Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

Welcome to our river soundscapes lesson from our compose and create unit, Soundscapes of the Sea.

My name is Mr. Croughan and I'm gonna guide you today as we're inspired by wonderful music to help us to sail down a beautiful river.

Are we ready?

Let's begin.

In this lesson, we'll layer vocal and body percussion cells to create a river soundscape.

Let's look at today's keywords.

First of all, we begin with vocalization.

A vocalization is a sound made by the voice, but it doesn't need to be a word.

Soundscape, using sounds to create a feeling, a place, or a story, making you feel like you're actually there.

For example, journey downriver.

Structure, the way the music is organized.

A cell, these are short, simple, musical ideas.

And lastly, body percussion.

To make a percussive musical sound with our bodies.

We're gonna begin with our warmup.

We know how important it is to warm up our bodies and our voices, so we're ready to move and sing together.

We always stretch before we exercise, so we need to do the same with our voices.

Stretching those vocal chords before we sing and warming up prevents us from injuring our voices too.

So I'd like you to join in with these warmups so you are ready to sing.

Here they come.

<v ->Copy me.

</v> (making beat loudly using body parts) Copy me.

♪ H-E-L-L-O ♪ ♪ This is how we say, hello ♪ ♪ Match your feet to the beat ♪ ♪ Can you feel your heart beat ♪ ♪ H-E-L-L-O ♪ ♪ This is how we say, hello ♪ ♪ Match your feet to the beat ♪ ♪ Can you feel your heart beat ♪ Are you ready?

(gentle piano music) (everyone breathes calmly) (gentle piano music) Copy this tricky tongue twister.

♪ Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers ♪ ♪ A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked ♪ ♪ If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers ♪ ♪ Where's the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked ♪ (gentle piano music) ♪ Elevator won't you take me, one, three, five ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me, five, three, one ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me, one, three, five ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me five, three, one ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me, one, three, five ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me, five, three, one ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me one, two, five ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me five, three, one ♪ (gentle piano music) ♪ Elevator won't you take me, one, two, four, five ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me five, four, two, one ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me, one, two, four, five ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me, five, four, two, one ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me, one, two, four, five ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me, five, four, two, one ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me, one, two, four, five ♪ ♪ Elevator won't you take me, five, four, two, one ♪ <v ->Marvelous.

</v> Well-done.

Nice and stretched.

Warm and ready.

Now there are three more boat songs that will help you warm up further.

You can choose to watch the video or listen to Tongo so you can hear the call and response.

Then you can join in with Yangtze Boatman song.

And then there is a video and an audio of a Sailor-went to sea The video includes some clapping, which you might like to try to, so pause, work through those where you are and I'll catch you when you're done.

Marvelous.

Well-done.

Are you all ready to sing?

Well, Alex says that his muscles now feel warm.

Aisha says, the throat feels relaxed and Lucas says, he's alert and ready to focus.

If you are to, let's press on.

There are two learning cycles in today's lesson.

The first one, we're going to listen to a piece of music called "Boat Song" by a wonderful composer called Meredith Monk.

And secondly, we'll be inspired by that to create our River soundscapes.

Let's begin with this piece of music by Meredith Monk.

It was first composed for Monk's dance opera, recent Ruins in 1979.

And I'd like you to pause here and have a listen.

What instruments did you hear?

As Laura suggests, Boat song uses only voices, male and female voices.

Alex says, it doesn't even use words, just vocalizations, creating a feeling of stillness and water.

We can imagine this song representing the journey of a boat slowly, silently traveling down a river.

I'd like you to pause now and listen again.

And the wonderful thing about this is there's absolutely no wrong answer.

It's wherever your imagination takes you.

I'd like you to think about what kind of river is the boat traveling down?

You might think, why is the boat on this journey?

Why is it headed?

You could think about what kind of boat it is, what it looks like, what it would feel like if you were sat on it, and who is traveling on the boat?

So pause here, listen again, and come up with your own suggestions that you might want to share as a class.

Off you go.

I wonder, did the boat that you were imagining look, anything like any of these?

Have a look at those different pictures.

So many boats used for so many different reasons going on very different journeys.

Boat song is structured like the boat's journey.

It begins with one solo voice.

Then each voice enters in turn.

Eventually, the voices drop out again one by one until it ends with one solo voice just like it began.

Aisha suggests, perhaps, it's like the boat leaving the dock and the voices entering are like all the different things to see and do along the boat's journey, until that boat finally docks again.

Very differently, Alex says, or perhaps, the voice is entering and exit.

Exiting are like the passengers joining and then leaving the boat as it journeys down river.

Perhaps, you had a different story to share for this musical structure.

Why not pause and share your thoughts now?

Wonderful.

Time for us to listen again, and this time, we're going to imagine that we're actually on the boat and we can move very gently, calmly, and quietly around the room.

Whilst you are listening to the music.

When a new voice enters or you hear a new bit of melody that stands out differently, you can gently change direction and perhaps, change your quality of movement.

Pause, find a space and allow your body to change as the music does.

Off you go.

It is brilliant that you are exploring the music in lots of different ways.

We're now going to actively listen to "Boat Song" by Meredith Monk and explore it in this way.

I'd like you to be at your place with a piece of paper.

Now this could be just your own work or perhaps a part of a larger piece of work on your table.

And as you listen to the music, you gently shade with a chosen pastel or whatever you've got available to you.

Pastels are great 'cause you can start to color blend and you can make shapes on your page as you listen.

And the wonderful thing is there's no wrong answer.

Everyone's will look quite different and that's absolutely perfect.

As you hear a new voice enter or you hear a new bit of melody, stand out, you can introduce a new color.

Maybe that color moves your piece of work in a different direction.

Maybe there's a different shape to it.

And you can choose how dark or light that color is, depending on what you hear in the music and what feels right to you.

So pause here, have your equipment ready, and just listen to the music and allow the pastels to make their marks on your page changing as each new voice or melody enters.

Off you go.

Lovely and wonderful that you might notice some similarities and plenty of differences.

Sam suggests that shading help them to concentrate on the sounds of each voice and says, "Well, I noticed if it was a man or a woman singing and maybe that inspired the different darker or lighter shades she used, depending on what that sound, that voice quality brought to the piece of music.

" And Aisha says, "Shading and listening makes me feel still and relaxed and I hope you did too.

" What a lovely thing to do.

Well-done.

Now it's time for the second part of our lesson where we are gonna create our own inspired river soundscapes.

We can be inspired by Boat Song to create a river soundscape as a class.

And this time, we're going to use our voices and our bodies alone.

We can combine short vocalisation cells and body percussion to bring our soundscape to life.

Lucas says a river soundscape.

That's a piece of music that's gonna help us to imagine images of a boat traveling down a river.

Firstly, choose a setting for your class soundscape.

What type of river should we journey down?

There's two examples below.

One looks very much in the countryside with an iron bridge over, crossing over and the other one looks like it runs more closely to a town.

And then you can think about the type of boat and maybe the journey it might be making and the people who might be on board your boat.

Why don't you pause here?

Have a think about where the river is anywhere in the world and what type of boat.

Have a think about what journey it might be making and who might be aboard.

Catch you in a moment.

Great.

So now we've got plenty of ideas flowing of what our boat might be like and what kind of river it's sailing down.

We're gonna begin to tell the story using some vocalization cells.

Here are three ideas.

Here's the first one (loud to soft vocalization cell) and a second idea.

(soft to loud vocalization cell) Well, how about this one?

(loud to gentle vocalization cell) And as Jun says, "Of course, you can create your own.

" I'm gonna ask you to briefly pause the video, decide which of those you like or some of your own and explore which ones might work for you.

And then when we come back together, we're going to begin to practice them as a class.

Off you go.

Great.

So now, we've decided on the vocalizations we're going to use, whether it's those ones we suggested or any of your own, we're going to think about the type of soundscape we're trying to create.

So we're going to practice each cell.

We are gonna pause in a moment 'cause you are going to sing through each one five times.

That's gonna help everyone feel confident about it.

And if you are following the shape, you can see the pitch going up and down.

Whilst you sing, I'd like you to think about the character of the music.

Is it calm?

What sort of feeling is it?

Is it a very still river?

Where is it set in a relaxing part of the countryside or alongside a busy town?

Or maybe wheeling its way through the Amazon rainforest?

What mood are you trying to create for your soundscape?

Would you like it to feel relaxing or tense or busy or joyful?

So work through each of these.

That's A, B, and C.

And of course, any that you would like to use yourself.

If you've made your own, just remember to follow the pitch.

So you are all singing together.

Practice each one five times and I'll see you in a moment.

Great stuff.

So now, we're gonna join the cells together and you decide which one you sing first.

Which one second and which one third.

There are some ideas here, some recordings that might help you.

The six different ones, which put these vocalizations in a different order so you can pause and listen to those.

You can decide by singing them through as a class, which order you would like them in.

And of course, if there's any of your own that you've created, make sure you know if it's first, second, or third.

So there should be three cells put together.

Pause now and practice where you are.

Magical.

So now, we have three vocalization cells together.

We're gonna add to that.

We're going to use body percussion to create a soundscape.

Here comes an example.

I'd like you to think what type of soundscape has been created.

Have a watch of this.

(soft to intense soundscape using body percussion) (soft to intense soundscape using body percussion continues) (intense soundscape using body percussion) (gentle soundscape using body percussion) Lovely.

Laura says, "That sounds like a storm.

Perhaps, it's in the rainforest!

" You can now explore different body percussion to create sounds for your soundscape or you're going to create the sound of moving water, leaping fish, leaves rustling in the wind.

Maybe there's different wildlife sounds you can make with your voice.

Some squelching boots and maybe even some splashing water.

Have a pause, explore together or in small groups, different body percussion.

But remember, you're bringing alive the sounds of things that as that boat journeys down the river, you would see on that boat.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

We're ready to put our soundscape together.

You're going to select an order for your vocalisations to create your river melody.

And you can add extra cells or repeat or extend any part of the cells that you like.

So that first part is on your vocalisations.

Make sure you know the order and does any repeat.

The second part, you're choosing body percussion and other sounds to layer underneath and that's gonna create your river soundscape following that journey.

It's really important to decide who will perform each part in the ensemble.

If you're working as a whole class, are there some people doing a part of the body percussion?

Some people are creating some of those vocalisations.

Do you all sing it all or is it broken up into groups?

And of course, choosing a structure for your soundscapes really important because we want to get that sense of a journey.

How does it begin?

Is it like in Meredith Monk's piece, just one voice?

Is it quiet?

What sort of feeling do you want to create?

How does it build?

And make sure you know when each part is coming in and perhaps, dropping out.

All the best of luck.

Good luck in creating your river soundscape ensemble.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well-done, everyone.

Great composing and creating.

It's a really good opportunity to record your soundscape and listen back.

And then when you're listening to it back, you can close your eyes and see what you can imagine.

Is it bringing to life those images you wanted it to as part of your river journey?

Here's another river soundscape you can listen to that's been created by the Oak class.

I'd like you to imagine what you can see as you listen and then think, how does it compare to ours?

Here it comes.

(loud soundscapes) (strong gust of wind) (loud sound of an animal) (loud soundscapes) (loud sound of an animal) (strong gust of wind) (loud sound of an animal) (loud soundscapes) (strong gust of wind) Well, that's just about all we have time for for today.

Time for a summary of what we've learned.

A soundscape can be created using just vocalizations and some body percussion.

When we structure a soundscape, we think how we're going to organize those sounds, what will come first, what will come next.

And that will help us tell our story and a cell, a short musical idea that can be used in a soundscape to help build a piece of music.

Really well-done for today and I'll look forward to seeing you next time.

Bye for now.