MELODY 1

3. Sitting in a circle improvise a melody on instruments where each person in turn plays either a short note or along note only.

• Encourage people to react to the music that has gone before.
• Aim to make a group melody.

 

3.1 Repeat the exercise, first using any of the six notes from the Dérive chord. Then repeat using the other six pitches not found in the Dérive chord.

• Try having two melodies travelling round the circle together both based on different hexachords.Students may wish to use trills to decorate the the long notes.

 

3.2 In small groups make a simple slow unison melody. This should consist of a single statement of six notes drawn from the chord sequences invented in workshop 1.

• Encourage the groups to orchestrate their melodies so that not all instruments need play every note. This should make the sound of the line change as it moves.

 

3.3 Match up the melodies with the chords and the groups they were derived from and try playing them together. Adjustments may be needed to ensure that notes in the melody always fit with the "correct" chord.

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3.4 Separate back into the smaller groups and ask each to preface 3 or 4 notes from their melody with grace notes. These could be devised in one of three ways:

a) derived from the notes in the original Dérive chord

b) derived from the notes of the particular chord sequence

c) improvised from a particular shape or gesture.

• Try to vary the number of people in the group playing the grace notes.
• Also vary the number of grace notes that lead into the main notes of the melody.
• Long notes may again be decorated by trills.

 

3.5 Regroup and try again to fit the melodies (with their added grace notes) to the chord sequences played by the other groups.

 

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