Lesson video

Hi everyone, a very warm welcome to this lesson performing a melodic ostinato.

My name's Mr. Andrews, and I'll be guiding you through the lesson today.

This is from our unit, "Singing for Performance: Discovering Different Ways to Sing in Harmony." By the end of today's lesson, you'll have performed and read a melodic ostinato.

We'll explain a bit more about what that means as we go through the lesson.

Here are today's keywords.

Ostinato, that's a repeating musical pattern, which can be rhythmic or melodic.

Bar lines, these are vertical lines on a stave that show how the music is organized into groups of strong and weak beats.

Solfege is a system of naming pitches so we can recognize patterns by ear, for example.

♪ So, mi, and do ♪ Are solfege.

And stave, those are five horizontal lines which musical notes can be put onto so we can read them.

As always, it's important that we warm up so our voices and minds are ready to move, sing, and play together.

Our first warmup game today is called "Alabama Gal." Watch how you play the game, and play a few rounds where you are.

To play the game "Alabama Gal," everyone stands in a circle, one person stands in the middle with their eyes closed, then as we sing the song, the teacher walks around the circle and taps two people like this.

♪ Ready, steady off we go ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Alabama gal ♪ <v Professor>When the song ends,</v> the person in the middle opens their eyes.

The teacher then claps their hands, and two people who are tapped quickly swap places.

But be careful, when they swap, the middle person will try and steal one of their places.

It looks like this.

(all tap) (professor claps) (student chuckles) If the middle person steals your space, then it's your turn in the middle, and the game carries on.

♪ Ready, steady off we go ♪ ♪ Come through in a hurry ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Alabama gal ♪ (all clap) (professor taps) <v ->(chuckles) Sorry, you come.

</v> Close your eyes.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Alabama gal ♪ (all tap) <v ->And tap (claps hands).

</v> (students and professor chuckle) Our second warmup today is called "Salibonani." Watch how you play the game, and then I'll explain a little bit more.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (all clap) ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (all clap) ♪ Sali, sali, Salibonani ♪ (all clap) ♪ Sali, sali, Salibonani ♪ (all clap) <v ->To start with, I'll sing the song,</v> and you clap your hands at the end of every phrase.

Are you ready? ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (claps hands) ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (claps hands) ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ (claps hands) ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ (claps hands) To play the game, simply walk the beat in a space, and instead of clapping (claps hands) your own hands at the end of a phrase, clap the hands of a partner.

Try to make sure you don't clap the same person's hands more than once.

Watch the video again, and then play a few rounds where you are.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (all clap) ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (all clap) ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ (all clap) ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ (all clap) <v ->Hopefully you now feel ready to start today's lesson.

</v> Jacob says that his body feels relaxed, his throat feels warm, and his mind is alert.

Let's get started.

For our first learning cycle today, we'll be performing a melodic ostinato.

Let's start with a Scottish song, this is called "Did You Ever." Tap the beat on your shoulders as you listen.

Can you feel the three-beat pattern? ♪ Did you ever see a lassie, a lassie, a lassie ♪ ♪ Did you ever see a lassie go this way and that ♪ ♪ Go this way and that way, go this way, and that way ♪ ♪ Did you ever see a lassie go this way and that ♪ In three-time, the beat pattern feels strong, weak, weak, strong, weak, weak, all the way through.

Listen to the song again.

Can you come up with your own actions showing that three-beat pattern? For example, you might go lap, clap, clap, lap, clap, clap, to show strong, weak, weak.

Pause the video here to come up with your three-beat action pattern, and then try doing it with the song.

♪ Did you ever see a lassie ♪ (claps hand in three-time) ♪ A lassie, a lassie ♪ ♪ Did you ever see go this way and that ♪ ♪ Go this way, and that way, go this way, and that way ♪ ♪ Did you ever see a lassie go this way and that ♪ (stops clapping hands) Let's check.

In three-time, the beat pattern feels strong, weak, medium, weak.

Is that true or false? Pause here to discuss your answer.

If you said false, you are absolutely right, well done.

The beat pattern in three-time actually feels strong, weak, weak, strong, weak, weak, all the way through.

Strong, weak, medium, week is the beat pattern in four-time.

Here is a rhythm written in three-time, it uses "ta" and "sh." Let's try reading it together.

Are you ready? One, two, three, ready, off we go.

Ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, sh, sh, ta, sh, sh.

One more time, ready, off we go.

Ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, sh, sh ta, sh, sh.

Nice work.

Aisha has found a problem.

There are a lot of beats in this rhythm.

Do we have to draw all the hearts over the top every time? Well, no, we don't.

Instead of heartbeats, we could draw a line before every strong beat, that's every first beat, and we call those lines "bar lines." You can see, we've drawn them in on the screen below.

So after every bar line, we know there'll be a strong beat, or beat one.

So, we don't need all of those hearts written in anymore.

Can you remember, which image below shows a bar line? A, B, or C? Pause here to discuss if you need to.

I'm sure you got it right, it is C, well done.

Sam and Sofia are having a little argument.

Can you help them decide who's right? Sam says that bar lines show where all of the beats are in the music.

Sofia says, "Bar lines show where the strong beats are in the music." Pause here to decide who you think is right.

Sorry Sam, it is Sofia, bar lines show where all of the strong beats are in the music.

Well done.

Andeep says, Here is our rhythm with bar lines.

There is solfege written underneath.

Can we sing it together?" Well, we can certainly try.

We need two pitches, just.

♪ So ♪ And.

♪ Mi ♪ looking at the screen, you can see that it would start.

♪ So, so, so ♪ Before it changes to.

♪ Mi ♪ Why don't you try it where you are? I'll click the rhythm and show the hand signs, see if you can sing it.

♪ One, two, three, ready, off you go ♪ ♪ So ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) Sh, sh, (claps hands) sh, sh.

Let's click together, starting on a.

♪ So ♪ ♪ One, two, three, ready, off we go ♪ ♪ So, so, so ♪ ♪ Mi, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ Sh, sh.

♪ Mi ♪ Sh, sh.

Nice work.

Listen to this pattern being sung at the same time as "Did You Ever," our Scottish song.

Can you hear this pattern repeating over and over? ♪ Ready, and off we go ♪ ♪ Did you ever see a lassie ♪ ♪ So, so, so, mi, mi, mi ♪ ♪ A lassie, a lassie ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ ♪ Did you ever see a lassie ♪ ♪ So, so, so, mi, mi, mi ♪ ♪ Go this way and that ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ ♪ Go this way ♪ ♪ So, so, so ♪ ♪ And that way ♪ ♪ Mi, mi, mi, so ♪ ♪ Go this way and that way ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ Did you ever see a lassie ♪ ♪ So, so, so, mi, mi, mi ♪ ♪ Go this way and that ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ A repeating pattern is called an "ostinato." Because our little pattern has a melody with.

♪ So and mi ♪ Pitches, we can call it a "melodic ostinato." Alex has got a challenge for us.

How many times do you hear our ostinato with the song? It repeats more than once.

Listen carefully, and count how many times it repeats.

♪ Ready, and off we go ♪ ♪ Did you ever see a lassie ♪ ♪ So, so, so, mi, mi, mi ♪ ♪ A lassie, a lassie ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ ♪ Did you ever see a lassie ♪ ♪ So, so, so, mi, mi, mi ♪ ♪ Go this way and that ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ ♪ Go this way ♪ ♪ So, so, so ♪ ♪ And that way ♪ ♪ Mi, mi, mi ♪ ♪ Go this way ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ And that way ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ Did you ever see a lassie ♪ ♪ So, so, so, mi, mi, mi ♪ ♪ Go this way and that ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ We heard the melodic ostinato five times.

Is that true or false? You can wind back to listen again if you need, or pause here to discuss your answer.

Great listening skills, everyone, that was false, it was sung four times altogether.

It's your turn now.

Have a listen to this folk song from Suffolk in England.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead ♪ ♪ Hee haw, buried and dead ♪ ♪ There grew an old apple tree over his head ♪ ♪ Hee haw, over his head ♪ You can learn the actions to this song by watching this next clip.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead ♪ ♪ He haw, buried and dead ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) ♪ There grew an old apple tree over his head ♪ ♪ Hee haw, over his head ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) This time, why don't you just join in with the.

♪ He haw ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) Those parts.

Are you ready? ♪ Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead ♪ ♪ Hee haw, buried and dead ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) ♪ There grew an old apple tree over his head ♪ ♪ He haw over his head ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) Great.

This time, on the word "head," tap your head.

But don't forget your, hee, haw (claps hands rhythmically).

Can you sing with me this time? ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, buried and dead ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) ♪ There grew an old apple tree over his head ♪ ♪ Hee, haw over his head ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) The next challenge is to add this action on the word "dead." Don't forget, head, and your, hee, haw (claps hands rhythmically).

Good luck.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, buried and dead ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) ♪ There grew an old apple tree over his head ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, over his head ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) The last challenge, on any other words that do not have an action, (taps hands) just tap the rhythm.

Watch me first.

♪ Ready, steady, off I go ♪ ♪ Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) ♪ He, haw, buried and dead ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) ♪ There grew and old apple tree over his head ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) ♪ Hee, haw, over his head ♪ Your turn.

Are you ready? Let's go a little bit slower.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) ♪ Hee, haw, buried and dead ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) ♪ There grew an old apple tree over his head ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) ♪ Hee, haw, over his head ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) Jacob says, "We can use the "hee haw" part of the song to create a melodic ostinato," a little repeating pattern.

"It might sound a bit like a donkey." ♪ Hee, haw, hee, haw ♪ Listen to how that "hee haw" ostinato fits with the song.

♪ Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, hee, haw ♪ ♪ Hee haw, buried and dead ♪ ♪ Hee, haw ♪ ♪ There grew and old apple tree over his head ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, hee, haw ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, over his head ♪ ♪ Hee, haw ♪ It's time for your first task.

In a pair, one person sings "Oliver Cromwell" with the actions we learned in the previous clip, and you can see a description of that below on the screen.

At the same time, the other person sings the melodic ostinato, that's the.

♪ Hee, haw, hee, haw ♪ As they do that, they clap the beat vertically, it looks like this.

♪ Hee, haw, hee, haw, hee, haw ♪ (claps hands rhythmically) All the way through.

This video shows how the song and that ostinato fit together.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ (both clap hands rhythmically) ♪ Hee, haw, hee, haw ♪ ♪ Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, hee haw ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, buried and dead ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, hee haw ♪ ♪ There grew an old apple tree over his head ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, hee, haw ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, over his head ♪ <v ->Well, it's great fun this one.

</v> Just be careful to stay in time together.

Otherwise, your hand might get trapped in the donkey's mouth.

Izzy says, "Remember to swap over, so you've tried singing both parts." Feel free to wind the video back to watch how it works again, and then you can pause here to try the task where you are.

How did you get on? Alex asks, "Can you and your partner perform 'Oliver Cromwell' and the ostinato in time with this video?" Are you ready? ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ (both clap hands rhythmically) ♪ Oliver Cromwell lay buried and dead ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, hee haw ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, buried and dead ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, hee, haw ♪ ♪ There grew and old apple tree over his head ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, hee, haw ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, over his head ♪ ♪ Hee, haw, hee haw ♪ <v ->Great singing, everyone.

</v> It's quite tricky that game.

If you want to come and have another go at any other time, do come back to this video again.

For our last learning cycle today, we'll be reading a melodic ostinato from the stave.

Start by singing the song "Double Double" in solfege using hand signs.

That's the one that starts.

♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ Watch this video and join in if you can.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, do, do ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ <v ->This time, instead of hand signs,</v> can you point the so mi and do pitches on your fingers as shown on the screen here? Try performing it with this video.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, do, do ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ Music can be written on five lines that we call a stave.

If you imagine each finger and thumb is one of those five lines, you can see on the image below where so mi and do would live.

So on the fourth lineup, your index finger.

Mi on the middle line, your middle finger And do on the second line up, your ring finger.

Now that you know that, try to answer this question.

Who here is singing.

♪ Do, mi, so, mi ♪ Is it A, Jacob? B, Izzy? Or C, Alex? Pause here if you need time to work out your answer.

The answer is Izzy.

She is singing.

♪ Do, mi, so, mi ♪ Well done.

You can see Izzy's pattern written on screen here.

And Andeep has noticed something, that Izzy's pattern works as an ostinato with the song "Alabama Gal." Have a listen to the ostinato.

Can you follow the pictures below on screen? Each note lasts for two beats.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ John says, "Listen again and gently sing along." Are you ready? ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ This time the ostinato is sung twice, and then the "Alabama Gal" song starts.

Follow the music below as you listen.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Do, mi ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Do, mi ♪ ♪ Alabama gal ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ Here's another performance of "Alabama Gal" with the ostinato, but something is wrong.

What is wrong with this performance? Have a listen first, and then we'll look at the answers.

♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Do, mi ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Do, mi ♪ ♪ Alabama gal ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ What's wrong with that? Is it A, "Alabama Gal" and the ostinato didn't start on the same pitch? B, nothing's wrong, it's perfect? Or C, "Alabama Gal" was too fast and didn't follow the steady beat.

Pause here to answer, or wind back and listen again.

Great listening skills, of course it was C, "Alabama Gal" was being sung too fast.

Jacob and Alex have got some ideas to fix the problem.

Who do you think is right? Jacob says, "The group should tap the beat in their feet.

This will help the song and the ostinato stay in time with the beat." Alex says, Sing louder.

Then the ostinato group will stay in time." Pause here to discuss who you think is right If you said Jacob, you're absolutely right, nice work.

Tapping the beat will help the whole group stay in time.

Here is today's task.

It's in four parts.

Part one, sing "Alabama Gal" as a class.

Nice and simple.

Here's a recording, you can sing along with this together where you are.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry, come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry, Alabama gal ♪ Great job, everyone.

Part two of your task is to sing the melodic ostinato twice, pointing to the pitches on your finger stave as you sing.

Try singing along with your finger stave and this recording.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ Nicely done.

We're halfway done already.

Part three of your task is to split the class in half.

Half should sing the melody ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ And the other half should sing the ostinato.

♪ Do, mi, so, mi ♪ It's usually better that the group singing the ostinato sing the ostinato twice, and then add the group who is singing the melody.

Here's a recording, try and join in with it where you are.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ So ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ Do, mi ♪ ♪ Come through 'na hurry ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ ♪ Come through, hurry ♪ ♪ Do, mi ♪ ♪ Alabama gal ♪ ♪ So, mi ♪ Oh, I bet that sounded really good.

Finally, swap groups, so that everyone has tried singing both parts.

And then if you can, record your best performance as a group.

Here are some tips.

Sophia says, "Are you singing the song? Listen really carefully, because 'Alabama Gal' and the ostinato should start on the same pitch.

Lucas says, "Both parts should keep in time with the steady beat." Pause here and make your best recording, and then we'll feed back in a moment.

How did you get on? I'm sure it sounded really good.

Have a listen back to your recording.

It can be strange to hear ourselves singing, but it's a really useful thing to do so we can review and improve on our music making.

Here are some questions for you.

Alex asks, "Did you perform 'Alabama Gal' and the melodic ostinato correctly? Did you stay in time with the beat? Laura asks, "Did you sing gently so your voices blended together? Children's voices blended together sounds wonderful," and I completely agree.

If you have time, go back and make another recording, focusing on the quality of your singing.

Sing really gently and as beautifully as you can, and see if that makes a difference to the quality of the performance.

Before we finish, let's do a little summary of everything we've covered.

A melodic ostinato is a short repeating melody that usually accompanies a song or a piece of music.

Bar lines show where strong beats are and keep the music organized.

We can use a finger stave to read and sing a melodic ostinato.

And the beat pattern in three-time feels strong, weak, weak, strong, weak, weak.

Great to sing with you today, everyone.

See you in our next lesson.