I know I am a fan of Howard Goodall when I start to remember how he taught a single tune in one of his many Music Documentary DVD’s!
At my current Orff Teacher Training Course we have been singing melodies and then using chords I & ii to provide interesting accompaniments. The old English song Sumer is Icumen In is a great example as it allows the arranger to see-saw between a C Major and D Minor chord for its accompaniment. Sumer Is Icumen is the oldest piece of six-part polyphonic music in existence estimated to date from around 1260 (the manuscript is now at the British Library).
Howard Goodall demonstrates this piece in his DVD How Harmony Works. Watch the video below from 7mins in to see the mentioned song.
You can also find a PDF downloadable worksheet for this 10 minute video at my ISSUU library.
You will notice the rhythm is in compound meter (6/8) and it is rather catchy.
Did you notice how the background has two chords see-sawing from one to the other?
These are the chords I & ii (for example C Major and D Minor). The harmony is able to back up the melody because there is a constant drone on the tonic, then the see-sawing Major and Minor chords above in a two bar melodic ostinato (or repeated pattern). Howard Goodall’s DVD has a group sing the line ‘Sing Cuc-Cu’ as another melodic ostinato. All of these ideas are included with the text of the song in the Sibelius File linked below.
I have re-scored this tune into a free online notation program called Noteflight to show you an example of this revolving chordal pattern. Listen to the tune and then download the Attached Sibelius File of Sumer Is Icumen In to try your own arranging ideas!
Noteflight also has many lessons and interactive composition tasks ready for you to use in your classroom.
Visit their Activity Templates page and take a look for yourself. You could email them as tasks to your students, have your private students complete them for composition tasks on their instrument or just attach them to your latest unit of work. See below for a snapshot of what is on offer thanks to Noteflight.
