Lesson video

Hi everyone, welcome back to our Compose and Create unit on recording our musical ideas using a graphic score.

Now today's lesson is called Combining Rhythm and Timbre.

So we're going to remind ourselves what timbre is and we're going to play some rhythms. Here we go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to say, "I can rehearse a rhythm and I can choose an instrument based on its timbre to perform that rhythm on." So let's begin, as we always do, by looking at today's key words.

We have rhythm.

Rhythm is the pattern of the sounds that we play and sing.

And rehearse, very important one because to rehearse is to practise in order to improve and prepare for a performance.

Timbre is a description of the tone or sound of an instrument.

As we always do, we will start by warming up, so that we can play wonderful music together.

And when we do warm up, not only are we warming up our bodies, we're also focusing our minds.

It helps us think about things like the pulse for keeping in time when we're playing.

So, I'd like you to join in these warmups.

Off you go.

(upbeat music) (feet stomping) (hands clapping) (fists bumping) Marvellous! Well done! Now then, there are three more warmup games on your page.

We have "Do As I'm Doing", "Echo Body Percussion Rhythms", and "Timbre in a Box".

Off you go.

<v ->Ready? Steady.

Off we go.

</v> ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ If I do it high or low ♪ ♪ If I do it fast or slow ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ If I do it high or low ♪ ♪ If I do it fast or slow ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ If I do it high or low ♪ ♪ If I do it fast or slow ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ If I do it high or low ♪ ♪ If I do it fast or slow ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I do and follow me ♪ <v ->Let's do some body percussion.

</v> We're going to clap for Ta.

We're going to stomp our feet for TaDi and we're going to pat our knees for TaKaDiMi.

Okay? So I'll start and then you join in with the echo.

Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ Ta, TaDi, TaKaDiMi, Ta ♪ ♪ Ta, TaDi, TaKaDiMi, Ta ♪ ♪ TaDi, TaKaDiMi, Ta, Ta ♪ ♪ TaDi, TaKaDiMi, Ta, Ta ♪ ♪ TaDi, TaDi, Ta, TaKaDiMi ♪ ♪ TaDi, TaDi, Ta, TaKaDiMi ♪ ♪ TaDi, Ta, TaKaDiMi, Ta ♪ ♪ TaDi, Ta, TaKaDiMi, Ta ♪ (soft music) ♪ Here is our box ♪ ♪ Lift the lid ♪ ♪ I wonder what inside it is hid ♪ <v ->And so, are we now ready for music?</v> You'll know if you are because perhaps like Jacob, your body will be feeling relaxed and ready.

Laura is now listening.

She's able to concentrate and hear, maybe she's feeling a steady pulse.

Andeep is feeling focused, so he's ready to make some music.

There are two learning cycles in today's lesson: the first one is rehearsing animal rhythms and then the second selecting an instrument for its timbre.

Let's now begin with rehearsing animal rhythms. We've been listening and using the music of the wonderful Debbie Wiseman OBE at her "Carnival of the Endangered Animals".

And we've been listening to those stories within the music about those animals and the environments in which they live.

I'd like you now to listen to the clarinet melody.

This is the one that we are associating with the orangutan perhaps swinging through the trees.

Have a listen.

It repeats the same rhythm several times.

You'll probably spot the rhythm.

Here it comes.

(upbeat music) I really like that.

It's like the orangutans are swinging through the trees.

Now if we're going to play music together, just like those clarinet players, we need to rehearse together.

So, musicians rehearse and that means they're practising all the parts of the music many times over and that helps each time they're getting better at playing the rhythms and playing the notes and sounding good when they're playing together.

We are going to chant a polar bear description and the polar bear description is big, white polar bear.

Are you ready to say it? Rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go.

Very good.

If you'd like to pause the video, you can to practise that again with the audio track, otherwise we're going to use that polar bear description and we're going to read it and chant it.

You can see on the screen it says big, white po-lar bear and the notation written above is Ta, Ta, TaDi, Ta.

And if I was to clap it, you would hear (clapping rhythmically) which is a bit like "Don't Clap This One Back." Big, white polar bear.

Ready for your turn? You're going to read it on the page looking at the notation and you're going to chant the words.

Ready? Steady.

Off you go.

Very good.

I'm going to ask you to pause the video here because I'd like you to practise that.

I'd like you to rehearse that rhythm, make it as neat as you can, and when you chant it this time, whisper it for effect, okay? Start with a rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go, and then everyone should chant together.

Pause the video, off you go.

Very nice, I liked the whispering.

Very good! We can also use that same rhythm for big, white polar bear using our Ta and our TaDi, okay? So we're going to clap and it'll sound Ta, Ta, TaDi, Ta.

I'm gonna give you a ready steady and you are going to follow the notation on the screen.

Hands at the ready for clapping.

Ready to chant the Ta and the TaDi? Rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go.

Very good.

If you need to pause to practise that, you can do.

Okay, quick check-in then.

Which of these rhythms describes the polar bear? Our big, white polar bear.

Here comes rhythm A.

(rhythmic tapping) And here comes rhythm B.

(rhythmic tapping) And here is rhythm C.

(rhythmic tapping) So, which do we think? Which of those rhythms matched big, white polar bear? Was it A, B, or C? Point to the one you think is correct and if you got B right, very well done.

Very good listening.

Let's look now to the blue whale.

And the description we're going to use is graceful, giant blue whale, okay? I'd like you to chant that all together.

Here it comes.

Rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go.

Very good.

Now if we write that down as notation, you can see here as you follow it along, graceful and giant have two syllables, so they are grace-ful, gi-ant blue whale.

I'd like you to pause the video and practise it.

And just like with polar bear, try and whisper it.

If you give yourselves a rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go, hopefully everyone will stay in time.

Pause now and practise that.

Super! And we know that we can also chant that and clap it with our TaDi, TaDi, Ta, Ta.

So get your hands ready and ready to chant TaDi.

Rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go.

Very good! If you need to pause to practise that, you can do.

Quick check then.

Which of these rhythms describes the blue whale: graceful, giant blue whale? We've got three to listen to and you can see that their notation is next to them.

Here comes A.

(rhythmic tapping) And here is B.

(rhythmic tapping) And here is C.

(rhythmic tapping) Which one of those A, B or C described graceful, giant blue whale? If you got C, you are absolutely right.

Well done! Now let's look at the red panda.

Ooh, the description for this is playful solitary red panda.

Playful solitary red panda.

And solitary is when someone's by themself or an animal is by themself, solitary.

Not in a pack or with lots of others around.

Let's chant this together.

You ready? Rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go.

Playful solitary red panda.

Now there's some more words to get our tongues around this time, so let's be super clear with our speaking.

We'll do it again.

Are we ready? Rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go.

Very nicely done.

And like before, we can see it written down.

This one we have playful, which has two syllables, play-ful.

Solitary, let's count those.

Sol-i-tary.

There are four, so we use TaKaDiMi.

Red has one and panda has two.

So, we are going to read the notation as we chant play-ful sol-i-tary red pan-da.

Okay? You're gonna pause the video.

Again, give yourself a rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go cause that will keep you all in time, okay? Pause now, practise, and remember to use your whispers.

Off you go.

Excellent! Really good! We're using our listening ears to keep together in time.

Let's try it now with the TaDi, TaKaDiMi, Ta, TaDi, okay? I'll give you a ready steady.

Rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go.

Very good! And if you need to pause that and neaten that up, you can rehearse where you are then do so.

Lastly, we've come to my favourite, which is the orangutan.

And we're describing the orangutan as swinging acrobatic friendly ape.

Okay, so let's try that all together.

Rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go.

And again, there's lots of syllables to get in.

Swinging acrobatic.

Gosh, acrobatic.

Let's try swinging acrobatic friendly ape.

Rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go.

Very good! And we can read that notation as we chant.

So, as before, we'll pause and I'd like you to use your whispering voice as well for our swinging acrobatic friendly ape.

Pause here and practise that where you are.

You're getting very good at this.

Now then, let's use our TaDi, TaKaDiMi, TaDi, Ta.

So we'll have our hands ready and we're going to say TaDi, TaKaDiMi, TaDi, Ta.

Rea-dy, stea-dy, off you go.

Very good! And again, if you'd like to pause to neaten that up and rehearse where you are, you can do.

Great stuff! A quick check-in then.

There are two animal phrases here.

The first one is swinging, acrobatic, friendly ape, describing our orangutan.

And the second is playful, solitary red panda.

Okay? There are two rhythms that are going to play this, A and B.

Your job is to match up A to either the orangutan or the red panda.

And the same for B.

Here is rhythm A.

(rhythmic tapping) Do you think that is for the orangutan phrase or the red panda? Here comes B, so it might help you make absolutely sure.

Here it comes.

(rhythmic tapping) Okay.

Let's see if you were right.

If it wasn't quite clear, you can pause the video and play those again.

Otherwise, I can reveal that A, the rhythm A, matched playful, solitary red panda, and B therefore matched swinging, acrobatic, friendly ape.

And if you've got those right, you're listening very well.

Our task now is to chant those animal rhythms, whispering for effect.

And while you do, you're going to move around the room like those animals.

So we're thinking about how the polar bear moves, which is very different to the way that orangutan swings.

And then the blue whale is moving through water with no scurrying about like the red panda.

Each time you start one of the rhythms, I'd like you to start with a rea-dy, stea-dy, off we go.

And that's going to make sure that you all chant in time.

When you do, listen to each other as you're moving around the room 'cause if you're still listening, you're going to keep in time together, okay? So, here are the four animal rhythms. You can do each one in turn with a rea-dy, stea-dy, off we go in between each one.

That gives you a chance to check which one's next.

And it gives you a chance to think about how you might move as that animal.

So, do pause in between each one.

Enjoy moving around and whispering those chants and I will see you in a moment.

Very well done! I hope you've had a chance to do that a couple of times and maybe you've got better each time.

How do we know then that when we're rehearsing we're doing that successfully? Andeep says he knows because he's watching and listening carefully each time.

Sam says that she's whispering the words rhythmically, keeping to the rhythm of those phrases.

And Jun says, "The more I practise, the better I get." So, practising more than once helps us to improve each time.

Very well done.

It's time to move on to our second learning cycle, which is selecting an instrument for its timbre.

Every instrument has its own special sound and tone.

And that's what we're calling timbre, okay? So, an instrument's timbre is the way it sounds and it helps us identify what that instrument is and it also gives it a special colour.

It's kind of why a composer might choose that particular instrument to paint that kind of picture.

Here's a double bass.

Let's have a listen now to the double bass.

(dramatic music) So, we've seen the double bass is a large string instrument, it has a low sound, and it's big and it creates dark, full sounds.

And maybe, that's why Debbie Wiseman might have chosen the double bass for her blue whale composition because of its timbre, because of its dark, full sounds.

Maybe that reminds us of the sea or the animal itself.

Here is a tam-tam.

Have a watch.

(dramatic music) So, the tam-tam is a big non-pitched, metal percussion instrument and it makes a wonderful splashing sound, a majestic sound.

And maybe that's why Debbie Wiseman chose the tam-tam as part of her blue whale composition because of its timbre.

Maybe it's the idea of the whale bursting out of the water and splashing down again.

Quick check for you.

Timbre is how high or low the music sounds; the playing or showing of a steady pulse like the ticking of a clock; or a description of the sound or tone of an instrument.

Just point to A, B or C to make sure we all definitely know what timbre is.

And I can see you've all been listening very well.

It is indeed C.

Timbre is the description of a sound or tone an instrument makes.

Now wonderfully, when we choose an instrument for its timbre, there's no real right or wrong answer.

I'll give you an idea.

This instrument here is a guiro and one of the ways that whales communicate with each other is by clicking, so we could try and mimic that clicking sound by using the guiro.

(instrument sounding) But also, Izzy suggested that you could use the same instruments to create crackling sounds as if a red panda is scurrying through some twigs.

So, if I played it a bit differently, (instrument sounding) it starts to tell the tale of a red panda moving, which is a completely different animal and different picture.

And again, here's another instrument, a glockenspiel, and two very different ideas.

One is from Jun and he says a glockenspiel could sound like the ice cracking below a polar of bear's feet, so he's thinking of those kind of cracking sounds.

It's bright, it's shiny, maybe it reminds him of the ice.

And Lucas says, "Or if I strike it, "maybe it sounds like a jumping sound "or I could use some, a lower note and a higher note "with a gap in between, "maybe it's like an orangutan jumping through the trees." So, there's plenty of ways to explore how to use an instrument.

There's no wrong answer for this, which is brilliant.

I'd like you to decide which instrument of these three that are about to come up you would choose to represent a blue whale.

You could use claves, you could use an egg shaker, or you could use an ocean drum.

Now there might be more obvious and less obvious ideas, but there's no wrong answer.

I think each one of these might do a good job of it.

It's up to you to say why.

So, let's have a pause of the video.

You can listen to each of those tracks in turn and then just have a quick class discussion and see what ideas your friends come up with as to why they might say claves or an egg shaker or an ocean drum to describe the blue whale.

Off you go.

Very good! And you can justify why that instrument sounds like that animal to you.

And you can start to paint that picture.

So, here's your last challenge for today.

You're going to choose one of the four animals, either the blue whale, the orangutan, the polar bear or the red panda, and explore different percussion instruments that you think might have the right timbre to describe that animal.

So, think about these things.

Its colour, its size, how it moves, where it lives, what it's surrounded by.

And then you might start to have some ideas of the sounds you'd like to create.

So when you're happy with your instrument, play the animal rhythm using that instrument, okay? And then you're going to perform it to a partner.

The four rhythms are on the screen for you.

So if I decided that my wooden agogo was going to be for my playful, solitary red panda, I might be thinking how it moves.

So for example, I could have something like (instrument sounding) Maybe.

And I might explore that thinking, "Well, it wasn't quite right.

"How do I make it better?" So, I wouldn't just do it once, I'd have another go? (instrument sounding) Does that describe it to me? Do I want to get a bit more of the feeling of it moving through some branches? And I'll keep practising because I am rehearsing to make my performance better.

So take your time, choose the rhythm you're going to be working with for the animal.

Choose an instrument that might describe the animal and work through a few ideas until you're happy.

Then you'll play it to a partner.

Okay, pause the video here.

Off you go.

Wowie, I really wish I could hear all of those! How do we know then if we've been successful? Aisha, when she was describing hers, she said, "Well, I've chosen the glockenspiel "'cause I feel that could make some icy sounds "when she's creating the polar bear "in the polar bear rhythm." And Sophia says, "Well, I've chosen the bell "because it sounds quite magical." I wonder what animal she chose.

And then Jacob said, "I've chosen the large drum "because it has a big sound and the whale is big." So, there's three different reasons why you might choose an instrument.

You can always pause the video to discuss with people in your classes why you chose your instrument to describe your animal.

Very well done for today! That is almost all we have time for.

So, let's have a recap on our learning.

When we chant an animal description, we are chanting in a rhythm and we can rehearse rhythms because we want to improve them and prepare them for a performance.

An instrument might be chosen to represent an animal based on its timbre and there really is no right or wrong answer when choosing instruments to represent an animal.

Very well done for today.

I'll see you next time.

Bye-bye!.