Lesson video

Hi there, everybody.

Welcome to today's lesson called "Vocal Improvisation Using Do, Mi, and So.

" This is from our "Singing Together" unit, "How Songs Unite Us.

" My name's Mr. Croughan, and in this lesson, we are going to be combining do, mi, and so in different ways to create harmony and being able to improvise around those in our class.

Are we ready then?

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to say, "I can follow a conductor singing improvised phrases using do, mi, and so in harmony.

" Let's begin by looking at our keywords for today.

They are "note.

" Note is a single sound in music.

A conductor: a person who directs the performance of an ensemble.

Harmony: this is the combination of two or more notes played or sung together, creating a pleasing sound.

And then to improvise: this is to create music in the moment, using our voice or instruments alone or with others.

We know just how important it is to get ourselves focused, warmed up.

Our voices warm and safe, so we sing safely, make a wonderful sound, and are tuned in to work together.

So I'd like you to now follow these warmups.

Here they come.

<v ->Before we sing, we are going to warm up our whole body,</v> particularly our neck and our shoulders.

First of all, we're going to move our neck gently, round and round like a figure of eight on its side.

Imagine you have got a pencil on the end of your nose and you're trying to draw a figure of eight on its side.

Now gently bend your neck to one side, maybe feel the stretch along here, and gently bend it the other way.

Now we're gonna do some shoulder rolls.

Roll your shoulders forward and up, and back and round.

Let's do that a couple of times.

Can you do it the other way?

Go up and forward and down and back.

Let's do that a couple of times.

Now let's take one arm over our head to the side and stretch.

And let's do it the other way.

Finally, let's scrunch our shoulders up to our ears and let go.

And scrunch and let go.

And scrunch and let go.

Last time.

Scrunch and let go.

Now let's warm up our face.

Imagine you are chewing some bubblegum.

What flavor is your bubblegum?

Mine is cherry.

I'm going to unwrap my bubblegum, pop it in my mouth, and have a good chew.

Why don't you join in?

Let's do some big chews.

And some little chews.

Oh!

My bubblegum's got stuck behind my teeth.

I need to use my tongue to get it out.

That's enough chewing now.

I'm going to take it out and put it behind my ear for another day.

Join in with this breathing warmup.

We're going to draw a square in the air with our finger as we do it.

First, we're going to breathe in for four beats, hold our breath for four beats, breathe out for four beats, and hold our breath for four beats.

Are you ready?

Well done.

Listen to this tongue twister.

If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?

Now you join in.

If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?

<v ->Great, really well done.

</v> Now building on our ensemble delivery, you're going to focus on keeping the steady pulse altogether as you chant "Many Voices, All Aligned.

" Keep your voices at the same volume, using the same dynamic.

How well can you blend your sound?

When you've done that, continue your warmup with "My Dog, He Can Do the Can-Can.

" Maybe you might vary your dynamics there, I wonder.

And then with "Double This, Double That.

" Again, there's a video and a backing track to help you.

This is all about keeping in time and blending our sound.

Pause here, work through those, and I'll see you when you're done.

Right then.

Marvelous people.

Hopefully, your mind is alert, you're feeling focused, you're ready to crack on.

Your voice has been warmed up safely, so we're gonna do some safe and gentle singing as we continue our lesson.

There are two learning cycles in today's lesson.

The first is developing our choral sound, which we've already started to do, and we're building on this further.

And then the second one is conducting a harmony, which is gonna be super exciting.

So let's begin by developing our choral sound.

Both "Double This, Double That" and "Sorida" only use do, mi, and so.

Those three notes are in their melody.

There's no other notes to use.

So if we think of our high notes, the so, which is up here, so for double, and then in that game, ri the middle one, and then on our knees da for the do, that low note.

Great, I would like to set you a challenge, please, to get your brains working harder and your teamwork skills up too.

On the screen is a five-line stave, shown with a hand there, and it's showing the pitches for: ♪ Double, double, this, this ♪ ♪ Double, double, that, that.

♪ All right, that's all it has.

Underneath it are the lyrics or some lyrics from the broken-up word of "Sorida.

" I would like you to put the Sorida words to the same tune following the pitch changes as you go.

Pause here and do that now.

Good job.

Now quick check-in for you.

On the board is A: double, B: this, C: that.

So they are the three words taken from: ♪ Double, double, this, this, double, double, that, that ♪ Next to them is ri, da, and so.

So those lyrics that you put to that same tune.

Your job is to probably think those tunes in your head and match up which words were sung at the same pitch, okay?

So it does "double.

" Is that sung at the same pitch as ri or da, or so?

Do that for A, B, and C.

And let's see if you're right when we're done.

Off you go.

Great work.

You're either singing those aloud, or you are internalizing that pitch and working out which matched which.

So A, "double," was sung at the same pitch as so.

"This" is ri and "that" matched da.

There we are.

Sometimes we might feel a bit nervous when we know we're gonna be singing together.

That's perfectly okay and very normal.

However, it's also really useful to know that singing can boost our confidence.

This is true.

Our singing posture naturally makes us stand a bit taller.

Singing releases those happy hormones that can make us feel great.

It helps us feel connected to the other people that we're singing to, which is really powerful, and it gives us a sense of pride and achievement.

So all of these come together, and eventually we start to feel less nervous and really good about how we're singing together.

It also gives us an opportunity to be free and to express ourselves.

No two singers that I imagine you listen to sound the same.

We can connect with the emotion of the song.

Maybe there's a powerful story or a message in that song, and we can connect to it and deliver that to our audience.

Singing can give us a safe space to connect to our own emotions.

However we are feeling, it can come out through our singing if we'd like.

And we can experiment with ideas 'cause all ideas are valid.

We can try things in different ways.

And it helps us share our creative ideas.

The idea of being creative ourselves, expressing ourselves, can absolutely be done through singing.

When we sing "Nanuma," let's try and express ourselves through the dynamic shaping.

That's how loud and quiet we're getting, and the gentle tone.

It's not a loud song.

And so that's gonna give a bit of a mood to the song.

Lucas suggests that also singing in a round.

That can boost our confidence too 'cause we need to hold our part; it's just when we do it, we're gonna let that mood of the song come out by singing gently and using that varying our dynamics.

The quiet, a bit louder, a bit louder, and back to quiet.

So I would like you to divide into groups.

I'd like you to sing "Nanuma" as a round.

You might have done this in two parts.

You can stick to doing it in two parts.

You can be adventurous and do it into four.

There is a track for both.

It's going to create a beautiful harmony.

Now, before you start, just make sure you've got a comfortable singing posture and that you're feeling that expression.

It can be a really beautiful song if we put that gentle expression into it.

Pause and work on that where you are.

Brilliant, really well done.

So what we're going to do now is pull all those skills together that we've been developing and building on, and we're gonna sing "Let Us Sing Together" in a round.

So, as before, to do this successfully, good singing posture, it's gonna help us concentrate, focus, give us space to breathe, but also give us that extra bit of confidence.

We're gonna think about the character of the song's quite different than "Nanuma.

" Maybe it's more joyous.

We're talking about singing together.

And then we're balancing our sound.

So in those two parts as we sing, we want to make sure as we're singing in a round that both sounds balance, all right?

The way it works in your two groups: "Let us sing together, let us sing together, one and all, a joyous song, let us sing together, one and all a joyous song," is part one.

At that point, the second group start singing from the beginning.

So, as part one is singing, "Let us sing" again and again, part two is singing, "Let us sing together.

" The track is there to guide you.

You can listen to it first to fully understand and joining in, then in your two groups.

Have a great time, and I'll see you when you're done.

Really well done.

Another way that you are now singing in harmony successfully, and you are checking things like making sure those sounds are balanced.

This is a really good opportunity to record and listen back.

Then you can hear just how successful you've been and where your improvements might lie as we continue.

When you do listen back, check in, can you hear those parts of the sound of the round equally?

Both parts?

Is it blended, or are all those voices blended so we hear that lovely tone?

Does your choir, that's all you, sound confident?

And can you hear expression in the singing, is the joy of those lyrics coming through in the way that you're singing?

Pause here, have a record and listen back, and see just how marvelous you are.

See you in a bit.

Time for the second half of our lesson: conducting a harmony.

Jacob Collier is an English songwriter, singer, and educator.

And if you can see on your screen, wearer of marvelous trousers.

He is also famous for improvised audience choirs where he conducts from the stage, and he gets the audience to sing in harmony.

It's really spectacular.

I would like you to pause here and listen to or watch a clip.

Off you go.

It's pretty amazing, isn't it?

What I want to know is, like, from an audience member who is singing, how do you feel when you are singing in harmony in that massive audience?

Must feel amazing.

Right, we are gonna take some inspiration from Jacob Collier and his improvised audience choir, and we're gonna create our own.

To do this, we will need three notes.

We are going to use: ♪ So, mi, do ♪ And that is because they are the notes we use for: ♪ So, ri, da ♪ All right?

The way it's going to work is you're going to choose a conductor.

Not right now; in a moment.

They will create the first sign, which is: ♪ So ♪ ♪ Of Sorida ♪ ♪ So that's so ♪ It's an A.

Your job is to hold it as a long vowel sound like this: ♪ So ♪ And you keep that sound going.

We're not trying to be loud, we're trying to blend the sound with everyone else who's singing in our class.

When you need to breathe, just breathe.

You feel you run out of air, or just before you do, gentle breath in: ♪ Ah ♪ Come back in.

Because everyone's breathing at different times, there will be this one continuous sound.

Just remember, you are blending your sound altogether, making a smooth sound.

Pause here, choose your conductor to sign.

And off you go.

Fab.

Great, well done.

Now you can do the same with the next note.

This is: ♪ Mi, which is an F# ♪ ♪ Mi ♪ So the conductor.

Same conductor or different, doesn't matter.

Don't choose right now.

Your job is to keep that gentle, continuous sound: ♪ Mi ♪ But if we keep a vertical, not horizontal, vertical's that way, so our mouth is.

We might want to go: ♪ Ee ♪ Like a smile, but the sound isn't as nice.

If you make a more of a vertical: ♪ Ee ♪ Just kind of sounds a bit richer and a bit more choiry and choral, which is the kind of sound we're gonna go for.

You can move your mouth around a bit to get that shape: ♪ Mi ♪ But ultimately, what you're trying to do is create a sound that kind of sounds rich.

It's not loud; it's just fuller.

Okay, so pause here, make sure you've got your conductor at the ready for that mi.

And off you go.

Well done.

And I'm sure you can guess what's going to come next.

You're going to do the same with: ♪ Do ♪ So you choose your conductor.

They're going to make the do sign, which you're gonna follow, which happens to be a D.

I would like to keep that gentle, continuous sound again.

Now, easily, this could become the loudest of the three vowels.

A do!

It might come out a bit more strongly.

Your job is to balance it.

We're not trying to make it loud.

We want the same dynamic as the others.

♪ As the so, mi, do ♪ ♪ Okey-dokey ♪ Pause here and create a wonderful sound following your conductor.

Off you go.

Amazing!

Now you know all three notes.

You can follow your conductor as they gently improvise using those hand signals to move between the three notes.

So choose a conductor, not right now, just in a moment that's going to work through the: ♪ So, mi, do ♪ And you change when they change.

They may choose a different order.

I wonder if you can follow.

Pause here, check in with your conductor.

Off you go.

Brilliant!

So what you are doing is you are following your conductor.

That is excellent.

The next bit's exactly the same.

The only difference is you're going to be in two groups, each group will get its own conductor.

We won't do that just yet.

I'm just going to explain that those conductors are choosing different notes from our: ♪ So, mi, do ♪ And when you hear the two groups singing together, we're going to get harmony.

I'd like to listen to these different harmonies.

These are possible combinations that we might hear.

So we have: ♪ Do and mi ♪ Have a listen to these two together.

♪ Ah, ah ♪ ♪ Ah.

♪ <v ->Here is:</v> ♪ Mi and so.

♪ ♪ Ah, ah ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ <v ->That's them combined.

</v> And thirdly: ♪ A do and so ♪ ♪ Ah, ah ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ And that's what they sound like together.

So do and mi create a harmony that we call a major 3rd.

And it can sound bright, and it can sound joyful.

And this is just made of: ♪ Do and mi ♪ And so what you're going to do is in two groups, one group is gonna sing just an open "ah" sound to our "do.

" ♪ Ah ♪ Keep that going.

The other group are gonna sing an "ah" to that "mi" sound.

♪ Ah ♪ ♪ This group, that one, this group, that one ♪ ♪ You're both gonna sound amazing together ♪ And then harmony shall occur, and I would like you to listen to the quality.

What does that major 3rd sound like?

And then you swap over, so you've both done both notes.

Pause here, do that where you are.

Brilliant!

Now we're gonna create a slightly different feel with two notes.

♪ We are going to use mi and so ♪ And these two together create a harmony, which we call a minor 3rd.

And that can sound tender, warm, more reflective.

♪ Mi, so ♪ So one group will sing the: ♪ "Ah" on the "mi," and the other group will sing ♪ ♪ "Ah" on the "so" ♪ Singing softly, we're not singing loudly anyway, but perhaps we're gonna bring up that tenderness of this minor 3rd together.

And listen carefully to the quality of the sound that you make.

See what feelings you get from it.

And then swap, so you've both done both notes.

Off you go.

Brilliant!

Did it feel a bit different?

Was the feeling behind the sound you're creating sound a bit different with that minor 3rd versus the major one?

So, third one.

Do and so create a harmony, which we call a perfect 5th.

And it can sound open, and it can sound round.

So we have our: ♪ "Do," and then we have our "so" ♪ And these two together is the sound you're going to create your harmony from next.

So one group sing an open: ♪ "Ah" to our "do" sound ♪ ♪ And then the other group singing "ah" to our "so" sound ♪ And listen carefully to the qualities of that perfect 5th, see how again it sounds a bit different.

Okay, pause here.

Do that where you are, remembering to swap, so you both do both notes.

Fantastic.

So we've explored what those different harmonies can sound like.

Your final task of this lesson is in two groups, a conductor for each group, making sure everyone can clearly see that conductor, and each conductor will improvise signing: ♪ Do, mi, or so ♪ For you to sing.

Top tip: don't change quickly.

Let that sound become established before you want to change hand signal.

Top tip for conductors.

You could use the words of: ♪ So, ri, da ♪ Or you could just have an open "ah" sound.

Up to you.

Think the open "ah" is nice and clean.

Each conductor can change their notes whenever they feel like it.

Just make sure it's thoughtful and gentle.

We're not trying to catch people out, we're trying to create beautiful harmony.

So, or rather "do," because here are our starting notes.

We have the: ♪ Do ♪ ♪ Then we have mi ♪ ♪ Then we have so ♪ All right?

They're the notes we're using.

Lock them in.

♪ Do ♪ Make sure you're in your groups, watching your conductor.

You're going to pause and experiment with that and really enjoy letting those harmonies be created.

Occasionally, you might be on the same note, and when you are not, it's going to sound really good.

Pause here.

Enjoy exploring and improvising with your new improvised choirs.

Off you go.

That is great.

Really well done.

What I'd like you to do is record that and then listen back to it.

And then you could always compare it to that Jacob Collier clip you listened to before.

And just realize what inspiration you took and how well you did by creating those beautiful harmonies.

When you listen to it back, check: did you sound confident?

Was there a nice blended choral sound?

Do you feel that you were able to express yourself in any way?

Did it feel uplifting, joyful, calm when you were singing those notes?

When you heard those harmonies, did anything in the way you sang change?

No wrong answer there.

And what harmonies did you particularly enjoy?

All right.

Pause, record, and listen back.

Check through those.

Off you go.

Really well done.

Great harmonizing and improvising.

Super duper.

There is just time to recap on our learning, and we will be done for today.

So first of all, do can be movable.

♪ Do in this time was a D ♪ ♪ But sometimes a do could be down there ♪ It's movable.

We can put Do on any note, and all the other notes happen in relation to it.

Singing can sometimes make us nervous, but it's also brilliant for boosting our confidence, and it gives us an opportunity to express ourselves and to be creative.

And if we think, there's different combinations of notes can create different kinds of harmony.

So singing in thirds sounds different than singing in fifths, as we might have heard and explored before.

And each of those with them, there can be a different feeling that comes out of the way those notes sound together, too.

Fantastic exploring today, and I will look forward to seeing you next time.

Bye for now.