- To establish the pattern of tones & semitones in any minor scale.
- To transpose melodic patterns within minor keys.
- To establish the order of major, minor & diminished triads within any minor scale.
- To develop aural dictation skills (harmony).
We will start this lesson by exhibiting the completed tasks from last week; the Yesterday and Angels tasks (Yesterday MIDI file, Yesterday Sibelius score, Angels melody & bassline). We will peer-assess the accuracy of your arrangements. I will also show you how to export and import individual parts from MIDI arrangements and convert them to audio files.
New learning: You will construct minor scales in various keys by following a template arrangement of tones & semitones (you will have to discover the arrangement through analysis of a model scale). You will then provide written scores of a simple minor key melody in various minor keys (similar to the Twinkle Twinkle task last week, but using staff notation instead of letter names on a piece of paper!). We will then examine the pattern of triads formed from each note of the minor scale and discuss variations of the minor scale (harmonic & melodic minors). Following this, you will engage in a harmony dictation exercise; you will be given a CD of a piece of popular music and, using your new understanding of likely chords within a given key, you will attempt to identify the piece's chord sequence (I will tell you what key the piece of music is in). You will attempt this task either as an individual or as one half of a pair (I will let you know which).
Homework (Revised)
- Export your 'Angels' MIDI arrangement as an MP3 and email it to me.
- Export the 'Yesterday' MIDI arrangement as an MP3 and email it to me.
- Export the melody of your 'Yesterday' MIDI arrangement as a MIDI file, import it into Sibelius to produce a score. Correct it (smarten it up) ready for exhibition next lesson.
- Complete the harmony dictation exercise that we started in the lesson (recreating the chords from 'Good Riddance' and drafting a skeleton score on paper).
