Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mr. Pate, and I'm looking forward to lots of great singing with you in today's lesson.

This unit is called "Singing for performance: Changing tempo and dynamics in our songs.

And this lesson is called "Changing the tempo to build excitement." By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to sing songs with a changing tempo, and you can explain how this makes the song feel.

Some of the keywords we'll be using in today's lesson are dynamics, which is an element of music that describes how loudly or quietly the music is played or sung.

Another element of music we'll be using is tempo, which means how fast or slow the music is played.

Finally, we'll be practicing and practice means playing or singing something several times to try and get better.

Before we start, it's important to warm up our voices and our body before every music lesson.

This helps make sure that all of our muscles, even those really tiny ones in our throat, are ready to move and sing.

This will help to keep our voices strong and healthy.

Join in with these warmups.

Let's warm up our bodies.

We're gonna start by giving our hands a good shake.

So put your hand in the air.

We're gonna shake it 16 times.

Then we're gonna move over to the other one.

Then we're gonna go down low and on the other side.

Ready? Here we go.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen.

Now down low, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and the other one.

Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Now we'll do eight.

A one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

A one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

A one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

A one, two, three, four, five.

Now four.

One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four.

One, two, two.

One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two.

One, one, one, one, hey! Let's warm up our faces.

This warmup is called big face, small face.

When I shout big face, I want you to make the biggest face you can.

That means eyes open wide, open mouth.

Big, big, big and when I shout small face, I want you to make the smallest face you can.

Closed eyes, closed mouth, everything really small.

Like that.

Ready? Here we go.

And big face.

And small face.

And big face.

And small face.

Now let's do big happy face.

And now let's do small cross face.

Now let's do some breathing exercises.

We are gonna pretend that we've got a birthday cake in front of us, and we're gonna breathe in deeply and then blow out the candles.

For this first one, we're gonna pretend we are four years old, and when we breathe in, we're gonna breathe in for four counts, and then we're gonna blow out four times for each of the four candles.

Bit like this.

In two, three, four and.

(blows) Let's give it a try.

Ready and breathe in, two, three, four.

And blow.

(blows) Great.

Now, let's pretend that you're a year older, you're five now.

We're gonna breathe in for five, and then blow out five candles.

Here we go.

Ready and in two, three, four, five and.

(blows) Now let's start warming up our voices.

We're gonna pretend that we're at a fireworks display.

We are gonna imagine seeing an amazing firework, and then we're gonna say, "Ooh!" Ready, here it comes.

Ooh! Now this next one's really impressive.

We're gonna go, "Ah!" Ready, here it comes.

Ah! Great, finally, this one's amazing.

I want you to do a, wow! Ready, here we go.

Here comes the firework.

Wow! These chants and songs will help to warm up your voice even more by using it in lots of different ways.

Start by joining in with "Hi Lo Chicka Lo." ♪ Hi Lo Chicka Lo Chicka Lo Chicka Lo ♪ ♪ Hi Lo Chicka Lo Chicka Lo Hi ♪ ♪ Lo Hi Chicka Hi Chicka Hi Chicka Hi ♪ ♪ Lo Hi Chicka Hi Chicka Hi Lo ♪ <v ->Now join in with our song "Knock On the Door."</v> (whimsical music) ♪ Hello ♪ ♪ Knock, knock, knock on the door ♪ ♪ Who could it be ♪ ♪ There's a little baby with a song for me ♪ Hi, Little baby.

Let's hear your song.

♪ Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa ♪ ♪ Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa ♪ <v Mr. Pate>That was lovely.

</v> Bye! ♪ Knock, knock, knock on the door ♪ ♪ Who could it be ♪ ♪ There's a cheeky monkey with a song for me ♪ Hi, monkey.

Let's hear your song.

♪ Ooh ooh ah ah ah ♪ ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ah ♪ ♪ Ooh ooh ah ah ah ♪ ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ah ♪ <v Mr. Pate>Oh, thank you very much.

</v> Bye! ♪ Knock, knock, knock on the door ♪ ♪ Who could it be? ♪ ♪ There's a spooky ghost with a song for me? ♪ Oh, hello.

Let's hear your song.

♪ Ooh ooh ooh ooh ♪ ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ooh ♪ <v Mr. Pate>Oh, that was scary.

</v> Thanks, bye! ♪ Knock, knock, knock on the door ♪ ♪ Who could it be? ♪ ♪ There's a tiny mouse with a song for me? ♪ Hi, little mouse, let's hear your song.

♪ Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh ♪ ♪ Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh ♪ <v Mr. Pate>Lovely.

</v> Thanks, bye! ♪ Knock, knock, knock on the door ♪ ♪ Who could it be ♪ ♪ There's an opera singer with a song for me ♪ Hi, let's hear that song.

♪ La la la la la la la la la la ♪ ♪ La la la la la la la la la la ♪ <v ->Ah, that's enough visitors for one day.

</v> Now join in with our song, "The Walking Song." (whimsical music) ♪ Walking, walking round we go ♪ ♪ Loud or quiet, fast or slow ♪ ♪ Walking, walking to the beat ♪ ♪ Sing a song and move your feet ♪ ♪ La la la la la we're, walking, walking, walking ♪ ♪ La la la la la we're walking to the beat ♪ (whimsical music) ♪ Stomping, stomping round we go ♪ ♪ Loud or quiet, fast or slow ♪ ♪ Stomping, stomping to the beat ♪ ♪ Sing a song and move your feet ♪ ♪ La la la la la we're stomping, stomping, stomping ♪ ♪ La la la la la we're stomping to the beat ♪ (whimsical music) ♪ Sneaking, sneaking round we go ♪ ♪ Loud or quiet, fast or slow ♪ ♪ Sneaking, sneaking to the beat ♪ ♪ Sing a song and move your feet ♪ ♪ La la la la la we're sneaking, sneaking, sneaking ♪ ♪ La la la la la we're sneaking to the beat ♪ (whimsical music) ♪ Jumping, jumping round we go ♪ ♪ Loud or quiet, fast or slow ♪ ♪ Jumping, jumping to the beat ♪ ♪ Sing a song and move your feet ♪ ♪ La la la la la we're jumping, jumping, jumping ♪ ♪ La la la la la we're jumping to the beat ♪ (whimsical music) ♪ Running, running round we go ♪ ♪ Loud or quiet, fast or slow ♪ ♪ Running, running to the beat ♪ ♪ Sing a song and move your feet ♪ ♪ La la la la la we're running, running, running ♪ ♪ La la la la la we're jumping to the beat ♪ Are you feeling warmed up and ready to sing? Hopefully your body feels relaxed and ready.

Your voice is warm and you feel focused and ready to continue your lesson.

In today's lesson, we're gonna be singing with dynamics and feeling, and then we'll look at changing the tempo to build excitement.

Let's start by looking at dynamics.

Dynamics means how loud or quiet a sound is.

We can change the dynamics of our singing to give character and feeling, and we can also use facial expressions and body movements to show the feeling of the music.

So what does dynamics mean? Does it mean how fast or slow the music is? Does it mean how loud or quiet the music is? Or does it mean how high or low the music is? The answer is B.

Dynamics means how loud or quiet the music is.

And when we change the dynamics of our singing, we sing louder or quieter.

Let's sing the song "A Keelie Makolay," which asks Makolay if they would like to come out and play.

When we're singing, let's try changing the dynamics of our performance, singing some parts loudly and strongly, and some parts quietly and softly.

Think about how this affects the character and the feeling of the song.

Let's sing a "A Keelie Makolay." ♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ A Keelie Makolay, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ A Keelie Makolay, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ O mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ O mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ A Keelie Makolay, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ A Keelie Makolay, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ O mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ O mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ A Keelie Makolay, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ A Keelie Makolay, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ O mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ Mo paco meeno sway ♪ ♪ O mo paco meeno sway ♪ <v ->Who do you agree with?</v> Jun says, "Changing the dynamics makes the song more interesting and helps to show the character of the lyrics." Aisha says, "Changing the dynamics doesn't really do anything.

It sounds good if I sing everything loudly." Who do you agree with? Well, I agree with Jun.

I think changing the dynamics can make the song more interesting and it can really help to add character to your performing.

Let's practice our song "Moving Like An animal." Practicing means we repeat something to try and get better at it.

When we're singing this song, let's think about how we can sing with character and feeling, and we'll try and do that using changing dynamics.

Which parts are gonna be loud and which parts are gonna be soft? At the end, choose another animal to make up your own verse to add to this song.

And will that animal have quiet or loud dynamics when you sing your new verse.

Let's sing, "Moving Like An Animal." (whimsical music) ♪ I'm moving like an elephant today ♪ ♪ Watch the way I stomp and sway ♪ ♪ Big and heavy giant feet ♪ ♪ Feel the rhythm, feel the beat ♪ ♪ Boom, boom, boom, boom ♪ ♪ Hear it all around ♪ ♪ Boom, boom, boom, boom ♪ ♪ Listen to the sound ♪ ♪ Louder, louder, louder now ♪ ♪ Elephant, stomp around ♪ (slow whimsical music) ♪ I'm moving like a little mouse today ♪ ♪ Watch the way I sneak and play ♪ ♪ Small and careful tiny feet ♪ ♪ Feel the rhythm, feel the beat ♪ ♪ Tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe ♪ ♪ Hear it all around ♪ ♪ Tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe ♪ ♪ Listen to the sound ♪ ♪ Softer, softer, softer now ♪ ♪ Mice creeping around ♪ (fast whimsical music) ♪ I'm moving like a cheetah today ♪ ♪ Watch me race and zoom away ♪ ♪ Fast and wild, speedy feet ♪ ♪ Feel the rhythm, feel the beat ♪ ♪ Running, running, running ♪ ♪ Hear it all around ♪ ♪ Running, running, running, running ♪ ♪ Listen to the sound ♪ ♪ Faster, faster, faster now ♪ ♪ Cheetahs run around ♪ (slow whimsical music) ♪ I'm moving like a tortoises today ♪ ♪ Slow and steady on my way ♪ ♪ Take my time with steady feet ♪ ♪ Feel the rhythm, feel the beat ♪ ♪ Plod, plod, plod, plod ♪ ♪ Hear it all around ♪ ♪ Plod, plod, plod, plod ♪ ♪ Listen to the sound ♪ ♪ Slower, slower, slower now ♪ ♪ Tortoise plod around ♪ Well done, great singing.

Now, when you made up your own verse, which animal did you choose? And did your verse have quiet or loud dynamics? Jacob says, "We sung about a snake slithering, and we used quiet dynamics." Alex says, "We sung about a lion roaring, and we used loud dynamics." Now let's look at changing the tempo to build excitement.

As well as dynamics, moving like an animal also changes tempo.

And tempo is a word that means the speed of the music.

It means how fast or slow is played or sung.

And when we change the tempo of our singing, we can change how the song feels.

Let's listen to two pieces of music.

One is slow and the other one is fast.

While you are listening, I'd like you to think, "What does this make you feel?" Pause the video now and listen to "Flight of the Bumble-Bee" and "Adagio for Strings." Now, you've had to listen to those two pieces of music.

What did you think? How did the music make you feel? Laura says, "This song, 'Flight of the Bumble-Bee' feels fast and frantic.

The fast tempo gives it lots of energy, just like a busy bumble-bee." Lucas says, "This song, 'Adagio for Strings,' feels slow and calm.

It could feel relaxing, but also could feel a bit sad too." So these two pieces of music which both have different use of tempo, fast or slow, both feel quite different.

Let's learn a song called "The Alphabet Song." And when we perform the alphabet song, we first sing it with a slow tempo, and then we sing it with a fast tempo.

Your challenge is, can you control your voice making sure we can still hear every single letter of the alphabet, even when the tempo changes and it becomes faster? How does the song feel when you sing it slowly and then quickly? How does the feeling of the song change? Let's sing the alphabet song.

(whimsical music) ♪ A B C D E F G ♪ ♪ H I J K L M N O P ♪ ♪ Q R S T U and V ♪ ♪ W X Y Z ♪ (fast whimsical music) ♪ A B C D E F G ♪ ♪ H I J K L M N O P ♪ ♪ Q R S T U and V ♪ ♪ W X Y Z ♪ (slow whimsical music) ♪ A B C D E F G ♪ ♪ H I J K L M N O P ♪ ♪ Q R S T U and V ♪ ♪ W X Y Z ♪ <v ->Well done for singing "The Alphabet Song"</v> with changing tempo.

What does tempo mean? Does it mean A, how loud or quiet the music is? B, how high or low the music is? Or C, how fast or slow the music is? The answer is C.

Tempo means how fast or slow the music is.

Let's sing a new song called "Haida." In this song, the tempo gets faster and faster as we sing.

As we are singing it, I want you to think, how does the feeling of the song change as we start to sing faster and faster? Do your feelings stay the same or do they change? Let's join in with the song "Haida." ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Haida Haida, hai di-di, haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi haida ♪ ♪ Haida Haida, hai di-di, haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi haida ♪ ♪ Hai da, Hai di-di haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi, haida ♪ ♪ Hai da, Hai di-di haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi, haida ♪ ♪ Haida Haida, hai di-di, haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi haida ♪ ♪ Haida Haida, hai di-di, haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi haida ♪ ♪ Hai da, Hai di-di haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi, haida ♪ ♪ Hai da, Hai di-di haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi, haida ♪ ♪ Haida Haida, hai di-di, haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi haida ♪ ♪ Haida Haida, hai di-di, haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi haida ♪ ♪ Hai da, Hai di-di haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi, haida ♪ ♪ Hai da, Hai di-di haida ♪ ♪ Haida, Haidi, haida ♪ <v ->When we change the tempo, we can change the feeling</v> and the emotions in a piece of music.

I'm gonna show you some feelings and emotions now, and I'd like you to think, "If we were singing a song, that we wanted to give this feeling or emotion, what tempo would we give it? Would we sing fast or would we sing slow? And why do you think that? The emotions are happy, sad, sleepy, and excited.

Pause the video now and discuss.

Would we sing songs with these feelings and emotions fast or slow? And why? Think back to the song we sung earlier, "Haida." How did the feeling of that song change as we started to sing faster and faster? Did your feelings stay the same or did they change? Izzy says, "It was harder to sing the song faster.

I might need to practice it more slowly first." And you're absolutely right, it can be really hard to sing music quickly, so sometimes practicing it slowly and then speeding up when we feel more confident can help.

Andeep says, "When the song got faster, it felt frantic and exciting!" A fast tempo is a great way to add excitement to a piece of music.

What did you think? Let's have a look at those emotions we were talking about earlier.

Do you think that these emotions and feelings should be sung quickly or slowly, and why? Lucas says, "I would sing a sleepy song slowly making it sound calm and relaxing." Jacob says, "I would sing an excited song quickly, making it sound busy and energetic." What do you think? In today's lesson, we've learned that changing the dynamics, which is the volume of the music along with facial expressions and actions, can help to give a song character.

We've also learned that tempo is the speed of music, and it means how fast or slow it's played or sung.

We've learned that we can change the tempo to change how a song feels.

Excellent singing in today's lesson.

Well done.

I look forward to seeing you again in the next one.