Lesson video

Hello, everyone! My name is Mrs. Steele and I'm really excited to be guiding you through your music lesson today.

But before we start, there are some listening examples that we'll need today that don't feature in this video.

So if you haven't already done so, now's the time to press pause to find those listening examples now.

There's a Teacher Guidance slide at the beginning of the slide deck to help you know what you need to look for.

Press pause now to find those listening examples if you haven't already done so.

Great.

Now that you're ready, let's get started.

This lesson is called "Fusion and the evolution of musical styles." By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to identify the musical influences in fusion pieces of music and understand that musical styles are always evolving.

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

Fusion.

The process of blending different musical styles, genres, or traditions to create a new, distinct sound.

Bhangra.

A lively form of music and dance that originated in the Punjab region of South-east Asia.

Hip-hop.

A genre characterized by rhythmic and rhyming speech, or rapping, delivered over a strong, programmed beat, often incorporating sampled sounds.

And EDM, electronic dance music, which refers to musical styles originally created for dancing in nightclubs, raves, and festivals.

But let's start by warming up so that we're ready to make music together.

Before every music lesson, it's important to warm up our bodies, voices, and our minds.

Warming and stretching our vocal chords safely and gently helps us to prevent injury to our voice and it develops our vocal strength too.

Warming up is also a great opportunity to rehearse lots of other musical skills too, including singing and playing as part of an ensemble.

We're going to need lots of those skills today.

Let's start with some vocal exercises to help warm up our mouths and improve our articulation.

This one is one of my favorites.

It's called "1, 1, 2, 1." Listen and join in.

(energetic piano music) ♪ 1, 1, 2, 1 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 2, 1 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ♪ ♪ 8, 8, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 8, 7, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 8, 7, 6, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ <v ->After that one, you should feel energetic and focused.

</v> Check that your mouth feels loose and your voice warm and ready to go.

We've got a new song to listen to now.

It's called, "Don't Let Fusion Cause Confusion." Here it is.

(cheerful music) ♪ Don't let fusion cause confusion ♪ ♪ It is just a blend of styles ♪ ♪ Mixing sounds from different places ♪ ♪ Traveling over many miles ♪ ♪ It can be a rhythmic pattern ♪ ♪ Instrumental special scale ♪ ♪ Driving new ideas in music ♪ ♪ Always fresh and never stale ♪ ♪ Take a rhythm from South America ♪ ♪ Mix it with a scale that comes from Southern India ♪ ♪ Soca beat from Trinidad, soca beat from Trinidad ♪ ♪ Mix it with a bass line from Argentinian tango song ♪ (cheerful music continues) ♪ Don't let fusion cause confusion ♪ ♪ It is just a blend of styles ♪ ♪ Mixing sounds from different places ♪ ♪ Traveling over many miles ♪ ♪ It can be a rhythmic pattern ♪ ♪ Instrumental special scale ♪ ♪ Driving new ideas in new music ♪ ♪ Always fresh and never stale ♪ <v ->Let's listen again.

</v> This time, feel the pulse and tap a gentle beat as you listen.

This is an important skill to develop, as we need a good sense of pulse to perform together as an ensemble.

Here's "Don't Let Fusion Cause Confusion" once more.

This time, feel the pulse and tap a gentle beat.

(cheerful music) ♪ Don't let fusion cause confusion ♪ ♪ It is just a blend of styles ♪ ♪ Mixing sounds from different places ♪ ♪ Traveling over many miles ♪ ♪ It can be a rhythmic pattern ♪ ♪ Instrumental special scale ♪ ♪ Driving new ideas in music ♪ ♪ Always fresh and never stale ♪ ♪ Take a rhythm from South America ♪ ♪ Mix it with a scale that comes from Southern India ♪ ♪ Soca beat from Trinidad, soca beat from Trinidad ♪ ♪ Mix it with a bass line from Argentinian tango song ♪ (cheerful music continues) ♪ Don't let fusion cause confusion ♪ ♪ It is just a blend of styles ♪ ♪ Mixing sounds from different places ♪ ♪ Traveling over many miles ♪ ♪ It can be a rhythmic pattern ♪ ♪ Instrumental special scale ♪ ♪ Driving new ideas in music ♪ ♪ Always fresh and never stale ♪ <v ->Let's listen one more time.

</v> This time, pay special attention to the different musical styles which come together to form part of the performance.

The different musical styles that collaborate in this song create a fusion of different musical influences.

Here's the music again.

(cheerful music) ♪ Don't let fusion cause confusion ♪ ♪ It is just a blend of styles ♪ ♪ Mixing sounds from different places ♪ ♪ Traveling over many miles ♪ ♪ It can be a rhythmic pattern ♪ ♪ Instrumental special scale ♪ ♪ Driving new ideas in music ♪ ♪ Always fresh and never stale ♪ ♪ Take a rhythm from South America ♪ ♪ Mix it with a scale that comes from Southern India ♪ ♪ Soca beat from Trinidad, soca beat from Trinidad ♪ ♪ Mix it with a bass line from Argentinian tango song ♪ (cheerful music continues) ♪ Don't let fusion cause confusion ♪ ♪ It is just a blend of styles ♪ ♪ Mixing sounds from different places ♪ ♪ Traveling over many miles ♪ ♪ It can be a rhythmic pattern ♪ ♪ Instrumental special scale ♪ ♪ Driving new ideas in music ♪ ♪ Always fresh and never stale ♪ <v ->Have you spotted that this song is in four-time?</v> Let's listen again and join in this time.

Choose a gentle body percussion pattern to perform on the beat.

You might like to choose sounds that suit the strong, weak, medium, weak feel of four-time.

So choose something that's going to give us a nice strong sound on the strong beat one.

Here comes the music again.

Join in and choose a gentle body percussion pattern.

(cheerful music) ♪ Don't let fusion cause confusion ♪ ♪ It is just a blend of styles ♪ ♪ Mixing sounds from different places ♪ ♪ Traveling over many miles ♪ ♪ It can be a rhythmic pattern ♪ ♪ Instrumental special scale ♪ ♪ Driving new ideas in music ♪ ♪ Always fresh and never stale ♪ ♪ Take a rhythm from South America ♪ ♪ Mix it with a scale that comes from Southern India ♪ ♪ Soca beat from Trinidad, soca beat from Trinidad ♪ ♪ Mix it with a bass line from Argentinian tango song ♪ (cheerful music continues) ♪ Don't let fusion cause confusion ♪ ♪ It is just a blend of styles ♪ ♪ Mixing sounds from different places ♪ ♪ Traveling over many miles ♪ ♪ It can be a rhythmic pattern ♪ ♪ Instrumental special scale ♪ ♪ Driving new ideas in music ♪ ♪ Always fresh and never stale ♪ <v ->As we finish our warm-ups,</v> it's a good idea to check in with your body.

Could you feel the pulse? And are your shoulders relaxed and down? Remembering not to raise them as you breathe in to sing.

Check that your voice feels warm and ready, and that you're focused and ready to make music together.

Great.

Let's keep going.

Now we're going to move on to exploring fusion music.

This unit is all about fusion, and fusion in music is when two or more different styles of music are mixed and blended together to create something new.

It's possible to blend almost any styles together.

For example, orchestral and hip-hop, Hindustani and pop, or jazz and electronic dance music.

There are no limits really.

It's time to find and listen to our first listening example.

I like this one because I'm old enough to remember when it first came out in 1998, a very, very long time ago.

It's by British Indian DJ and music producer Panjabi MC, and it mixes traditional bhangra with hip-hop and it became one of the first bhangra fusion hits worldwide.

Press pause to find this listening example now and see what you think.

Bhangra originally comes from Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan.

Bhangra is both a music and dance tradition with fast, energetic rhythms played on a dhol.

The other main instrument is the tumbi, a small, single-stringed instrument that plays short repeating patterns of two or three notes.

I wonder if you recognize either of these two instruments on the screen.

The singing in bhangra is loud and energetic.

Typically, you'll hear calls and shouted responses, and decorated melodies with small steps called microtones between the notes.

And hip-hop originated in the Bronx area of New York in America in the 1970s.

It's also dance music.

A key feature of hip-hop is the MC, or the rapper, who uses rhythmic speech, rhyme, and word-play to perform over the beats.

DJs use techniques like sampling, which is taking short sections, looping, repeating patterns over and over again, beat juggling, switching between records, and scratching to create new sounds and rhythms from existing tracks.

Hip-hop rhythms often have a strong backbeat on beats two and four in four-time, with additional syncopation to make the rhythm more interesting.

In our listening example, "Mundian To Bach Ke," Panjabi MC sampled the "Knight Rider" TV theme, and this made the song familiar to international audiences, and introduced the bhangra beats and instruments to people who might never have heard bhangra before.

And this shows how different musical styles can be fused to make something new and exciting.

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

Which of the following definitions is the most accurate? Is it A, fusion in music is when musicians from different countries play together in a band? B, fusion in music is the blending of two or more different musical styles or traditions to create a new sound? Or is it C, fusion in music is where two songs are mashed together to make a new one? Press pause to choose your answer.

Which of these three is the most accurate definition of fusion? Here comes the answer.

It's B.

Well done if you spotted that.

Fusion in music is the blending of two or more different musical styles or traditions to create a new sound.

Great understanding of fusion, everyone.

Have another listen to our listening example "Mundian To Bach Ke" again.

Which features of bhangra and hip-hop can you identify as you listen? As you try this challenge, you might want to write them down in two lists, either as one big team or for yourself on a whiteboard or piece of paper.

Press pause to try this challenge now.

Hi again! What features of bhangra and features of hip-hop could you spot? You might like to press pause now to have a look at my two examples here and see how yours compare.

Did you spot any of these? Let's listen to another example of musical fusion.

This one's called, "Nu Delhi." And as you listen, I've got two important questions for you to consider.

Question one is, what different styles of music have been combined in this piece? And my second question is, can you identify any stylistic features of these as you listen? Press pause to find this listening example now and answer my two questions.

I'll meet you back here in a bit.

Hi again! Here's my answer to question one.

I wonder if you spotted anything similar.

So question one was, what different styles of music have been combined in this piece? Here's my answer.

Bloodywood are a modern metal band from New Delhi, India.

They're known for mixing heavy rock and rap-metal with traditional Indian music.

Did you spot that it was a mixture of rock music and traditional Indian music? Their songs use powerful guitar riffs and strong drumbeats, rapping and growled vocals, mixed with Indian instruments like the dhol and tumbi, with lyrics in Hindi or Punjabi as well as English.

Well done if you spotted any of those things.

Fantastic listening.

Let's take a look at my answer for question two.

Here are some of the stylistic features that our Oak pupils identified.

Aisha heard a repetitive riff on the tumbi.

Well done if you spotted that too.

Alex could hear screamed vocals and rapping in different languages.

Laura noticed a rock beat on the drum kit and also a rhythm on the dhol.

Well done if you heard the difference between those two.

And Andeep could hear distorted guitar chords as well.

Well done if you identified any of those.

Great listening.

Let's move on to learning more about the stylistic features in fusion music.

Often, musicians create fusion music by combining familiar features from one style with elements from another, helping listeners to discover new kinds of music that they might enjoy.

And Lucas has experienced this.

He says, "I didn't know I liked other kinds of music.

Someone who listens to bhangra might enjoy metal, and someone who listens to rap might like bhangra!" Fusion music allows lots of different people to explore many different styles of music that they might not have otherwise heard.

The great thing about fusion music is that it mixes different styles while respecting the traditions behind them.

So it lets musicians try new ideas and combine sounds that you wouldn't normally hear together.

Alex likes how fusion music shows how creative musicians are and they can mix sounds and styles in lots of new and exciting ways.

While listening to fusion music, we can notice different sounds and features that can help us identify the musical influences being combined or blended together.

We might be able to hear instruments from more than one style playing together.

Maybe we can hear different rhythms, backbeats, or patterns that show another style.

We might spot different styles layered or interacting in the music's texture.

We might be able to hear features like call and response or verse chorus that belong to a certain style.

And there might be different ways of singing, rapping, or using more than one language.

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

Who do you agree with? Jacob or Sofia? Jacob says, "Fusion music mixes things like instruments, rhythms, melodies, and structures from different styles." And Sofia says, "Fusion music is only about mixing instruments from different countries." Can you point to the person you agree with more? Go.

Okay, I'm imagining that you're all pointing at Jacob.

I agree.

I agree with him this time.

Fusion music mixes things like instruments, but also rhythms, melodies, and structures from different styles.

Well done if you agreed with Jacob too.

Fusion music often happens when musicians from different styles or cultures blend their ideas together to create something new.

Which brings me to our next listening example today.

This one is "Ascendence" by Kenny Garrett and Svoy.

What styles of music are fused together in this piece? Press pause now to find and listen to this listening example.

Which styles can you hear? Hi again.

What did you think of that last listening example? I wonder which ones of these today have been your favorite? What styles of music are fused together in "Ascendence"? What could you hear? Here are some of our Oak pupils' ideas.

Lucas thought it sounded jazzy because of the saxophone solo, and he thinks that the tune might be improvised.

Laura noticed that it mixes live instruments with computer-made sounds.

And Izzy spotted that it sounds like something you'd hear in a club.

I wonder if you identified any of those things.

Let's dive a little more into this listening example to explore some of the influences within it.

So Kenny Garrett is an American jazz saxophonist.

Well done if you spotted that jazz influence there or if you heard a saxophone.

In jazz music, you might hear improvised melodies, syncopated rhythms, and sometimes including long, short swing rhythms, instruments taking turns to play solos, calls and responses between different instruments, and sometimes notes are bent or played in a way that makes them sound really expressive, and colorful and complex chords and melodies.

So we can definitely hear some jazz influences in our listening example.

Svoy is a composer and producer who creates electronic dance music, or EDM.

So he mixes beats, loops, and synthesized sounds to make exciting music that you can dance to.

We could definitely hear some of the influences of EDM within this piece, couldn't we? In EDM, you might hear music created and edited on computers.

A strong, thumping beat at a fast tempo.

Short, repeated musical patterns and riffs.

Electronic, futuristic sounds and effects like echo, reverb, and filters that change how the music sounds.

It can make it sound quite otherworldly.

Changes in texture to build excitement.

And one example is a drop, where the texture suddenly changes to create a burst of energy for people to dance to.

Well done if you could hear influences from EDM and jazz in this example of music fusion.

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

Which of these are a common feature in jazz? A, improvisation.

B, digital effects.

C, sudden drops.

Or D, call and response.

Press pause to choose your answer.

And remember, you can tick all that apply.

I'll meet you back here with the right answer.

Hello again! Did you spot that it was A and D? Yes, well done.

Common features of jazz include improvisation and call and response.

Let's listen to "Ascendence" by Kenny Garrett and Svoy again.

Which features of jazz and electronic dance music, or EDM, can you hear? Just like before, you might like to share your ideas and write them down on a big piece of paper or write them down for yourself on a whiteboard.

Or you could think about them in your own thinking voice.

Press pause to listen to this listening example again and identify any features of jazz or EDM that you can spot.

And I'll beat you back here with my answer.

Hello again! Here's my answer.

You might want to press pause here to compare your answers to mine.

Did you spot any of these features of jazz and features of EDM? We've come to the end of our lesson together today.

But before we go, let's take a moment to think about everything we've been learning.

We know that fusion music is when two or more styles of music are combined together to create something new.

And we know that fusion music often blends different cultural elements or genres from different eras.

And we know that it's possible to recognize the stylistic features of the different musical influences in fusion music.

And we've done a lot of that today.

Great listening and learning, everyone.

I'm already looking forward to seeing you again soon for another music lesson.

Bye!.