This is a project which involves working with several riffs/ostinati in an E minor pentatonic context. As well as helping students to "use their ears" to copy very well known music, it provides the opportunity for improvisition and developing familiar ideas to fit to a dramatic context.
Age range: 2-5 No: 6-8 No; 9-11 maybe; 12-13 maybe;14-15 very appropriate; 16-17 very useful; 18+ very useful.
Students should (a) have a good sense of timing within a swing/rock context; (b) have had some practice improvising simple rhythms and melodies (riffs); (c) be able to read and apply a short series of notes in the treble or bass clefs.
By the end of the project students will (a) have a clear understanding of riffs; (b) be able to differentiate between chromatic and diatonic phrases; (c) have developed skills in improvising in the realm of E minor pentatonic harmony; (d) have restructured familiar and improvised material to fit a student-defined dramatic context.
preparatory notes for the teacher.
007-Worksheet (html format)- Deutsche Sprache
007-Worksheet (pdf. format) - Deutsche Sprache
007-Worksheet (html format) - English Language
007-Worksheet (pdf. format) - English Language
see technical information (texts) for advice regarding the correct format for you.
Click here to review 007-MIDIfile for performance or drag the text to your desktop to create a file to import to your sequencer.
Material 2: MIDIfile for printing
preparatory notes for the teacher.
Link to Pink Panther - in preparation
Backtracks - a Channel 4 CD-ROM publication enables students to mix and match video clips with music- and sound-files to create a short musically accompanied film scenes. To use it with a class you will need many computers or a project rotation plan in use. Link gives further information. Possible also as a preliminary exercise to "James Bond-007".
The short piano piece "Blue Note" by Alan Haughton (no. 4 of "Rhythm & Rag", Easier Piano Pieces Vol. 75 - Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London: ISBN 1-85472-398-7) is an ideal recommendation for young pianists of intermediate standard to complement this project. The chromatic riff of "James Bond" is a dominant feature of the piece, but it also takes on new forms, which could prompt further the creative stimulus of this project. Order your copy of this favourably priced volume from Balaams Music
The project has been devised by John Mason, using a MIDIfile passed on from an Internet download. If you are the author of this excellent MIDIfile, please contact the site manager so that you can be given the credit you deserve.