Lesson video

Hello, everyone, it's me again, Mrs. Steele, and I'm so excited to be back with another music lesson for us today.

In today's lesson, we're going to be putting together everything we've been learning throughout this unit and layering accompaniments under major and minor tonality folk songs.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to build texture as part of an ensemble, accompanying songs with a drone and with a melodic ostinato.

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

Drone, a constant, pitched sound that continues throughout a piece of music.

Melodic ostinato, a repeating musical pattern that uses notes of differing pitch.

Rehearsal, a practice session in which a performance is prepared.

Ensemble, a group of people who perform together.

And finally, tonality the organization of notes around a central note, the tonic, which helps to shape music's sound and character.

But we know how this lesson is going to begin because we know how important it is to warm up our voices, our minds, and our bodies to develop our music skills and to make sure that we can make music together safely.

Join in with these warmups.

(upbeat piano music) ♪ Ready, chickens ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four ♪ ♪ One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two ♪ ♪ One, one, one, one, warm up chicken ♪ (upbeat piano music) ♪ Ready, chickens ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four ♪ ♪ One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two ♪ ♪ One, one, one, one, warm up chicken ♪ (children clucking) <v ->Let's warm up all the muscles of our faces.

</v> Show me your happy face.

Show me your grumpy face.

Show me your big face.

Show me your small face.

Show me your silly face.

Show me your thinking face.

<v ->Ready?</v> (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music continues) Follow me.

(singers vocalizing) (singers vocalizing) <v ->The great Greek grape growers grow great Greek grapes.

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

The first song is "Banaha," and we're going to sing this in three parts, so press pause now to divide into your three parts.

Are you ready? Here comes the music.

Sing in three parts.

(singer vocalizing) (singers vocalizing) (singers vocalizing) (singers continue vocalizing) Next, let's perform the partner songs "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" and "Oh, When the Saints." This is going to need to be in two parts, so press pause now to divide into two.

Ready? Here comes the music for your partner songs.

(upbeat piano music) ♪ Oh, when the saints go marching in ♪ ♪ Oh, when the saints go marching in ♪ ♪ I want to be in that number ♪ ♪ Oh, when the saints go marching in ♪ ♪ Oh, when the saints ♪ ♪ She'll be coming round ♪ ♪ The mountain when she comes ♪ ♪ Go marching in ♪ ♪ Oh, when the saints ♪ ♪ She'll be coming round ♪ ♪ The mountain when she comes ♪ ♪ Go marching in ♪ ♪ I'd like to be ♪ ♪ She'll be coming round ♪ ♪ In that number ♪ ♪ The mountain ♪ ♪ She'll be coming round ♪ ♪ In that number ♪ ♪ The mountain ♪ ♪ Oh, when the saints ♪ ♪ She'll be coming round ♪ ♪ The mountain when she comes ♪ ♪ Oh, when the saints ♪ ♪ Singing aye, aye ♪ ♪ Go marching in ♪ ♪ Yippy, yippy, aye ♪ ♪ Oh, when the saints ♪ ♪ Singing aye, aye ♪ ♪ Go marching in ♪ ♪ Yippy, yippy, aye ♪ ♪ I'd like to be ♪ ♪ Singing aye, aye ♪ ♪ In that number ♪ ♪ Aye, aye, yippy ♪ ♪ Oh, when the saints ♪ ♪ Singing aye, aye ♪ ♪ Go marching in ♪ ♪ Yippy, yippy, aye ♪ (upbeat piano music) <v ->And finally, let's sing in unison</v> for "When the Train Comes Along." Here's the music.

(gentle piano music) ♪ When the train comes along ♪ ♪ When the train comes along ♪ ♪ I'm gonna meet you at the station ♪ ♪ When the train comes along ♪ ♪ If my mother asks for me ♪ ♪ if my mother ask for me ♪ ♪ Tell her I'll meet the station ♪ ♪ If my mother asks for me ♪ (gentle piano music) <v ->Does your body feel relaxed? Does your throat feel warm?</v> And is your mind alert and ready to focus? Great, let's make music together.

We're going to begin by rehearsing a major tonality piece.

Let's start by singing our partner songs.

"Why Shouldn't My Goose and "Do You Know the Muffin Man." Remember to keep a steady pulse as you sing so that we can all sing in time together.

Sing it through twice so that everybody has an opportunity to sing both parts.

Here comes the music.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Why shouldn't my goose ♪ ♪ Sing as well as your goose ♪ ♪ When I paid for my goose ♪ ♪ Twice as much as yours ♪ ♪ Why shouldn't my goose ♪ ♪ Do you know the muffin man ♪ ♪ Sing as well ♪ ♪ The muffin man ♪ ♪ As your goose ♪ ♪ The muffin man ♪ ♪ When I paid for my goose ♪ ♪ Do you know the muffin man ♪ ♪ Twice as much as yours ♪ ♪ Who lives on Drury Lane ♪ ♪ Why shouldn't my goose ♪ ♪ Yes, I know the muffin man ♪ ♪ Sing as well ♪ ♪ The muffin man ♪ ♪ As your goose ♪ ♪ The muffin man ♪ ♪ When I paid for my goose ♪ ♪ Yes, I know the muffin man ♪ ♪ Twice as much as yours ♪ ♪ Who lives on Drury Lane ♪ <v ->Now, we're going to accompany</v> the major tonality folk song "Why Shouldn't My Goose" with both a drone and a melodic ostinato? To do this, we're going to rehearse in small ensemble groups, and this will create a song with three layers.

We'll have the melody, we're going to sing that, the drone, and the melodic ostinato.

Listen to what that's going to sound like.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Why shouldn't my goose ♪ ♪ Sing as well as your goose ♪ ♪ When I paid for my goose ♪ ♪ Twice as much as yours ♪ ♪ Why shouldn't my goose ♪ ♪ Sing as well as your goose ♪ ♪ When I paid for my goose ♪ ♪ Twice as much as yours ♪ (gentle music continues) <v ->Before we start our practicing,</v> let's remind ourselves of how each of those layers is going to sound.

Remind yourself how to play the drone first.

you play do and so at the same time on the first word of every line, and this creates the drone.

Have a listen.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Why shouldn't my goose ♪ ♪ Sing as well as your goose ♪ ♪ When I paid for my goose ♪ ♪ Twice as much as yours ♪ ♪ Why shouldn't my goose ♪ ♪ Sing as well as your goose ♪ ♪ When I paid for my goose ♪ ♪ Twice as much as yours ♪ <v ->Now, let's remind ourselves</v> how to play the melodic ostinato.

This melodic ostinato is a do, so, mi, so pattern on the steady beat.

♪ Do, so, mi, so ♪ ♪ Do, so, mi, so ♪ <v ->The drone and the melodic ostinato fit together like this.

</v> Watch this video to see.

(gentle music) Before you start your rehearsal, here are my top tips for rehearsing as an ensemble.

Top tip number one, check your learning environment.

Find a space that's quiet and free from distraction.

This is really important.

Make sure you're sitting in a position where everyone can see.

This could be a circle or a semicircle, or perhaps you'll all be facing your leader.

Let's learn more about that in tip two.

Here's top tip number two: decide on a leader to be your conductor.

This leader will need to practice bringing the ensemble in, perhaps with a.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ <v ->Or maybe playing the melodic ostinato two times first.

</v> Check that everyone can see the conductor.

Top tip number three: make sure everyone in the ensemble knows how each part sounds and fits together.

Take turns playing the drone and the melodic ostinato, because to know your part really well, you need to know exactly how all of the parts fit together and not just concentrate on your part.

Here's top tip number four.

Listen to each other and offer feedback.

That's a really important part in working together in an ensemble.

Let each member of the ensemble sing and play in turn, then you could offer them some feedback on what's working well and how they might improve with further practice.

And finally, top tip number five is to practice away from your instrument.

We can rehearse together without instruments, as well as with them, and this helps us to ensure that we really understand our role without the complication of trying to play it with our instrument at the same time.

You could sing it, you could use hand signs, you can tap the beat, or you could use pitch actions.

All of these things help us to be really confident about what we are doing when we do have our instruments in front of us.

But before we start our rehearsal with our ensemble, there's just time to squeeze in a quick check-in.

Which of these is not a helpful rehearsal strategy? A, find a quiet space with enough room for how you need to be organized, B, take time to listen to each other and offer feedback, or C, concentrate on practicing your own part and then perform straight away together? Which one of these do you think is not a helpful rehearsal strategy? Here comes the answer.

It's C.

Fantastic.

If you've got that right, you are ready to rehearse in your ensemble.

Well done.

Okay, let's remind ourselves of our musical challenge.

We're going to accompany the major tonality folk song "Why Shouldn't My Goose" with a drone and melodic ostinato accompaniment.

To do that, we're going to rehearse in ensembles, so you could divide into pairs or into larger groups.

Decide who's going to play the drone, and that person will sing at the same time, and who will play the melodic ostinato.

You could sing at the same time as that one too, if you can.

Using our rehearsal strategies, practice your three-layer piece in your ensembles.

You could use this time to prepare for a performance, but this isn't essential.

You could just rehearse it and perform it to each other in your ensemble, or as a whole class.

Let's remind ourselves of the rehearsal top tips before we start.

Here are the top tips for rehearsing in an ensemble.

If you want to go over any of these again or get ready for any of them, you could press pause now.

The moment is here, it's time to rehearse "Why Shouldn't My Goose" as a three-layer piece in your ensembles.

Good luck.

I wish I could hear it.

I'll see you again soon.

Hello again.

How did your rehearsing go? Let's take a moment to reflect on our rehearsal strategies.

How do you think your learning environment affected how you rehearse together? Were you able to concentrate or do you need to make any changes next time you rehearse? What did you find was the most useful rehearsal strategy for your ensemble? I wonder why this was.

And how did knowing every part of the piece help you when it came to putting them all together? You might want to pause now to share your effective strategies and think about this together, or you could just take a moment to think about it by yourself in your thinking voice.

Let's move on to rehearsing a minor tonality piece.

Let's start by singing "Rise Up O Flame" as a round.

You could sing it as a two-part round, or perhaps you are ready to challenge yourselves and sing it as a four-part round.

Here comes the music.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Rise up, o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up, o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ <v ->Great, we're experts at this now.

</v> We're going to do the same thing we did with "Why Shouldn't My Goose?" We are going to layer this minor tonality folk song, "Rise Up O Flame" with both a drone and a melodic ostinato.

You're going to rehearse it in your ensembles or you could choose new groups if you'd like to, and then using our rehearsal techniques we've already learned this lesson, you're going to practice it together.

Listen to how the drone and the melodic ostinato are layered in "Rise Up O Flame." Here's the music.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Rise up, o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up, o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ (gentle music continues) <v ->Great.

Let's remind ourselves how to play the drone.

</v> For the drone in this piece, you play la and me at the same time on the strong beat each time.

This creates a drone.

Remember, the beat in "Rise Up O Flame" is strong, weak, weak, strong, weak, weak.

We play the drone on that strong beat.

Listen to how it sounds.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Rise up, o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up, o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up, o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up, o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ <v ->Let's remind ourselves</v> of how to play the melodic ostinato now.

To do this, you play the.

♪ La, do, mi ♪ <v ->Pattern on the steady beat.

</v> And this creates the melodic ostinato.

Watch this video of the melodic ostinato being played.

(gentle music) Let's whiz through our rehearsing in an ensemble top tips.

The first one is to check your learning environment.

Check that your rehearsal space is free from distractions and that you're sitting in a position where you can see each other and your conductor.

Top tip number two is to decide on a leader to be your conductor.

You might want to choose a different person than last time or keep it the same if everyone's happy and it worked for you.

Double check that the conductor knows how they're going to bring everybody in and set the steady tempo and keep that steady pulse throughout the piece.

That's one of the conductor's most important jobs.

Top tip number three: make sure everyone in your ensemble knows how all the parts sound and fit together, so check that everybody's learned how to sing the melody, play the drone, and play the melodic ostinato.

We all need to understand how all the parts fit together in our piece.

Top tip number four is to listen to each other and offer feedback.

Check that you've listened to all members of your ensemble play and you've given and received some helpful feedback.

And top tip number five is to remember to practice away from your instrument for some of the time.

Try exploring these other ways of rehearsing.

You could sing the "Solfege," use hand signs, tap the beat, or perhaps there was something else that you did last time in your rehearsal that was really successful and you'd like to try it again.

Okay, the moment's nearly here.

Let's remind ourselves of what the task is, then you can get going.

We are going to accompany the minor tonality folk song "Rise Up O Flame" with a drone and a melodic ostinato accompaniment.

We're going to divide into pairs or larger groups to create our ensembles.

You could use the same ones as before.

You could change them up.

Decide who will play the drone and sing, and who will play the melodic ostinato.

Those people could sing at the same time if they want to and they're up for the challenge.

Pick a different role from the one that you did in task A.

Then use our rehearsal strategies to practice your three-layer piece.

You could use this time to prepare for a performance.

That isn't essential.

You could just perform to each other in your ensemble or as a whole class.

Finally, let's watch this video of the melodic ostinato and the drone being played together.

Watch and listen carefully to how they fit together.

(gentle music) Okay, the moment has come.

It's time to press pause and practice your three-layer piece in your ensembles.

Go.

Hi again.

I hope your rehearsing as an ensemble went well.

Let's take another moment to reflect on the following questions.

We're going to listen to this recording again, and these are the things I'd like you to consider.

How does your ensemble playing compare to the recording? If you had more time to practice on your own, what would you choose to practice and why? And if you had more time to practice together as an ensemble, what would you work on and which rehearsal strategies would you use and why? Here comes the recording.

Listen carefully, reflecting on your own performance then press pause to talk about the answers to these questions together.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Rise up, o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up, o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ (gentle music continues) <v ->Well done, everyone.

</v> We've reached the end of our music lesson together today.

Let's take a moment to think about everything we've been learning.

We know that rehearsing together helps us to prepare for a performance, and we can learn strategies to help us work together as an ensemble, just like you did today.

We know that we can add multiple layers of sound to build a more complex accompaniment for a song, and that's certainly what you did in "Why Shouldn't My Goose" and "Rise Up O Flame" today.

And we know that we need to consider the dynamic balance when we do this to make sure the accompaniment doesn't take over the main melody.

Fantastic playing and rehearsing as an ensemble today, everyone.

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

Bye.