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Music Composition I: Melody & Song Writing Techniques for Beginners
Christina White | Voice / Singing Lessons & Art
Average rating:4.9Number of reviews:(95)
Regardless of the style of music you want to write, your songs need to start with a cohesive melody. This class creates a foundation for your music composition by providing the building blocks for melody line creation.
Class experience
Beginner - Intermediate Level
This in depth hands-on class lays the foundation for music composition and song writing: the melody. We begin by exploring the smallest unit of melody - the motive. Learn how to write them and various ways to manipulate them to create a melody. As you build your melodies, we'll explore the idea of tonality and how that affects how cohesive your melodic lines sound. We will also spend time doing musical analysis to understand why you like the songs that you do - and discover how our different...
28 lessons//8 Weeks
Week 1Lesson 1Class IntroductionLesson 2Intro to NoteflightOverview of Noteflight, a music composition web application. This also covers how to retrieve the worksheets that you need for this class.Lesson 3The Noteflight WorkspaceA tour of the Noteflight WorkspaceLesson 4Noteflight BasicsHow to perform many of the functions you'll need to compose music in Noteflight.Week 2Lesson 5Simple MotivesWhat is a motive and why is it important for melody writing?Lesson 6Simple Motive - DemonstrationPart Noteflight demo and part hands on activity to explore creating motives of your own.Lesson 7C-Major Scale & New RhythmsAn introduction to your homework.Week 3Lesson 8Motive Transformations & Noteflight Set UpOverview of motive transformations. This lesson will also show you a way to set up Noteflight so you can move between two different musical scores.Lesson 9PermutationLearn how to perform permutation on your motives.Lesson 10RetrogradeLearn how to perform retrograce on your motives.Lesson 11IntervalsA review of music intervals.Lesson 12TranspositionLearn how to perform transposition on your motives.Week 4Lesson 13InversionLearn how to perform inversion on your motivesLesson 14Retrograde InversionLearn how to combine retrograde and inversion with your motives.Lesson 15Rhythmic AugmentationLearn how to combine rhythmic augmentation on your motives.Lesson 16Rhythmic DiminutionLearn how to combine rhythmic diminution on your motives.Lesson 17Motive Transformations QuizBefore continuing to the next lesson, try this quiz to see if you can spot the different transformations.Week 5Lesson 18Motive Transformation Quiz Answer GuideWalk through the answers to the quiz.Lesson 19Motives in a SequenceUse the motive building blocks to create melodies.Lesson 20Motives in a Sequence, Demo OneLesson 21Motives in a Sequence, Demo TwoLesson 22Motives in a Sequence, Demo ThreeLesson 23Motives in a Sequence, Demo FourWeek 6Lesson 24Motives in a Sequence, Week #2Week 7Lesson 25Critical ListeningCritically listening to music helps us as composers. Explore the different aspects of critical listening.Lesson 26Song Analysis ActivityLesson 27Song Analysis ExampleWeek 8Lesson 28Final Project & Wrap Up
At the conclusion of this class, students: *Will be able to create motives *Will understand how to construct or expand a melody line through the use of motives *Will understand and be able to demonstrate permutations, transposition, inversion, retrograde, retrograde inversion, rhythmic augmentation, rhythmic diminution *Will understand and be able to construct major scales.
I have over 20 years of music industry experience as a performer, composer, and arranger. I hold a Masters Certificate from Berklee College of Music where I extensively studied composing and arranging. I've composed and arranged music for myself and several local-to-me music and theater groups that I've sung with and/or directed.
Homework Offered
In addition to a series of videos, each week, students will be given an assignment to practice the concepts learned in class. Most assignments should not take more than 45 - 60 minutes to do. Assignments will include: *Composition exercises using Noteflight worksheets that I create *Analysis *Active listening exercises with brief reflections1 - 2 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Most assignments will receive written feedback. The exceptions will be some review exercises where an answer key will be provided for self-assessment.Grades Offered
Grades will be provided upon request.
*Understand and read basic rhythm (whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth note/rests; dotted rhythms) *Able to read the Treble and Bass clef including 2 ledger lines above and below and Middle-C *Able to read sharps and flats
Because everything is done via the the web app, students should not need any additional materials.
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Noteflight: Students will be creating their work in Noteflight, an external web app for music composition. For the duration of the class, students will be able to use the special "Noteflight Learn" account through my music studio. This is free of charge and I will set up each learner as they register. Students do not need to register for an account themselves. No data is collected or stored in this account beyond their classwork and first name. Noteflight Learn is COPPA and FERPA compliant, meaning, it meets the standards required by public schools to ensure student privacy. The first lessons will include an introduction on how to use Noteflight. Part of each lesson's demonstrations will cover any Noteflight-specific things that students need to know in order to complete the assignment. If students cannot figure out how to do something, they are always welcome to send me a message. Additionally, Noteflight has an extensive, easy-to-use knowledge base and online help center. After the class ends, they will no longer have access to this Noteflight account (unless they are continuing with me). I will show them how to export their work so they don't lose their compositions. They can also, optionally, create a standard Noteflight account and move their work to that account. YouTube: There will be a couple of instances where students will be directed to find music as part of a discussion. They'll be directed to YouTube for this exercise so they can share in the classroom. They'll be instructed to keep their selections PG-rated and secular in nature.
Average rating:4.9Number of reviews:(95)
I help my students along their creative journey, no matter where they are on their path. I offer encouragement, guidance, and technique, but never judgment. My classes and private lessons get students involved -- you can’t learn music or art by...
Self-Paced Class
$18
weekly or $144 for all content28 pre-recorded lessons
8 weeks of teacher support
Choose your start date
1 year of access to the content
Completed by 6 learners
Ages: 12-17
