a graphic score of your composition. You can use
whatever form you wish, but here are some guidelines:
f
Add any extra information,
e.g. dynamics, onto your
score, and provide a key.
Invent ways of representing
your sounds in a visual form.
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Tell the reader when
to play each part by
inserting a time axis.
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Composing music for a love story
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Key points
A musical cliché reminds the listener of a
particular feeling or emotion.
Clichés are used in television and film music to set
the scene and increase the dramatic effect.
Composers use clichés to start and end their work,
as well as to highlight events during the piece.
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