Lesson Objectives:
To become familiar with the notes of the Bb major scale and degrees within it.
To understand what is meant by the terms tonic, subdominant and dominant.
To understand what is meant by an interval and to focus on intervals of a 4th, 5th and a 7th.
To analyse the first 3 bars and what contributes to it sounding like a fanfare.
To choose a performance or a composition task based on the first 3 bars.
Bb Major Scale - Degrees of the scale
The beginning of Star Wars is in Bb major. We know this by looking at the key signature at the very start of the piece, which contains 2 flats.
These 2 flats are Bb and Eb. Remembering that in a major scale each letter name appears once, this means the notes of Bb major are…..
Tonic, Subdominant, Dominant:
The 3 most important degrees in a scale are……
The 1st (tonic)
The 4th (subdominant)
The 5th (dominant)
Intervals
The distance between 2 pitches is called an interval. When you are counting the number of pitches, don’t forget to count the 1st note.
So the interval between A and E is {A (1) B (2) C (3) D (4) E (5)} a 5th
Review Questions:
1) What key is the Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner from Star Wars in?
2) What 3 notes make up the majority of the first 3 bar Fanfare?
3) What section of the orchestra features in the opening 3 bar Fanfare?
4) Listen to the opening 3 bars and state 3 ways that Williams creates a grand and powerful fanfare.
5) Which 2 intervals feature in the opening 3 bars?