Lesson video

Hi again, everybody.

Welcome back to our unit on Music and Movement, using symbols to represent pitch.

Now, this lesson is called "Notating High and Low Notes on a Simplified Musical Stave." Now, let's find out what all of that means together.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to recognise high and low notes, and you'll be able to place them on a simplified musical stave.

So to find out what all of that means, let's look at our keywords.

We begin with melody, that's a combination of notes to make a memorable tune.

A note is a single sound in music.

Pitch, how high or how low a note is.

And stave, these are lines on which musical notes can be placed.

And notation, that's the word we give to a way of writing music down.

Now then, before we begin, we must remember to warm up.

We know how important it is to warm up our bodies and our voices so that we can sing and move together.

We always stretch our muscles before we do other forms of exercise, and singing is no different because we need to protect our vocal cords, make them warm and ready before we start singing.

It stops us from injuring our voices.

So, here come some warmups for you to follow where you are.

(metronome ticks) <v ->Reach up to the sky and down to the ground.

</v> To the side.

To the side.

Turn around and clap.

(students clap) (metronome ticks faster) Reach up to the sky and down to the ground.

To the side.

To the side.

Turn around and clap.

(students clap) (metronome ticks faster) Reach up to the sky and down to the ground.

To the side.

To the side.

Turn around and clap.

(students clap) Let's warm up all the muscles of our faces.

Show me your happy face.

Show me your grumpy face.

Show me your big face.

Show me your small face.

Show me your silly face.

Show me your thinking face.

Join in with these breathing exercises.

Copy me.

(blows) (imitates balloon deflating) ♪ Ah ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ She sells seashells by the sea shore.

She sells seashells by the sea shore.

<v ->Superb.

Really well done.

</v> There are three more chants and songs.

There's "Jelly on a Plate," "Kumala Vista," and "Baby One, Two, Three." Off you go.

<v ->Jelly on a plate.

Jelly on a plate.

</v> Wibble wobble, wibble wobble, jelly on a plate.

<v Students>Jelly on a plate.

Jelly on a plate.

</v> Wibble wobble, wibble wobble, jelly on a plate.

<v ->Jelly on a plate.

Jelly on a plate.

</v> Wibble wobble, wibble wobble, jelly on a plate.

<v Students>Jelly on a plate.

Jelly on a plate.

</v> Wibble wobble, wibble wobble, jelly on a plate.

<v ->Jelly on a plate.

Jelly on a plate.

</v> Wibble wobble, wibble wobble, jelly on a plate.

<v Students>Jelly on a plate.

Jelly on a plate.

</v> Wibble wobble, wibble wobble, jelly on a plate.

(instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (instructor sings in foreign language) (students sing in foreign language) (upbeat piano music) ♪ Head and shoulders, baby one, two, three ♪ ♪ Head and shoulders, baby one, two, three ♪ ♪ Head and shoulders, head and shoulders ♪ ♪ Head and shoulders, baby, one, two, three ♪ ♪ Shoulders, elbows, baby, one, two, three ♪ ♪ Shoulders, elbows, baby, one, two, three ♪ ♪ Shoulders, elbows, shoulders, elbows ♪ ♪ Shoulders, elbows, baby one, two, three ♪ ♪ Elbows, knees, baby one, two, three ♪ ♪ Elbow, knees, baby one, two, three ♪ ♪ Elbow, knees, elbow, knees ♪ ♪ Elbows, knees, baby one, two, three ♪ ♪ Knees and toes, baby one, two, three ♪ ♪ Knees and toes, baby one, two, three ♪ ♪ Knees and toes, knees and toes ♪ ♪ Knees and toes, baby one, two, three ♪ <v ->Fantastic.

</v> So if we've warmed up, then we're probably ready to sing.

Alex says, his muscles are feeling loose.

Aisha's throat's feeling relaxed.

And Lucas is alert and ready to focus.

I hope you are too.

Here we go.

In our lesson today, there are two learning cycles.

The first one is called "Identifying high and low notes in the songs we sing." And then we'll move on to "Placing those high and low notes on a musical stave." Let's begin with identifying high and low notes in the songs that we're about to sing.

This is a new song and game called "Bobby Shafto." Here comes a clip to show us how it goes.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Bobby Shafto's gone to sea ♪ ♪ Silver buckles on his knee ♪ ♪ He'll come back to visit me ♪ ♪ Bobby, Bobby Shafto ♪ ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Bobby Shafto's gone to sea ♪ ♪ Silver buckles on his knee ♪ ♪ He'll come back to visit me ♪ ♪ Bobby, Bobby Shafto ♪ <v ->Now you can pause the video</v> and sing and play "Bobby Shafto" where you are.

Off you go.

The melodies that we sing are made of high notes and low notes.

And as Izzy says, "We use the word pitch to describe how high or how low a note is." Here's another song.

This is, "I'm Stretching Very Tall." Here comes the clip to show us how it goes.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ I'm stretching very tall ♪ ♪ And now I'm very small ♪ ♪ Now tall, now small ♪ ♪ Now I'm a tiny ball ♪ <v ->Now pause the video and you can use that audio button</v> to play this where you are.

Okay, well done.

What did you notice about the actions in the song? The actions showed when the pitch was something and something.

What words do we think fit there? The actions showed us when the pitch was? High and low.

And those actions can help us feel when the pitch is going higher and lower as we sing.

This is "Apple Tree." Watch the clip to remind us how it goes.

♪ Apple tree, apple tree ♪ ♪ Will your apples fall on me ♪ ♪ I won't cry and I won't shout ♪ ♪ If your apples knock me out ♪ <v ->And you can pause the video to sing and do the actions</v> to "Apple Tree" where you are.

Off you go.

Here's a new song to practise high and low.

It's called "Seesaw." Here comes the clip.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Seesaw, up and down ♪ ♪ In the air and on the ground ♪ <v ->You're going to pause the video in a moment</v> and sing this where you are.

And as you sing the song, move your body up and down as if you're on a seesaw.

Try it with a partner.

Move up and down together.

Pause the video.

Off you go.

Great fun.

Now then, the melody of "Seesaw" is made up of two pitches, a high pitch and a low pitch.

And we're going to call the high pitch ♪ So ♪ and we're going to call the lower pitch ♪ Mi ♪ Okay? Now then, two jobs.

The first one, there's a clip going to come on and you're going to echo each line.

So, you'll hear ♪ So and mi ♪ being sung to the tune of "Seesaw." And it's for you to copy.

Let's do that one first.

Here it comes.

♪ So, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ <v Instructor>Brilliant.

Great echoing.

</v> And our second job is to use our finger to show the pitch.

And you can see there the words going ♪ Seesaw, up and down ♪ Join in with this clip.

♪ Seesaw, up and down ♪ ♪ In the air and on the ground ♪ <v ->Wonderful.

You're doing really well.

</v> Now, "Frog in the Meadow" can have pitch actions.

We're going to sing "Frog in the Meadow," and we're going to stand tall when the pitch is ♪ High ♪ And we're going to crouch down like a frog when the pitch is ♪ Low ♪ Okay? So have a think while you're singing, which note does that song start on? And which note does the song end on? Where is our high pitch and where is our low pitch? Pause the video, sing "Frog in the Meadow," and then we'll find out if you're right.

Fantastic singing, really well done.

Okay, which note does the song start on? It starts on our high note and we call that note, so.

And the note that our song ends on is our low note, and can you remember what that one's called? We call that one mi.

Very well done.

Time to move on to the second part of our lesson, placing high and low notes on a musical stave.

Now we can write songs and music down so that we remember them for another day and share them with people.

And when we write music down, we use symbols to represent the different notes.

And that's called notation.

That's one of our key words, notation.

One way of notating music is to use a stave like this one.

It has a high line and a low line.

Now if we listen to the first line of our song, "Apple Tree," we can see that the higher notes are going on the high line and the lower notes on the lower line.

Have a listen.

♪ Apple tree, apple tree ♪ <v ->Great.

</v> Can you notice the high and low are shown on our stave? Now, in music we have a system called Solfege, and we can place the Solfege syllables on our stave to show how high or how low the pitch is.

Now we already know two of them.

So for "Apple Tree," we have ♪ So, so, mi ♪ for ♪ Apple tree ♪ And again.

♪ So, so, mi ♪ So, so is our higher pitch on the higher line of the stave and mi is our lower pitch on the lower line of the stave.

A quick check-in, then.

How do we show high and low on a stave? On the stave, blank notes are placed on the high line and blank notes are placed on the low line.

Can you fill in the blanks? And I think you'll have this correct on the stave.

High notes are placed on the high line and low notes are placed on the low line.

Well done.

Now we're going to recognise high and low notes in our song, "Frog in the Meadow." So there's a frog on our stave.

And that's our first note.

Have a listen.

♪ Frog in the meadow ♪ So, what we're going to do is the track will come on and I'd like you to sing each line of the song and point to the high and low frogs.

Here it comes.

♪ Ready, steady off we go ♪ ♪ Frog in the meadow ♪ ♪ Can't get him out ♪ ♪ Take a little stick and stir him about ♪ <v ->Great job.

</v> So is placed on the high line of this stave and mi is placed on the low line.

Have a listen to the track and here come the Solfege syllables on the stave.

Are we ready? ♪ Frog in the meadow ♪ <v ->And as Izzy says, "So has a higher pitch than mi."</v> Let's sing the first line of "Frog in the Meadow" using the Solfege syllables so and mi.

Here comes the track.

Are we ready? ♪ So, so, so, mi, mi ♪ <v ->Well done.

Great stuff.

</v> Okay, in the second line of "Frog in the Meadow," which Solfege syllable comes next? Is it so or mi? If we look at our stave, we've got ♪ So, so, so ♪ ♪ So, so, so ♪ For ♪ Can't get him ♪ Which one is for out? Now Aisha says that she can sing and show the pitch with her hand to find out if the next note is high or low.

Try that.

Make sure you definitely know.

It is mi.

♪ So, so, so, mi ♪ Well done.

Now you're going to sing "Seesaw," showing the pitch with your finger.

Up here for the high line of the stave and the lower line.

♪ So, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, mi, mi ♪ ♪ So, so, mi ♪ <v ->Super.

</v> And what I'd like you to do is place the notes on the stave to complete the first line of the song.

So you could draw those notes, you could use counters or another object to show which ones is higher and which ones are lower.

Pause the video and do that where you are.

Let's see how you did.

We've placed the notes on our stave to complete the first line of "Seesaw." So we have, ♪ Seesaw, up and down ♪ And we should have our ♪ So, mi, so, so, mi ♪ on our stave.

If you got that right, fantastic.

Well done.

And we can check our answers by singing the melody again and pointing to our notes on the stave to check our answer.

Pause the video and do that now.

Well, that's almost all we have time for today.

Let's have a recap on what we've learned.

We know how important it is to warm up our voices before we sing, to help prevent our voices becoming injured.

And we know that the melodies we sing are made up of high notes and low notes and that those notes have names.

We use the word pitch to describe how high or how low a note is.

And we understand that music can be written down, or notated, to be remembered for another day.

And lastly, we've been able to show ♪ So and mi ♪ on a musical stave.

That really is it for today.

Really well done.

See you next time.