Lesson Six Composition: Beethoven extended

Beethoven Revisited In lesson four you composed a piece using the rhythm and form (aa’ba’) of Beethoven. In this assignment, you will use Beethoven’s 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.

 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

Rhythmic part of the composition :  This is what the rhythmic composition using the form aa’ba’ could look like. Listen to the sound file..

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”.

New composition

Adding timbre, dynamics and tempi changes to your composition  Listen to the two versions of the aa’ba’ 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. #1. #2.

Making changes to your composition  Following the steps outlined in slides 1-6, create your new composition using aa’ba’ 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

 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

 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

 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 “>”. 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.