mt12 scheme ks3 canons

Music Teacher December 20121

KS5KS3 KS3: Canons

by Alan Charlton

IntroduCtIon

Canons and rounds appear frequently in music education, from the classroom singing of simple rounds such

as London’s Burning and Frère Jacques to GCSE and A level set works by composers such as J.S.Bach, We-

bern, Bernstein and Steve Reich. However, when composing using notation or sequencing software, canons,

despite being fairly easy to create using cut and paste techniques, do not always produce a convincing result.

So how can you teach students how to write successful canons?

Starting with some performing of canons, which can involve ICT, this resource looks at how simple canons

work, focusing on London’s Burning. It then explores how you can go about composing a round on similar

lines. A ‘Canon Composing Kit’ is provided which enables students with little knowledge of music notation to

write their own four-part canons by following simple step-by-step instructions. Finally, the resource looks at

more intricate types of canons, with some optional accompanying activities.

The resource could be used to provide material for 2-4 lessons, depending on how much time is spent on the

performing and composing activities.

What are CanonS and roundS?

Ask the students whether they have heard of the following pieces:

� London’s Burning

� three Blind Mice

� Frere Jacques

� row, row, row your boat

What do they have in common?

They are all examples of ‘rounds’ or ‘canons’.

What is a round?

It is a piece of music consisting of a single melody, which is copied by different voices in turn and repeated,

producing a harmonious overall sound.

Why is it called a round?

Because once each voice has finished singing the melody, they start it again from the beginning, so the

melody goes ‘round and round’.

What is the difference between a round and a canon?

A canon is similar to a round, but the melody does not repeat: when the end of the melody is reached, that

voice stops.

Resources: � sequencing and/or notation software (optional)

� hand-outs � scissors and blue tack/glue for the ‘Canon Compos-ing Kit’

� internet access to listen to perfor-mances of canons

Alan Charlton is a freelance composer and has written numerous lesson resources for Music Teacher, including material on the IB set work El Salón México.

Music Teacher December 2012 2

Canons, rounds and ‘catches’ have been composed since the medieval period and are one of the oldest forms

of music in more than one part. The word ‘catch’ derives from a type of Italian canonic composition called a

‘caccia’, meaning a ‘chase’: in this composition the succeeding voices sound like they are trying to ‘catch’ the

first voice.

3 Music Teacher December 2012

Performing activity

If students are competent in classroom singing, teach and rehearse one or more of these rounds with them,

first as a single line, then in two parts, then three and four parts.

Otherwise, there are several recordings available on YouTube.

KS3 Canons: Well-known canons and rounds

Row,

1. Row, Row, Row your Boat

row,

row

your boat

gent

1.

ly- down

the stream;

mer

2.

ri- ly,- mer

ri- ly,- mer

ri- ly,- mer

ri- ly,- life

3.

is but

a dream!

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2. London's Burning

Lon don's- bur

ning,

- Lon don's- bur

ning,

- fetch

1.

the en

gine,

- fetch the en

gine,

- fire!

2.

1.

2.

fire!

fire!

fire!

Pour

3.

on wa

ter,

- pour on wa

ter,

- Lon don's- wa

ter.

-

Three

3. Three Blind Mice

blind

mice.

Three

blind

mice.

1.

See

how

they run.

See

how

they run.

They all

2.

ran af

ter- the far

mer's- wife,

who cut

off their tails

with a

car

ving- knife,

did you e

3.

ver- see such

a sight

in your life

as three

blind

mice?

Frè

4. Frère Jacques

re

- Jac

ques,

- Frè

re

- Jac

ques,

- dor

1.

mez

- vous?

dor

mez

- vous?

Son

2.

nez- les ma ti

- nes!

- Son nez- les ma ti

- nes!

-

3.

Din,

dan,

don.

Din,

dan,

don.

5. Tallis's Canon

Praise

God

from

whom

all

bles

sings

- flow,

praise

1.

him,

all

crea

tures

- here

be

low,

- praise

2.

1.

2.

him

a

bove,

- an

ge

- lic

- host,

praise

3.

Fa

ther,

- Son,

and

Ho

ly

- Ghost.

Praise

Ho

ly

- Ghost.

4Music Teacher December 2012

hoW doeS a round WorK?

Ask students whether they think any melody can be performed as a round. As an experiment, pick a well-

known melody (such as a TV theme tune, hymn tune, chorus from a pop song), split students into three or

four groups and ask them to perform it as a round. The end result almost certainly won’t make musical sense.

Why does a round sound harmonious but another melody, when treated as a round, sound discordant?

The melody of a round is composed in such a way that when the parts are combined together, they form co-

herent chord progressions; when normal melodies are combined together like a round, the parts do not form

coherent chord progressions, so the music sounds discordant.

Now look at the phrase structure of a round, London’s Burning, in more detail.

� London’s Burning is divided into four musical phrases, each of which is repeated:

1: London’s burning

2: Fetch the engine

3: Fire! Fire!

4: Pour on water

� When the round starts, the leader sings phrase 1 (‘London’s burning’) on their own.

� When the leader moves onto phrase 2 (‘Fetch the engine’), follower 1 enters with phrase 1 (‘London’s burn-

ing’). Phrases 1 and 2 must therefore fit together musically.

� When the leader moves onto phrase 3, (‘Fire! Fire!’), follower 1 moves onto phrase 2, while follower 2 enters

with phrase 1. Phrases 1,3 and 4 must therefore fit together musically.

� When the leader moves onto phrase 4 (‘Pour on water’), follower 1 is singing phrase 3, follower 2 is singing

phrase 2 and follower 3 enters with phrase 1. Phrases 1, 2, 3 and 4 must therefore fit together musically at

this point.

� While the melody is being repeated, phrases 1, 2, 3 and 4 are heard simultaneously across all of the parts

in different combinations.

� as the parts drop out one by one, we are left with first phrases 2, 3 and 4, then phrases 3 and 4 and finally

ICT activity 1: recording a round melody and multi-tracking it

1. Set up a microphone for recording into an audio sequencer (e.g. Garageband or Cubase), and if possible ensure that the sequencer window can be seen by the whole class.

2. In your audio sequencing software, create four audio tracks, and set up the first track to record from a microphone, check-ing that the level is appropriate for the performers. You may need to mute this track to prevent feedback (a loud, unpleas-ant noise) when recording.

3. Set up a click track to play through headphones at the ap-propriate tempo for the round you have picked and set the time signature to that of the chosen round.

4. record a performance of just the melody of one of the above rounds. this could be sung by a soloist, a small group, the whole class, or played on an instrument. You will need to ensure that it is in a consistent tempo, so, if recording a group, you or a volunteer may need to conduct it whilst listening to the click track through headphones. If it is being performed by a solo performer, they should listen to the click track.

5. In the sequencer, copy the recorded melody track (which should be on track 1) onto the second, third and fourth tracks.

6. Pick three students to move the copied audio tracks to the cor-rect positions to complete the round. they may need to mute one or two tracks to help them. the tracks could be panned across the stereo field so they can be heard more clearly.

7. Play back the finished round and evaluate the result.8. If appropriate, repeat with different soloists, or using a different

round melody. If you have the resources, students can be split into smaller groups and given the same or a similar task.


phrase 4 on its own, sung by the last voice to enter, follower 3. these combinations must also fit together

musically.

leader 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

follower 1 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

follower 2 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

follower 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

� therefore, phrases 1, 2, 3 and 4, when sung together, must make sense harmonically.

To see how this happens in London’s Burning, we can write out the four phrases underneath each other.

Hand out the sheet entitled KS3: How London’s Burning works (see Resources). This shows how the different

phrases combine when all four parts are singing together.

Explain that the diagram shows which notes are sung when all four parts are singing. So ‘London’s Burning’,

‘fetch the’, ‘Fire!’ and ‘Pour on’ together produce the notes D,A and C, which form the chord of D major 7 with

the F sharp missing. Similarly, ‘burning’, ‘engine’, ‘Fire!’ and ‘water’ sound the notes G,B and D, which together

produce a chord of G major.

So once all the parts have entered, the piece repeats the progression V7 - I (or in other words a perfect ca-

dence) over and over again until the parts start to drop out again.

Explain that all rounds have a repeated chord progression such as this underpinning them, which you could

work out in the same way as above, by writing the phrases underneath each other. What the round melody

does is build up the notes of the chord progression in such a way that it also forms an interesting, memorable

melody that is fun and easy to sing.

CoMPoSInG a round MeLodY BaSed on a tWo Chord ProGreSSIon

Explain that now that we know that a round can be made up of a repeated two-chord progression, it ought

to be possible to compose a canon using the process on the example sheet in reverse. So this would mean:

� pick or compose a two chord progression and decide on the key

� decide on the metre (e.g. 3/4 for London’s Burning)

� work out the harmonic rhythm of the canon

� work out which notes the chords contain

� devise four phrases that between them use all or most of the notes of the chords, while ensuring that it

develops logically and musically

� give the whole melody a shape by giving each phrase a distinctive rhythm

As an example, let us use the chord progression II - I and a time signature of 4/4, with a harmonic rhythm of a

minim on beat 1 for chord II and a minim on beat 3 for chord I.

Next, we’ll work out the outline of the melody. We need to find a way of using up all the notes in the chords,

while not creating too many awkward jumps. In London’s Burning, the phrases proceed in the following order,

which creates an effective shape and means that the jumps between phrases aren’t too wide:

Finally, we’ll add some rhythm to each phrase. This gives the melody some direction and a sense of shape. You

could derive the rhythm from words, names or phrases, for instance the names of streets, types of sport, or of

people in the class. (This example uses the names of Northern European countries).

Hand out the sheet entitled ‘Composing a canon based on two chords’ (under ‘Resources’).

This is the rhythm made by the places where the chords change, so in London’s Burning it would be upbeat crotchet for V7, downbeat minim for chord I

lowest phrase second lowest phrase highest phrase second highest phrase


Rhythms to rounds are often quite repetitive and simple. Typically, the first two phrases are fairly similar, the

third contrasting (and often the most complex) and the last similar to the first. Four-part rounds that follow this

pattern include Frère Jacques, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Three Blind Mice and Ah, Poor Bird.

The canon melody is formed by joining the four phrases together. To hear the final result, it can then be per-

formed, or entered into notation software and cut and pasted onto four different staves.

aCtIvItY: the ‘Canon CoMPoSInG KIt’

The canon composing kit enables students with little or no knowledge of music notation to compose canons

by following these simple instructions. They can work in groups, pairs or individually, depending on what is

most practical. The kit is designed to create C major canons in 4/4, based on either two chords (repeated) or

four chords.

Extension activities: once students have finished writing and performing their canon, they can write another

canon with a more interesting melody, using more than one pitch in the two beat sections rather than a single

pitch.

Alternatively, they can write a double canon - a second melody based on the same chord progression as their

first canon, using different notes and rhythms: this could then be combined with the first melody to produce

an eight-part canon.

Hand out the two pages of the two sheets entitled ‘KS3 Canon Composing Kit’ (under ‘Resourc-es’): as students will be cutting them up, they need to be printed out on single-sided sheets.

Note that when students cut up of the sheet of rhythms, they will produce a large amount of tiny pieces of paper, so you should factor in some time for students to clear these up!

The ‘Canon Composing Kit’

Instructions1. First choose the chords on which the canon is to be based

from the chord and rhythm sheet.For two-chord canons (such as London’s Burning), choose

one out of options 1-3, and use the four chords on that particular line.

For four-chord canons, choose the first two chords from one out of options 1-3 and the remaining two chords from a different option. So, for example, if you choose option 1 followed by option 2, you would use the chord sequence dmin, Cmaj, Fmaj, Cmaj.

2. Copy out the chosen chords out onto the top stave of the working-out sheet and the notes they contain.

3. Write out melody notes for phrases 1-4, using the notes of the chords directly above. there should be four notes per phrase. So if your chord sequence is dmin, Cmaj, Fmaj, Cmaj, for phrase 1 you might write out d, C, F, C. For subsequent phrases, try to use notes from the chords you haven’t yet used. If you aren’t confident about reading music, write out the note names.

4. next, cut out the rhythms from the chord and rhythm sheet by cutting along the dotted lines. each rhythm enclosed by a dotted box lasts two beats and will fit into the blank boxes on the working-out sheet. You can use any combination of rhythms you like, but it is a good idea to repeat certain rhythms to give the canon a sense of structure. Stick the rhythms in using blue tack or glue once you have finalised them.

5. optionally, you can create lyrics that match your chosen rhythms.

6. once you are satisfied with your canon, write it out on the staves at the bottom of the working-out sheet. to hear what your canon sounds like, either rehearse and perform it with a small group or copy the canon melody out into notation software and cut and paste it onto four different staves at two bar intervals.

Hint: it is easiest to start with the bottom notes of the chords for phrase 1 and then use progres-sively higher notes for subsequent phrases.

Hint: if in doubt, choose simple rhythms. A good rhythmic structure is for phrases 1, 2 and 4 to be have a similar rhythm and for phrase 3 to be contrasting


other tYPeS oF Canon

Explain that in the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music (spanning roughly the years 1450 to 1750),

some composers wrote highly intricate types of canon to demonstrate their mastery of composition. This tradi-

tion was taken up again in the twentieth century. These include:

Puzzle canons

In this type of canon, a composer would just write out the melody and not reveal the places in which the imi-

tating voices were to come in, or at which interval they were to begin. These were aimed at other musicians,

giving them a puzzle to solve, like a crossword.

Discussion

How satisfied were students with their canons?

What did they think worked well and what worked not so well?

If they tried to perform it, how easy was it?

What did they find the most difficult aspect of the task and why?

What importance do they give to the ‘cleverness’ of canons? Does a canon’s ‘cleverness’ make it better music?

The canons we have looked at so far have been canons at the unison, i.e. with the following voices starting on the same note as the original. However, canons can start on a differ-ent note (such as a fifth higher), which requires more skill to write.


Crab canons

This form of canon was usually for two voices, with the second voice being the same as the first backwards.

An example can be seen in J.S.Bach’s A Musical Offering. To prove that Bach’s canon really is the same backwards as forwards, you could enter the top line into Sibelius or a fairly powerful sequencer such as Logic, and reverse it (in Sibelius choose retrograde from the plug-ins folder; in a sequencer there is normally a ‘reverse pitches’ function).

KS3 Canons: Crab Canon from J.S.Bach, A Musical Offering

In this type of canon, the lower voice is the same as the first voice backwards

4

7

11

16

First six bars of top line:

Last six bars of bottom line:


Canons by inversion

In this type of two-part canon, the second voice has an upside-down version of the canon melody, using the

same rhythm. An example of one of the author’s own canons by inversion can be seen in

Vivace

q. = 85

Inverted Canonfor keyboard, or treble and bass instrument © Alan Charlton

KS3 Canons: Inverted Canon by Alan Charlton

f

In this type of canon, the lower voice is the same as the upper voice upside-down

p

f

p

8

mf

mf

15

21

p

f

mp

p

f

27

mp

sf

p

mp

sf

p

34

f

f

41

mf

pp

mf

pp


Mensural Canons

In this type of canon, the imitating voice was proportionally slower or faster than the leading voice. This

might mean, for instance, that the second voice sang the canon melody at half speed. An example occurs in

J.S.Bach’s The Art of Fugue, where the second voice, as well as being half the speed of the first, is also an

upside_down version of the melody.

KS3 Canons: Canon 1 (opening) from J.S.Bach, The Art of Fugue

Here, the lower voice is half the speed of the first (a mensural canon), and is also an inversion of the upper voice(where the upper voice goes up, the lower voice goes down, and vice versa)

A mensural canon by inversion

How it works:

The lower part is half the speed of the top part - so quavers in the top part become crotchets, crotchets become minims, minims become semibreves and semiquavers become quavers

etc.

In this canon, the intervals between notes are also inverted, so upward leaps in the top part become downward leaps in the bottom part and vice versa


Double Canons

A double canon occurs when two canons, each with its own melody, are combined with each other. An ex-

ample of this is to superimpose Three Blind Mice and Frère Jacques (this could be tried out in the classroom

if enough confident singers are available).

SuMMarY

By the end of this short scheme of work, students will have had the opportunity to perform, listen to and com-

pose canons and to be aware of some of the more obscure type of canon. Hopefully, the ‘Canon Composing

Kit’ will have enabled students to explore how canons can be put together and exposed them to aspects of

music notation in a reasonably unintimidating way.


reSourCeS

KS3 Canons: How London's Burning works

Phrase 1:

'London's burning!'

D D G

G

D D G

G

Phrase 2:

'Fetch the engines!'

A

+

A B

+

B

A

+

A B

+

B

Phrase 3: 'Fire! Fire!'

D

+

D

+

D

+

D

+

Phrase 4:

'Pour on water!'

D

+

C B

+

B

D

+

C B

+

B

All four phrases

put together

result in this:

notes: D,A,C

=

notes: G,B,D

=

notes: D,A,C

=

notes: G,B,D

=

The harmony is

based on these

chords:

notes: D,F#,A,C

Dmaj7

chord V7

Gmaj

notes: G,B,D

chord I

notes: D,A,C

Dmaj7

chord V7

Gmaj

notes: G,B,D

chord I

This round usesthese notes (fromthe scale of G major):

D

E

(not used)

(F#)

G

A

B

C

D


KS3 Canons: Composing a canon based on two chords

The harmony is

based on these

chords:

Dmin (D,F,A)

Cmaj (C,E,G)

Dmin (D,F,A)

Cmaj (C,E,G)

Phrase 1

(lowest notes)

Phrase 2

(2nd lowest)

Phrase 3

(highest)

Phrase 4

(2nd highest)

Nor

Add words and

rhythms

Phrase 1 with a rhythm

derived from words

way

and

Swe

den,

- -

Den

Phrase 2 with words

and a new rhythm

mark

- - and

Fin

land,

- -

Li

Phrase 3 with words

and a new rhythm

thu- a- ni- a

- and Lat

vi

- a

-

Po

Phrase 4 with words

and a new rhythm

land

- - and E sto

- ni- a.

-

q = c.110

© Alan Charlton

Nor

The completed canon:

North European countries

1.

way

and

Swe

den,

- Den

2.

mark

- and

Fin

land,

-

Li

3.

thu- a- ni- a

- and Lat

vi

- a

- Po

4.

land

- and E sto

- ni- a.

-


KS3 Canon composing kit: chord and rhythm sheet

Chords:

Option 1

Dmin (D,F,A)

First chord

Cmaj (C,E,G)

Second chord

Dmin (D,F,A)

Third chord

Cmaj (C,E,G)

Fourth chord

Option 2

Fmaj (F,A,C)

Cmaj (C,E,G)

Fmaj (F,A,C)

Cmaj (C,E,G)

Option 3

Gmaj (D,G,B)

Cmaj (C,E,G)

Gmaj (D,G,B)

Cmaj (C,E,G)

Rhythms: cut along the dotted lines


KS3 Canon composing kit: working-out sheet

Chosen chords:

Names of notes in chord(e.g. C, E, G)

First chord: Second chord: Third chord: Fourth chord:

First phrase: notes

First phrase: rhythm

Second phrase: notes

First phrase: words

Second phrase: rhythm

Third phrase: notes

Second phrase: words

Third phrase: rhythm

Fourth phrase: notes

Third phrase: words

Fourth phrase: rhythm

Fourth phrase: words

Write out your completed canon melody below, with words underneath:

mt12 scheme ks3 canons

Documents

music teacher

fourpart canons

wellknown canons

successful canons

simple canons work

music education

piece of music

simple rounds