Lesson video

Hello everyone.

It's me again, Mrs. Steele, and I'm really excited to be back with another music lesson for us today.

In today's lesson, we'll be learning about adding body percussion to a song.

But before we start, there's a listening example that we'll need today that doesn't feature in this video.

So before we start, you'll need to take a moment to find that listening example now.

There's a teacher guidance slide at the beginning of the slide deck to help you with this.

Press pause to find that listening example now if you need to.

Are you ready? Let's start the lesson together.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to use body percussion to keep a steady beat whilst singing.

Here are the key words we'll need in our learning today.

Unison, playing or singing the same thing at the same time.

Beat, the playing or showing of the steady pulse, like the ticking of a clock.

Body percussion, to make a percussive musical sound with the body.

Accompaniment, a musical part that supports the main melody or chant.

And four time, the organization and feel of beats as strong-weak, medium-weak.

First, we know that it's really important to warm up our bodies and our voices before every music lesson, so we're ready to move and ready to sing.

Just like we stretch our muscles before we exercise, we need to stretch our vocal chords before singing too.

Join in with these warmups, so that you are ready for singing.

(upbeat music) <v ->Let's warm up our faces.

</v> Copy me.

Big face.

(calm music) Little face.

(light-hearted music) Big face.

(calm music) Little face.

(light-hearted music) Big face.

(calm music) Little face.

(light-hearted music) <v ->Now let's do some breathing exercises.

</v> We're 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.

(man exhaling) Let's give it a try.

Ready, and, breathe in, two, three, four, and blow.

(man exhaling) 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.

(man exhaling) Very good.

One more, this time, it's a year later, and you're six.

Here we go.

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

(man exhaling) Well done.

Now let's start warming up our voices.

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

We're gonna imagine seeing an amazing firework, and then we're gonna say, ohhhhh.

Ready, here it comes.

(fireworks exploding) Ohhhh.

Now this next one's really impressive.

We're gonna go, ahhhhhhh.

Ready, here it comes.

(fireworks exploding) Ahhhh.

Great, finally, this one's amazing.

I want you to do a woooooow.

Ready, here we go, here comes the firework.

(fireworks exploding) Woooooow.

<v ->These songs will help us to warm up further,</v> as they help us to use our voices in lots of different ways.

The first one's called, "The More We Get Together".

Here's the music, join in.

(upbeat music) ♪ The more we get together, together, together ♪ ♪ The more we get together, the happier we'll be ♪ ♪ 'Cause your friends are my friends ♪ ♪ And my friends are your friends ♪ ♪ The more we get together, the happier we'll be ♪ Now join in with "She'll be Coming Round the Mountain".

Here it comes.

(upbeat music) ♪ She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes ♪ ♪ She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes ♪ ♪ She'll be coming round the mountain ♪ ♪ She'll be coming round the mountain ♪ ♪ She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes ♪ ♪ Singing, oy, yi, yippi, yippi, yi ♪ ♪ Singing, oy, yi, yippi, yippi, yi ♪ ♪ Singing, oy, yi, yippi, oy, yi, yippi, ♪ ♪ Oi, yi, yippi yi, yippi, yi ♪ (upbeat music) And finally, let's sing "Knock on the Door".

Here's the music.

(upbeat music) <v Man>Hello.

</v> ♪ 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.

♪ Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah ♪ ♪ Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah ♪ That was lovely, bye.

(door closing) ♪ 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.

(monkey grunting) ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Ahh, ahh, ahh, ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ahh ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ahh, ahh, ahh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ah ♪ Oh, thank you very much, bye.

(door closing) ♪ 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 ♪ Oooh, oooh, oooh, ♪ ♪ Oooh ♪ ♪ Oooh, oooh, oooh, ♪ ♪ Oooh ♪ Oh, that was scary, thanks, bye.

(door closing) ♪ 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 ♪ Eeee, eeee, eeee, eeee, eeee, eeee ♪ ♪ Eeee, eeee, eeee, eeee, eeee, eeee ♪ Lovely, thanks, bye (door closing) ♪ 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, lala, la ♪ ♪ La, la, la, la, la, la ♪ ♪ La lala, la, la, la ♪ That's enough visitors for one day.

(door closing) Are you ready to sing? Do your muscles feel warm? Does your throat feel relaxed and are you alert and ready to focus? Fantastic, let's go.

We're going to start by learning about body percussion timbre.

We've been singing a lot about trains in this unit.

This is another train song, it's called "To Stop the Train".

Let's learn it together.

The actions really help us to feel the pulse and stay in time together.

Watch this video of the song with the actions ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Five pounds ♪ ♪ Five pounds ♪ ♪ Pull down the chain, pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Five pounds ♪ ♪ Pull down the chain, pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Five pounds to stop the train ♪ ♪ Pull down the chain, pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Five pounds to stop the train ♪ ♪ Pull down the chain, pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Five pounds to stop the train ♪ ♪ Pull down the chain, pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Penalty for improper use ♪ ♪ Five pounds to stop the train ♪ ♪ Pull down the chain, pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Penalty for improper use ♪ ♪ Five pounds to stop the train ♪ ♪ In cases of emergency, pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Penalty for improper use ♪ ♪ Five pounds to stop the train ♪ ♪ In cases of emergency, pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Penalty for improper use ♪ ♪ Five pounds to stop the train ♪ ♪ In cases of emergency, pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Pull down the chain ♪ ♪ Penalty for improper use ♪ ♪ Five pounds ♪ Unison means we all sing or play the same thing at the same time.

We sing the same notes, the same lyrics, and keep the same beat, all together.

And when we're singing "Stop the Train", we're singing and moving in unison.

We can sing in unison.

Let's try that with "Train, Train".

Feel the pulse and watch out for the tempo changes in every verse.

Let's sing, "Train, Train" in unison.

Here's the music.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Train, train, steady and strong ♪ ♪ Rolling down the track so long ♪ ♪ Toot your whistle, ring your bell ♪ ♪ Train, train, steady and strong ♪ (drum beating) ♪ Train, train goes so fast ♪ ♪ Watch it as zooms right past ♪ ♪ Toot your whistle, ring your bell ♪ ♪ Train, train, goes so fast ♪ (drum pounding) ♪ Train, train, chugging slow ♪ ♪ Rolling through the rain and snow ♪ ♪ Toot your whistle, ring your bell ♪ ♪ Train, train, chugging slow ♪ (drum pounding) ♪ Train, train, stop right there ♪ ♪ Standing still with time to spare ♪ ♪ Toot your whistle, ring your bell ♪ ♪ Train, train, stop right there ♪ It's time for a check-in with our learning so far.

True or false, when we perform in unison, we sing or play the same thing at the same time.

Show me a thumbs up if you think that's true, or a thumbs down if you think that's false.

Okay, I am seeing a lot of thumbs up.

Yes, that's because it's true.

Unison means playing or singing the same thing at the same time.

Then we're one big team.

Well done if you got that right.

Body percussion is when we use our bodies as an instrument to make sounds.

Here are some of the ways that we can all make music with our bodies.

We can clap, click, pat, or stomp, but there are lots more.

Can you think of any other ways to make music with our bodies? You might like to press pause now to share your ideas, or you could think about them in your own thinking voice.

Listen to "White Winter Hymnal" by the Penatonix.

Can you hear the accompaniment? Well, that is all created with body percussion, which is quite amazing.

Press pause to find and listen to this listening example.

What do you think? Just like the Penatonix, let's try some of our own body percussion now.

Join in with the body percussion patterns in this video, and as you do so, listen carefully to the different sounds you can create with your body.

Lucas notices that a clap sounds very different to a pat or stomp, and Sam is explaining that each sound has a different timbre.

Timbre is the way we describe the sound of an instrument to help us to identify it.

Join in with this body percussion.

Listen carefully to the different sounds that you can make.

<v ->Join in when you can spot my body percussion pattern.

</v> Ready, steady, off we go.

Engine engine, number nine, (woman clapping) going down the Bristol line.

See it sparkle, see it shine, engine, engine number nine.

Let's try a different pattern.

Join in when you spot the pattern.

Ready, steady, off we go.

Engine, engine number nine, (woman clapping) going down the Bristol line.

See it sparkle, see it shine, engine, engine, number nine.

(woman clapping) Let's try a different pattern.

Join in when you spot the pattern.

Ready, steady, off we go.

Engine, engine, number nine, going down the Bristol line.

See it sparkle, see it shine, engine, engine (woman clapping) number nine.

Let's try one more different pattern.

Join in when you spot it.

Ready, steady, off we go.

Engine, engine, (woman clapping) number nine, going down the Bristol line.

See it sparkle, see it shine, engine, engine, (woman clapping) number nine.

<v ->Now that you've had to go at some body percussion,</v> how would you describe the timbre of a clap, click, pat, tap, or stomp? Press pause to share your ideas.

Perhaps you said some of these timbre words, crisp, flat, dull, crunching, bright, or warm.

There are lots of different words we can use to describe the timbre of our body percussion sounds.

You're definitely going to need your listening ears for this tricky challenge.

I'm going to play you three body percussion patterns, A, B, and C, and your challenge is to spot which body percussion pattern you can hear.

Is it one, two, or three? And match them all up with the right one.

Here comes body percussion, pattern A, (hands clapping and fingers snapping) and here's B, (fingers snapping, feet stomping) and here's C.

Which body percussion pattern can you hear this time? (feet stomping and fingers snapping) Now press pause to match A, B, and C to the body percussion patterns you can see here on the screen.

That was a tricky challenge, here comes the answer.

Press pause to check if you were right.

Now let's move on to adding body percussion to a song.

"Freedom Train" is a song you might already know.

Show the pulse with piston actions as you sing it in unison.

Here's the music for you.

(upbeat music) ♪ This whole freedom train is such a long coming ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody can't afford it, so you better get aboard it ♪ ♪ Gimme that freedom, gimme that freedom ♪ ♪ Gimme that freedom, freedom, freedom ♪ ♪ Chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck ♪ The song "Freedom Train" comes from a time when people in America were hoping for fairness, kindness, and freedom for everyone.

So the train that the song refers to isn't a real train, it's a way of talking about the journey to freedom.

So when we sing it, we are remembering people's strength and hope.

So we need to sing it proudly.

Sing "Freedom Train" again, this time thinking about the character of your performance.

Sing it with a feeling of strength, hope, and pride.

I'd like to hear that strength, hope, and pride in your voices this time.

Here's the music again.

(upbeat music) ♪ This old freedom train is such a long time coming ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody can't afford it, so you better get aboard it ♪ ♪ Gimme that freedom, gimme that freedom ♪ ♪ Gimme that freedom, freedom, freedom ♪ ♪ Chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck ♪ Let's add some body percussion now, keeping to a steady beat.

Try this one, chant in unison as you move and play.

Clap it, stomp it, pat it, stomp it.

Clap it, stomp it, pat it, stomp it.

You do the body percussion actions too as you chant that.

Repeat it over and over again until you can get it right all together.

Press pause to chant and try that body percussion pattern in unison.

The song "Freedom Train" is in four time.

Four time is when beats are organized into a pattern of strong-weak, medium-weak.

Listen again to "Freedom Train" and gently count one, two, three, four.

On every beat one, which is the strongest beat, clap your hands like this.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

Here comes the music again, try that.

(upbeat music) ♪ This old freedom train is such a long time coming ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody can't afford it, so you better get aboard it ♪ ♪ Gimme that freedom, gimme that freedom ♪ ♪ Gimme that freedom, freedom, freedom ♪ ♪ Chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck ♪ We're going to add our body percussion pattern underneath "Freedom Train" now as we sing.

And this will create texture and add a second layer of sound.

It's going to sound amazing.

This challenge might take quite a lot of practice.

That's okay, just give it your best go, and you can practice it as many times as you need to to get it right all together.

Here comes the music.

Try adding the body percussion pattern.

(upbeat music) ♪ This old freedom train is such a long time ♪ ♪ Aint nobody can't afford it, so you better get aboard it ♪ ♪ Gimme that freedom, gimme that freedom ♪ ♪ Gimme that freedom, freedom, freedom ♪ ♪ Chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck ♪ We're body percussion experts now, so here's a partner challenge for you.

In pairs create your own four beat body percussion pattern to accompany "Freedom Train".

Think carefully about the strong beats and the weaker beats.

Can you create a stronger sound on beat one every time? Press pause to create your own four beat body percussion pattern with a partner.

Remember a strong beat on beat one.

Now let's try performing your body percussion pattern as you sing.

Have you created a pattern that helps you to feel the four beat time? Here comes the music.

Try it with your own four beat body percussion patterns.

(upbeat music) ♪ This old freedom train is such a long time coming ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody can't afford, so you better get aboard it ♪ ♪ Gimme that freedom, gimme that freedom ♪ ♪ Gimme that freedom, freedom, freedom ♪ ♪ Chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck, chck-a-chck ♪ How did you get on? Here's an example that two of our Oak friends came up with together.

How does your body percussion compare? You might want to press pause now to talk about your ideas or perhaps show one another, your body percussion patterns.

We've come to the end of our lesson together today, but before we go, let's take a moment to think about everything we've been learning.

We know that when we sing the same melody together, we're singing in unison.

We know that we can use body percussion to accompany a song just like we've done today.

And we know that music in four time has a beat pattern of strong-weak, medium-weak, and we know that body percussion can be played on the beat to help us hear the pattern of beats in four time, and that's just what we've been doing today.

Great work on body percussion today, musicians.

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

Buh-bye.