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Music isn’t just about pitch and rhythm. In this video, Berklee Online instructor Ben Camp says that music is also about the relationship pitch and rhythm have with one another. You can’t have a melody if you don’t have both of these elements playing their parts. And besides this relationship, both contain similar feelings such as the need to get back home. Once you understand the function that each part plays, you can try experimenting with your rhythms and melodies, and try to make the most out of their potential. Ben Camp also illustrates these points through the introduction of “figure” and ground.” “Figure” is what we perceive and “ground” is the background that we perceive it against. The first ground we perceive in visual composition is the empty background of the canvas. The most obvious songwriting parallel to the empty background of a canvas is the empty silence around the song. You hear silence before a piece begins, and you hear silence after it ends. The entire song is a figure that is perceived against a ground of silence. Once you move beyond the perception of silence-as-ground, you start to hear musical elements as ground. With enough repetition or predictability, any musical element can become ground. As the element repeats and becomes more predictable, it fades more and more into the perceptual background. Whether it’s the simple thump-thump-thump-thump of a kick drum, or the boom-bap-boom-bap of a kick-snare pattern. Even a sung vocal can become ground if repeated enough. This video comes from the Berklee Online course, “Songs Unmasked: Techniques and Tips for Songwriting Success,” by Ben Camp.
Learn more about this course: https://berkonl.in/3DX2K8l
ABOUT BEN CAMP:
Ben Camp teaches songwriting at Berklee College of Music. His songs have appeared in film and TV on networks like MTV, CBS, NBC, Fox, and more. He’s written singles for Brice Fox, Tiesto, Victoria Justice, Sam Feldt, and others. His mission as an educator is to get you to write the best versions of the songs that only you can write.
About Berklee Online:
Founded in 2002, Berklee Online is the premier innovator and largest provider of worldwide music education, offering the renowned curriculum of Berklee College of Music at a fraction of the cost through award-winning programming and instruction. Contact an Academic Advisor today:
1-866-BERKLEE (US)
1-617-747-2146 (international callers)
advisors@online.berklee.edu
http://www.facebook.com/BerkleeOnline
http://www.twitter.com/BerkleeOnline
http://www.instagram.com/berkleeonline/
Songwriting | Song Design | Rhythm | Melody | Figure | Ground | Lyrics | Ben Camp | Brice Fox | Tiesto | Victoria Justice | Sam Feldt | Berklee College of Music | Berklee Online
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This is really well explained, thanks so much for sharing
Great video; thank u ?