Composing Vocabulary

This week we began our composing adventure! Here is a review of some of the vocabulary and ideas we talked about in group classes:

Phrase: A musical phrase is like a sentence written with notes. 
    You can create a complete musical phrase by writing a "question" and an "answer." 
    In the key of C, I told you to make the question end on G so that it sounds like we need to keep going.
    The answer will end on C, which will make it sound like a finished phrase (or sentence).

Word painting: Word painting (sometimes called tone painting) is when you write music that makes a sound to describe what the words are saying. 
   For example, if the words talk about going up, you can make the notes go up higher on the piano.  Or, if the words are about a bouncy ball, you could choose to write some staccato notes to create the sound of the bounces.

ABA form: This is called ternary form. There are three sections to the song and the first and last sections are very similar. The middle section can sound quite different; it contrasts with the A section.
   Two examples of Suzuki songs with this form are Chant Arabe in Book 1 and Ecossaise in Book 2.
   You can create a simple ABA song in the following way:

1. Write a phrase (question and answer). This is the A section.
2. Write a different phrase (different question and answer). This is the B section.
3. Repeat the A section.

You can make the song longer by putting more than one phrase in a section.

Time signature: This sign is placed at the beginning of the song, next to the clefs. It tells us how many beats are in a measure and what note gets 1 beat. 

Enjoy creating your own music!