Lesson video

Hello musicians.

My name is Mrs. Steele.

Today's lesson is all about layering rhythms. By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to layer multiple rhythms to create a polyrhythm as part of an ensemble.

Here are the key words that will be important in our learning today.

Syncopation: rhythms that emphasize the offbeat.

Rhythmic ostinato: a repeating musical idea created from a rhythmic pattern.

Polyrhythm: playing two or more conflicting rhythms at the same time, and texture, the combination of different layers of sounds.

But first, you guessed it.

We know how important it is to warm up our voices, our minds, and our bodies before each and every music lesson so that we can sing safely, develop our vocal strength, and develop lots of other musical skills too.

Press pause to complete this unit's warmup cycle so that you're ready for music.

These songs and singing games will help us to warm up further.

They help us to develop our coordination, pulse singing and ensemble skills all in one go.

Let's start off with "To Stop the Train" in unison.

You could choose to join in with the video here or use the audio.

Press pause to choose the button that's right for you.

Now let's try "To Stop the Train" as a two part round, and again, you could follow along with the video or use the audio.

Press pause to decide.

And finally, it's "Four White Horses." You could choose to sing it together as a class ensemble or watch the video to remember how to do the group clapping game.

Press pause to choose which "Four White Horses" challenge you are going to complete as your warmup.

Let's check that you are ready for music.

Do you have a relaxed singing posture? And is your voice warm and ready to sing? Great.

Let's keep going.

We are going to begin by adding rhythmic ostinati to songs.

Let's sing the Jamaican folk song, "Mango Walk" using body percussion.

Add the syncopated rhythmic ostinato accompaniment.

Remember the upbeat.

So begin the ostinato on 'mother.

' The ostinato is 'go mango walk you,' or ta-di-di-ta-ta.

Here comes the music.

Join in with the rhythmic ostinato.

♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ My mother deed-a tell me that you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk ♪ ♪ My mother deed-a tell me that you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, and ♪ ♪ Eat all the number 'leven ♪ (drum beating) ♪ My mother deed-a tell me that you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk ♪ ♪ My mother deed-a tell me that you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, and ♪ ♪ Eat all the number 'leven ♪ (drum beating) ♪ My mother deed-a tell me that you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk ♪ ♪ My mother deed-a tell me that you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, and ♪ ♪ Eat all the number 'leven ♪ (drum beating) ♪ My mother deed-a tell me that you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk ♪ ♪ My mother deed-a tell me that you ♪ ♪ Go mango walk, and ♪ ♪ Eat all the number 'leven ♪♪ Listen to this Ghanaian folk song, "Senwa Dedende." What do you notice about the drum accompaniment? Here it comes.

Listen carefully.

♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende senwa ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende senwa ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende senwa ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende senwa ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende senwa ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende senwa ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende senwa ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende senwa ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende ♪ ♪ Senwa dedende senwa ♪♪ Did you spot anything interesting about the drum accompaniment? Well done if you noticed that the accompaniment is a rhythmic ostinato.

The rhythm of the ostinato is the same as the one that we played in "Mango Walk" and "To Stop the Train." Well done, if you spotted that.

The rhythmic ostinato in "Senwa Dedende" comes from the lyrics of the song.

Sen-wa de-den-de, Ta-di-di-at-ta This song is syncopated throughout using the rhythms to emphasize the lyrics.

Let's sing the Jamaican folk song "Lost My Gold Ring," clapping on the offbeat as you sing.

Here comes the music for you.

(drum beating) ♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ (drum beating) ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪♪ (drum beating) We can use the lyrics of the song, "Lost My Gold Ring," to create a rhythmic ostinato.

This is a similarly syncopated rhythmic ostinato.

Join in by tapping it and remember that we've got those two beats at the end.

Come back again.

Come back again.

Join in with the rhythmic ostinato.

Here it comes.

One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four We can use more of the lyrics of the song to create a second rhythmic ostinato, but this ostinato is not syncopated.

It makes the Ta-mi rhythm instead.

Join in tapping this second rhythmic ostinato.

Here comes the music.

One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four We can layer two rhythmic ostinati to create a polyrhythm like this.

Have a listen.

One, two, three, four One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four It's time for a check-in with our learning so far.

When we layer rhythms, we create a thicker: A timbre, B texture, C dynamic, or D tempo.

Press pause to choose the right answer.

What do you think? It's B.

Well done if you remember that.

When we layer rhythms, we create a thicker texture.

Great work.

Let's try a new challenge as a class.

Play the 'come back again' syncopated, rhythmic ostinato against the performance track.

Choose a body percussion to suit and feel the steady pulse as you play.

Here comes the music.

Join in with that syncopated rhythmic ostinato.

(drum beating) ♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ (drum beating) ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪♪ (drum beating) I expect you're ready for another challenge now.

This one is as a class play the 'biddy biddy hold on' dotted rhythmic ostinato against the performance track.

Choose a different body percussion pattern from rhythm one and feel the steady pulse as you play.

Here comes the performance track again.

Join in with this dotted rhythmic ostinato.

(drum beating) ♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ (drum beating) ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪♪ (drum beating) Let's try a really tricky challenge together.

Divide into two groups and play both ostinati against the performance track, creating a polyrhythm accompaniment.

Press pause to organize yourselves into two groups.

Group one will play the first ostinato and group two will play the second.

Then remember to swap groups.

Meet me back here in your groups and I'll play the performance track again.

You ready? Here comes the performance track.

Play both ostinati.

(drum beating) ♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London come back again ♪ (drum beating) ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪ ♪ Biddy biddy hold on, lost my gold ring ♪ ♪ One go to London, come back again ♪♪ (drum beating) I wonder what helped you to perform your polyrhythm.

Did you try any of these ideas? Perhaps you counted to four in your head, or you listened out for when the rhythms align.

Did you tap your foot or nod your head gently as you play? Or maybe you created a phrase to say as you play either just for your rhythm or for the polyrhythm.

Well done if you did any or all of those things.

They're very helpful strategies.

Now let's move on to building a polyrhythm.

Sing "Ning Wendete," tapping gently on the offbeat as you sing.

Here's the music.

(hands clapping) (drum beating) ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Ning wendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ In gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪ ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Ning wendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ In gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪♪ Now let's sing again.

This time divide into groups and accompany your singing with the clave and djembe rhythmic ostenati.

Here comes the music again.

Add the ostinati.

(hands clapping) (drum beating) ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Ning wendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ In gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪ ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Ning wendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ In gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪♪ Now we are going to learn a third rhythmic ostinato, and this will create an even thicker texture.

Listen to the shaker rhythm.

It sounds like this.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

One, two.

It can also be notated using stick notation like this, and this is a half beat rest.

It's time to clap or play the shaker rhythm along to the performance track.

Now, here it comes.

Join in with the shaker rhythm.

(hands clapping) (drum beating) ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Ning wendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ In gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪ ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Ning wendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ In gwendete dunyendete niun duki ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪ ♪ Akorodunyenda Niwega unjereh ♪♪ It is time to squeeze in a quick check-in with our learning.

Which rhythm grid shows this shaker rhythm? Is it rhythm grid, A, B, or C? Press pause to look carefully and decide your answer.

Did you spot the shaker rhythm in a rhythm grid? It's A.

Well done if you identified that correctly.

Great work.

Now we're going to combine all three rhythms to create a more complex polyrhythm like this.

So divide into three groups and decide which group will perform each rhythm.

You could use unpitched percussion instruments like djembes, claves, and shakers, or you could use body percussion too.

Play together as an ensemble alongside the performance track.

Remember to feel that steady pulse as you hold onto your rhythm.

Remember to swap groups so that everybody gets a chance to play everything, and as you play, try to hear how each rhythm works together to create a polyrhythm.

We want open ears to hear that, rather than blocking out the sound of the other groups.

Press pause to try that big musical challenge now in three groups to create a more complex polyrhythm.

Use the performance track and play with that.

See you soon.

It's time to reflect on your playing and discuss these ideas as a class.

Was there one ostinato you found easiest or trickiest? And could you work out why? I wonder what helped you to stay on time, or was there something that just kept leading you to play out of time? Could you identify what this was? Great musicians can do that.

Did you have a favorite rhythm? I wonder why you liked it the best.

And do you think a particular rhythm suits a particular instrument or body percussion pattern, and why? Press pause to share your ideas about all of these important questions or think about them in your own thinking voice.

We've come to the end of our lesson together today about layering rhythms. Let's take a moment to think about everything we've been learning together.

We know that the lyrics and phrases of a song can be used to create a rhythmic ostinato, and we know that multiple rhythmic ostinati can be layered to create a thicker texture just as we've just done in our last musical challenge.

And we know that layering on beat and offbeat rhythms creates a polyrhythm.

Great musical learning this time everyone.

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

Bye-bye.