This blog is to share ideas and for me to write short stories. Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Rue's Mockingjay Melody


Another Musical day! This time I’m looking at Rue’s 4 note Mockingjay melody from The Hunger Games. To listen to the melody I composed you can go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujF0wZoYsJw&feature=plcp. Hope you enjoy it!

            In the Hunger Games Rue’s melody is a signal. At her home it is how Rue told the others in the orchard that it was quitting time. In the first arena, it became Rue’s signal to Katniss that she was fine, just cannot meet with her at the appointed time. However, this signal fails. The notes give Katniss a sense of relief until she hears Rue’s scream. In Catching Fire, the four notes become the signal for District 11, where Rue was from, to show their respect for Katniss. This again fails because the man who whistled the cue was killed for doing so.

            Deciding on four notes to create Rue’s melody was challenging because it is happy but slightly haunting in the books. I chose to have the four notes go in the same direction because a run, which is how the melody is described in The hunger Games, is defined as “rapid ascending or descending of notes” ("run"). The four notes that I ended up with, the first three notes create a C major chord, one of the happiest sounding chords. The fourth note though makes the chord into an a minor seven chord in third position. This makes the piece less happy but not by much. To add variety, I sometimes included the four note melody transposed up a perfect fifth, a pleasing interval. I choose to use piccolo, flute, and clarinet because they are bird-like sounding instruments. I composed the piece in 5/4 because it is an unusual key signature, making it sound more spontaneous instead of composed. This is also why I have triplets. The melody is sung by the mockingjays when interrupted by the mutations at the end of Katniss’ first Hunger Games, hence the high pitched warning calls at the end.

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