Imaginative Musicality
In Modern Classical instrumental music, composers often paint a picture to us through musical notes even without any natural languages. This module aims to train up your skills in musical expression whether you are writing your own music or listening to some.
Musical Analysis Exercise
Music Composition Tasks
Skill Level
any levels for musical studies
for piano practical, refer to the level of difficulties for each piece
Equipment Required for Instructor
1 piano
1 - 2 speaker(s) depending on group size
Materials for Students:
pencils
blank stave sheets
drawing/ note-taking scratch paper sheets.
Group Size
1 - 40 students for musical studies, or
1 - 4 for piano practical (30 minutes per session), 5 - 8 for piano practical (1 hour per session), to run through the whole school term.
Finding Rivers in Piano Works
Among the modern classical musical works, we have collated these beautiful piano pieces that depict rivers of a particular place or as a general landscape feature:
Thames Sunrise by Janet & Alan Bullard (2023), 1 piano | easy – intermediate.
Rushing River by Melody Bober & Glori Goranson (2006), 1 piano | easy – intermediate
River and Rainbow by Walter Carroll (1933), 1 piano | easy – intermediate.
River Flows in You by Lee Ru-ma Yiruma (2001), 1 piano | easy – intermediate.
Shenandoah, traditional folk music about exploring along the Missouri river, rearranged for 1 piano (1905) | intermediate.
The Watermill, by Esther Kahn (1922), 1 piano | advanced.
En Bateau, by Claude Debussy (1886), 2 pianos | advanced.
By the Ruili River, by Shi Guangnan (1963), violin concerto accompanied by 1 piano | advanced.
Jeux d’eau by Maurice Ravel (1901), 1 piano | advanced.
Reflets dans l’eau by Claude Debussy (1901), 1 piano | advanced.
Yellow River Piano Concerto, Movement 1 – 3, by Xian Xinghai, Yin Chengzong, Chu Wanghua, Shang Lihong and Liu Zhuang (1969), multi-instrumental orchestral works led by 1 piano | advanced.
Má Vlast: Vltava (the Moldau), by Bedřich Smetana (1874), orchestral piece rearranged for 2 pianos | advanced.
Listen to find out how to express the different features of rivers musically
The selected musical pieces have been arranged by level of difficulties, from easier simpler shorter pieces to more complex works, suitable to different levels of studies. Students can first approach their analysis through describing the broader shape of musicality delivered through the following technical elements of the music they listen to:
Tempo changes or rhythmic structures,
Note arrangement (for instance, arrays of quavers, use of ornaments), and
Use of dynamics or articulation.
Overall, students can discuss how these elements contribute to the emotion of the musical works, that is, whether the music make you feel hopeful, happy, lively, or dark and sad. Ultimately, does the music lead you into an imagination of a certain scene, and what scene is that?
Extension to Climate Education
Rivers in Human Settlements
Rivers are integral part in the earth system and land planning to regulate climate. Geographers, planners, and ecologists are recording the change of river landscape and water quality regularly to monitor the environmental impacts. In the changed climate, lots of areas around the world are experiencing chronic drought and acute wildfire risks, which destroy homes and farms. By contrast, in tropical humid cities such as Jakarta, mitigating flood risks from rivers that run through the city has always been a headache for urban managers, especially with severe and much more frequent rainfalls due to climate change. Rebuilding strong rivers and sustainable drainage/ irrigation systems are important measures to adapt to climate change impacts.
After learning about the essence of our rivers (or freshwater system), how about making a stop to listen to the flows of sound along your local rivers, streams, canals or reservoirs, and write a short tune about your river?
By listening carefully to the selected musical pieces, students can be facilitated to find out and analyse the movements and notation structure in the music they listen to. Are there any commonly used patterns? Can they be adopted in your own piece about a river?
In larger groups (10 - 20 students), students can be grouped into small groups of 3 - 4 people to work on their music writing project.
If you encounter any technical and teaching-related problems in trying out this plan, or if you would like to work with us to develop other innovative curriculum, please get in touch with us via our email hello@ecomuse.co.uk
Comments and feedback are welcome.