Lesson video

Hi there, everyone.

Welcome to this lesson on controlling our voice to convey the feeling of a song.

This is from our Singing for Performance Unit, where we are conveying emotion and character through our performance.

My name is Mr. Krawn.

I'm looking forward to guiding you through this unit where we'll be using our voice and our performance skills to bring to life songs for an audience.

Are we ready? Here we go.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to say that you can identify the musical choices that a composer has made and control your singing voice to convey the intended mood.

Let's look at today's keywords.

We'll start with dynamics.

How loud or how quiet the music is played.

Then, legato.

Legato is performing in a smooth way.

Melodic shape.

A melodic shape is the up and down movements of the pitch in music.

And then, articulation.

Articulation in music is how individual notes or groups of notes should be played or sung.

Coming up now are two warmups.

One of them is character roll call.

The other is spellcasting.

Now these warmups are designed to warm up our voice and our bodies, as well as an opportunity to explore the characters, the key characters from the opera, "Hansel and Gretel." These videos are brought to us by artists and practitioners from the opera House, and I'd like you to find a space and be ready to join in.

Here they come.

<v ->Let's warm up our voices</v> through an activity called character roll call.

In this activity, we'll introduce the main characters from our opera, "Hansel and Gretel." <v ->Let's use our voices</v> and movements 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 are using your most confident voices.

<v ->Yes, off we go!</v> ♪ Little brother, dance with me ♪ <v ->Excellent! Now let's hear from Hansel.

</v> 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, poor Hansel!</v> And even worse, mother comes home and catches them not doing their chores, but dancing.

She says angrily, (gasps) ♪ Hey you ♪ <v ->Oh, do you think we should add a point</v> for the moment she sees them? <v ->Yes.

Off we go!</v> (both gasp) ♪ 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</v> that mother 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.

(hands smacking) ♪ 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 off.

<v ->Off we go!</v> (hands smacking) ♪ 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.

But first, it's time for the roll call.

</v> 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.

(both gasping) ♪ 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> (hands smacking) ♪ Watch me fly ♪ <v ->Hansel.

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

</v> ♪ Tra la la la ♪ ♪ Tra la la la ♪ <v ->You have 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 ->I think that it's time that we put our spell all together.

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

Off we go! ♪ Shh, shh, shh, shh ♪ ♪ Sss, sss, sss, sss ♪ ♪ Shh, shh, shh, shh ♪ <v ->Again!</v> ♪ Shh, shh, shh, shh ♪ ♪ Sss, sss, sss, sss ♪ ♪ Shh, shh, shh ♪ <v ->Wiggly notes!</v> ♪ Woo ♪ <v ->Even wigglier!</v> ♪ Woo ♪ <v ->Wigglier!</v> ♪ Woo ♪ <v ->One last one!</v> ♪ Woo ♪ <v ->Give it a stir.

</v> ♪ Zhu, zhu, zhu, zhu ♪ <v ->Take in that smell.

</v> (all inhaling) ♪ Mmm ♪ <v ->Even yummier!</v> ♪ Mmmm ♪ <v Teacher>And again!</v> ♪ Mmmm ♪ <v ->One last one!</v> ♪ Mmmm ♪ <v ->The steam.

</v> ♪ Sssss ♪ <v ->Take a taste, hah!</v> ♪ Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah ♪ ♪ Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah ♪ ♪ Woo, 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.

<v ->All right, well done.

Well done.

</v> And we are now ready to explore this opera in a bit more detail.

Aisha says that her voice feels warmer.

Lucas said he's moved his body in different ways.

Looks like we're ready to go.

There are two learning cycles in this lesson.

The first one is how we respond with movement to music that is legato.

And secondly, we're gonna follow some melodic shapes and sing some longer lines of music.

Let's begin with some movement to music that is legato.

First of all though, question, what is opera? I'd like to pause here and just take a moment in your class to discuss what you think opera is and what you think it's like.

Pause here for a moment.

Share a couple of ideas.

Off you go.

Excellent.

Well done.

Now here comes a clip from the Royal Ballet and Opera exploring opera a bit further.

Have a watch.

("La Boheme") <v ->What-</v> <v ->Is-</v> <v ->Opera?</v> (chorus singing opera) <v Student>Opera means work.

</v> <v ->No, no, no, no, no, no.

(record scratching)</v> Opera means ♪ Fa la la la la ♪ ♪ Figaro, Figaro, Figaro ♪ <v ->No, opera literally means work in Italian.

</v> (magic tinkles) ("The Magic Flute") (singer sings in foreign language) <v Student>Opera is a way of telling stories</v> through singing.

Operas combine music, drama, and design together all at the same time.

<v ->The first operas were composed over 400 years ago in Italy</v> and evolved from a variety of song, theater, and entertainment traditions.

<v ->Okay, fine.

So how do you put on an opera?</v> <v ->You start with a story.

</v> What about a court jester who is hell-bent on revenge? (singer sings in foreign language) ("Rigoletto") <v ->Or an arrogant nobleman</v> who gets his comeuppance when a statue comes to life? ("Don Giovanni") (singer sings in foreign language) (singer continues singing in foreign language) <v ->Or, or, okay, what about an old Scottish man</v> who owns a farm? No? (chorus singing in foreign language) <v ->The lyrics of an opera are written</v> in a document called "libretto," that's Italian for "little book." <v ->And then you give the story</v> and the libretto to the composer.

<v ->And the composer uses the words as a starting point</v> to inspire piece of music that expresses all the emotions and feelings in the story.

(chorus singing in foreign language) ("Carmen") <v ->What's amazing about opera singing</v> is that we have to sing unamplified.

That means without microphones.

We have to fill these vast spaces just by controlling our breathing and voice muscles.

(student vocalizing) It takes years of practice to perfect this very special technique of singing.

<v ->After an opera is written, it's time to put it on stage.

</v> <v ->And how the story is interpreted is up to the director.

</v> <v Student>And working alongside the director</v> is the designer.

<v Student>The designer dreams up</v> how the costumes will look, the sets, the colors, the textures.

<v ->And then there's the lighting designer.

</v> <v Student>All the singers.

</v> <v Student>The set builders.

</v> <v ->And the music staff who help prepare the performance.

</v> ("Macbeth") (chorus singing in foreign language) The conductor leads the orchestra and shapes how the music is performed.

<v Student>This is where the orchestra sit</v> and play the score during the performance.

It's called the orchestra pit.

<v ->And we're very lucky to have a conductor here</v> to tell us what they do.

<v ->Well, I'm really happy to be here.

</v> So my first job is actually to learn the score.

This is the music that the composer has written.

Every note that every instrument in the orchestra is playing is written down here.

<v Student>And you hold a baton and wave it to round.

</v> What's that for? <v ->So before I even need the baton, and indeed,</v> before we even do the staging, the singers and I meet, and we work on the music with a pianist.

Then we work with a director so that we are developing the staging.

And all the time, we're thinking about how to make the drama and the characterization really exciting through the singing and the acting.

Then I meet, quite far on in the process, I meet the orchestra, and we practice on our own so that the players can learn the music.

Finally, we put it all together so the singers are on the stage with the costume and the lighting and the orchestra in the pit.

And this is the moment when I need the baton so that I can show everyone the pulse of the music and so we can all be together.

(chorus singing in foreign language) <v ->So there we have it.

</v> If you don't have a conductor and an orchestra, you can't have an opera.

<v ->That's not true, actually.

</v> <v ->Operas can be accompanied by a small band.

</v> <v ->Or just a piano.

</v> <v ->Or a tape, or even sounds on a laptop.

</v> <v ->I'm getting very confused over here.

</v> <v ->Operas can be big or small.

</v> <v Student>They can be performed in grand opera houses.

</v> <v Sian>Or on the beach or even in a carpark.

</v> <v ->I am not paying 200 quid to watch an opera in a carpark.

</v> <v Student>You don't always have to pay lots of money</v> to see an opera.

<v ->Mixed messages, guys.

</v> <v ->I think you need to see one.

</v> ("Carmen") (chorus singing in foreign language) (chorus continue singing in foreign language) (chorus continue singing in foreign language) <v ->So it's not always a massive production?</v> <v ->No.

</v> <v ->And it's not always incredibly expensive?</v> <v ->Nope.

</v> <v ->And you don't have to dress up like the monopoly man?</v> <v ->Not always.

</v> <v ->(sighs) Maybe I'll give it a go then.

</v> <v ->That sounds like a good idea.

</v> <v ->We'll come with you.

</v> (singer vocalizing) <v ->There we go, packed with information about opera.

</v> Some things you might have known already, and plenty of new information for us to get an even richer understanding about what opera is.

We're now going to watch an animation of the story of "Hansel and Gretel." Now, you might have heard this a while ago when you were much younger, and some details in this story might differ from that tale that you heard.

This opera, original opera was written in German, and it was described by its composer who's called Engelbert Humperdinck, great name, as a Marchenoper, which means fairy-tale opera.

So we're gonna pop the animation on, and I'd like you to follow along with the story.

See what bits you go, "Yeah, I remember that," and what bits might be a bit different.

Here it comes.

(gentle music) <v Narrator>This is the story of "Hansel and Gretel."</v> Hansel and his sister Gretel live with their parents, Peter, a broom maker and his wife, Gertrude, in a little hut, not too far from the Elsenstein forest, The family are so poor.

(hinges squeaking) Hansel complains that he's only eaten bread for weeks, (Hansel grunts) but Gretel reminds him of their father's words, "A helping hand is always there in times of greatest need." Gretel also shows him the delicious milk mother plans to make rice pudding with later that evening.

(milk splashing) Hansel can't resist scooping off the cream from the top, and the two of them start to dance around the house in anticipation.

(Hansel and Gretel chuckling) (bright instrumental music) Just at that moment, who should come home but their mother? (latch clicks) (dramatic instrumental music) She's in a right mood- <v ->(gasps) Hm!</v> <v Narrator>because Hansel and Gretel</v> haven't done any of their chores.

In her anger, (bottle clonking) mother knocks the jug of fresh milk on the floor.

(milk splashing) What would they have to eat now? Gertrude starts to cry (Gertrude cries) and sends the children out into the forest to pick some wild strawberries for the whole family to eat.

Not long afterwards, their father, Peter, comes home with a surprise.

Out of his bag, he takes bacon, sausages, and loads of delicious grub.

He's made a fortune selling his brooms, (coins clinking) and now he's brought home the bacon, literally.

(pig grunting) But when Gertrude explained she had to send the kids off to pick strawberries, Peter is suddenly really worried.

The Elsentein Forest is where the evil witch lives.

(witch laughing) The witch flies on her broomstick at midnight, through the forest, and is always on the lookout for little children to lure them into her gingerbread house with sweets and cakes, never to be seen again.

(electricity buzzes) Gertrude and Peter are horrified and rush out into the forest to search for their children.

(grass rustling) Meanwhile, Hansel and Gretel (gentle instrumental music) are filling their baskets with strawberries.

But guess who's eating all of his? Greedy guts Hansel! Gretel tells him off! They can't go home empty handed! But night is falling and it becomes too dark to see.

(owl hooting) The kids try to find their way back, (footsteps thudding) (leaves rustling) but there's no escaping it.

They're lost! (both gasping) And what are they going to do?! Suddenly they see something coming closer and closer! Gretel has a mini freak out, (Gretel gasps and pants) when a little figure suddenly appears before them.

(Sandman Humming) (Gretel screaming) <v Narrator>Fortunately, this chap is the Sandman,</v> perfectly harmless, (Sandman chuckles) and he explains that he has come to help the two children fall asleep by dropping grains of sand into their eyes.

(Sandman humming) (magic tinkles) Hansel and Gretel can barely keep their eyes open, (magic continues tinkling) but before they fall asleep, (both whispering) they remember to say their evening prayer as 14 guardian angels come to protect them throughout the night.

(gentle music) (Hansel and Gretel snoring) The next morning, the kids are woken up by a handy alarm clock in the shape of the Dew Fairy (bright instrumental music) who sprinkles the pair with dew.

(Hansel and Gretel yawning) Suddenly, they notice through the trees (Hansel and Gretel giggling) a delicious looking gingerbread house, hmm, made of pancakes, sprinkled with sugar and raisins, with a garden fence made from delicious gingerbread figures.

Hansel and Gretel can't resist taking a bite, (teeth crunching) but as they do, they hear a little voice coming from inside.

<v ->Nibble, nibble, little mouse.

</v> Who's that nibbling on my house? <v Narrator>At first, they think it's just the wind</v> and continue feasting, (door creaks) but then the witch grabs Hansel and ties him up with a rope.

The witch tells the siblings how much she loves children and how desperately lonely she is deep in the forest.

(witch crying) If they would only stay a while to chat, she would host them with hot chocolates, sweets, and cakes.

But they soon realize that she likes to fatten kids up (upbeat instrumental music) so that she can eat them.

(mouth slurping) So they hatch a plan.

<v ->Mmm.

</v> <v Narrator>When the witch tells Gretel</v> to go and check on the baking in the oven, Gretel cleverly pretends not to understand how the oven works.

(dial clicking) (upbeat instrumental music) The witch shoves her out the way.

And while the witch is fiddling with the oven, (witch grunting) (flames rumbling) Hansel and Gretel tiptoe up behind her and shove the old hag (witch screams) face first into the flames! (triumphant music) (Hansel and Gretel chuckling) Now that the witch is dead, all the children have come back to life, but they still can't move, (children laughing) and are presumably still covered in gooey icing.

Yuck.

(slime squelching) (upbeat instrumental music) (singers vocalizing) Hansel and Gretel spy the witch's wand, whizz it around and cast a cell freeing all the children! (children cheering) The children's parents, Peter and Gertrude, arrive after having been out searching for Hansel and Gretel all night.

As the children pulled the mal-baked gingerbread witch from out the oven, (witch grunting) Peter hugging his family close reminds them all of his wise words, "A helping hand is always there in times of greatest need." The end.

(chorus singing in foreign language) (curtains rattling) <v ->Right, if we're gonna be thinking</v> about delivering elements of this opera to an audience, we wanna get our plot points in order.

On the board are seven plot points, and they are not in the correct order.

Your job is to go through them and put them chronologically of what happens in the story from beginning to end.

So pause here, and do that now.

Off you go.

Have a quick check, were you right? So we begin with "dancing to cheer themselves up, Hansel and Gretel, knock over the milk.

Hansel and Gretel's mother is furious at her children for breaking the jug, and she sends them into the forest to go and find some berries.

Magical creature called the Sandman helps Hansel and Gretel fall asleep in the forest.

Hansel and Gretel find a house and that's made of the most delicious sweet food.

The witch tells Hansel and Gretel she's gonna put them in her oven.

Hansel and Gretel trick her and push the witch into her oven instead.

And Hansel and Gretel's parents find them.

Finally, everyone's happy to be together again." Plenty more detail than that, but that's the overview and the sort of framework of this story.

Very well done if you've got all those in the right order.

One of the songs then "As We Close our Sleepy Eyes," it's a song at a point in the opera where the children are lost in the forest.

And that kooky thing happens where the character of the Sandman sprinkles some magic sand.

I can't imagine someone sprinkling sand into my eyes and being going, "Oh, that's so relaxing." Sprinkles magic sand into the character's eyes to help them fall asleep.

All I would like you to do is listen to this song, have a think what it makes you feel like when you're listening.

What sort of tempo has the song, what sort of feel the song has? And maybe you might think of, "Ah, I can understand why the composer has chosen to do what he's doing at this point with this song." Here it comes.

("As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes") ♪ As we close our sleepy eyes ♪ ♪ Angels watch us from the skies ♪ ♪ 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 gently beckon ♪ ♪ And light the path to heaven ♪ ♪ And light the path to heaven ♪ ("As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes" song continues) ("As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes" song continues) ("As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes" song continues) ("As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes" song continues) ("As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes" song continues) <v ->(sighs) Still awake?</v> You see, music can tell a story, and it can suggest an atmosphere, and it can give us a mood, and it can even change how we're feeling.

The phrase non-verbal communication, we can use that when we're conveying a meaning without using words.

And composers are really good at this.

They can really give us a feeling or an emotion by manipulating things like tempo, how fast or slow that music is gives us a feeling, the dynamics, how loud or quiet, the articulation, how those notes are played or sung, the texture, how much is going on, the timbre, that quality of sound, and loads more things, to share the mood they're trying to get across, or the feeling they want you to have, or the story they want the audience to discover.

In this scene, the composer is really carefully thinking about dynamics, nice and soft, the tempo really chilled, and a smooth legato articulation.

That means it's not spiky, it runs quite smoothly.

And those things combined give us a sense of peace, and ultimately help Hansel and Gretel to fall asleep.

I'd like you to listen again.

I would like you to make some notes and discuss.

You can just drop that on a bit of scrap paper or in your white books, or if you've got music books, to discuss how each musical element gives the music its calm feel.

What is happening with the dynamics, their tempo, and that articulation? Okay, pause here, listen again, and you can drop those notes down, and we'll come back and share what ideas you have.

Off you go.

Jacob in the Oak class says, "The legato articulation, nice and smooth flowing notes, means the song feels relaxing and smooth." And Izzy says, "That quiet dynamic choice, that helps the song feel gentle and like a lullaby." You might also have talked about the tempo.

Did it race by? Did it kind of go nice and gently? How does that impact on our feeling as the listener, and maybe for those characters, Hansel and Gretel? One way of interpreting music or understanding it more when we think about dynamics and tempo and the articulation of the music is by responding to it physically.

So we're gonna watch this video to understand how our quality of movement, the way that we move, can bring to life a musical story.

Are you ready? I'm gonna pop the video on now.

<v ->Our characters, Hansel and Gretel,</v> are lost in a dark, spooky forest, and they're feeling a bit scared.

But don't worry, the magical Sandman appears and cast a spell.

The spell helps them fall into the most peaceful sleep they've ever had.

In this activity, we're going to explore the Sandman's magic spell and its effects on our actions and the quality of our movement.

So in a moment, we're gonna introduce the music, and I'm gonna count down from 10 to 0.

And as we count down, I want you to respond to what I'm saying, and that will help you figure out how to move your bodies as the spell takes hold of Hansel and Gretel.

Off we go.

(gentle instrumental music) So keep that frantic energy at level 10.

Good, really good! And we're gonna bring it to a nine, which means we might move a little bit less, but keep that high energy 'cause we're still on alert as to what might be going on around us.

Bring it to an eight.

There's still a potential threat in the forest, so we're a little bit suspicious of what's going on around us.

Let's bring it to a level seven.

So the sense of threat has completely disappeared, really.

We're just very curious about this forest.

We want to kind of explore it and see what's going on.

Okay, six.

Everything feels calm now.

We feel safe.

Now as the spell takes hold, we're at number five, so we might out a little yawn.

(yawns) We're starting to feel definitely sleepy now.

And four, our body starts to feel really heavy with that sleepiness.

We might have heavy arms, heavy legs.

And we're gonna get to three, which means we can't even move anymore.

We're so sleepy.

Fantastic.

And two, we might start coming to the floor as we get even sleepier.

And one, we're gonna lay down, close our eyes.

And zero, the spell has completely taken hold and we are in a nice deep sleep.

And after some time has passed, morning has broken, so we might gently blink our eyes open.

Good.

Let's take a nice deep breath in.

(breathes deeply) Nice.

We might start to slowly, yep, sit up.

Lovely.

And when we get there, let's start wiggling our fingers and our toes.

Let's have a big stretch and yawn.

(yawns) Lovely.

(children yawn) Excellent.

And let's slowly bring ourselves to our feet, nice and carefully.

When we are there, maybe give our shoulders a nice shoulder roll.

(sighs) Yeah, we might have a nice gentle smile.

Well done.

Because we know that Hansen and Gretel have had a lovely long sleep, and they were kept nice and safe because of the Sandman spell and the angels.

<v ->So now you've seen how that task works.

</v> You've seen it in action with those children there working through each of those instructions.

You're going to pause this video now, and you're going to use that clip from Royal Ballet and Opera to work through each of those points and those instructions in your setting where you are.

So you're gonna pause here, you're gonna find a space, you'll play that clip again and follow those instructions just like those children did.

Remember, it's non-verbal, so you need to be quiet and listening so that you are following those instructions and responding to the music as guided.

Enjoy that and I'll see you when you're done.

<v ->And how did that go for you?</v> Laura says that she can now understand how that legato sound, the smooth sounds and the slower tempo helped create a spell-like calming effect.

Andeep says that he chose appropriate movements to respond to the calm feel of the music.

Something I imagine you were doing too.

And Alex says that he was able to reflect the spell of the Sandman in how he moved his body.

So responding to the way the music makes us feel and responding to the way that the dynamics and the tempo and the articulation of the music helps us move in a different way and experience music in a different way too.

So, really well done.

And now onto the second part of our lesson where we'll be following melodic shapes in music and singing longer lines too.

Now when we look at music notation, we can see that pitch rising and falling over time.

There's an example on the screen.

So if I start with the, "As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes," and I draw that melodic shape, you'll see it goes ♪ As we close our sleepy eyes ♪ And then the second one, starting in the higher beat and coming down.

♪ Angels watch us from the skies ♪ With a little down and up.

So what we're going to do is follow the melody by drawing it with our fingers.

I'll give you a ready, steady, off you go.

You have your fingers at the ready.

Are we ready? Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ As we close our sleepy eyes ♪ ♪ Angels watch us from the skies ♪ ♪ Two are here beside me ♪ ♪ Two stand there to guide me ♪ Very well done.

And that's what we're calling the melodic shape.

We're also going to look at the punctuation.

And this is for two reasons.

Number one, we want to make sense of what we're singing.

When we read a book, we read to the punctuation.

We don't stop in the middle of a sentence.

And that's because we want the listeners to understand the story.

And it's exactly the same with our singing.

So if we look at where the commas and full stops are, we can get an idea of the sense of it.

Also, these are great opportunities for us to breathe.

Remember, this is sung at a slow tempo, and they're longer lines, so we're going to need plenty of breath, and replace that breath.

So that first one says, "As we close our sleepy eyes, angels watch us from the skies." That would make sense if I was reading it in the book and there was a small pause after "sleepy eyes" where that comma was, and I'll be able to breathe there as well as at the full stop.

The tempo is slow.

We are now going to watch an example of how to deliver this.

It's a video of a singer from the Royal Ballet and Opera, and she focuses on the first line that we've just looked at.

And I would like you to look out for tips on posture, and then I'd like you to join in with each technique.

Here comes the video.

<v ->Sometimes we need to sing long, sustained melodies</v> at a slow tempo.

We can practice this in the song "As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes." In this part of the story, Hansel and Gretel have been lost and scared in the forest, but the Sandman's magic spell has helped them to feel calm and safe, so they have the confidence to fall asleep.

Let's learn how we can sing these long, sustained lines.

Have a listen to this.

("As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes") ♪ As we close our sleepy eyes ♪ ♪ Angels watch us from the skies ♪ Did you notice how smooth my voice was throughout the long lines? Let's think about how I made that sound.

Firstly, posture.

It's important to make sure that you are standing well if you are able, and that your bodies feel strong, but not too rigid.

Can you imagine a rigid gingerbread biscuit? And now imagine that you are the dough.

Can you find somewhere in the middle, like you're the shape of a gingerbread biscuits, but you're still a bit gooey inside, just like this? That's a great posture for singing.

Let's hear how the next part sounds.

♪ Two are here beside me ♪ ♪ Two stand there to guide me ♪ This song has some long phrases or musical sentences, so let's try singing one of these phrases to a vv sound.

Try making that sound like your vv, vv, revving a motorbike engine.

I'm going to sing the start of the song again using this vv sound, which will help me to develop a steady airflow as I sing.

♪ vv ♪ ♪ vv ♪ Let's try something else to help us with these long phrases.

Let's sing the next line of the song on just an oo sound, like this.

♪ Oo ♪ ♪ Oo ♪ By singing it all on one long vowel, I demonstrated that the melody is carried on vowels.

So we want to make them as long as possible.

To help us with singing those long lines, we can also use movement to keep our bodies engaged.

Imagine we are opening a heavy velvet curtain while singing, like this.

♪ As we close our sleepy eyes ♪ ♪ Angels watch us from the skies ♪ So how did I sing those long, sustained lines in "As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes?" Firstly, I made sure that my posture was ready for singing.

Then I practiced long phrases with a steady airflow with a vv sound.

I then sang the melody on just an oo vowel sound.

Finally, I added some movement to keep my body and my voice active.

Use these tips to be able to sing the long, sustained lines beautifully, and to show the peaceful effect of the Sandman's spell in "As We Close Our Sleepy Eyes." <v ->Okay, great, now you've seen that</v> and you've had an understanding of how to use those techniques.

I'd like you to work through each one.

Pop the track on, make sure you're gonna check three points one to four.

Check your posture, sing the phrase to a vv sound first.

You'll feel your muscles become more engaged, supporting your breath.

Singing it to an oo for some lovely controlled breath as well.

And finally, singing the words, adding the arm movement.

And you'll be breathing at the commas and the full stops.

Pause here.

Pop that track on as many times as you need.

And we'll come back when you've done it.

Off you go.

Very well done, Might feel odd at first, but what you are doing is really building how you are supporting your voice, controlling your breath, and making sense of those longer phrases.

What we're going to do now is look back at the notation, because the way we'll learn this song is by following the music.

If we're following it, it can help us sing the rise and the fall in the pitch.

So if we look at those first two, that's where the pitch rises.

And then in that second phrase, as it starts to come back down.

We're looking out for clues like this as we read the music.

Another thing we're looking is where the pitch is similar.

So this, we talked about that.

♪ Two are here beside me ♪ ♪ Two stand there to guide me ♪ As having a similar melodic shape.

It's just sung one tone higher.

We can also look, more clues, where we sing the same note for more than one word.

So I'm looking there at the example on that notation, and I'm looking for where the note doesn't change.

So the note will be one after the other, it'll be consecutive.

and it'll either be in the same space or on the same line.

So the first one I've spotted is "we close." They're both the same note at the same pitch, and they are next to each other.

So can you spot some more of those? So we've got, ♪ As we close ♪ Same note.

And then, ♪ Our sleepy eyes ♪ Same note.

♪ Angels watch ♪ Same note.

And then the one that crosses the bar, ♪ Us from the skies ♪ So, "us from" is the same, and so, and then it carries on.

So we are looking for these clues too, as we read the music.

Understanding the melodic shape and the phrasing of the melody helps us.

It's gonna help us when we're singing that melodic line, legato.

We want it smooth and flowing.

And that's also gonna help us manage our breath through the long, sustained notes in each phrase.

Quick check then, what is a musical phrase? There's three options here.

"Is it the way the music's organized? Is it a musical thought, like a sentence in a story? Or is it a short, recognizable melody that's the main musical idea for a composition?" Which one do you think is most likely A, B, or C? Remember, think and then check.

And if you are pointing at B, you are absolutely right.

A musical phrase is like a musical thought or part of a sentence in a story.

What we'll do now is bring all of that learning together.

So you're going to apply some of the techniques from earlier to the first six phrases of the song.

So you're going to read the rise and fall in the pitch as you are following the notation on the screen.

And for each time you do it, you're gonna make sure that your posture is good for singing.

You'll sing the phrase to vv sound to help control the airflow, then sing it to an oo sound.

And finally, singing the words, adding in that arm movement to support the legato singing.

Remember, earlier she described it like pulling a heavy curtain.

So the idea that gives the extra element of control to our singing.

So pause here and work through those where you are.

off you go.

Very well done.

Let's have a check.

Let's find out what helped you.

Did that vv sound when you sang it, vv, and so on, did that help you to control the airflow? Did you have enough air to deliver that so you were able to sing the full phrases? And did the oo sound, was that helping make a smooth legato sound that kept the notes flowing? So instead of it being, oo, oo, oo, it was ooo.

And thirdly, imagining that heavy, velvet curtain in your gestures.

That's another way of controlling our sound to make each sound sound smooth and continuous.

Which technique worked best for you? Sometimes it's like having a toolbox.

You go, "That idea really worked for me.

I'll put that tool in my toolbox" And it might be different for each of us.

Here's a summary of our learning today.

"Composers carefully used dynamics, texture, and articulation to create the mood and the feeling of a piece of music.

Quiet legato playing and singing can give a sense of peace and calm." Or in this case, the Sandman's spell.

"We can control our breathing so we have enough air for singing long, sustained notes of a song.

And we can look at the melodic shape and the phrasing of the written music to help us sing a legato melody." Really, really well done for today, and I'll look forward to seeing you next time.

Bye for now.