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Hi, everybody.

Welcome to this lesson on balancing harmony lines in songs.

It's from our Singing for Performance Unit where we are conveying emotion and character through our performance.

My name is Mr. Croughan, and with the support of artists from the Royal Ballet and Opera, I will be guiding you through this lesson.

And by the end, you'll be able to sing in two-part harmony.

Are we ready? Let's get cracking.

The outcome of this lesson is that you'll be able to hold a harmony part in a song, controlling your voice and being able to create a balance between both those independent sung lines.

Let's begin by looking at today's keywords.

We start with harmony.

This is where we combine two or more notes and they can be played or sung to create a pleasing sound.

A sequence can be a melodic phrase, which is then repeated at a higher or a lower pitch.

Polyphonic texture.

This is a type of texture where each layer of harmony has a distinct melody that moves at different times.

And staging.

When we're staging a performance, we're making decisions about creating a performance of our version of a story.

We're gonna begin by warming up.

We have spellcasting and we have character roll call.

Are you ready? Make sure you have a space, because here they come.

<v ->I think that it's time that we put our spell all together.

</v> Remember, it starts over your right shoulder.

Off we go! (Instructor hissing) (children hissing) Again! (Instructor hissing) (children hissing) Wiggly.

Wiggly, wiggly, ah! Wiggly, ah! One last one.

Give it a stir.

(everyone rousing) Taking that smell.

<v Everyone>Mm!</v> <v ->Even yummier.

</v> <v Everyone>Mm!</v> <v ->And again.

</v> <v Everyone>Mm!</v> <v ->One last one.

</v> <v Everyone>Mm!</v> <v ->The steam.

</v> (everyone hissing) Take a taste.

(everyone winces) <v Everyone>Woo!</v> Woo! Woo! Woo! <v ->You've used spellcasting</v> to explore the full range of your voices and energize your bodies so you are ready to sing.

Let's warm up our voices through an activity called Character Roll Call.

<v ->In this activity,</v> we'll introduce the main characters from our opera, Hansel and Gretel.

<v ->Let's use our voices and movements</v> to act like each character, show their feelings and learn their special motif, the music that matches them.

The story starts with brother and sister, Hansel and Gretel, who are at home doing chores.

They are tired and hungry.

Gretel, the most confident of the siblings, says that they should do a dance to cheer themselves up.

She sings.

♪ Little brother dance with me ♪ <v ->Gretel is a very good dancer.

</v> So let's add a dance move to go with the line and make sure you're using your most confident voices.

<v ->Yes.

</v> Off we go.

♪ Little brother dance with me ♪ <v ->Excellent.

</v> Now let's hear from Hansel.

Hansel is Gretel's clumsy, younger brother.

He sings.

♪ Which is left and which is right ♪ <v ->That must be hard for Hansel.

</v> Maybe we can hear the confusion in his voice and show that with our bodies like this.

<v ->Off we go.

</v> ♪ Which is left and which is right ♪ <v ->Oh, no.

</v> Poor Hansel.

And even worse, Mother comes home and catches them not doing their chores but dancing.

She says angrily.

♪ Hey, you ♪ <v ->Oh, do you think we should add a point</v> from the moment she sees them? <v ->Yes.

</v> Off we go.

♪ Hey, you ♪ <v ->She chases them outta the house in a rage</v> and sends them off to the forest.

We then meet our next character, Father, who comes home cheerfully with a huge sack of food.

He sings.

♪ Tra la la la ♪ ♪ Tra la la la ♪ <v ->Should we do a cheery walk just to show how happy he is?</v> <v ->Off we go.

</v> ♪ Tra la la la ♪ ♪ Tra la la la ♪ <v ->When Father hears that Mother</v> has sent the children to the forest, he is horrified and tells her of the legend of the Gingerbread Witch who lives there.

The Witch sounds like this.

(Instructor claps) ♪ Watch me fly ♪ <v ->Wow, I love that body percussion.

</v> Maybe we can use that rhythm to cast a spell, which helps us fly.

<v ->Off we go.

</v> (both clapping) ♪ Watch me fly ♪ <v ->The forest is dark and scary,</v> but full of magical creatures too.

They meet a mysterious figure who is called the Sandman, who sprinkles dust into the eyes of Hansel and Gretel to help them sleep.

The Sandman whispers calmly.

♪ I have not come to harm you, shh ♪ <v ->Can you show us that you're a mysterious figure</v> who's sprinkling magic? <v ->Off we go.

</v> ♪ I have not come to harm you, shh ♪ <v ->What other magical creatures might be out there?</v> What if Hansel and Gretel encounter the Gingerbread Witch? I don't think they'll be as kind as the Sandman.

<v ->We'll find out.

</v> But first, it's time for the roll call.

Let's remind ourselves of each character.

When I call out their name, I want you to perform their motif, their special music that we've learned.

Mother.

♪ Hey, you ♪ <v ->Sandman.

</v> ♪ I have not come to harm you, shh ♪ <v ->Hansel.

</v> ♪ Which is left and which is right ♪ <v ->Gingerbread Witch.

</v> (both claps) ♪ Watch me fly ♪ <v ->Gretel.

</v> ♪ Little brother dance with me ♪ <v ->Father.

</v> ♪ Tra la la la ♪ ♪ Tra la la la ♪ <v ->You have just learn the roll call</v> for the main characters in Hansel and Gretel.

<v ->You've used your voices and bodies</v> to explore how you can become a character and tell their story.

<v ->Right now we're more alive and alert and awake,</v> we're ready to explore an opera.

Aisha says her voice is now feeling warmer, and Lucas can understand the characters more in the story too.

There are two learning cycles in this lesson.

The first one is where we'll be singing in two-part harmony and the second part we get to stage that song to show the effect of the music.

Let's begin with singing in two-part harmony.

We're gonna begin by listening to this clip of As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes.

And this section is sung in harmony.

As you listen, I'd like you to try and identify each voice and perhaps the melodic shape of the part they're singing.

Are both parts singing the same melody? Listen carefully.

Here it comes.

♪ Two will give me warning ♪ ♪ Two will give me warning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ ♪ Two more gently beckon ♪ ♪ Two more light the path to heaven ♪ ♪ And light the path to heaven ♪ <v ->There we go.

</v> They were singing in harmony and different things were happening with each of those independent sung lines.

Harmony, true or false question for you, is this where we all single play the same tune at the same time? Is that true or is that false? And then you're gonna explain why.

Harmony, we all sing the same or play the same tune together at the same time, true or false? Thumbs up for true, thumbs down for false.

You're right, it is false, and it's because harmony is that combination of two or more notes played or sung together and they won't be the same notes and they will create hopefully a pleasing sound.

We're now going to watch a video of a singer from Royal Ballet and Opera and she's going to explain how we can sing in harmony together.

I'd like you to listen out for the way she describes the melodic shape of the melody, for part one, and that includes a rising sequence.

You'll also recall some of the techniques she talks about that we use for singing those long phrases.

Here it comes.

<v ->Sometimes, we'll sing songs in more than one part.

</v> This is called harmony.

Singing in harmony means two or more people sing different notes at the same time.

It's like a musical puzzle that fits together perfectly.

We can practice singing in harmony using the second half of As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes.

In this part of the song, your class can split into two groups, with each group singing different but similar melodies that blend beautifully together.

Have a listen to this.

Each melody uses a sequence where small sections of it repeat, but up a note each time.

Listen to the first part.

♪ Two will give me warning ♪ That little melody goes up a note each time like this.

♪ Two will give me warning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ ♪ Two more gently beckon ♪ Did you notice that the word beckon was slightly different at the end there? Let's have a listen to how that whole upper part sounds.

♪ Two will give me warning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ ♪ Two more gently beckon ♪ ♪ And light the path to heaven ♪ <v ->Here is the notation for part one.

</v> And you can see, I've highlighted that first bit in pink there because what I want you to do is spot the sequence.

The second thing I've highlighted in pink goes onto the second system.

So look at those notes and see if you can find out what I mean by a sequence.

So we have the ♪ Two will give me warning ♪ followed by ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ What's the same there? The melodic shape's the same.

It's just sung one step higher.

And that last phrase, ♪ Two more gently beckon ♪ starts the same, but it has a different ending.

We're gonna sing part one, following the notation as you sing, okay? We're singing this in unison.

Are you ready? Here comes the track.

When you do this, you'll watch the first time round, and then join in with that singer the second time, okay? Are you ready? Make sure we've got good posture.

Here it comes.

<v ->Let's hear the second part.

</v> This is also in sequence, moving up by one each time, but begins a bit lower than the first part.

Let's hear it by itself.

♪ Two will give me warning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ Let's now listen to the whole of the lower part.

♪ Two will give me warning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ ♪ Two more light the path to heaven ♪ <v ->Very good, lovely sound.

</v> Did you notice that you sang a sequence? So we had, ♪ Two will give me warning ♪ and then a note higher.

♪ When the day is dawning ♪ So an almost identical melodic shape, just a note higher.

It's gonna be really useful to us to see where we're holding notes longer.

There are two points in this section where we hold a note longer.

Can you spot them? They are actually dotted minim, so it's a note that has, it looks like has a full stop after it.

Can you spot them both? Yes, we've got the dawning and path there.

So we have ♪ When the day is one, two, three, four, dawning ♪ and the same with, ♪ Path to ♪ ♪ Two more light the, one, two, three ♪ Okay? Holding those for three will help us too.

And lastly, top tip, especially when we're following the notation and you are holding onto your harmony line, is to see when the notes are the same, when they don't change.

So we have the, ♪ Two will give me warning ♪ now at the end of warning, the next phrase is on the same note when, ♪ Warning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ and this, I think, the most helpful for this harmony, knowing that the note of dawning and two are the same.

♪ Dawning ♪ ♪ Two more light the path ♪ So that F is gonna really help us, the F sharp.

♪ Dawning ♪ ♪ Two more light the path ♪ And we return to it again.

Holding onto that will really help you too.

I'd like you to sing part two following the notation as you sing, please.

Use those top tips.

Here comes the track.

</v> Now there's a big word in the middle of the screen.

It says polyphonic.

When we sing in harmony, and each part has a distinct melody and it moves at different times in different directions, we can describe the texture as polyphonic.

Let's just break that word down a moment.

Poly and phonic.

So poly meaning many or more than one.

And phonic.

Well, we've heard that word 'cause we've heard phonics, learning to read in school we used to do phonics, and that's related to making sounds.

So poly, many, phonic, sounds.

We're now gonna split into two groups and you are ready to sing each part of the harmony section in As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes.

We've rehearsed this separately and now we've put it together.

First of all, let's watch the harmonies sung together in the video clip.

And while you're listening, listen carefully to your part and then you'll see how those two parts fit together to create that polyphonic texture.

And it'll give you the confidence, ready to sing them both together in your class.

Here comes the clip.

<v ->Have a listen to this.

</v> ♪ Two will give me warning ♪ ♪ Two will give me warning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ ♪ Two more gently beckon ♪ ♪ Two more light the path to heaven ♪ ♪ And light the path to heaven ♪ <v ->Great stuff.

Well done.

</v> Now, you're totally ready to put these two parts together.

It'll take a bit of rehearsal, but you've got this.

This is how we'll build it up gently.

First of all, rehearse each line separately first.

You can both sing them separately to begin with.

Then follow the music, which is on the next few slides, to read and notice when the words are sung on the same note.

Notice when you're holding a note longer.

Okay, look out for those clues in the music.

Then we'll put both parts together.

Stand in two groups, part one, part two, decide who's who, until you feel confident in your part.

And you can swap over, so you have a go at doing both if you'd like to.

I'd like you to focus on balancing the parts.

We don't want a loud group and a quiet group.

Both are quite gentle actually.

It's this smooth legato soft singing as part of the spell.

When you feel confident and only when you do, have a go at singing your line together whilst moving around the space.

That'll give you the confidence that you are holding onto your line whilst hearing another line as you move around, okay? So work steadily through each of those four points and I'll see how you got on in a moment.

Off you go.

Now how did it go? It always takes a bit of rehearsal to put harmony lines together, so don't worry if it's not perfect yet.

Did rehearsing each line separately help you feel more confident in your part when you were putting them together? And did reading the notation help you sing your part accurately? And did you listen carefully to each other to balance the sound, so one group wasn't too loud or too soft? And then once we feel confident in singing our part, that moving around and singing, it can be helpful.

We hear how that polyphonic texture fits as well as it also gets us used to singing and moving at the same time, which when we're staging this is exactly what we'll be doing.

So really well done.

It's time for the second half of our lesson.

We're staging the song now to show the effect of the music.

When we stage a song, we're making creative decisions about our performance of the story.

So we decide where the characters are placed on the stage and we want to make sure that story is clear for an audience.

Lucas says, "I want the audience to know that the children are lost and a bit frightened and then the Sandman's spell begins to work on them." And Alex reminds as well, "We also want the audience to realize we're in a forest, so we can think about how we might stage that too." Something that will help us is using these character building blocks.

When we're on stage, we're doing something.

What is it that we're doing? And then what's the reason behind that? Why are we doing that? We can think about our body, which parts of the body we use? And that quality of movement, how do we move if we're feeling sleepy? We're going to be moving in a very different way too if we're feeling super energetic.

And the space, where do we move? How does it look on the stage? And that relationship, who are we doing it with? What's that relationship like between say, Hansel and Gretel and the Sandman or the two siblings? So each of those will help us.

We're gonna watch a film of some children creating ideas, thinking how they might stage As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes.

And when you watch this clip, please pay careful attention to the children's questions and their answers.

So they're having to think about the staging and how they're gonna show the effect of the Sandman's spell.

You'll notice, they do talk about those building blocks.

I think they talk about three of them.

So listen carefully.

Are you ready? Here it comes.

<v ->It's time to create our staging</v> of As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes.

In this song, Hansel and Gretel have been lost in a dark, scary forest, but they meet the magical Sandman whose spell sends them into a peaceful sleep.

Let's have a go at staging the song.

But before we start, I have three important questions for you to think about.

My first question, how are we going to show that the Sandman's sleepy spell has an effect on us during the song? Have a chat amongst yourselves.

(children chattering) Fantastic.

Let's hear from you.

Do you have any ideas? <v ->Voices will get quiet and your legs will feel heavy.

</v> <v ->That's great,</v> because maybe we might look really relaxed in our bodies like the spells made us all comforted.

Brilliant idea.

Question number two.

So our song has some long sustained lines in it, so how are we going to use our actions to help us sing them? (children chattering) I can see people already doing this.

That's amazing.

What do you think? <v ->We could do like really long and slow movements</v> to help us keep the notes going for longer and we need to make sure we stood up straight or sat up straight, 'cause it can help our breathing for singing.

<v ->Fantastic.

</v> That's a really good point, 'cause posture's really important for singing, isn't it? And I love the idea of those long movements to help us tell the story.

Well done.

Finally, question number three.

How could we show some other characters, like the angels or even the forest in our performance? One more discussion.

Off you go.

(children chattering) Okay, now let's see what you think.

<v ->The angels could be played by people</v> using long majestic movements round Hansel and Gretel's.

And they could be standing up tall to show that they're floating.

<v ->I love that idea.

</v> I especially love the use of different levels to show the different characters.

Let's definitely put some angels in our performance.

<v ->And now it's your turn</v> to answer those same three questions given to the children.

So the first one, how can you show that the Sandman's sleepy spell is working on you during the song? So you're thinking about that motivation that's sort of being controlled under a spell, how you might move your body, and the relationship to, well, what's around you, the Sandman and also your sibling.

The second question was, how can your actions help you sing the long melodies in the song? So thinking about our quality of movement, how we move our bodies.

And the third question was, how could you show other characters? Maybe you're going to include the angels, the Sandman, we've got Hansel and Gretel, there's the forest even to show that setting in our performance.

So you're thinking about where these characters might be and how to represent it so it's clear for an audience to understand.

So pause here, share lots of ideas, and answer each of those three questions.

Off you go.

Brilliant.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

Here is an example staging.

If you want to pinch ideas from that, you are very welcome to.

Maybe there's some of the ideas that you came up with that are used in the clip.

Let's have a watch and find out.

(dramatic music) ♪ As we close our sleepy eyes ♪ ♪ Angels watch us from the sky ♪ ♪ Two are here beside me ♪ ♪ Two stand there to guide me ♪ ♪ Two are on my right hand ♪ ♪ Two are on my left hand ♪ ♪ Two will give me warning ♪ ♪ Two will give me warning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ ♪ When the day is dawning ♪ ♪ Two more gently beckon ♪ ♪ Two more light the path to heaven ♪ ♪ And light the path to heaven ♪ (dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) <v ->Great.

</v> Lots of ideas brewing.

It's now your turn to decide.

Firstly, how many pairs of Hansels and Gretels will you have? One, many? All up to you.

Will you include a Sandman? One or more? Up to you.

And how will we know it's a forest? How are we going to create that forest scape? Think about, whatever character you are, how are you showing that with your body? If you're an angel, how are you going to represent that? If you're Hansel and Gretel, and even trees, woodland creatures, whatever it is that you are creating in your scene.

And then, how will you show that the sleepy spell is working? Think of that quality of movement and gradually how it works more throughout the song.

Take a moment to pause here just to decide on who's going to play who in this song and then we'll come back together.

Off you go.

Okay, I've broken up the music a little bit to give us clear pointers of what we're going to set and how.

The introduction.

There's four bars of music before anybody sings.

This might be the moment that you set the forest scene using that four-bar introduction.

Then think about how you'll show the spell, gradually taking hold, using your bodies and your quality of movement.

In the next part, when we get to the harmony, decide who's gonna sing that top line and who's gonna sing the second line, okay? It could be, for example, Hansel and Gretel follow the top line and then the angels and the trees and all the other characters follow, follow the second line, perhaps, up to you.

And then to make it really clear, how is it going to be staged? So we saw in the example clip, I think that maybe angels and trees were sort of taller and crouching down and starting to fall asleep on a lower level with the Hansels and Gretels.

So decide where each group will be staged so that you want it to be manageable for you singing those harmonies, okay? And then how might you stage the final image.

"Light the path to heaven", how long after that does it take before the Hansels and Gretels gradually fall asleep? Are there angels and/or trees watching over? And how are you using that space to make sure that that picture is clear for an audience? Okay, you're gonna pause here and work through each part of the music and set your characters on the stage, thinking about your quality of movement for each point.

Off you go.

Wonderful, the scene is now starting to take shape.

Just at this point, let's make sure we can answer all of these questions.

Which character are you playing? In the harmony, are you the top line or the bottom? Are you singing part one or part two? And then, just thinking about where you're stood or sat or laying, however you've decided to set your character in the scene, just check that you are able to breathe and sing clearly and support your voice.

And lastly, thinking about the way you move, are you moving to reflect that effect of the music? Thinking about its gentle tempo and its smooth legato feel.

Pause here.

Just make sure you can answer all of those questions if you can or ready to move on.

Right, you're now ready to put this on its feet, as we say the first rehearsal of the song with staging.

Now, this is still an opportunity for you to try ideas and experiment with the ideas you've come up with so far.

It's not necessarily fixed in stone.

We can change our ideas.

And this is a rehearsal where we still get to explore and play to find out what's gonna work best and make sure that story is being told clearly to the audience.

So run through the full song and you're bringing together your singing and your movement.

Remember, don't give yourself a hard time.

This is the first time you've done this.

And the more we practice and rehearse the neater it becomes, the more it sits in our body and we feel more confident in our singing.

Think about what you might keep.

Oh, that went really well, having that.

What you might change, any bits you might add or take away.

This is your rehearsal time now.

Go well and I'll see you when you're done.

Nice.

Well done.

Really good work.

We can think now, just to finish off, what staging that we liked.

And then is there anything that still needs to be clear so the audience can understand the story.

They know where, set in a forest, and that these characters that are being made to fall asleep under a spell.

Is that coming across clearly? Is there anything with the staging that you think, oh, definitely keeping that and anything you'd like to change.

And then we can think, "Ooh, are there any other bits we might like to add in?" You could create a soundscape of a forest if you wanted to.

You know, maybe there's the, maybe there's a bit of leaf rustling or an occasional owl or simply it's about making your characters appear more clearly, more obvious, stronger.

And lastly, I'd like to think, what building blocks have you used so far? Have we been exploring that quality of movement that goes with the legato feel of the music? Were you thinking about how you move your body in the space so you're telling the story clearly? Have a little reflect and then we'll finish.

So pause here to reflect on that.

Have a chat about what you're keeping, what you might like to change, anything you'd like to add in, and I'll see you at the end.

You have worked really hard today and that's brilliant, brilliant work.

In summary, we can read music notation by following the melodic shape of the melody.

And when two or more harmony parts have distinct melodies, they move at different times, in different directions it can create a polyphonic texture.

Listening carefully to the other part when singing in harmony actually helps us balance our parts together.

And we can apply the character building blocks to help us stage a scene.

Great work today, everyone.

Absolutely super.

I'm looking forward to building on it next week.

Have a great week.

Bye for now.

I've finished the video