52.

Notation and imitation of the world around you 1

Pay attention to various sounds in your environment that you do not usually listen to. Create a composition based on these sounds, write it down using graphic notation and perform it.

Assignment author
Marko Alastalo

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Basics

Skill level

Group size

Minimum time required

1 lessons

2 lessons

One month

Goal and output

Pedagogical goal

Analytical listening to ambient sounds and imitating them in terms of tonal colour, dynamics, playing techniques, rhythm and texture.

Practising graphic notation.

Concrete output

A composition created based on the ambient sound world, notated in graphic notation and performed.

Preparation

4'33" by John Cage may serve as an introduction to this exercise.

Work progress

• Have the students listen intently, focusing on sounds which are around us all the time but to which we normally do not pay attention (the hum of air conditioning, chair creaks, coughs, sounds from outside, etc.). Make notes of what you hear.

• Analyse the features of the sounds you hear with the students and think about how they could be imitated with the students' own voices or instruments (e.g. extended playing techniques on conventional instruments, unconventional instruments). Pay particular attention to tonal colour, dynamics, playing techniques, texture and rhythm, but – depending on the sound world – considering pitch, register, ensemble and harmony may also be interesting.

• Based on the discussion, create a composition imitating ambient sounds with the students' own voices and/or instruments and write it down using graphic notation.

• Perform the completed composition.