Lesson Six

1
Lesson Six

• Composition Beethoven extended

2
Beethoven Revisited

• In lesson four you composed a piece using the
  rhythm and form (aaba) of Beethoven. In this
  assignment, you will use Beethovens form but you
  will create your own rhythm.
• Begin by creating a four measure rhythmic phrase
  in 4/4 time for Section a using some or all of
  the rhythmic figures that you now know.

3

• Now change the Section a slightly to make it
  become a. Look at two phrases below - Phrase a
  and Phrase a. See how measure two has been
  changed to create Phrase a

Phrase a
Phrase a
Create phrase b focusing on using different
rhythmic figures.
Phrase b
4
Rhythmic part of the composition

• This is what the rhythmic composition using the
  form aaba could look like. Listen to the sound
  file..

5
Adding melody

• Now you are ready to add melody to the rhythmic
  phrases. Use any of the following eight notes
  beginning on middle C.
• End the phrase a on the note C. The is
  called the home tone. End the phrase a and c on
  notes other that C.
• In choosing the notes for the melody, keep in
  mind the example provided by Beethoven.
  Beethoven used stepwise motion on phrases a and
  a while he used steps and skips in phrase b.

6
New composition
7
Adding timbre, dynamics and tempi changes to your
composition
1.

• Listen to the two versions of the aaba
  composition. How are they different?
• You will have noticed that the second
  composition sounds smoother and there is another
  instrument playing. There are also differences
  in loudness. If you listened very carefully,
  you will have heard the piece slow down in the
  last two measures.
• Changing the timbre, (the instrument which is
  playing), articulation (detached or attached way
  in which notes are sounded), dynamics (loudness
  and softness) and tempo (speed of the piece) can
  create a more interesting composition.

2.
8
Making changes to your composition

• Following the steps outlined in slides 1-6,
  create your new composition using aaba form.
• Tempo to choose a tempo for your piece, place
  the cursor just above and to the right of the
  treble clef. Press the t key and select a
  number. The higher the number the faster the
  piece. Experiment until you find the tempo which
  suits your piece. If you wish to vary the tempo
  throughout the piece press E and the drop box
  will give you a variety of choices.
• Tempo variances
• Breath mark this tells you where a singer or
  instrumentalist should take a breath.
• Fermata is a pause or hold in the music.
• Accelerando gradually speed up
• Ritardando gradually slow down

9

• Dynamics to change the loudness and softness of
  the melody in different phrases, you press D
  and a drop box will present you with a variety of
  choices.
• Dynamic choices
• Pianissimo (ppp) very very soft
• Pianissimo (pp) very soft
• Piano (p) soft
• Mezzo piano (mp) medium soft
• Mezzo forte (mf) medium loud
• Forte (f) loud
• Fortissimo (ff) very loud
• Fortissimo (fff) very very loud

10

• Articulation refers to the manner in which a
  note may be played. If you wish notes to sound
  smooth and attached, you can use a slur. To slur
  notes together, high light the notes that you
  wish to be slurred. Now select the note from the
  tool bar to the right of the dotted quarter note
  this is the slur function. The slur will look
  like this
• If you wish individual notes to be detached and
  short you may use make them staccato. High light
  the notes you wish to make staccato and hit the
  comma key. The notes will look like this

11

• Further articulations You may wish one note to
  sound louder than another. This articulation is
  called an accent. To accent a note, high light
  it and then hit shift gt. The notes will look
  like this
• Changing instrumentation To change the
  instrument which is playing the composition,
  place the cursor at the beginning of the piece,
  hit the letter I and select an instrument from
  the drop box. Following this click OK. Place
  your cursor at the beginning of the composition
  and press F5 to hear the composition.
  Experiment until you find just the right timbre
  for you composition.