Date: 12/20/2022 Time: 3:00 pm EST Duration: 1 Hr.

Lesson Plan: Lesson 18

Lesson Goals:
● In this lesson I want to cover a simple strategy for studying different styles/genres of
music and turning them into templates for your own pieces.

Check-In:
● This is the 18th stream in this series. Last week we discussed three different strategies
for writing melodies. Have you had a chance to practice?
● As usual, don’t forget to share ideas for what you’d like to see me cover in next week’s
stream!

New Material:

Why Study Different Styles/Genres?

● The fastest way to develop your voice as a composer is to study the music you already
enjoy.
○ Figuring out the different patterns, strategies, and structures that your favorite
pieces use can help you discover new tools for writing your own music.
○ As you learn new tools for writing, you can decide which ones you like and which
ones you don’t. The combination of tools and strategies you pick up from other
composers is what will eventually develop into your own personal style.

How to Study Different Styles/Genres

The General Approach
1. Start by picking a composer/style/genre/emotion of music that you enjoy listening to and
select a few different pieces that you think best represent the type of sound you’re trying
to emulate.
a. I recommend figuring out an odd number, typically 3 or 5 different pieces that
really fit the type of vibe you’re looking to figure out.
2. Next study each of the pieces individually, and try to figure out what makes them tick.
You can start by answering as many of the questions found later in this lesson plan as
possible.
3. Once you’ve studied each of the pieces individually, look through your notes and search
for any common traits that you’ve found across two or more of them.

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Date: 12/20/2022 Time: 3:00 pm EST Duration: 1 Hr.

a. These do not need to be traits found across every single piece, but the more the
merrier. Ultimately these traits will be what you want to try and emulate in your
own music to create the same type of vibe.
4. Finally take special note of anything unique or interesting that you find and want to try
out with your own music.

Questions to try and Answer*

● Rhythm/Tempo:
○ What meter is used?
○ What’s the most commonly used, smallest subdivision?
○ What is the tempo?
○ Are there any common rhythms?
○ Anything else you noticed?
● Harmony:
○ What key/scale type is used?
○ What types of chords are used?
○ Are there any commonly used color tones?
○ Are there any common chord progressions?
○ Are there any common modulations?
○ What is the harmonic rhythm like?
○ Are the chord voicings open or closed?
○ Why kind of strategies used for orchestrating the chords?
○ Are there patterns in the type of CRs used?
○ Anything else you noticed?
● Melody:
○ Conjunct vs Disjunct movement?
○ What kind of leaps are used?
○ What is the phrasing structure like?
○ Is there motivic material? How is it developed?
○ What is the overall contour like?
○ What is the ratio of chordal tones vs. non-chordal tones?
○ What are the most commonly used types of non-chordal tones?
○ Are color tones used?
○ What about a counter melody?
○ Anything else you noticed?
● Orchestration:
○ What is the overall instrumentation used?
○ What is the instrumentation for the melodic material?
○ How are the other instruments used?
○ What kind of texture is being used?
○ Anything else you noticed?
● Miscellaneous:
○ Overall form?

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Date: 12/20/2022 Time: 3:00 pm EST Duration: 1 Hr.

○ Compositional structure?
○ Performance techniques/
○ Recording techniques?
○ Anything else you noticed?

*You do NOT need to answer every single one of these questions. Some will be more helpful or
feasible depending on whether or not you have sheet music available or are going off recordings
only. The goal here is to just get started looking for patterns and ideas for what helps give each
piece of music its personality. My personal favorites to look for are written in italics.

Putting it into Practice:

During this live stream, I will very quickly try to analyze three pieces of music to create a short
template. Please understand that this is normally something that can take weeks or even
months to do properly (I spent over 200 hours analyzing music for my Ghibli series playlist) so
the point of this stream is to just show a general use of this process and not a deep dive.

Touhou Project Template:

Green-eyed Jealousy: https://musescore.com/user/28009401/scores/4993814
● Rhythm/Tempo:
○ What meter is used?
■ ¾ time
○ What’s the most commonly used, smallest subdivision?
■ Melody = ¼ notes
● Most of the melody consists of ¼ notes, ½ notes, and dotted ½
notes. There are a few 1/8th notes but they’re used mostly to
embellish and add a bit of momentum at the end of the phrase.
● The most common “smallest” subdivision is definitely a ¼ note.
■ Accompaniment = 1/8th notes
○ What is the tempo?
■ Quarter note = 178 bpm
● Harmony:
○ What key is being used?
■ E minor
○ What type of chordal accompaniment is being used?
■ Combination of arpeggiated and rhythmic chords.

● Melody:
○ Conjunct vs Disjunct movement?
■ Mostly conjunct movement, but with some leaps here and there for color
and personality

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Date: 12/20/2022 Time: 3:00 pm EST Duration: 1 Hr.

○ What kind of leaps are used?

■ Mostly 3rds, P4, P5
● Orchestration:
○ What is the overall instrumentation used?
■ Piano
○ What kind of texture is being used?
■ Homophonic (melody + chords + bassline)
● Uses rhythmic arpeggios in the chordal accompaniment.

Broken Moon: https://musescore.com/user/1871941/scores/5206155

● Rhythm/Tempo:
○ What meter is used?
■ 4/4 Time
○ What’s the most commonly used, smallest subdivision?
■ Melody = 1/8th notes
● The vast majority of the melody is written in 1/8th notes with
adjusting a few quarter and half notes thrown in to help control the
momentum.
○ What is the tempo?
■ Quarter note = 83 bpm
● Harmony:
○ What key is being used?
■ Eb Major/C minor.
○ What kind of chordal accompaniment is being used?
■ Mostly sustained chords
■ Eventually starts to be a bit more melodic.
● Melody:
○ Conjunct vs Disjunct movement?
■ About half and half.
○ What kind of leaps are used?
■ Mostly 3rds, P4, and P5
● Orchestration:
○ What is the overall instrumentation used?
■ Pitched idiophones (glockenspiel & vibraphone)
○ What kind of texture is being used?
■ Homophonic
● Mostly sustained chords + some melodic movement.

Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17: https://musescore.com/user/31826749/scores/8425481

● Rhythm/Tempo:
○ What meter is used?
○ What’s the most commonly used, smallest subdivision?

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Date: 12/20/2022 Time: 3:00 pm EST Duration: 1 Hr.

○ What is the tempo?

● Harmony:
○ What types of chords are used?
○ Are there any commonly used color tones?
○ What is the harmonic rhythm like?
● Melody:
○ Conjunct vs Disjunct movement?
○ What kind of leaps are used?
○ What is the phrasing structure like?
○ What is the overall contour like?
● Orchestration:
○ What is the overall instrumentation used?
○ What kind of texture is being used?

SIMILARITIES ACROSS ALL 3 The first 2:

Rhythm/tempo
● Work with simple meters (¾ and 4/4)
● Focus on moderate subdivisions like ¼ notes and 1/8th notes

Harmony:
● Work with a minor key
● Focus on chordal accompaniment

Melody
● Mostly conjunct, with some leaps of 3rd, P4, and P5 for color

Orchestration:
● Focus on Homophonic Textures (Melody + chordal accompaniment + bassline)

Homework:
● Pick your favorite composer/genre/style and try analyzing 3 or 5 pieces of music that fit
that category to create your own template. Once you have a template, try using it to write
a new piece of music!
● Make sure to like the video and subscribe to the channel. Share your favorite videos with
friends or communities that you think would find these lessons useful! This is one of the
best things you can do to help this channel grow.
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to be a patron! There are links in the description of the video.
● Don’t forget to share ideas for what you’d like to see me cover in future videos!