Module 5 | Music Production for

Module 5: Song Structure and Track Arranging

Use creative choices, technical skills, and a common song form to shape every student's song into a complete backtrack.

Lesson Plan and Materials (Module 5)

Lesson Setup

To reach this module, your students have completed all of their sample searching, they have their clips organized with just drums and bass at the beginning, and they have new sounds that create a chorus from measures 21-29.

For your setup this week, make sure you have access to the Google Slides for this lesson, and create your own copy so you can edit as you wish.

Follow the link for the Google Slides.

You can also go in and individually fix any student's work in BandLab if there are a few stragglers who are holding up the rest of the class.

Go into Assignment 4, click on the student, click studio, edit and save.

Create the BandLab Assignment 5 for your students using the Template Below:

BandLab Assignment Template

Assignment 5: Organizing Your Song

Use BandLab Studio to do the following 4 things in order:

Copy and Paste the Verse section and make it go from measure 29 to the start of measure 37.
1. You will need to move a few tracks and unloop to fit the parts to the right measures.
Copy and Paste the Chorus section 3 more times:
1. From measure 37-beginning of 45.
2. From measure 45-beginning of 52.
3. From measure 52-beginning of 61.
Loop just the drums and bass tracks 4 more measures to stop at measure 65.
Use volume automation "A" at the end of the song to create a fade out of the Drums and Bass Tracks.

Then save your work with the button on the top right, and submit it to this assignment.

See This On BandLab

Lesson Plan Sequence

Introduction

For a song to feel complete, it needs a form. At this point in their musical careers, students might not have discussed different forms, but for this lesson all they need to know is that there are different sections of a song that go back and forth to create change and intrigue.
- Use the slide showing the form they will use for this song as a description, and the slide with the video of a completed project.
  - Have them raise their hands when they hear a change in the music, this will be when the chorus comes in, then when it goes back to the verse, etc.
Prepare them for what the form of their song will be. I have it listed in the graphic below.

How to Copy and Paste Sections

This is the most technically challenging ask of young students. It is the only time they will need to complete a double key stroke shortcut, and although some of them have copy pasted before, almost no 4th or 5th graders will know how to do it.
Explain very slowly, with demonstrations, videos, student practice as a whole group, and any other way you can think of to get them using ctrl+C and ctrl+V as shortcuts for copy pasting the different sections of their song.
Introduce this before students even go to their song for editing.
Then go over how to click and drag select multiple tracks at once, so they can grab all of their tracks at the same time for the process. (See in lesson video)

Organizing the 2nd Verse

This is the hardest section for them to complete, because their intro is attached to the Drum and Bass parts for their first verse. So if they copy paste all the instruments together, they will need to move a few things around. They have 2 choices
- You can teach them to use the shortcut "S" to click at measure 5 and split the two tracks from the intro. This is the easiest way, so when they copy their verse, all the instruments start at the same time.
- You can have them select all the verse instruments, copy and paste them, and then shuffle the other instruments over so that they all begin together.
Verse 2 should run from measure 29 to the END of measure 36.

Organizing the 2nd , 3rd, and 4th Choruses

Select all 4 clips from the first chorus section and copy them:
- From measure 37-beginning of 45.
- From measure 45-beginning of 52.
- From measure 52-beginning of 61.
The first chorus was already 8 measures, so this is a simple job if they know how to use the copy paste shortcut.

Outro Organization and Automation

Depending on the timing of your lesson, this might fit into this module or the next module.
Loop just the drum and bass tracks so they end at the beginning of measure 65.
Click the letter "A" on your keyboard.
- Create volume automation for a fade out by clicking the lines for both tracks at measure 61 and measure 65. This should create a little dot on the line.
- Drag the dots on measure 65 down to the bottom of the clip so it brings the volume all the way down.
Click "A" again to get out of the automation view and listen to your whole finished song form.

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Lesson 5 Objectives