The beginnings of a Song Baby

Hello, Everyone,

You will be working independently today, each of you at your own computer using headphones. Your job is to begin considering how you might craft an original song that will show clear influences of several others. The criteria you should consider are:

Chord Progression

Groove (rhythmic style, how instruments interlock/interact)

Melodic ideas (the way melody hotes move against chords, phrasing)

Timbre (particular instrument choice and specific sound qualities)

Form (structure - sections of the song)

Go online (YouTube, TheoryTabs, Spotify, etc.) and do some active, critical listening to four songs of your choosing that you are interested in. On your blog, take specific notes with regard to the above criteria for each song, pointing out any ideas that you think are noteworthy. Theorytabs may be able to help you identify chord progressions and melodic ideas. You should end up with a brief write-up for each song. 

You will ultimately be writing a new song that may, for example, use a part of a chord progression from one song, played with the rhythmic groove from another, using the instrument sounds of another, and perhaps a melody line/shape from another. After writing your listening notes on your four songs, make some creative choices as to which part from each song you would like to use as a basis for a new song. Post your current thinking to your blog with the understanding that your ideas will change as you work on this. Nothing's in stone at this point, and you will surely need to try out your ideas in upcoming classes to see how things work.

Try to complete as much of this as possible in class today, and finish the rest for homework. You should be prepared to share your ideas at our next class. Please let me know if you have any questions.

More Teoria, Interval Ear Training

For homework tonight, you should do the same practice exercises on Teoria that you did yesterday...

Clef Reading: Treble & Bass clefs, Use notes over: Spaces/Lines/Ledger Lines, Answer using: Note, Tempo: No tempo, Stop after: 5 minutes.

Key Signature Construction: Major, do NOT limit to 4 accidentals, Sharps & Flats, Stop after 10 exercises.
Key Signature Identification: Major, do NOT limit to 4 accidentals, Sharps & Flats, Bass or treble clef, Stop after 10 exercises.

...and, to follow up on the work you did today in class with hearing, singing, and identifying the intervals of Major and Minor seconds and thirds, you should to the following on Teoria:

Interval Ear Training: m2, M2, m3, M3; ascending and descending; melodic and harmonic; answer using INTERVAL; complete 20 exercises.

Be sure you are signed in and that you save and send scores.

Teoria, fundamental exercises

Following up on our work in class today, it is important for you to have partake in some daily practice with some traditional notation fundamentals. Be sure you sign in to your teoria.com account prior to completing the exercises for the day. Here are the exercises and the parameters for each that you need to complete tonight:

Clef Reading: Treble & Bass clefs, Use notes over: Spaces/Lines/Ledger Lines, Answer using: Note, Tempo: No tempo, Stop after: 5 minutes.

Key Signature Construction: Major, do NOT limit to 4 accidentals, Sharps & Flats, Stop after 10 exercises.

Key Signature Identification: Major, do NOT limit to 4 accidentals, Sharps & Flats, Bass or treble clef, Stop after 10 exercises.

BE SURE to Save and or Send Scores as you complete each exercises. This is the only way I will see that you have completed this work and also allows me to see how well you are understanding the material. Please let me know if you have any questions.

"Traditional" music notation

Following up on our class today dealing with reading traditional notation from bass and treble clef, please complete the following:

• Read Chapter 1 of the Fundamentals textbook
• While reading, complete the following: Try It # 4 on p. 9, the Questions for Review and Reading Review on p. 14, on p. 19 complete A 'Letter Names', and on p. 20 complete D 'Reading Notes in treble and bass clefs' 

You may complete this work directly in your book, or print pages from the eBook.

Links...

A LINK to the article about pop vowel pronunciation I referenced in class today.

And the video I tried to show to in class.

Old chords, new melody

Your latest assignment is to use the chords from the larger form sections of a song you really enjoy (intro, verse, chorus, bride, etc.) including the rhythm/groove of the chord progression as a foundation for creating a new melody. You should create these sections in Hookpad. You may wish to use TheoryTabs to help you identify the chord progressions within the song. Then, using the corresponding chord tones as a guide, compose new melodies. Please also spend a lot of time looking at the original melody in Hookpad to see what 'makes it work'--are there any patterns you notice?--how does the melody play on/around chord tones?--is the melody broken into phrases with space in between each?--how are verse/chorus melodies similar or different? Consider taking a new approach on the original melody, or create something entirely new. Feel free to also choose a new key and a new tempo to help make the song 'yours'.

Once you are done, save your work and make a post to your blog that includes a link to the new 'Theorytab' you have made. Once your work is saved, in the upper left of the Hookpad window, you will see a URL button. If you click on it, it will give you a web link where people can view your work. In your blog post, I would like you to provide insight into your creative process. Post answers to the questions I posed above and/or other insights you discovered about your 'source song'. Then talk about how you approached creating your new melodies and how they may (or may not) be informed by the original.

Instead of pasting the URL to your new song, you may also choose to 'embed' the TheoryTab on your blog. You'll see and Embed button right next to the URL button. You would then need to paste the embed code in the HTML window of a new blog post (like many of you have already done with YouTube videos). This way, the actual new TheoryTab will be embedded in your blog post along with your explanations of process. Either way (URL or Embed) is fine, but you must do one of those.

If you have any questions, post them as comments to this blog post so your classmates can also see the response.

Adding to your Hookpad song, plus Chord Indentification

Hi Everyone,

Tonight you should add another 8 measure section your previous Hookpad song. Remember that this new section should start on either ii or IV, and hopefully end in a way that will transition you back to the first part of your song. Begin by composing your chord progression first and then adding a melody next, after seeing what chord tones are 'available' to you.

Additionally, please print and complete this sheet. You should answer using correct Roman numerals and should not use TheoryTabs or any other type of Internet search to help you. This is about training your ear, so do your very best work. Bring the completed sheet with you to class tomorrow. Please don't get too hung up on chords that you are stuck on. Give it your best shot and we'll review any tricky spots in class. There are links to the songs within the shared document, and they are also posted below. Happy listening!