Lesson video

Hi, everyone, a very warm welcome to this lesson: Rhythmic ostinato and practicing rounds.

My name's Mr. Andrews, and I'm going to be taking 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 a rhythmic ostinato and practice singing a round, holding your part really confidently.

Here are four of today's keywords that we'll use throughout the lesson.

Harmony, that's the combination of two or more notes played or in this case sung together.

A round, which is a song structure where multiple groups sing the same melody but start at different times.

Rhythmic ostinato, that's a repeating musical idea created from a rhythmic pattern.

And solfege, which is a system of naming pitches so we can recognize them just by listening.

Before we start, it's important we warm up so we're ready to move, sing, and play together.

Here are two warm-ups for today.

The first is "London Bridge." Have a look at how it works.

In this warm-up, if my hand is open, we sing "London Bridge" out loud.

If my hand closes, carry on singing, but not out loud, inside your head.

It works like this.

♪ London bridge is falling down ♪ ♪ London Bridge is falling down ♪ ♪ Lady ♪ Your turn.

If my hand is open, sing out loud.

If it's closed, sing in your head.

♪ Ready, steady, off you go ♪ ♪ London Bridge is falling down ♪ ♪ Falling down, falling down ♪ ♪ My fair lady ♪ Let's try one more, starting closed this time.

Start in your head.

You ready? ♪ Ready, steady, in your head ♪ ♪ Falling down, falling down ♪ ♪ My fair lady ♪ If there's time, someone in your group might even come to the front and help lead that warm-up themselves.

Here's our second warm-up today, it's called "Salibonani." ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (students clap) ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (students clap) ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ (students clap) ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ (students clap) <v ->To learn that warm-up, I'll sing the song,</v> and can you clap your hands at the end of every phrase? Are you ready? ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (Mr. Andrews claps) ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (Mr. Andrews claps) ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ (Mr. Andrews claps) ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ (Mr. Andrews claps) This time when you sing the song, walk the beat in a space and instead of clapping your own hands at the end of each phrase, you clap with a partner.

Try not to clap with the same partner more than once.

Watch again how the warm-up works, and then try playing a few rounds where you are.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (students clap) ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ ♪ Salibonani, salibonani ♪ (students clap) ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ (students clap) ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ ♪ Sali, sali, salibonani ♪ (students clap) <v ->Hopefully, once you've warmed up, you're feeling relaxed.

</v> Your throat feels warm, and your mind is alert, ready to start our learning today.

In our first learning cycle today, we'll be writing and performing a rhythmic ostinato.

Let's start by reading this rhythm you can see on the screen.

It's four beats long and you'll need ta and ta-di to read it.

I'll count you in and click the beat.

♪ Ready, steady, off you read ♪ (rhythmic clicking) Let's click.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ Ta-di ta, ta-di ta.

(fingers clicking) Good reading.

Next, tap the pattern on your hand with two fingers.

Andeep says, "Say the rhythm names in your head as you tap," and that will help you stay in time.

Ready? ♪ Ready steady off we tap ♪ (Mr. Andrews tapping) Oh, one more time.

Check it's absolutely in time together, ready? Off we tap.

(Mr. Andrews tapping) Great job.

If we repeat this rhythm over and over, it becomes what we call a rhythmic ostinato.

And as Sofia says, "A rhythmic ostinato can be used to accompany a song." "We Will Rock You" by Queen, is one of the most famous examples of a rhythmic ostinato.

Have a listen to a recording of this song and see if you can hear the ta-di ta, ta-di ta repeating over and over.

Oh, I love that song.

Let's check: What is a rhythmic ostinato? Is it A, a repeating musical idea created from a rhythmic pattern? B, a way of writing rhythms down, or C, a repeating musical pattern that uses notes of differing pitch? Pause here to discuss your answer.

If you said A, you are spot on, well done.

A rhythmic ostinato is a repeating musical idea created from a rhythmic pattern.

Let's move on to writing your own rhythms now.

You'll need eight pens and pencils, and with those you can create your own rhythmic ostinato using ta and ta-di.

You can see just on the screen here, I've written ta-di ta, ta-di ta using pencils.

Izzy says, "You could try building this rhythm with your own pens and pencils," so feel free to pause the video here, and build the rhythm that you can see on the screen.

Here's a little challenge for you.

You're about to hear a rhythm that uses ta and ta-di.

Which pattern on the screen shows it correctly? A, B, or C? Once you've worked it out, build your answer with your pens or pencils.

Here it comes.

You can pause after you've heard it to build the rhythm.

(rhythmic beat) If you said B, ta-di, ta-di, ta, ta, you're absolutely right, nice work.

Here comes another one.

Have a listen to this rhythm.

Which pattern below shows what you hear? A, B, or C? Remember again to build your answer using pens and pencils.

Here it comes.

(rhythmic beat) If you said, C, ta, ta-di ta-di, ta, ta you're spot on, good job.

For today's task, start by building your own rhythm, using ta and ta-di.

It needs to be four beats long and you can use your pens and pencils.

Once you're happy with the rhythm that you've built, practice tapping it over and over, and by repeating it, it becomes a rhythmic ostinato.

Here's an example.

<v Student>Ready, steady off I go.

</v> ♪ Ta, ta-di ta-di ta ♪ ♪ Ta, ta-di ta-di ta ♪ ♪ Ta, ta-di ta-di ta ♪ ♪ Ta, ta-di ta-di ta ♪ <v ->A top tip from Jacob:</v> "Tapping gently with two fingers instead of clapping is easier to control." That keeps things neater and more musical.

"And it's quiet enough that other people can practice in the same room." Once you're happy with your rhythm, try singing the song: ♪ Ding dong digga digga dong ♪ At the same time as tapping your rhythmic ostinato.

Here's an example.

♪ Ready steady off I go ♪ ♪ Ding dong digga digga dong ♪ (student clapping) ♪ Digga digga dong the cat she's gone ♪ ♪ Ding dong digga digga dong ♪ ♪ Digga digga ding dang dong ♪ <v ->This is quite an advanced musical skill,</v> but with some practice you will definitely be able to do it.

Sofia has a tip for us.

"Start tapping your ostinato first, then begin singing.

Starting both together can be difficult." In other words, tap your ostinato a few times on repeat until it's totally confident, then add the song.

Laura suggests exploring different patterns using ta and ta-di, because some are easier than others, and that is right.

Remember, if the rhythm you've written is too difficult, you're in charge of what rhythm you write.

Pause the video here to try this task.

How did it go? This is quite advanced work, so good for you for trying it.

Sometimes a common mistake is that people tap the rhythm of the song words, instead of their rhythmic ostinato.

It's so tempting to just tap with the song.

♪ Ding dong digga dong ♪ So let's check this together by tapping the ostinato you can see on the screen.

It goes ta, ta-di ta-di ta.

Let's try it together with the video.

Are you ready? ♪ Ready, steady, off I go ♪ ♪ Ding dong digga digga dong ♪ (student clapping) ♪ Digga digga dong the cat she's gone ♪ ♪ Ding dong digga digga dong ♪ ♪ Digga digga ding dang dong ♪ <v ->Nice work, you're going to be</v> some really good musicians, I can tell.

For our final learning cycle today, we'll be singing a round in two or three parts together.

We know that the "Bubblegum" song works as a round.

In rhythm names, that's the one that goes.

♪ Taka-di taka-di ta-di ta ♪ And those two parts create harmony when sung together.

But Alex is asking, "Can any rounds be sung with more than two parts?" Well, yes, and here's an example.

This is an Indian song called "Vaisakhi," and it can be sung as a three-part round.

It's been written by the lady you see on screen here.

She's a singer and conductor called Shivani Rattan.

It describes a Sikh harvest celebration.

Have a listen and see if you can hear the three voices in the round starting at different times.

(gentle music) (vocalist singing in foreign language) (vocalists singing in foreign language) (vocalists continue singing in foreign language) <v ->Wind back to listen again if you want to,</v> but you can hear those three voices starting at different times.

Lucas asks, "Do we know any songs that work as a three-part round?" Well, yes, we do.

Have a listen.

Can you work out what song is being sung here? ♪ Do, do, do, do, do, do ♪ ♪ Do, do, do, do, do, do ♪ ♪ Do, do, do, do, do, do ♪ ♪ Do, do, do, do, do, do ♪ ♪ Double double this this ♪ Did you spot it? It is "Double Double." Before we try this as a round today, try singing it in solfege with a partner using pitch actions.

The.

♪ So ♪ on your shoulders.

♪ Mi ♪ <v ->High 10 with a partner.

</v> And.

♪ Do ♪ on your lap.

This is what it should look like.

♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, do, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, do, do ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, do ♪ ♪ So, so, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ <v ->You can pause here for just a moment</v> to make sure you've got those actions very secure To sing "Double Double" as a round, you'll need two pairs standing as you see in this photo.

Watch how the round works.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, do, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, do, do ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ <v ->Oh, it sounds so great as a round, doesn't it?</v> When did the second pair start singing? Watch again.

♪ Ready steady, of we go.

♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, do, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, do, do ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, do ♪ ♪ So, so, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ <v ->Did you spot it?</v> When did the second pair start singing in the "Double Double" round? Was it A, after the first pair sings? ♪ So, so, so, so ♪ B, after the first pair sings.

♪ So, so ♪ Or C, after the first pair sings.

♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ You can wind back to watch again if you need, then pause here to work out your answer.

If you said after.

♪ So, so, so, so ♪ You are spot on, well done.

For your last task today, it's to perform "Double Double" as a round in solfege.

You've just seen the video of it being sung in two parts.

If you can manage that, you could even try an extra challenge and sing it in three parts.

For that, you'll need three pairs or six people, and watch this video very carefully of exactly how it fits together.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, do, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, do, do ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, do ♪ ♪ So, so, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ ♪ So, so, so, so, mi, do ♪ <v ->Singing in three parts can be tricky,</v> so here are some tips.

Sofia says: "If everyone can sing the song confidently with one partner in unison, the round will be much more successful." So make sure you can sing the song with the actions with one person before you try it with more people as a round.

Sam says, "Don't go too fast! The first pair should sing.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ To help stay in time with the steady beat ♪ Lucas says, "Sing gently so everyone can hear their part." It can be tempting to try and sing louder to ignore the people around you singing other parts, but if everyone sings more gently, then everyone can hear what they're doing.

Pause the video here.

Have a go, and best of luck.

How did it go? That song sounds so good as a round, doesn't it? If you've got time, you could try filming your performance and watching it back.

That's often a really helpful tool for improving your work.

And here are some questions you could ask yourself.

Jacob says, "Are you singing gently so everyone can hear their part?" Izzy asks, "Did the round stay in time?" And Lucas asks, "Did you sing the solfege correctly?" Try filming your performance and watching back to answer those questions.

Before we finish today, let's summarize everything we've learned.

A rhythmic ostinato is a repeating musical idea created from a rhythmic pattern.

We can create and perform our own rhythmic ostinato using ta-di and ta while singing a song.

A round is a song structure where multiple groups sing the same melody, but start at different times.

And rounds can be sung in two or more parts, a bit like the song you just sung.

Well done today, everyone.

Looking forward to seeing you in our next lesson.