Offer,Cole, B: The Pop Composer's Handbook

Contents

• Rhythm:
• Key features of rhythm in popular music
• Style, metre and tempo
• Building on a one-bar pattern
• Using technology
• .
• Melody:
• Pop melody
• Extending melody
• Advanced melody writing
• .
• Harmony:
• Melody and harmony
• Why does pop harmony sound different from classical harmony?
• Chord progressions
• Dissonance
• .
• Structure:
• Harmony and structure
• Standard structures
• 32-bar song form
• Verse and chorus
• Highlighting the chorus
• .
• Instruments:
• The instrument of popular music
• .
• Production:
• Microphones
• Making the recording
• Post production
• Scoring parts
• .
• Riffs:
• Adding a new section
• Study project: Tubular Bells
• .
• Songs:
• George Gershwin
• Burt Bacharach
• John Lennon and Paul McCartney
• Stevie Wonder
• Bob Marley
• Michael Jackson
• Elton John
• .
• Islands and Continents:
• Reggae
• Salsa
• Bhangra
• Celtic popular music
• .
• Club and Urban:
• The techniques of club music
• Sampling
• Recording your own samples
• Planning the composition
• Projects
• .
• Performing Projects for the Class:
• Samba
• Steel band
• Tala
• Riff ensemble
• .
• Frameworks for Listening:
• Keeping a listening log
• Focused listening
• Listening worksheets
• Comparisons
• Differentiating worksheets
• .
• Designing Worksheets
• .
• Schemes of Work:
• 32-bar song
• The instruments of popular music
• Songs with a message
• Cut and paste
• Rhythm
• The voice
• .
• The Computer in the Classroom:
• Listening
• Performing
• Composing