This post about using film score composing as a piano student project was written by Brock Chart. Brock is a composer and owner of My-Melodies Publishing in Kansas, USA, where he also runs his own piano teaching studio. Brock is passionate about helping students find their own love of music and follow their interests, no matter if it’s rap, country, pop or Norwegian death metal. Dogs and tacos are pretty great, too.
Take a moment to imagine these memorable movie scores with me:
- The dark and thrilling brass from Danny Elfman’s iconic score for ‘Batman’.
- The whimsical, magical melodies from John Williams’ theme from ‘Harry Potter’.
- The haunting, eerie Ring motif from Howard Shore’s ‘Lord of the Rings’.
This unforgettable music is based on film adaptations of popular books or comics. Do you think the music would’ve changed if the composers never saw any part of the films? What if they composed music directly from books and how they saw stories come to life from the pages to their imaginations?
More and more music teaching studios are looking for creative outlets and projects for their students. A very popular example is the Silent Film Festival, a brilliant idea which students have a lot of fun with.
But consider what could happen if we took that idea a step further. What if students composed their own film score for a favourite book?
A film score project like this allows a piano student to peek behind the scenes into a film composer’s process, yet allows the student’s imagination to take the reins instead of their eyes.
Here’s how it could play out with your students.
Step 1: Start With a Story
To get this film score project started, have your piano student pick a book they love and know well – preferably one that’s never been made into a TV show or movie. (Now, if they’re just dying to do a book that has a film adaptation, that’s OK too. But it’s most effective if they use their own creative spark without help from the movies.)
I first tried this idea out with an 8-year-old student named Olivia. I knew Olivia was an avid reader, because she usually begins our lessons by telling me exciting moments in her most recent read.
When I presented this project to her she seemed really excited about it, but a little intimidated.
This is normal, don’t worry!
After overcoming her initial concerns, Olivia was immediately onboard and I could see the wheels turning.
Assure your student that they’re not making a two-hour film score to debut at the Cannes Film Festival. They’re only going to practise making a song or two about a couple of characters or a scene from their favourite book.
Step 2: Make a Map
Once they’ve chosen a book, ask your student to pick two or three characters from the book. For more advanced students, maybe require that two of these characters have a big scene together.
Now it’s time to make a map. (This is often my students’ favourite part because they get to geek out about their awesome book for a while.)
Use these steps to help your student draft a rough sketch of the characters in their story:
- On a piece of paper, make two or three columns (one for each character).
- Write a character’s name at the top of each column.
- Jot down features about each character in the columns. If your student seems hesitant here, prompt them to record things like physical details, personality characteristics, noteworthy skills, etc.
You might want to give your piano student a week at home to work on this mapping part, as it’ll be the resource they draw on for inspiration later in their film score project. It’s important they hone in on what makes the character really stand out in the book.
Step 3: Score Your Character
For this step, ask your student to choose one of the characters from the list and read through the descriptions. Then have them brainstorm what types of sounds would best fit that character.
For example, a huge, mean ogre probably wouldn’t have a very light, fast and high melody. The ogre is likely better suited for a heavy sound on the low end of the piano.
Improvise
Invite your student to improvise a bit from the descriptions, exploring music they think would best suit the character.
If they’re lacking inspiration, use examples from existing pieces. This strategy can get the gears turning for students who are a little hesitant to improvise. Remember: it doesn’t have to be a whole symphony! Many of the most memorable character themes only consist of a few notes. (Ahem…Jaws, anyone? 🦈)
Pro tip: Members of the Vibrant Music Teaching revolution might want to check out Story Source in the VMT Library to get your students’ creative juices flowing in the right direction. Consider using this hilarious 3-minute improv activity during a few lessons before your piano student begins their film score project.
Not a member of VMT? You’re doing way more work than you need to…we’ve got everything you need ready to go, plus the community and support you need to implement it. Visit vibrantmusicteaching.com to learn more.
Jot it Down
When your student stumbles across a motif they really like during their improvisation, don’t let it disappear. Have them write it on staff paper so their characters’ themes are rock solid before scoring any particular scenes.
This step adds some top-secret hidden theory work that your student probably won’t notice because they’re having so much fun. 🤫 To make sure other people know exactly how those characters should sound, your student will need to be specific with the notes, rhythm and musical details.
Pro tip: If the student is especially young or you want the focus to be entirely on the creative process, you could capture the motifs with a smartphone video instead of notating them.
Step 4: Set the Scene
In a real film score, composers write music for specific scenes using the themes associated with each character.
- Have your student pick a favourite part or scene from the book. (Make sure the scene features at least one or two of the characters from their list.)
- Talk about what’s happening in this particular scene. Is it an action sequence? Do the characters team up? Do they fall in love?
Write those thoughts down on a sheet of paper and help your piano student brainstorm how to weave together these 2- or 3-character themes for that scene in their film score project.
Weave the Themes
If the ogre from our improvisation exercise had captured a princess, maybe the piece would start with the heavy and low ogre theme.
Perhaps your student’s theme for the princess is sweet, delicate and higher on the piano. Although, if the princess is in distress, maybe they could alter that theme a bit by shifting from major to minor or adding some accidentals, making it sound a bit panicked or scared.
Then, out of nowhere, the hero comes in to save the day! The hero’s theme could be bold and triumphant in the middle register.
Already there’s a perfect setup for weaving these themes:
- The ogre is in the lower register and could act as a bass line or low drones below everything else.
- The princess’ motif is in the higher register, with an altered version of it to bring out the feeling of sadness or distress from being captured.
- The hero is in the middle register who will save the day.
Tempo is a critical element in film scoring. Take this opportunity to help your students remember basic tempo terms using these Tempo Trick Posters: just the ticket for jogging one’s memory.
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Step 5: Ready, Set, Action!
Finally, it’s time to pull the piece together for the scene. Remind your student that we don’t need to have three hands and 12 feet to play these pieces, and they don’t have to be super complicated. 🦈
To continue our example:
Maybe the ogre can be really slow notes down low in the LH with the sustain pedal. While that is happening, the RH could go up high and play the princess theme a little slower or darker than usual.
Then when the hero bursts through the door, that takes over everyone’s attention so it would make perfect sense to have the hero’s theme be the only thing happening.
The Fine Print
The nitty-gritty guardrails of this film score project are up to you, the teacher, to set.
- These compositions could be entirely for solo piano or duets that a teacher helps with.
- The final product could be written on the staff by hand or with MuseScore – or not.
- Your student could even use GarageBand or some other software they feel comfortable with, especially if they want to incorporate sound effects or drumming tracks.
However you structure it, just be sure your students have fun composing!
Do you have a piano student who would love a film score project?
Tell us about it in the comments below.
If you like this article, you’ll love the resources found on the Colourful Keys ‘Creativity’ hub page.