Lesson video

Hello again, musicians, it's me, Mrs. Steele, and today in our music lesson, we're going to be singing together as a school community.

I'm excited, so let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you will understand how changing dynamics and using your voice in different ways will help to capture the character of the music.

But first, here are the keywords that we'll need in our learning together today.

Dynamics, how loud or quiet the music is.

Piano, a musical direction to perform softly at a quieter volume.

Forte, a musical direction to perform strongly at a louder volume.

And crescendo, a gradual increase in loudness or intensity.

We know it's very important to warm up our voices, our bodies, and our minds before every music lesson.

This warmup is lots of fun and it's a bit silly.

I wonder if you know it.

It's called Penguins Attention.

Here comes the video.

Join in.

(gentle piano music) ♪ Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea ♪ ♪ Take a look at me, a penguin you will see ♪ ♪ Penguins attention, penguins begin ♪ ♪ Right arm ♪ ♪ Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea ♪ ♪ Take a look at me, a penguin you will see ♪ ♪ Penguins attention, penguins begin ♪ ♪ Right arm, left arm ♪ ♪ Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea ♪ ♪ Take a look at me, a penguin you will see ♪ ♪ Penguins attention, penguins begin ♪ ♪ Right arm, left arm ♪ ♪ Right leg ♪ ♪ Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea ♪ ♪ Take a look at me, a penguin you will see ♪ ♪ Penguins attention, penguins begin ♪ ♪ Right arm, left arm ♪ ♪ Right leg, left leg ♪ ♪ Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea ♪ ♪ Take a look at me, a penguin you will see ♪ ♪ Penguins attention, penguins begin ♪ ♪ Right arm, left arm ♪ ♪ Right leg, left leg ♪ ♪ Nod your head ♪ ♪ Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea ♪ ♪ Take a look at me, a penguin you will see ♪ ♪ Penguins attention, penguins begin ♪ ♪ Right arm, left arm ♪ ♪ Right leg, left leg ♪ ♪ Nod your head, stick out your tongue ♪ ♪ Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea ♪ ♪ Take a look at me, a penguin you will see ♪ ♪ Penguins attention, penguins sit down ♪ <v ->Now let's warm up some more.

</v> These songs will help us to gently stretch our vocal chords to make sure that we can protect our voices and sing safely.

First up, let's join in with the echoes in the song "Warming Up My Voice." Here's the music.

(gentle piano music) ♪ I'm warming up my voice, I'm warming up my voice ♪ ♪ I'm warming up my voice, I'm warming up my voice ♪ ♪ High notes all in a row, high notes all in a row ♪ ♪ Low notes down below, low notes down below ♪ ♪ Sing this like a cat, sing this like a cat ♪ ♪ Meow, meow, just like that, meow, meow, just like that ♪ ♪ Me-ow ♪ ♪ I'm warming up my voice, I'm warming up my voice ♪ ♪ I'm warming up my voice, I'm warming up my voice ♪ ♪ High notes all in a row, high notes all in a row ♪ ♪ Low notes down below, low notes down below ♪ ♪ Sing this like a mouse, sing this like a mouse ♪ ♪ Eek, eek, 'round the house, eek, eek, in my house ♪ ♪ Ee-eek ♪ ♪ I'm warming up my voice, I'm warming up my voice ♪ ♪ I'm warming up my voice, I'm warming up my voice ♪ ♪ High notes all in a row, high notes all in a row ♪ ♪ Low notes down below, low notes down below ♪ ♪ Sing this like a cow, sing this like a cow ♪ ♪ Moo, moo, I know how, moo, moo, I know how ♪ ♪ Moo ♪ ♪ I'm warming up my voice, I'm warming up my voice ♪ ♪ I'm warming up my voice, I'm warming up my voice ♪ ♪ High notes all in a row, high notes all in a row ♪ ♪ Low notes down below, low notes down below ♪ ♪ Sing this like a bee, sing this like a bee ♪ ♪ Buzz, buzz, just like me, buzz, buzz, just like me ♪ ♪ Bu-zz ♪ (gentle piano music continues) <v ->Now, join in with the echoes in "Tongo." Here it comes.

</v> <v Instructor>Join in the echoes with me.

</v> (dramatic drum music) ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ (singers singing in foreign language) ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ (singers singing in foreign language) ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ ♪ Tongo ♪ (singers singing in foreign language) <v ->And finally, have fun joining in with "Boom Chicka Boom."</v> Here's the video.

(sticks tapping) ♪ I said a-boom chicka boom ♪ ♪ I said a-boom chicka boom ♪ ♪ I said a-boom chicka rocka chicka rocka chicka boom ♪ (sticks continue tapping) ♪ Ah ha, ee hee ♪ ♪ One more time, like a robot ♪ ♪ I said a-boom chicka boom ♪ ♪ I said a-boom chicka boom ♪ ♪ I said a-boom chicka rocka chicka rocka chicka boom ♪ (sticks continue tapping) ♪ Ah ha, ee hee ♪ ♪ One more time, under water ♪ ♪ I said a-boom chicka boom ♪ ♪ I said a-boom chicka boom ♪ ♪ I said a-boom chicka rocka chicka rocka chicka boom ♪ (sticks continue tapping) ♪ Ah ha, ee hee ♪ ♪ One more time ♪ (sticks continue tapping) ♪ Speedy, I said a-boom chicka boom ♪ ♪ I said a-boom chicka boom ♪ ♪ I said a-boom chicka rocka chicka rocka chicka boom ♪ (sticks continue tapping) ♪ Ah ha, ee hee ♪ <v ->Let's take a moment to check</v> that you're ready to sing together.

Does your voice feel warm? Are you focused and listening carefully? Excellent.

Here we go.

We're going to start by learning about singing as a class community.

In this unit, we've been learning that people sing together in lots of different communities.

Here are some of the places our Oak friends sing together.

Andeep plays playground singing games with his friends, Izzy and Jun sing at Brownies and Cubs, Laura likes to sing around the campfire at Forest School, Lucas sings together in his faith community, and Sam likes to sing to celebrate her favorite sports team.

You might like to pause here to share and remember some of the different communities where you sing.

Something that our Oak friends didn't mention in that previous slide is singing together as a whole school community.

Many school communities come together to sing in assembly or whole school worship.

I wonder if your school does the same.

Singing together can be a powerful way to strengthen our school community because it can help us to remember some very important messages: that we all belong here, we all belong in school together; that we are a team.

Singing together is a great way of remembering that; that we can be one voice, and our voices can come together and be stronger; that we are all equal; and that we have a shared identity within our school community.

Singing together is a really powerful way of remembering those important things.

At Jacob's school, they sing together each week in singing assembly as a whole school community, and Jacob's favorite song to sing during this time is "Sin Nje Nje Nje." It's a South African folk song, and the lyrics are all about the power of prayer.

Let's listen to Jacob's favorite song, "Sin Nje Nje Nje." As you listen, feel the pulse and move to the steady beat.

Try the body percussion pattern that you can see on the screen as you listen.

It's four taps on your knees, followed by four clicks, and it will look and sound a bit like this.

(Mrs. Steele singing in foreign language) <v ->And so on.

</v> Listen to "Sin Nje Nje Nje" and try that body percussion to the steady beat.

Here's the music.

(upbeat piano music) (singers singing in foreign language) (singers continue singing in foreign language) (singers continue singing in foreign language) <v ->When we sing together,</v> it's important to think about the character of a song so that we can create an effective performance.

We're going to listen again to "Sin Nje Nje Nje," but this time, as we listen, we're going to silently move around the room.

Can you use your body to capture the character of the song? How does the music make you want to move? Will you move quickly or slowly? Does the song make you want to move in a bouncy way or a smooth way? Will you make big movements or small movements? Will your movements be light or heavy? Confident or hesitant? Does the music make you feel happy or sad, and how can you show this with your body? Let's use our bodies to capture the character of the music.

Press pause now to make any space you need around you and to get ready to silently move around the room as you listen, then meet me back here when you're ready and I'll play the music.

Are you ready? Here comes "Sin Nje Nje Nje." Let's get moving.

(upbeat piano music) (singers singing in foreign language) (singers continue singing in foreign language) (singers continue singing in foreign language) <v ->How did the music in "Sin Nje Nje Nje"</v> make you want to move and why? Aisha used her body to capture the character of the music.

She says, "The music made me want to move confidently because it sounded strong.

I think the music sounded bouncy and happy, so I moved my feet in a bouncy way.

I could feel a strong, steady pulse, and I moved my feet in time to the beat." You might want to pause here to share your ideas about how the music made you want to move and why, or you could listen to the music again and watch small groups moving to the music to capture their ideas.

I think that we could describe the character of "Sin Nje Nje Nje" as bold.

This means we need to think about how our voices can create a bold character as we sing it.

Choosing appropriate dynamics can be an effective way to capture the character of a song.

Remember, the dynamics are how loudly or quietly the music is played, and when we choose these carefully, we can give each song a unique character.

It's time for a quick check-in with our learning so far.

Who do you agree with and why? Lucas says, "I think we should sing "Sin Nje Nje Nje" piano, quiet or soft," but Lucas disagrees.

He says, "I think we should sing "Sin Nje Nje Nje" forte, loud or strong." Press pause to decide who you agree with and why.

Hello again.

What do you think? Here comes the answer.

This time, Jacob is right.

Forte would be a more effective choice of dynamic for "Sin Nje Nje Nje" because it would help us capture its bold, confident, strong character.

Well done, everyone.

We're going to sing "Sin Nje Nje Nje" as a class community next, but before we start, let's get ready by thinking carefully about how our voices can capture the bold character of the song.

The first way we can do this is to sing forte.

That will certainly help us to sound bold, but I have a singing top tip about this.

When singing forte, it's important to remember not to use a shouting voice.

Instead, can you make your voice sound confident and strong? As you start singing each line, imagine your voice is a ball zooming confidently all the way to the back of the room.

Let's look at another top tip to help our voices capture the character of this song.

We're going to make our voices full of confident energy.

My singing top tip for this is to put lots of energy into your lips and tongue to pronounce each word very clearly.

This helps our voices sound crisp and alive.

Imagine you're fizzing with energy as you sing.

Let's have a go at mouthing the words of "Sin Nje Nje Nje," a bit like I'm turning everybody's volume down and you're on mute.

I'll put the lyrics on the screen to help you do this before I play the music.

Here are the words for "Sin Nje Nje Nje." There's one particularly tricky line to mouth, and it's.

(Mrs. Steele speaking foreign language) That one gets easier the more you practice it.

You could press pause on the music and try saying that line very slowly and gradually building up speed.

Here comes the music for "Sin Nje Nje Nje." This time, we're going to mouth the words, so I'm pressing mute on you.

There you go.

Here comes the music.

Mouth the words.

(upbeat piano music) (singers singing in foreign language) (singers continue singing in foreign language) (singers continue singing in foreign language) <v ->Great.

Now, let's get singing.

</v> Here comes the music for "Sin Nje Nje Nje." Remember, our voices are going to fizz with energy, and they're not going to sound loud, but they're going to sound bold, confident, strong, powerful, energetic, and fizzy with energy.

Here comes the music.

Sing together.

(upbeat piano music) (singers singing in foreign language) (singers continue singing in foreign language) (singers continue singing in foreign language) <v ->Did your class community capture the bold character</v> of the song? How do you know? Andeep and Sofia's class did.

Andeep says, "We sang forte to capture the bold character.

We were careful not to use our shouting voices, but our strong, confident voices instead." Well done if your class remembered that important top tip.

And Sofia says, "Our voices were enthusiastic and full of energy.

We pronounce the words very clearly and I imagined I was fizzing with energy as I sang." Well done If your class community did that too.

You must have captured the bold character of "Sin Nje Nje Nje." Now, let's learn some more about capturing character with our voices.

Izzy's favorite song to sing in her school community is called "We Are One." The composer, Claire Alsop, has written a song that captures the joy and power of singing together.

Let's listen.

As you listen, can you hear the important message.

♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ <v ->Wiggle your fingers each time you hear that line.

</v> Here's the music.

(gentle piano music) ♪ I'm just a small part of the world ♪ ♪ A traveler on the road ♪ ♪ Under the silvery moon ♪ ♪ On my own is not enough ♪ ♪ And the pathway can be rough ♪ ♪ Humming a lonely tune ♪ ♪ But when I'm walking with a friend ♪ ♪ Hand in hand, our voices blend ♪ ♪ As we journey through each day ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ One singing family ♪ ♪ Our voices join ♪ ♪ Singing in harmony ♪ ♪ Songs that shine ♪ ♪ Like a lighthouse through the storm ♪ ♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ One singing family ♪ ♪ Our voices join ♪ ♪ Singing in harmony ♪ ♪ Songs that shine ♪ ♪ Like a lighthouse through the storm ♪ ♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ (gentle piano music continues) ♪ We're just a small part of the world ♪ ♪ Travelers on the road ♪ ♪ Under the silvery moon ♪ ♪ On our own, it's not enough ♪ ♪ And the pathway can be rough ♪ ♪ Humming our lonely tunes ♪ ♪ But when we're walking with a friend ♪ ♪ Hand in hand, our voices blend ♪ ♪ As we journey through each day ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ One singing family ♪ ♪ Our voices join ♪ ♪ Singing in harmony ♪ ♪ Songs that shine ♪ ♪ Like a lighthouse through the storm ♪ ♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ One singing family ♪ ♪ Our voices join ♪ ♪ Singing in harmony ♪ ♪ Songs that shine ♪ ♪ Like a lighthouse through the storm ♪ ♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ (gentle piano music continues) <v ->Let's listen again to the beginning of "We Are One."</v> This time, we're going to move silently around the room.

Can you use your body to capture the character of this song? How does this music make you want to move? Will your movements be quick or slow? Bouncy or smooth? Does the music make you want to move in a gentle way or a strong way? Do you think the music sounds happy or sad? And will your movements be confident or hesitant? Use your body to capture this music's character.

As you're doing that, think carefully about what you notice this time.

Are there any differences in your movements now than when you were moving for "Sin Nje Nje Nje?" How is the character of this music different or similar? Here comes the music for "We Are One." Get ready to move and capture the character of the music.

(gentle piano music) ♪ I'm just a small part of the world ♪ ♪ A traveler on the road ♪ ♪ Under the silvery moon ♪ ♪ On my own is not enough ♪ ♪ And the pathway can be rough ♪ ♪ Humming a lonely tune ♪ ♪ But when I'm walking with a friend ♪ ♪ Hand in hand, our voices blend ♪ ♪ As we journey through each day ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ One singing family ♪ ♪ Our voices join ♪ ♪ Singing in harmony ♪ ♪ Songs that shine ♪ ♪ Like a lighthouse through the storm ♪ ♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ <v ->How did this music make you want to move and why?</v> Alex says, "The music made me want to move delicately because it sounded gentle.

I thought the song sounded hopeful and proud.

I walked with long, light, smooth strides.

My movements were very different to "Sin Nje Nje Nje," where my feet were bouncy and strong." You could press pause now to share your ideas about how your movements this time were different to "Sin Nje Nje Nje," or you could watch small groups moving to "We Are One" so that they can share their ideas.

We could describe the character at the beginning of the song "We Are One" as gentle and hopeful.

This means we need to think about how we can use our voices to capture a gentle, hopeful character.

What dynamic would capture the character of the opening of the song? What do you think? Lucas thinks that piano would be the most effective dynamic choice here.

I agree.

He says, "Singing piano here fits with the words, "I'm just a small part of the world." It would help our voices sound small and gentle." Let's try singing the beginning of "We are One" piano, softly and gently.

Here comes the music.

(gentle piano music) ♪ I'm just a small part of the world ♪ ♪ A traveler on the road ♪ ♪ Under the silvery moon ♪ ♪ On my own is not enough ♪ ♪ And the pathway can be rough ♪ ♪ Humming a lonely tune ♪ ♪ But when I'm walking with a friend ♪ ♪ Hand in hand, our voices blend ♪ ♪ As we journey through each day ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ One singing family ♪ ♪ Our voices join ♪ ♪ Singing in harmony ♪ ♪ Songs that shine ♪ ♪ Like a lighthouse through the storm ♪ ♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ <v ->After the first verse,</v> the chorus of the song becomes increasingly hopeful.

A powerful way to capture the hopeful character of this part of the song is to include a crescendo.

A crescendo is a gradual increase in loudness or intensity, so our voices are going to get gradually stronger.

Let's include a crescendo to make a particular moment in the song sound hopeful and important.

We're going to begin piano, very softly, then gradually sing stronger throughout this part of the song, and our strongest moment will be on the words, "Songs that shine," and imagine your voices shining out like a lighthouse.

It's time for a quick check-in with our learning.

True or false: to create an effective performance, it's important to think about the character of a song? Do you think that's true, show me a thumbs up, or false, show me thumbs down? What do you think? Here's the answer.

It's true.

Well done if you remembered that.

If we make careful choices about how strongly or softly to sing, our dynamics, and use our voices in different ways, we can capture a song's character, and that helps us to create an effective performance.

Let's join in with the first verse and chorus of "We Are One" and put everything we've been learning about in this song together.

Remember to capture the gentle character by singing the beginning piano, then create a hopeful moment with a crescendo in the chorus each time you hear it, then keep on listening to the second verse and join in with the chorus when you hear it again because you already know that bit.

Here comes the music for "We Are One." (gentle piano music) ♪ I'm just a small part of the world ♪ ♪ A traveler on the road ♪ ♪ Under the silvery moon ♪ ♪ On my own is not enough ♪ ♪ And the pathway can be rough ♪ ♪ Humming a lonely tune ♪ ♪ But when I'm walking with a friend ♪ ♪ Hand in hand, our voices blend ♪ ♪ As we journey through each day ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ One singing family ♪ ♪ Our voices join ♪ ♪ Singing in harmony ♪ ♪ Songs that shine ♪ ♪ Like a lighthouse through the storm ♪ ♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ One singing family ♪ ♪ Our voices join ♪ ♪ Singing in harmony ♪ ♪ Songs that shine ♪ ♪ Like a lighthouse through the storm ♪ ♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ (gentle piano music continues) ♪ We're just a small part of the world ♪ ♪ Travelers on the road ♪ ♪ Under the silvery moon ♪ ♪ On our own, it's not enough ♪ ♪ And the pathway can be rough ♪ ♪ Humming our lonely tunes ♪ ♪ But when we're walking with a friend ♪ ♪ Hand in hand, our voices blend ♪ ♪ As we journey through each day ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We find our way ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ One singing family ♪ ♪ Our voices join ♪ ♪ Singing in harmony ♪ ♪ Songs that shine ♪ ♪ Like a lighthouse through the storm ♪ ♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ ♪ One singing family ♪ ♪ Our voices join ♪ ♪ Singing in harmony ♪ ♪ Songs that shine ♪ ♪ Like a lighthouse through the storm ♪ ♪ When we sing ♪ ♪ We are one ♪ (gentle piano music continues) <v ->Hello again.

</v> Who do you think was more successful in their performance of "We are One" this time? Izzy says, "During the crescendo, I imagined the sound gradually growing.

I started piano and slowly got stronger.

I used a strong voice, not a shouting voice." And Jacob says, "During the crescendo, I concentrated on singing as loudly as possible.

I started forte and got louder." Who do you think is more successful this time? Press pause to decide.

Here comes the answer.

I think Izzy has made the right musical choices this time.

Well done, Izzy, and well done, you, if you got that right.

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

We know that singing together as a school community can help everyone to feel a sense of belonging, and we know that to create an effective performance, it's important to think about a song's character.

We can use our voices in different ways to capture this.

We can choose dynamics, such as piano and forte, or include a crescendo to reflect the character of a song, just like we've done in "We Are One." I can't wait to see you again soon for some more singing and some more musical learning.

Bye, everyone.