Lesson video

Hello, everybody.

It's me again, Mrs. Steele, and I'm so excited that we're going to be learning together today.

Today's lesson is all about following a leader to change dynamics.

And I'm ready, I hope you are too, so follow me.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to follow signs for stronger and softer singing and know that changing dynamics can change how the song feels.

Here are the keywords that will be important in our learning today.

Dynamics, how loudly or quietly the music is played or sung.

Conductor, a person who directs musicians or singers.

And gestures, hand signs used by the conductor to lead the singing or playing.

But first, we know how important it is to warm up our bodies, our voices, and our minds so that we're ready to move, play, and sing in every music lesson.

We need to gently warm and stretch our vocal cords to make sure that we can sing safely.

Join in with these warmups so that you're ready for singing.

Here comes the video.

<v ->Let's begin by warming up our bodies</v> because we know how important it is to warm up before we start making music and singing.

We'll begin with a stretch.

Arms high into the air, onto our tiptoes, hold onto a monkey bar, and we are going to not let go of that monkey bar but we are going to lower our heels to the ground, so we're going to get taller.

Lowering to the count of four, here we go.

One, two, three, four.

Gosh, you're all super tall.

Drop your fingers and your wrists and your elbows and your shoulders.

Relax your knees and go brr.

<v Children>Brr.

</v> <v ->Very good, let's do that one more time.

</v> Stretch up onto your tiptoes, hold onto the monkey bar, lowering our heels to a count of four.

Going one, two, three, four.

Gosh, you're so tall now.

Drop your fingers and your wrists and your elbows and your shoulders.

Relax your knees and brr.

<v Children>Brr.

</v> <v ->Very good, now let's take up as much space as we can.

</v> Make a really, really big space.

Huge shapes, and we are going to shrink down into a teeny tiny shape.

Tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, like a little seed.

And we're now going to grow back to a big shape, are you're ready? One, two, three, go, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow, grow.

And relax.

<v ->Let's learn how to breathe like a singer.

</v> I want you to imagine that your body is a balloon.

If you were a balloon, I wonder what color you would be.

What color would you be? <v ->Blue.

</v> <v ->You'd be blue, okay.

</v> So some of you are blue balloons or you might be a different color.

We're gonna blow up our balloons by breathing in like a singer.

Are you ready? (group inhaling) And out.

(group exhaling) This time, let's see if we can make our balloon even bigger by making sure we get lots of air into our lungs, keeping our shoulders down.

Are you ready? (group inhaling) (group exhaling) Let's try one more.

(group inhaling) Oh no, I've let my balloon go.

(group hissing) (hands clap) Follow me.

(group vocalizing) Let's sing "Che Che Koolay" three times, each time with a different dynamic.

Don't forget to sing the response.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ (instructor singing in foreign language) (instructor continues singing in foreign language) <v ->Let's begin by learning about</v> how a conductor can control a song.

Choose a conductor.

When they jump in the hoop, you're going to sing loudly.

And when they jump out the hoop, we're going to sing quietly.

Let's choose a song to help us with this challenge.

Let's choose "Five Fat Turkeys." Remember, your conductor is in charge of when you sing loudly, when they're inside the hoop, or softly, when they're outside the hoop.

Are you ready? Watch that conductor carefully.

Here comes the music.

(bright piano music) (bright piano music continues) (music ends) What do you think could happen to the dynamics if the conductor had just one foot in the hoop like Jacob does here? Press pause to share your ideas.

What do you think? Sofia says, "I think we should sing medium, between loud and quiet.

About the same volume as our speaking voice." Well done if you thought that idea too.

So choose a different conductor and sing "Five Fat Turkeys" again.

Remember, when the conductor is inside the hoop, we're going to sing loudly.

When the conductor is outside the hoop, we're going to sing softly.

And if they have one foot inside the hoop, we're going to sing medium, in the middle.

Here comes the music again.

Watch your conductor carefully.

(bright piano music) (bright piano music continues) (music ends) A conductor can change dynamics more smoothly by using hand gestures.

Let's practice these all together.

It's my turn first.

This is the gesture for singing louder, my turn.

Your turn.

And this is the gesture for singing softer.

It's my turn.

Your turn.

Great, sing louder.

Softer.

Louder.

Softer.

Great conducting.

Choose a conductor to lead "Grizzly Bear." Follow their smooth gestures to change your dynamics.

When they do this gesture, we're going to sing softly.

And when your conductor does this gesture, you're going to sing in your stronger or louder singing voices.

Here comes the music for "Grizzly Bear." Watch your conductor's smooth gestures.

(bright piano music) (music ends) Now you're all conductors.

Let's sing "Crooked Castle." Show the gestures for softer and louder singing in the different parts of the song where the dynamics change.

Here comes the music.

(gentle piano music) ♪ Midnight at the eerie castle ♪ ♪ Whispers start to creep ♪ ♪ Can you hear those crooked creatures ♪ ♪ Stirring in their sleep ♪ ♪ Open up the doorway wide ♪ ♪ What's that going on inside ♪ ♪ Every ghost and every beast ♪ ♪ Phantom friends are having a feast ♪ ♪ Every ghoul, one and all ♪ ♪ Phantom friends are having a ball ♪ ♪ Midnight at the eerie castle ♪ ♪ Whispers start to creep ♪ ♪ Can you hear those crooked creatures ♪ ♪ Stirring in their sleep ♪ ♪ Open up the doorway wide ♪ ♪ What's that going on inside ♪ ♪ Every ghost and every beast ♪ ♪ Phantom friends are having a feast ♪ ♪ Every ghoul, one and all ♪ ♪ Phantom friends are having a ball ♪ (music ends) <v ->Hello again.

How did it go?</v> Sofia says, "The conductor gestures really helped me remember to sing quietly or loudly." I hope they helped you remember that too.

And Lucas says, "We could change dynamics gradually and smoothly by moving smoothly between our conductor gestures." Well done if you could do that too, just like Lucas.

Now let's learn more about singing with a conductor.

A conductor helps us to sing in the same way all together.

When we look at the conductor, we're all facing the same way to sing.

And the conductor helps us to remember when to change dynamics.

A conductor is usually at the front facing us, and a conductor should make clear gestures for us to follow so that all of the singers know what to do.

Choose a different conductor.

Set yourselves up to sing as a group and make sure the conductor is at the front.

Make sure that everybody can see the conductor and their gestures clearly, and make sure that all of the singers are watching very carefully.

Press pause to organize yourselves as a conductor at the front and singers watching carefully, then meet me back here for the next bit.

Let's sing "Get Your Body Moving." Your conductor will show you when to sing quietly.

Here comes the music.

Sing together and watch the conductor.

(bright music) ♪ Step, step, clap and raise your hands ♪ ♪ Stamp your feet and turn around ♪ ♪ Side to side and up and down ♪ ♪ Get your body moving ♪ ♪ Step, step, clap and raise your hands ♪ ♪ Stamp your feet and turn around ♪ ♪ Side to side and up and down ♪ ♪ With this happy song ♪ ♪ When the day is done and the night is young ♪ ♪ And the stars are shining brightly ♪ ♪ When the morning comes and you want some fun ♪ ♪ It's time to sing this song ♪ ♪ Step, step, clap and raise your hands ♪ ♪ Stamp your feet and turn around ♪ ♪ Side to side and up and down ♪ ♪ Move your body now ♪ (music fades out) <v ->Now let's add another challenge.

</v> Can you watch the conductor and sing, but add in your actions too? Have a go at that with this half of the song.

Press pause to use the audio track to help you to practice this part.

Our next challenge is to choose a different conductor to lead "Crooked Castle." Make sure you can see the conductor and their clear gestures.

Sing softly to make the song sound spooky and exciting, and only get louder for the feast and ball part of the song.

Follow the conductor's clear gestures and try to change your dynamics all together.

Are you ready? Here comes the music.

Watch your conductor and change dynamics all together.

(gentle piano music) ♪ Midnight at the eerie castle ♪ ♪ Whispers start to creep ♪ ♪ Can you hear those crooked creatures ♪ ♪ Stirring in their sleep ♪ ♪ Open up the doorway wide ♪ ♪ What's that going on inside ♪ ♪ Every ghost and every beast ♪ ♪ Phantom friends are having a feast ♪ ♪ Every ghoul, one and all ♪ ♪ Phantom friends are having a ball ♪ ♪ Midnight at the eerie castle ♪ ♪ Whispers start to creep ♪ ♪ Can you hear those crooked creatures ♪ ♪ Stirring in their sleep ♪ ♪ Open up the doorway wide ♪ ♪ What's that going on inside ♪ ♪ Every ghost and every beast ♪ ♪ Phantom friends are having a feast ♪ ♪ Every ghoul, one and all ♪ ♪ Phantom friends are having a ball ♪ (music ends) <v ->How did it go, everyone?</v> Sofia says, "I enjoyed being the conductor because I knew when everyone should start singing more softly or more strongly." Did you enjoy being the conductor if you had a turn this time? And the singers say, "We followed the conductor and that made us all get louder and quieter at the same time." If you were a singer this time, did you manage to do that? Well done, everyone.

We've come to the end of our lesson together today.

Let's take a moment to think about everything we've been learning.

We know that a conductor can help us to know when to change dynamics, and a conductor can show clear hand gestures to change the dynamics of our singing.

And we all were conductors today, weren't we? And we practiced that together.

We know that when we follow a conductor, we all change dynamics at the same time.

And changing dynamics in a song can help the song feel more interesting and exciting.

We've certainly done a lot of interesting and exciting singing today.

Great work, everyone.

I can't wait to see you again soon for another music lesson.

Bye-bye.