Week 6: Musical Form and Melody Writing
Week 6: Musical Form and Melody Writing
Unit: Musical Form and Melody Writing
This week students explore musical form by composing original melodies in MuseScore and GarageBand. Days 26–28 build progressively in MuseScore: you compose an ABA-form melody in C major, add a bass line to a binary-form piece, and then write chord progressions with melodies in both C major and A minor. Days 29–30 shift to GarageBand, where you import MIDI chord progressions, arrange them into AABA (32-bar) form with drums and an arpeggiator, and compose an original melody on top — finishing with an MP3 export submitted to CTLS.
Weekly Schedule
| Day | Date | Topic | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Mon 4/27 | ABA Form and the Tonic Note | Students compose a 12-measure original melody in C major using ABA form in MuseScore, then share it on a CTLS discussion post for peer feedback. |
| 27 | Tue 4/28 | Binary Form and Bass Lines | Students choose one binary-form melody, mark its A and B sections in MuseScore, and add a one-note-per-measure bass line in C major or A minor. |
| 28 | Wed 4/29 | Chord Progressions and Melody | Students enter I–V–vi–IV chords for an 8-measure A section in C major and i–VII–VI–VII chords for an 8-measure B section in A minor, then write a melody over each in MuseScore. |
| 29 | Thu 4/30 | 32-Bar Form and Chords in GarageBand | Students import a MIDI chord progression into GarageBand, duplicate it into AABA (32-bar) form, add a drum loop, try the arpeggiator, and begin recording a melody. |
| 30 | Fri 5/1 | Finish Your 32-Bar Melody | Students complete their AABA project with chords, drums, and an original melody, then export it as an MP3 and submit to the Day 30 CTLS discussion post. |
Graded Assignments
- Day 26 — Upload your ABA-form MuseScore file (.mscz) to the CTLS Discussion Post and reply to at least three classmates’ melodies.
- Day 27 — Submit your binary-form MuseScore file with A/B section labels, key label, and bass line to the Day 27 assignment in CTLS.
- Day 28 — Submit your 16-measure MuseScore file (chords + melody, A and B section labels) to the Day 28 assignment in CTLS.
- Day 30 — Export your completed 32-bar AABA project as an MP3 and submit it to the Day 30 discussion post on CTLS.
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