Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Part A: Noticing The Score

25 minutes

Part B: Describing The Score

35 minutes

Part C: Analysing The Score

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students understand...

how film scores impact upon the audience.
the terminology used to describe music, including film scores.
how to make claims and judgements about music, including film scores.

Students can...

describe what they hear using musical terminology
focus their attention on the score in the film and draw connections between the music and the film content.
develop criteria and make judgments about the quality of a film score
analyse film scores by providing evidence and descriptions of what they hear.

Part A: Noticing the score

Step 1

Distribute the Student Worksheet and explain to students that this lesson will focus on understanding film scores. You will be using The Final Quarter as a case study. The Final Quarter is an Australian documentary looking at the final three years of former AFL star and Australian of the Year, Adam Goodes.

Step 2

Direct students to read the ‘mood words’ (below and on the Student Worksheet) and using a coloured pen/pencil, circle any words they don’t understand. Allow them time to look these words up in a dictionary.

	Mood Words
agitating amusing angry confusing ecstatic eerie epic ethereal exhilarating expansive funky	frightening frustrating grandiose heartfelt hypnotic invigorating joyful playful poignant primal riotous	rollicking shocking soaring sombre tender thrilling tranquil transcendent unnerving upbeat uplifting

Invite students to arrange each word in the table below (also available on the Student Worksheet), deciding if each mood is either intense or relaxed, and pleasing or grieving. Then ask them to add some of their own words.

	Pleasing (i.e. words that suggest positive feelings)	Grieving (i.e. words that suggest challenging feelings)
Intense (i.e. words that suggest an extreme feeling)	e.g. Exhilarating	e.g. Angry
Relaxed (i.e. words that suggest a calm feeling)	e.g. Tranquil	e.g. Sombre

Step 3

Using a different coloured pen/pencil, instruct students to highlight or circle any moods on their table that they think are portrayed in the following clip. You might like to tell students that the composer’s name is Paul Charlier and he has composed for over 200 film and theatre productions.

Play this clip from The Final Quarter:

Waleed Aly (https://vimeo.com/348323166/f0e8b3d755)

You may need to play the clip a couple of times as the students might need to practice focusing in on the music, rather than the talking.

Step 4

Invite students to form groups of two or three and discuss which words they circled and why. They should also pay attention to any patterns they notice (e.g. is one quadrant highlighted more than any other?). Invite a few groups to share their findings with the class.

Step 5

Watch the clip one more time, inviting students to pay attention to the headlines written on the screen and what Waleed Aly is saying. Lead a class discussion about the relationship between his words and the score. Invite students to come up with any further mood words to describe the clip, and using a different coloured pen/pencil, add these to their tables.

Part B: Describing the score

Step 1

Explain to students that now they will be listening to the score more deeply and finding words to describe the specific things they hear. They will then use this language to analyse the score.

Invites students to read the below lists of terms and explanations (on the Student Worksheet) and clarify the meaning of any they still don’t understand.

Intonation terms

Theme - the main melody, will be repeated
Scale - notes moving in close steps
Arpeggio - notes moving in small leaps
Interval - the distance between two notes
Minor key - a sad sounding key
Major key - a happy sounding key
Chord - three or four notes from the same scale played simultaneously

Expression terms

Crescendo - getting louder
Decrescendo - getting softer
Swell - getting louder then softer again
Forte - loud
Mezzo forte - moderately loud
Mezzo piano - moderately soft
Piano - soft
Legato - smooth and connected
Staccato - short and separated
Rhythmic - with a strong beat
Fluid - with no beat

Texture terms

Harmony - pitches that sound good together
Dissonance - pitches that clash with each other
Monophony - only one melody with no accompaniment
Homophony - only one melody with chords accompanying
Polyphony - more than one melody at the same time
Complex - busy and/or layered, not very easy to make out the individual layers
Simple - easy to hear the individual layers

Rhythm terms

Tempo - determines the speed, measured in beats per minute (bpm)
Meter - the beat and emphasis
Pulse - an ongoing beat
Rhythmic pattern - how the notes are arranged in time
Ostinato/riff - a repeated rhythmic (and melodic) pattern

Step 2

Explain to students that they will watch the following clip once through just to get a feel for it, then they will watch it again and complete an activity.

Play this clip from The Final Quarter:

Standing Ovation for Adam (https://vimeo.com/348313979/7375d98de4)

Step 3

Invite students to locate the ‘Description Table’ on the Student Worksheet and go through it with them, making sure they understand what they are to do in each section.

Explain that they should select words from the above lists that relate to what they hear in the clip, then create sentences that use these words to describe what they are hearing (students may like to highlight the relevant words before creating their sentences). Sample responses have been given to assist you in supporting students.

Description Table

Intonation

Sample response: The music starts with two lines of repeating intervals and they continue throughout. Melodies get added at higher octaves.

Expression

Sample response: The music starts piano and crescendos throughout the clip. The main melody lines are played legato and feel fluid, then new instruments join in playing staccato notes. The music gets more rhythmic towards the end.

Texture

Sample response: The music starts out simple and grows more complex. Layers of instruments get added that get busier as they go along, while the original parts continue the whole way through.

Rhythm

Sample response: The music has an ostinato that plays throughout. The bass drum creates a regular pulse on every fourth beat.

Note: You could explain to students that when describing music, there are no real ‘right answers’. What makes a quality description is whether or not you can provide evidence of your observations. When describing what you hear, you should refrain from making judgements (e.g. effective, boring). It requires a strong vocabulary and trained ear to clearly describe what you are hearing. Don’t expect to get the hang of this straightaway.

Step 4

Play the clip again and allow students time to fill in the Description Table. Move around the room and support students to construct sentences using their chosen words.

Allow students time to talk out their observations with a peer before writing them. This will allow them to make sense of it in their mind before committing to paper.

Part C: Analysing the score

Step 1

Explain to students that now they bring together the vocabulary and skills practices in this lesson to analyse the score in another clip from The Final Quarter. They will need to write about mood, intonation, expression, texture and rhythm. They should also take the clip content into account by considering what story is being told and how the music helps tell that story. Finally, they should determine if the score was effective or not and what criteria they used to judge this.

Step 2

Have students form groups of two or three and formulate three judging criteria for determining the quality of the score (e.g. it had an impact on the audience’s feelings, matched the content of the clip, created shifts in mood at appropriate points).

Step 3

Explain to students that the first time the clip is played they should simply watch. When you play it again, take notes. You will need to play the clip up to four times (or allow students access to the clip via their devices).

Step 4

Play this clip from The Final Quarter while students simply watch:

War Cry - short (https://vimeo.com/348314475/9cf154a433)

Step 5

Play the clip again. Students should work independently to analyse the clip and record notes in the space provided on the Student Worksheet.

Step 6

Play the clip a few more times or allow students access on their own devices. Move around the room to support students in the development of their ideas. Remind them to focus on the evidence of what they hear.

Step 7

If time permits invite students to form small groups to share their ideas. Students should discuss their ideas in their groups and add new notes to their worksheets in response to their discussion.

Allow students time to refine their writing.

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to answer the following questions on their Student Worksheets:

Was it easy of difficult to identify the mood of the clips? Did your responses match or differ from others? Why do you think that was?
What are your personal thoughts about the score for The Final Quarter? Do you feel differently about it since the start of the lesson? Why/why not?
How important do you think the score is to a film out of 10 (where 1 is not important and 10 is essential)?

Differentiated Learning

Extension - In Part B, students could describe additional musical elements. This website provides some additional vocabulary and concepts for advanced students to explore: https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/descriptive-rds-for-music.html

Provisions for Learning Support -

In Part C, you may like to provide students with the following judging criteria, rather than have them create their own:The score had an impact on the audience’s feelings
- The score had an impact on the audience's feelings
- The score matched the content of the clip
- The score created shifts in mood at appropriate points.
In Part C, you could pair students with lower literacy with stronger students and have them write a joint analysis.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

The Final Quarter - The Power Of The Score

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