Lesson video

Hi, everybody.

Welcome to our last lesson in our Compose and Create Unit, recording our musical ideas using a graphic score.

Today's lesson is called Ensemble Performance of a Graphic Score, which means we get to put all of our learning together.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to say, "I can read my graphic score, and play my part in an ABA composition." So let's begin by looking at today's keywords.

We start with rhythm.

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

Ensemble.

An ensemble is a group of people who perform together.

Perform.

Presenting our work in front of others.

Rehearse.

That's to practise in order to improve, and prepare for our performance.

And structure.

Structure is the way the music is organised.

We know we start every lesson with a warmup, and today is no different.

So we remember how important it is that our warmup is helping us connect to each other.

We're all going to be making music today, so it's important we can tune in, listen to each other, and be focused and ready.

So I would like you to join in with these warmups.

Here they come.

(upbeat piano music) (feet stumping) (hands tapping) (hands thudding) Very well done.

Now there are three more warmup games to help us practise rhythm, and really start feeling the pulse.

It's going to help us stay in time together.

Do as I'm Doing, Don't Clap This One Back, and Echo Body Percussion Rhythms. Play these where you are, and I'll see you in a moment.

<v ->Ready, steady, off we go.

</v> ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ If I do it high or low ♪ ♪ If I do it fast or slow ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ If I do it high or low ♪ ♪ If I do it fast or slow ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ If I do it high or low ♪ ♪ If I do it fast or slow ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ If I do it high or low, ♪ ♪ If I do it fast or slow ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ ♪ Do as I'm doing, follow me ♪ <v ->This is a game called Don't Clap This One Back.

</v> You'll hear me clapping different rhythms, like this one.

(teacher clapping) And that rhythm is actually our secret rhythm, that we are never going to clap.

Because that rhythm says, "Don't clap this one back." (teacher clapping) So if you hear it, you do nothing.

Any other rhythm you hear, we all clap together.

Let's try a couple.

(teacher clapping) (teacher clapping) (teacher clapping) Very, very good.

Now you're going to listen super carefully, because if you hear.

(teacher clapping) We don't clap that rhythm back.

Okay, let's play.

(teacher clapping) (teacher clapping) (teacher clapping) (teacher clapping) Did I catch any of you out? Let's try one more time.

Here we go.

(teacher clapping) (teacher clapping) (teacher clapping) (teacher clapping) (teacher clapping) Very well done.

Now you can practise that where you are.

<v ->Let's do some body percussion.

</v> We're going to clap for ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) We're going to stomp our feet for ♪ Ta-ri ♪ (feet stumping) And we're going to pat our knees for ♪ Ta-ka-di-mi ♪ (hands tapping) Okay, so I'll start, and then you join in with the echo.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta-ri ♪ (feet stumping) ♪ Ta-ka-di-mi ♪ (hands tapping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta-ri ♪ (feet stumping) ♪ Ta-ka-di-mi ♪ (hands tapping) ♪ Ta-ri ♪ (feet stumping) ♪ Ta-ka-di-mi ♪ (hands tapping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta-ri ♪ (feet stumping) ♪ Ta-ka-di-mi ♪ (hands tapping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta-ri-ta-ri ♪ (feet stumping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta-ka-di-mi ♪ (hands tapping) ♪ Ta-ri-ta-ri ♪ (feet stumping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta-ka-di-mi ♪ (hands tapping) ♪ Ta-ri ♪ (feet stumping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta-ka-di-mi ♪ (hands tapping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta-ri ♪ (feet stumping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) ♪ Ta-ka-di-mi ♪ (hands tapping) ♪ Ta ♪ (hands clapping) <v ->And for the last time of asking this term,</v> are you ready for music? If you are, your body should be feeling relaxed and calm.

You are listening, you are feeling focused and ready to make music.

And if you are, let's go.

There are three learning cycles in today's lesson.

The first one is rehearsing a graphic score as an ensemble.

The second we are going to rehearse our animal rhythms as an ensemble, and then we're going to perform and evaluate our ABA piece.

So let's begin by rehearsing a graphic score as an ensemble using the wonderful inspiration from Debbie Wiseman's "Carnival of the Endangered Animals." We are going to combine our animal rhythm chants and our instrumental graphic scores to perform an animal composition as an ensemble.

To perform successfully as an ensemble, there's a number of things we need to make sure we're doing.

Aisha reminds us we rehearse together, so we'll make time for that.

We work together as a team, says Sam, very important.

We concentrate, says Laura.

That's gonna help the sound.

And to read the music notation where interpreting those symbols on our graphic score.

Thanks, Jun.

A performance could be to an audience or it could be to a recording of a video.

I'd like you to watch this performance.

This is of "Blue Whale." The performers really need to rehearse on their own and together to play successfully.

Here it comes.

(instrumental music) Wonderful, so who do you agree with more? Is it Izzy or Sofia? Izzy says, "The performers played together successfully because they followed the conductor and their notation and they'd practised as an ensemble." Sofia says, "The only reason the performers were able to play successfully together was because they followed the notation." Which do you think is more true? Point to who you agree with more? Yeah, I agree with you.

Izzy, yes, indeed.

They're playing successfully.

They've had time to practise together.

They're following the conductor and they're reading the notation.

So the first thing we're going to do is form our ensemble groups.

Now each of you will have chosen an animal, the blue whale, the orangutan, the polar bear, and the red panda.

So you are going to form animal groups now.

So in a moment, all those people who chose blue whale will be a group.

If you chose orangutan, you'll be a group and so on.

And then you've each got your graphic notation symbol, put them out in a row and some of that notation will be different.

There might be some of the same, there'll be lots that are different, but each group will be describing the same animal.

And you're going to read that notation just like a sentence from left to right.

And each person will take it in turn to play their sound with the instrument they've chosen.

So it might look a bit like this and all yours will be different, but if there was five in a group, we've put them in a line and this is of a "Blue Whale" composition.

And have a listen to how it might sound.

See if you can recognise the sound whilst you are following the graphic score.

Here it comes.

(glockenspiel sounding) (shaker shaking) (drum thudding) (drum scratching) (glockenspiel sounding) Yeah, as I was listening, I could follow that and I thought, yes, I understand what each of those symbols mean.

Now then just a quick check to make sure we're all on the same page.

You read graphic score symbols how? In any order, as long as you don't miss any out, or B, like a sentence from left to right, or C, the loudest first and then go in order of dynamics.

Which do you think it is? A, B, or C? Yes, well done it is B.

We read our graphic score like a sentence from left to right.

So in your animal groups I'm going to ask you to rehearse your composition.

Remember you take it in turns to play each notated symbol on your graphic score on a percussion instrument.

And then if you think, "Oh that sounds quite good, but if we swapped that with that one, that might sound even better." You can reorder them, put them in an order where you think it might sound even better, and then decide a final order that you're happy with.

I'll ask you to pause the video here whilst you work on those compositions in your animal ensemble groups.

Off you go.

Very well done.

Lots of good teamwork happening and this is important.

So how do we know if we are rehearsing well? Well, Andeep says that he practised his sound until it sounded right.

So that's a bit of practising on his own.

Sam says she followed the score and waited until it was her turn to play.

And Jun said, "I listened to other people in my group." If you are doing those three things, chances are you are rehearsing really well.

So well done.

It's time for us now to move on to the second part of our lesson.

This is where we rehearse our animal rhythms as an ensemble.

Now to do this, we are going to chant in our group, if we remember the word rhythm, our animal rhythm.

So rhythm is the pattern of the sounds that we sing and play and speak.

So to make it successful, great tip, chant together.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ And then you all come in together, okay? Top tip, quick check-in though before you start.

True or false rhythm is a description of the sound or the tone of an instrument.

Is that true or false? And it is false.

And this is because rhythm is the pattern of the sounds that we play and sing and chant.

We're now going to chant our animal rhythms and we're going to do it together as a whole class.

I'd like you to remember the power of whispering to make it more atmospheric, more powerful, more exciting in our performance.

So instead of.

♪ Big white polar bear ♪ We're thinking of.

♪ Big white polar bear ♪ Just adds that level of excitement to it and I think it'll sound better.

So you're going to pause the video here to practise each one of those in turn.

As a whole class, off you go.

Well done.

I'm interested to know if you already did this or not because this is a top tip to make it even better.

What can we do to make sure that when we chant we are all together? Should we just remember when we'll chant, or should we chant.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ Or should we listen for some silence and then just know it's time to start? Which do you think is the most reliable? What's going to help you as a class or a group the most? Yep, mostly Bs.

Very well done.

It's when we chant.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ Because that helps us all keep in time.

Wonderful.

Now it's time for us to rehearse as a group.

So we're going to break off into our four different animal groups and you're going to whisper just your animal.

And in that chant you are whispering the words four times.

Please.

You can start with one person chanting to get you ready.

That one person that you choose will chant ♪ Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ And then whichever animal you are, you are going to whisper that rhythm four times, okay? So pause the video here, into your four groups and rehearse whispering your animal rhythm four times.

Off you go.

Lots of focus, lots of great practising.

I'd like to check how we know that we are rehearsing well.

Andeep says, "Well, I spoke the words clearly and with a steady pulse." And Sam said, "Well, we chose the person in our group who would say, 'Ready, steady off we go.

'" That obviously helped keep them all in time.

And then Jun said during it he was listening to other people to keep in time.

He wasn't going off by himself.

And that listening to each other is really useful.

If you need to pause and practise again, you can do, otherwise, let's press on.

The last part of our lesson is where we perform our piece.

We're going to perform it and then we're gonna evaluate it.

We're gonna listen and think, well, what went well and what might we do even better? This is called our ABA piece.

So what's ABA? It is a musical structure and going to think of it like a sandwich because I really like sandwiches.

Our musical sandwich has some bread at the top and that bread is going to be our animal rhythm chant that we've just rehearsed.

Then the filling, whatever filling you like, is going to be the timbre percussion instrument graphic score.

That's those sounds and symbols you've used to create the feeling of your animal.

And then back to the bread, we finish with the animal rhythm chant.

So you can see that that middle part, following our graphic score, is sandwiched between the animal rhythm chanting sections.

We call this ABA structure.

Structure.

We remember that word we use.

Structure is the way the music is organised, and we've organised it as bread filling bread.

A, the rhythms, B, our graphic score, and A, again, back to chanting those rhythms, okay? That's our structure.

Quick check-in to make sure we remember that structure is the pattern of the sounds that we play and sing, or is it B, description of the tone of an instrument, or is structure C, the way the music is organised? How would you describe structure A, B, or C? Point to the one you think it is? Very good.

I can see that you've been paying attention because it is C.

Structure is the way the music is organised.

Wait, we know another chant in ABA structure.

If we think of do as I'm doing, follow me, that starts, let's call the bread bit, do as I'm doing, follow me, do as I'm doing, follow me, follow by the middle section our filling.

If I do it high or low, if I do it fast or slow, that's the middle section.

Then our bread, again back to do as I'm doing, follow me.

So the same thing repeats like a piece of bread and then the piece of bread at the bottom of our sandwich, that filling is the, if I do it high or low, if I do it fast or slow, that's the different part in the middle.

ABA Now then, just so we are really super clear on that structure, well, it's gonna match the lyrics of the musical section of an ABA structure.

So what I've done is put those lyrics out of order, they're in the wrong order now.

But ABA, down the side you are gonna say, "Oh, A, I know what A is, B, I know which bit B is, and A I know what A is." So can you match those up? Off you go.

So A our bread section do as I'm doing, follow me, do as I'm doing follow me.

B, our filling, that's the, if I do it high or low, if I do it fast or slow.

Then we need our bread to complete our sandwich back to the A, do as I'm doing follow me section.

And if you've got that right, you understand ABA structure.

Well done.

It is time for our last practise task.

You are going to rehearse each ABA animal composition performance in your animal ensemble group.

Your all ensembles now.

And you must remember the structure which is A, you whisper your animal rhythm how many times? Four times.

Then we play the ensemble's graphic score.

So you've now decided the order.

You are happy for those symbols to be in and each person plays their part on their percussion instrument.

Then when it's time to chant, we make sure we don't have our instrument in our hands and we're back to our bread, our A, whispering our animal rhythm again, four times.

You are going to rehearse that in your ensemble groups.

So pause the video here.

Off you go.

Wow, a class full of musicians, composers, creatives.

You are wonderful.

Well done.

It's now time for you to perform.

We've rehearsed, we've practised to improve, to prepare for our performance and now you're ready to perform.

That could be in front of an audience, it could be in front of some other people or it could be to record as a video for you to then watch back up to you.

Be ready to perform and I'll see you in a bit.

Wowie, wowie.

Absolutely brilliant.

We always think we've done our performance, we were there, people enjoyed it and we worked hard to get there, but we don't stop there.

We think that was good, how could I make it even better? Now, Lucas said, "I could make sure that I don't miss my turn." So, my advice to Lucas would be if you're concentrating and you are following that graphic score, even when it's not quite your turn, you know when it's your turn to play.

And Jacob said, "I could listen to my group more." Occasionally I was focused on just what I was doing, what Jacob was doing, but if I listened to the whole group, it's going to help me stay in time.

And Sofia said," I could make sure I chant in time with my group.

So that's really thinking about those rhythms and if we've got a.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ That's going to help us all chant in time.

So pause and have a reflect.

Have a think what went well for you, what were you really proud of? What did people enjoy in your performance? And what would you do better next time? Pause here.

What super work.

I hope you are feeling really proud of yourself and your ensemble and your performance.

It's all we have time for in this unit.

So we're going to have a quick recap of today's learning.

We know it's important to rehearse as an ensemble in order to perform successfully together.

And we remember that structure is the way the music is organised.

One kind of structure is ABA, a musical sandwich kind of structure.

And that both our composition and a chant we know, do as I do, both have that ABA structure.

Really well done.

Fantastic compositions.

See you soon.

Bye-bye.