Rap: A Teacher’s Guide

VIP Studio Sessions

Rap – Overview
Focus: Music for Rap

Step By Step:

● Intro
● Adding Drums
● Adding Chords
● Adding Bass
● Creating Arrangements and Adding a Drop
● Adding Rap Vocals
● Mixing
● In-depth: Adding Melodies and Orchestration

Focus On: Chords and melodies

Training Offer: An introduction to composition at KS3 and scales and theory at KS4

Teaching Focus: Chords, scales and composition

Learning Outcomes for This Resource

Intro
Learning outcomes:

● Intro to Rap Beats

● Sounds
● What you will learn

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Adding Drums
Learning outcomes:

● Tempo
● Creating a track
● Choosing drum sounds
● Creating a clip
● Extending a clip
● Changing a loop’s length
● Musical beats and bars
● Kicks, snares and patterns for Rap beats
● Hi-hats
● Triplets
● Copying notes
● Delay FX, tempo, syncing and mixing
● Copying clips
● Experimenting with patterns and sounds

Adding Chords
Learning outcomes:

● Adding/creating an instrument
● Choosing piano sounds
● Creating chords/chord fragments
● Creating note clips
● Adding notes and using note names
● Building chords
● Changing the octave
● Extending notes
● Parametric EQ
● Reverb

Adding Bass
Learning outcomes:

● Audio
● Finding sounds in the library
● Story of the 808 and 808 bass
● Matching samples to chord notes/scales
● Chopping samples using the scissor tool
● Creating space by removing sounds
● Glides
● Turnarounds and repeating patterns
● Experimenting with samples and patterns
● Fading out samples

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Creating Arrangement and
Adding a Drop
Learning outcomes:

● Duplicating sections of the track

● Key commands
● Deleting clips to create an arrangement
● Adding filter FX
● Adding a riser
● Signposting events in a track
● Using EQ to remove bass
● Creating space – less is more!
● Adding a percussion loop
● Changing the volume of a track
● Adding delay
● Adding a clap
● Adding a short delay to create a unique snare sound
● The importance of small details
● Counting bars
● Rap music and the importance of 16-bar verses
● Duplicating sections
● Zoom
● Extending a section of a track
● Creating an arrangement to pass on to a vocal artist to write lyrics to

Adding Rap Vocals

Learning outcomes:

● Saving work and naming tracks

● Adding A Capellas and choosing vocals
from the sound library
● Organising vocals over the beat
● Resizing audio/vocals
● Copying vocals
● Hooks and their importance in Rap/Pop music
● Trimming vocals
● Spotting details
● Adjusting vocal levels

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Mixing
Learning outcomes:

● What is mixing?
● Adjusting levels
● EQ
● Frequencies, low, middle and high
● Soloing
● Subtractive EQ – why we do it
● Creative use of EQ to shape vocal effects
● Using delay

In-depth – Adding Melodies and

Orchestration
Learning outcomes:

● Adding a B section to your track

● Using relative major/minor
● Delay and tempo sync
● Duplicating tracks
● Editing chords
● Creating a bassline from chords
● Shifting octaves
● Adding a filter
● Using automation
● Dance music dynamics and audience
● Adding melodies
● Adjusting to a minor melody
● Adding an outro section
● Adding a DJ intro
● Hz and frequency ranges
● Hi-pass EQ

Teaching/Learning Contexts with VIP

Use a range of groupings (e.g. class, group, paired, individual) and approaches (e.g. group
discussion, student presentation, self-directed learning and visiting specialists) for maximum
benefit.

Assessment with VIP

If appropriate, link your assessment to both musical and SMSC outcomes. Whenever possible,
involve your students in this process.

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