© Boardworks Ltd 20121 of 13 © Boardworks Ltd 2012

♫ 5B Musical Clichés ♫

1 of 13

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentationIcons key:

Flash activity. These activities are not editable. Teacher’s notes included in the Notes Page

WorksheetListening activity Sound

Composing activity

Performing activity WeblinkRecord

your work

© Boardworks Ltd 20122 of 13

Learning objectives

To learn how clichés are used in television and film music to set a scene.

To learn how clichés increase the dramatic effect of a film.

To understand conventions about how music can begin and end.

To learn how clichés can be used in songs.

© Boardworks Ltd 20122 of 13

© Boardworks Ltd 20123 of 13

Television and film music

Clichés are used frequently in television and film music because they increase the dramatic effect.

Silent movies were the first kind of film, and started being shown publicly in 1895.

Recording and playing back sound with pictures was technically challenging at the time, so a pianist would sit in the cinema and play appropriate music to accompany the film.

© Boardworks Ltd 20124 of 13

Television and film music

Crowds of people hurtling down the Odessa steps.

Soldiers open fire.

A couple crouch down by the steps in terror.

With the help of the following ideas, make your own musical cliché to accompany these scenes which come from the silent 1925 film, Battleship Potemkin:

fast tempo, constant rhythms, sequences

gun shots, loud and dynamic

dissonant sustained chords

© Boardworks Ltd 20125 of 13

Beginnings and endings

© Boardworks Ltd 20126 of 13

Songs

© Boardworks Ltd 20127 of 13

Analysing a song

♫ Listen to this song and discuss your response to the music. ♫

♫ How is the mood of the song reflected

in the music? ♫

© Boardworks Ltd 20128 of 13

Learning objectives

To create a composition using clichés.

To use appropriate notation to develop your ideas.

To perform, record and discuss your composition.

© Boardworks Ltd 20128 of 13

© Boardworks Ltd 20129 of 13

Composing horror film music

© Boardworks Ltd 201210 of 13

Beginnings and endings

Think about how you are going to set the scene at the start, and how you are going to leave people in suspense at the end.

end suddenly in the middle of a phrase

use short, loud chords

use diminuendo (getting quieter)

use longer and longer silences.

♫ When your compositions are complete, perform them to the rest of the class and record them. ♫

You could:

© Boardworks Ltd 201211 of 13

Writing it down

Develop a graphic score of your composition. You can use whatever form you wish, but here are some guidelines:

Invent ways of representing your sounds in a visual form.

Tell the reader when to play each part by inserting a time axis.

Add any extra information, e.g. dynamics, onto your score, and provide a key.

0 3 6

f

© Boardworks Ltd 201212 of 13

Composing music for a love story

© Boardworks Ltd 201213 of 13

Key points

A musical cliché reminds the listener of a particular feeling or emotion.

Clichés are used in television and film music to set the scene and increase the dramatic effect.

Composers use clichés to start and end their work, as well as to highlight events during the piece.

© Boardworks Ltd 201213 of 13