This unit introduces core composition skills including notation, rhythm, melody, harmony, motifs, and basic form. Students learn to capture musical ideas with pencil/paper or tablet, shape phrases in time, and use modes and the circle of fifths to craft short original pieces that prepare them for arranging and production work in later units.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze core musical elements (rhythm, meter, tempo, phrase, form) and identify motifs, structural tones, consonance/dissonance, and basic chord functions in short musical examples.
- Apply standard notation and transcription techniques using pencil/paper or a tablet to accurately record melodies, rhythmic patterns, and motifs from imagination or performance within 4–16 bar phrases.
- Demonstrate creation of original 8–16 bar melodies and short compositions that employ major/minor modes, step-wise and skip-wise motion, motif development, and phrase shaping to convey a clear musical mood.
- Evaluate harmonic and rhythmic choices by labeling chords and tensions, selecting progressions using the circle of fifths, and arranging parts into simple forms (binary, ternary, verse/chorus) for effective musical structure.
Curriculum
- 1 Section
- 36 Lessons
- 30 hours
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- Unit 1 — Foundations of Musical Composition36
- 1.1Structuring Freedom20 mins
- 1.2Composing with Pencil and Paper or a Tablet20 mins
- 1.3Writing Down the Music in Your Head20 mins
- 1.4Sculpting Time into Music20 mins
- 1.5Examining What Makes a Musical Framework20 mins
- 1.6Reviewing Major and Minor Modes and the Circle of Fifths20 mins
- 1.7Developing Musical Themes: Motifs20 mins
- 1.8Reducing to Structural Tones20 mins
- 1.9Discovering Consonance and Dissonance20 mins
- 1.10Understanding Chords and Their Moods20 mins
- 1.11Using the Movement Around You20 mins
- 1.12Writing in Form20 mins
- 1.13Combining Parts into Forms20 mins
- 1.14Navigating Concert Pitch and Pitch Transposition20 mins
- 1.15Beating the Drums20 mins
- 1.16Working with Story Lines and Instrumentation20 mins
- 1.17Getting into Movie Soundtracks20 mins
- 1.18Selecting Software and Hardware for Composition20 mins
- 1.19Creating Lead Sheets20 mins
- 1.20Understanding AI Composition20 mins
- 1.21Identifying Fair Use versus Public Domain20 mins
- 1.22Developing Your Recording Skills20 mins
- 1.23Composing for School Bands and Choirs20 mins
- 1.24Artlist20 mins
- 1.25Amuse20 mins
- 1.26Modes and Chords Reference20 mins
- 1.27Glossary20 mins
- 1.28Composing as an Extension of Listening20 mins
- 1.29Using Your Performance Skills to Compose20 mins
- 1.30Using Software to Transcribe Your Compositions20 mins
- 1.31Feeling Different Rhythms20 mins
- 1.32Identifying Melody in Language20 mins
- 1.33Getting Moody20 mins
- 1.34Building a Melodic Phrase20 mins
- 1.35Applying Step-wise or Skip-wise Motion20 mins
- 1.36Using the Circle of Fifths20 mins
Instructor
Free
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