A short video by Tabletop Composer demonstrating how to easily create 3 types of ostinato patterns:
- rhythmic – a repeated tone is used that optionally changes with each chord change
- harmonic – rhythmic ostinato + tones from the current chord are used
- melodic – harmonic ostinato + mostly tones from the current chord are used but short passing notes that are not part of the chord are used.
The technique demonstrated in the video below is as follows:
Rhythmic Ostinato
Create the rhythm by starting with the first bar and just a repeated single tone. Decide which beats of the melody you want to emphasize and which ones you want to contrast.
Copy the ostinato from the first bar to all other bars then decide for each chord, what tone will be repeated.
Harmonic Ostinato
Starting with the previous rhythmic ostinato, change some of the ostinato notes to use tones from the current chord.
Melodic Ostinato
Starting with the harmonic ostinato, change some of the ostinato notes into passing tones between tones of the current chord.