Minds On

Today’s vocabulary

Press the following tabs to access today’s vocabulary.

Short, catchy songs used in advertising.

A hook is a tagline, slogan, or jingle that is designed to get a customer to purchase a product.

Important ideas in music. They are: duration (beat, rhythm, metre, tempo), pitch (melody), dynamics, timbre, texture/harmony, and form. Explore also the definitions for these terms.

Let’s get started

I can’t get that song out of my head!

Why might songs be used in commercials and advertising?

Explore the following advertisements for Foodland Ontario, Tim Hortons, and Pizza Nova. As you examine each advertisement, consider the following questions:

  • What style of music is used to sell each product?
  • How are the lyrics used and how does the music support them?
  • Which demographic(s) might this advertisement be trying to target (e.g., adults with children, students, people who drive, etc.)?

Record your ideas on paper, digitally, or as an audio recording. If possible, share your ideas with a partner.

Press the following tabs to explore each advertisement.

Access this video to explore the Foodland Ontario advertisement.

Check out this video to explore the Tim Hortons advertisement.

Access this video to explore the Pizza Nova advertisement.

These commercials have been chosen for their use of music and jingles in advertising. TVO in no way endorses the products or companies advertised.

Action

Get ready, get set…

Jingle along for sales!

Those short, catchy songs used in advertising are called “jingles,” and they are a part of everyday life. People experience them on television, radio, and internet platforms such as YouTube. As a form of sound branding, they contain a “hook” that explicitly promotes a product or service that is being advertised.

What makes a jingle memorable?

Jingles are written and designed in a way to hopefully be easy to remember. These key elements make jingles memorable:

Often, jingles will take snippets of songs that are popular, and they will change the lyrics to advertise and promote a certain product. Sometimes they contain a slogan, such as a phone number, a business name, or a benefit of the product or service.

A sign of a successful jingle is one that stays in the public consciousness and leaves a lasting impression. In other words, a successful jingle is one that gets stuck in someone’s head all day!

Ever wonder how jingles are created?

There is a lot of thought that goes into creating an effective jingle.

Press the following tabs to explore some of the ways effective jingles are made.

First, an advertiser must consider the audience they want their jingle to appeal to so that the composer can select the right style of music. For example, if the advertising is targeted at adults aged 65 and over, the composer may select a musical genre or particular tune to connect with that generation.

A jingle composer would also want to consider the timbre of the instruments that they select when writing their music. For instance, if a jingle was created by a local composer to promote tourism to a tropical country, they could incorporate specific instruments or styles from the region such as steel pan percussion to represent Trinidad or hula music to represent Hawaii.

An advertisement needs to catch the audience’s attention quickly, so a jingle composer would want to make sure that their composition is short and catchy (about 30 seconds or less). Because it is short, it could occur at the beginning and end of the advertisement while other messaging is done in between.

If the company has a slogan or catchphrase, this can also be woven into the jingle. A great example of this is the “I’m lovin’ it” from McDonald’s. It has a great melody, it’s simple, and the rhythms are designed to be remembered.

A composer may also want to think about tempo and dynamics when creating a jingle. For example, when marketing a product to help put a baby to sleep, a composer would avoid a jingle with loud, heavy metal music in the background and instead compose something quieter and more soothing.

Jingles need to have a strong and catchy hook. Some tactics that might be used are inserting a phone number (like Pizza Nova’s jingle), or a company name (like Swiss Chalet), as well as other features. If the company already has a catchphrase, that can also be incorporated into the jingle.

Some literary devices that help hook the target audience in are rhyming words, puns, alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia.

  • Rhyming words are words that have the same or similar ending sounds (e.g., cat, hat).
  • Puns are a humorous way of using a word or phrase so that one meaning is suggested.
  • Alliteration is when the same letter or sound is used at the beginning of a series of connected words.
  • Assonance occurs when two similar sounds are placed closely together (e.g., “rise high in the bright sky”).
  • Onomatopoeia is the formation of a word from a sound it is associated with (e.g., buzz, cuckoo).

Sources: Merriam-Webster, 2022 Oxford English Dictionary, 2022

Music in jingles needs to fit the company and who the product is targeting. For example, if a company’s target audience was teenagers, they would want to think about what people in their teens would be interested in. They might create a survey to help gather this information.

Jingles have lyrics and often rhyme. Action words (verbs) and descriptive language help create a picture of the product in the audience’s minds. Repetition also helps in reminding people of the brand that is associated with the jingle.

This is similar to the concept of form in music. Think of an ABA form used in a composition like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” where the first “A” section is repeated. That kind of repetition helps an audience remember the product.

You can refer to the Elements of Music Chart for further consideration of how these may be used in a jingle.

Elements of Music Chart

Duration

The element of music that relates to time, which includes beat, rhythm, metre, and tempo.

Consider the following questions:

  • How would you describe the rhythm?
  • Are short or long notes being primarily used?
  • How does the rhythm affect the overall energy of the piece?
  • How might you represent the length (duration) of the notes?
  • What tempo markings (e.g., allegro, vivace, largo) do you notice?
  • How would a different tempo change your experience of the music?
  • How does an increase in tempo affect the mood of the piece?
  • What time signature(s) do you notice in the music?

Pitch

The element of music that relates to the highness or lowness of a tone.

Consider the following questions:

  • How might someone move their body to show how individual pitches go up, go down, or stay the same, and how do they connect to form a melody?
  • What patterns do you notice in the melody (e.g., repetition, sequence)?
  • How could you show others how this melody moves without singing/playing it for them?
  • What words might someone use to describe the character of this song/piece of music (e.g., cheerful, bright, bold, intense)?
  • In musical terms, how would you describe the tonality of this piece of music (e.g., pentatonic, major, minor, chromatic?)
  • What accidentals or key signatures do you observe in the music?

Dynamics and other expressive controls

The element of music that relates to volume.

Consider the following questions:

  • What range of dynamics is being used?
  • What dynamic markings do you notice in the music?
  • How does a decrease in volume affect the feeling or mood in the music?
  • What dynamic level would support the mood of this piece?
  • How does the compose use expressive controls (e.g., staccato/legato or crescendo/decrescendo) to create contrasts and changes in mood?
  • Comparing two pieces of music/songs:
  • How do these two pieces of music/songs use dynamics differently to create uniquely expressive pieces?

Timbre

The element of music that relates to the quality of a sound (e.g., sound of a doorbell versus a laugh, a trumpet versus a clarinet, or two people speaking).

Consider the following questions:

  • What are the primary instruments used by the composer?
  • Which pitched or non-pitched percussion instrument(s) are used to accompany this piece of music/song?
  • Why do you think the composer chose specific instruments for this work?
  • What mood do the instruments in this piece create?
  • How would changing the instruments change the effect?
  • What words might someone use to describe the tone, colour, or timbre of this song/musical work (e.g., rich, bright, mellow, or piercing)?

Texture/ harmony

The element of music that relates to the layers of sounds within music.

Consider the following questions:

  • Which instruments or found sounds are used to accompany this piece of music/song?
  • What is the rhythmic relationship between the melody and the accompaniment?
  • How does the accompaniment in this piece of music/song reflect the story/poem/lyrics?
  • What similarities and differences do you notice between the melodies and rhythms?
  • How might someone graphically portray the layering of melodies in this piece of music?
  • Is the accompaniment rhythmic, melodic, or choral?

Form

The element of music that relates to the way musical pieces are organized.

Consider the following questions:

  • How is the music organized?
  • Using musical terms, how would you describe the overall form and effect of the music?
  • How does the music change from one section to the next?
  • What elements of music does the composer use to vary the original theme?
  • How did the composer use form to suggest certain images?

Press the ‘Activity’ button to access Elements of Music Chart. 

Activity(Open PDF in a new window)

Go!

Let’s compare

Explore each of the following jingles and select two to use in a comparison activity. You may also choose two examples of other jingles you are familiar with.

Press the following tabs to access each jingle.

Explore the following video for the Tim Hortons jingle.

Access the following video for the Sleep Country Canada jingle.

Check out the following video for the Foodland Ontario jingle.

Explore the following video for the Subway jingle.

Access the following video for the Band-Aid jingle.

Using the following fillable and printable Elements of Jingle Music worksheet or a method of your choice, record how each jingle uses at least three elements of music.

Press ‘Example’ to explore a few ways to complete this section of the activity.

For example, you could choose to make notes for pitch, form, and texture for jingle #1, and duration, dynamics, and timbre for your jingle #2.

After you have recorded how each jingle uses elements of music, prepare a brief summary indicating what you believe to be some of the important points. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts.

Elements
of Music

Duration

Pitch

Dynamics

Jingle 1

(Blank)

 

 

 

Jingle 2

(Blank)

 

 

 

Summary:

(Blank)

Elements
of Music

Timbre

Texture / Harmony

Form

Jingle 1

(Blank)

 

 

 

Jingle 2

(Blank)

 

 

 

Summary:

(Blank)

Press the ‘Activity’ button to access Elements of Jingle Music. 

Activity(Open PDF in a new window)

These commercials have been chosen for their use of music and jingles in advertising. TVO in no way endorses the products or companies advertised.

Consolidation

Putting it all together

Just as there are many genres of music around the world, there are many purposes that different types of music can serve. Consider your previous analysis of how the elements of music are used in jingles for the purpose of selling a product. Think of the specific features that made the jingle effective (for example, by having a shorter duration, the jingle is designed to hopefully have people remember it) and the ways in which it is targeted at a specific audience.

Brainstorm

Beyond jingles

What other types of music are written with a specific goal in mind?

Choose a type or style of music that has a particular purpose (for example, lullabies or theme songs). In your own words, describe and explain why it is particularly effective in achieving this goal.

Record your reflection using a method of your choice.

Revisit the Elements of Music Chart for information to support your response and consider:

  • Are there lyrics? Do they support the purpose?
  • What is the topic or focus of this kind of music?
  • Who might be the “target audience” for this kind of music?
Elements of Music Chart

Duration

The element of music that relates to time, which includes beat, rhythm, metre, and tempo.

Consider the following questions:

  • How would you describe the rhythm?
  • Are short or long notes being primarily used?
  • How does the rhythm affect the overall energy of the piece?
  • How might you represent the length (duration) of the notes?
  • What tempo markings (e.g., allegro, vivace, largo) do you notice?
  • How would a different tempo change your experience of the music?
  • How does an increase in tempo affect the mood of the piece?
  • What time signature(s) do you notice in the music?

Pitch

The element of music that relates to the highness or lowness of a tone.

Consider the following questions:

  • How might someone move their body to show how individual pitches go up, go down, or stay the same, and how do they connect to form a melody?
  • What patterns do you notice in the melody (e.g., repetition, sequence)?
  • How could you show others how this melody moves without singing/playing it for them?
  • What words might someone use to describe the character of this song/piece of music (e.g., cheerful, bright, bold, intense)?
  • In musical terms, how would you describe the tonality of this piece of music (e.g., pentatonic, major, minor, chromatic?)
  • What accidentals or key signatures do you observe in the music?

Dynamics and other expressive controls

The element of music that relates to volume.

Consider the following questions:

  • What range of dynamics is being used?
  • What dynamic markings do you notice in the music?
  • How does a decrease in volume affect the feeling or mood in the music?
  • What dynamic level would support the mood of this piece?
  • How does the compose use expressive controls (e.g., staccato/legato or crescendo/decrescendo) to create contrasts and changes in mood?

Comparing two pieces of music/songs:

  • How do these two pieces of music/songs use dynamics differently to create uniquely expressive pieces?

Timbre

The element of music that relates to the quality of a sound (e.g., sound of a doorbell versus a laugh, a trumpet versus a clarinet, or two people speaking).

Consider the following questions:

  • What are the primary instruments used by the composer?
  • Which pitched or non-pitched percussion instrument(s) are used to accompany this piece of music/song?
  • Why do you think the composer chose specific instruments for this work?
  • What mood do the instruments in this piece create?
  • How would changing the instruments change the effect?
  • What words might someone use to describe the tone, colour, or timbre of this song/musical work (e.g., rich, bright, mellow, or piercing)?

Texture/ harmony

The element of music that relates to the layers of sounds within music.

Consider the following questions:

  • Which instruments or found sounds are used to accompany this piece of music/song?
  • What is the rhythmic relationship between the melody and the accompaniment?
  • How does the accompaniment in this piece of music/song reflect the story/poem/lyrics?
  • What similarities and differences do you notice between the melodies and rhythms?
  • How might someone graphically portray the layering of melodies in this piece of music?
  • Is the accompaniment rhythmic, melodic, or choral?

Form

The element of music that relates to the way musical pieces are organized.

Consider the following questions:

  • How is the music organized?
  • Using musical terms, how would you describe the overall form and effect of the music?
  • How does the music change from one section to the next?
  • What elements of music does the composer use to vary the original theme?
  • How did the composer use form to suggest certain images?

Press the ‘Activity’ button to access Elements of Music Chart. 

Activity(Open PDF in a new window)

Reflection

As you read the following descriptions, select the one that best describes your current understanding of the learning in this activity. Press the corresponding button once you have made your choice.

I feel…

Now, expand on your ideas by recording your thoughts using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.

When you review your notes on this learning activity later, reflect on whether you would select a different description based on your further review of the material in this learning activity.