My Music Class Melody, Melodic Analysis, Final Reflection

This is the link to the original melody I composed:
http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/2db2cec09c8a0683cd3e03196424d9f0e429ed9d

Today, I let my class listen to my melody. Before that, I asked my music teacher for suggestions.She said I should make the second note in the third bar longer, which means to make the first two notes in the third bar from a dotted quarter note and an eighth note into two quarter notes. I appreciated it and I changed it. It sounds a lot better.

Today, I let my class listen to my melody. They seemed to like it.  I know because they clapped really hardly.

They said it sounded nice because there was a sequence of rising of the melody raising and dropping a bit in it, and it rises and drops a little.  They suggested me to repeat the last two notes at the end of my piece.  They said they naturally heard that in their minds when they listen to my melody.

I'm not sure whether that was a good idea because it sounded a bit too repeated for me.  But I'll still changed it for now and compare it to the original one.

This is the link to the melody after the two changes I made and with two more instruments added:
http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/9d8c0ade65b85dd1e846aaeafa6a033ba2d81e82

Melodic Analysis

A melody is a combination of rhythm and pitch. This is My final melody. Before creating the melody, we had a discussion on class which is about techniques that can be used for creating a melody. The techniques for creating a rhythm are: don’t make the rhythm busy but keep it simple; using repetition which is repeating; end the melody on long note which creates and end-feeling.

The rhythm of my final melody have reputation in the first bar and the third bar, the third bar is almost the same with the first bar. The rhythm of my final melody ends on a long note, it is a half note and it’s half a bar long here, it is also the longest note I used in my whole melody. The rhythm of my final melody is really simple because it have patterns where it goes slow to fast or fast to slow and there’s repetition, and it doesn’t have any fast notes crumbled up together which would make the too busy.

The techniques for creating pitch in a melody are similar to those for rhythm, they are: using repetition, using a rainbow shape which means start in a lower pitch and then slowly goes up and goes back down (just like a plot line), use steps to resolve skips and having a climax point which is part of the rainbow shape, end on “d”

The pitch of my final melody has repetition which is rising and dropping a little in every bar. The pitch of my melody has a rainbow shape where it goes up and drop a bit and goes up and drops a bit and goes up to the climax and drop down to “d” which is “C” in my melody. Also, there is a rising action from “C” in the first bar, “D” in second, “E” in the 2nd end of 2nd bar and back to “C” which is ending on “d”. And it uses steps to resolve skips like the last note of the 1st bar and the first note of the 2nd bar.

Final Reflection

This is the last melody I get after all decisions and improvements.

This is my first rhythm.

Music - melody - is a combination of rhythm and pitch.

We started with rhythm. This is how I thought of my first rhythm (hasn’t been improved):

I created my melody starting with the rhythm. I came up with the idea of using a long note for the first note. Then the rest of the first bar come to mind. Then for the second bar, I thought a fast speed would sound something like the climax so I put four sixteenth note and I slow the rhythm down. Then I used repetition for the third bar which means I did the same thing to the third bar like the first bar. For the fourth bar, I put four sixteenth note like the second bar which is repetition too, and I did something like the start of the rhythm and end it with a fourth note.

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Improved rhythm.

What techniques and how I improved my rhythm:

I shared my rhythm with my class and they said the second bar was too busy and they suggested me to slow it down ,after the business of the first bar, and they suggested to start the second bar with a fourth note which is a longer note, And make it accelerate slowly. And I repeated the first bar for the third bar. Then I they kept my last bar.

The techniques I used for creating the rhythm is: don’t make it busy but keep it simple; use repetition which is repeating; end the melody on long note which creates and end-feeling.

We did some body percussion afterwards

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I starting creating the pitch

A pitch of . I was struggling with what to put next. When I was struggling with with it, I thought maybe thinking about the whole thing again. Therefore, I thought of it again and it reminded me of the rainbow shape and I thought of a melody in the first bar. Then the second bar just popped out with a higher level which is a rising action in a rainbow shape and a simulation of the 1st bar. Then, I used repetition for the third bar. And the melody ends with slowly going down, I changed the rhythm of the last bar because that’s what I thought of and it sounds good.

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I shared it to my teacher and my class. In the third bar, my teacher said I should change it from “a dotted quarter note and an eighth note” into “two fourth note”. It’s because it is a climax and it have to be loud and heavy. I agreed with that. Then, my classmates and my teacher said they heard two notes repeated at last.

But 

I didn’t like it. I thought it was too repeated.

AT LAST I GOT MY FINAL MELODY (on the top of the page)!!!

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After creating our melody, we presented it to the class. This presentation is special because we don’t do it live, we record it and play it to the class which is a good opportunity to edit the recording. At first, I made some flashcard and try to record it but I found the image left side right when I record it. Therefore, I tried to use iMovie and it worked, it didn’t flip over the image. I stuck the flashcards on the wall, and recorded it with the computer’s voice, and cut away the other parts. And I played the piano a few times with the camera facing a drawing and I chose the best one- I chose to play the piano because it is the instrument I learnt longest and I am good in it and I think it’s easy, I didn’t choose recorder which is the only other instrument I know how to play because I forgot how to play it a bit- But I then thought I would have to show myself, so I record two videos again with one showing my whole body and another showing my fingers so I can let the audiences see it’s me and how I played it. I found the finger-video not accurate enough as it’s a little little bit off, so I recorded the sound again and replaced the sound in that video, but the image and the sound isn’t too far apart so it’s good. Then I changed all the flash-cards into text I type in iMovie because I thought they don’t suit my whole thing and one of them said I will have tapping with the melody which no-one would help or do it for me. I tried some transitions and text and got my final video, or presentation. I think my presentation wasn’t bad because I have an introduction, I have a title but they help me change it from “walking in the spring garden” into “skipping in the spring garden”, I played the piano accurately. However, I would like to add some tapings or drum sound when I play the piano because my song light and taping would make it more interesting. I would record the music of me playing the drum in miss P’s room- though I don’t know how- if she let me. Then, I would add the audio to my video so the piano and drum sound will appear together.