Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to your music lesson today.

My name is Miss Al-Hanoush and in today's lesson, we're going to be doing something super exciting, which is seeing how we can use our bodies to create music.

And we will be composing a piece of body percussion and performing it later in the lesson.

So up on your feet for our warmup and let's get started.

Let's begin by seeing whether you can follow me as a leader.

Clap when I clap.

Did I catch you out? Here we go.

Well done if you're picking up.

So it's really important to watch the person that's leading you.

And that's going to be super important in today's lesson.

Let's see if we can just establish a steady pulse, because that's the second thing that's going to be really important in today's lesson.

So here we go, we're going to go right foot and left foot.

So right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot.

Keep it going.

So one and two and three and four, and.

And in today's lesson, we're also going to be playing on what we call some syncopated rhythms. So, we're going to add a clap on the and beats.

So one, and two, and three, and four, and one, and two, and three, and four and one, and two, and three, and four, and.

Well done if you managed to keep up with that.

Let's see how much other body percussion sounds we can use with our body to make a piece of body percussion music.

In this lesson, you will need a piece of paper, a pencil, your body for doing lots of body percussion work and some water in case you get thirsty after all the body percussion.

You will also need a small space where you will be able to move around and remember to turn off any apps or notifications that might come through on electronic devices and disturb your learning.

If you need to pause the video now to go and get your equipment, do that, and then resume once you're ready to start.

Let's take a look at today's agenda.

You're going to begin by exploring different body percussion sounds and then before a body percussion piece that's been inspired by Stomp.

You're then going to compose your own body percussion section and end by performing your body percussion piece.

Let's begin by exploring different body percussion sounds.

We can make lots of different sounds with our body.

How many different sounds can you make? Pause the video and take two minutes to try and make as many different sounds as you can.

Resume the video once you think you're finished.

Here's a few that I came up with.

Finger clicks.

Thigh slaps.

Chest slaps.

Stamps.

Vocal sounds Claps.

Rubbing my hands together.

And tapping my fingers together.

Did you get any different ones on your list? It's incredible, the amount of different timbres that we can make with our own body.

Now that you have explored all the different types of sounds that you can make with your body, we're going to have a look at the three different sounds that we're going to use in today's lesson.

So they are a stamp, a clap and a thigh slap.

So, with me after four, can you stamp on beat one? Here we go.

One, two, three, four.

Excellent.

Notice how I don't bring my leg all the way up here, because it will take longer to get down to the floor and I won't make beat one.

So let's try that again.

Make sure your foot's close to the floor when you stamp.

Here we go, one, two, three, four.

Excellent.

Okay, second one is a clap.

Same thing, after four, one, two, three, four.

And again, notice my arms aren't out here, 'cause it's going to take me longer to get to beat one.

Try once more, one, two, three, four.

Brilliant, okay.

And a thigh slap after four, one, two, three, four.

And we're going to do something special with our thigh slap later We're actually going to do these as quarter beats.

So I would like you to do steady quaver for me.

Okay, ready, after four.

One, two, three, four, steady quaver.

Let's just try that again.

One, two, three, four, steady quaver.

Brilliant, well done.

Okay so let's see if we can use some of these to see if we can establish a pulse.

Because we need a pulse to be clear and steady throughout our music later so that we stay in time together.

So, we're going to go right foot, then left foot, right foot, left foot on each beat.

Here we go.

One, two, three, four.

Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot.

Well done, keep this going, so this is our pulse, and I'm going to use addition and I'm going to add in a clap.

Copy me.

Got it? Watch out, here's addition.

And stop.

So, can you see how each time, that came around, I added in a clap and then I added in a thigh slap.

So we started structure and build up our body percussion.

So what can you do with two or three different body percussion sounds? Can you structure them into an order? You can try with the three sounds that are on screen there or you can use your own in the next pause task.

For your first pause task, take five minutes to perform as many body percussion sounds as you can.

Can you put three or four of the sounds into in an order, one after the other, and tell me what happens when you start to structure your sounds? As an extension, what happens if you begin to repeat your order of sounds? And can you layer sounds one by one? For example, stamp, then stamp-clap, then stamp-clap-clap, etcetera, so you're using addition.

If you've got other household members available, ask them what sounds they can make with their body.

They might've thought of sounds that you haven't.

Pause the video, complete your task and then resume once you're finished.

Now that you've explored a variety of different body percussion sounds, you're now going to perform a body percussion piece.

I'm now going to perform a body percussion piece that you are then going to learn throughout the lesson.

One, two, three, four.

And there you have it.

There's our body percussion piece.

So, that compromises of the three different sounds that you can see on screen.

A stamp, a clap and a thigh slap, okay.

And it's made up of three different sections.

An intro, a main groove and an outro.

We're going to begin by learning our intro, the first section, and our outro, the last section.

So our intro and our outro are both made up of three bars each.

And this is how the intro sounds.

two, three, four.

two, three, four.

I like to think of it as a triangle, so we're going right foot first.

So stamp, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, three, four.

Stamp, clap, stamp, stamp.

Okay, so you're kind of drawing a triangle with your body.

And this uses a technique called addition.

So each bar, we're adding a different body part.

So, let's have a go at bar one.

It's the easiest, all it is, is a stamp on beat one.

Here we go.

One, two, three, four, stamp.

Excellent.

Okay, bar two, is a stamp, clap, stamp.

Okay, so right foot, clap in the middle, left foot.

One, two, three, four.

Stamp, clap, stamp.

Hey, well done.

Let's put bar one and bar two together.

So one, two, three, four, stamp, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp.

Excellent if you've got that.

Okay, bar three, is exactly the same, but we're adding on something else.

Have a listen and see if you can see what that is.

So one, two, three, four, stamp, stamp, stamp.

There was an extra stamp.

So let's try bar three, it's a stamp, clap, stamp, stamp.

One, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp.

Brilliant.

Let's see if you can put all three bars together, using addition.

After four.

One, two, three, four, stamp, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp.

Hey, well done if you've got that.

So that's our intro.

If you have a question about this still that's fine, you can rewind the video and have another go until you get it.

Our outro is exactly the same as the intro, but we play the three bars backwards.

So we start with bar three, then bar two, and then bar one.

So instead of addition, it's using subtraction.

Okay, so we're taking body parts away each time.

So our outro sounds like this.

Stamp, clap, stamp, stamp.

That was bar three of our intro.

Stamp, clap, stamp.

That was bar two.

And then stamp.

That was bar one, okay.

Let's see if we can try bar three of the outro first.

It's stamp, clap, stamp, stamp.

Here we go, one, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp.

Then stamp, clap, stamp, is bar two.

One, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp.

And then bar one, one, two, three, four, stamp.

Let's see if you can put the whole of the outro together.

So one, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp.

Stamp, clap, stamp, stamp.

There we go.

And that's our outro.

So it's the intro backwards.

So the intro uses addition.

The outro uses subtraction.

Again, if you need to rewind and have another look at that, feel free to do that and then practise it in your next pause task.

For your second pause task, take ten minutes to practise the intro and outro to our Stomp inspired performance.

As an extension, can you perform these rhythms, using different body parts or, in true Stomp style, find three items from around your house, for example, brooms, pans and utensils, and can you perform the rhythms using these instead of your body? See if you can teach the intro and outro to somebody at home, and don't forget, you can rewind the video and follow me if you want to check that you're doing correctly and stay in time.

Pause the video now to complete your task and then resume once you're finished.

Hopefully you are now confident in performing your intro and your outro and we now go to learn the middle section that we call a main groove.

The main groove is made up of an ostinato, which is repeated four times.

And it sounds like this, one, two, three, four, So that's our main groove.

The ostinato on its own, sounds like this.

Stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

Can you say that whilst I'm playing it? I'll take it slow.

Here we go, one, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

And again, one, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

This time, try and put it in with me.

So we'll do the beginning bit first.

So stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver.

Here we go, one, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver.

Well done if you've got that.

The next bit's slightly tricky.

There's the quaver rest, so we have to kind of take a little bit of a breath before we jump in with the next step.

And that makes it a syncopated rhythm, so that's why its a little bit trickier to try and perform.

So, have a listen to the second part.

So this is the first part, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, rest, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

So let's try that.

Stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

And again, so three, four, and stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

Okay, let's see if we can put all of that together.

We'll do it slow.

One, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

So that's the ostinato and you have to repeat that four times.

So, if you need to practise that, first, before you repeat it, feel free to rewind the video and do that.

Otherwise, see if you can join in with me and see if you can do it four times.

Here we go, we're going to count in to four.

One, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

Stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

Stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

Stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap.

And there's your main groove.

Again, if you need to rewind, and then see if you can keep performing alongside with me and make sure everything's fine, feel free to do that as well.

For your third pause task, take 10 minutes to practise the main groove to your Stomp inspired performance.

As an extension, again can you perform this using different body parts or in true Stomp style, find different items from around your house.

For example, find something that you can shake, something that you can tap and something that you can stamp on.

See if you can teach the Stomp performance to somebody at home and you can rewind the video and follow me if you want to check that you're doing the main groove correctly.

Pause the video to complete your task and then resume once you're finished.

At this stage, you should have practised your intro, your main groove and your outro, but you haven't necessarily put them together.

So let's see how they are structured and how we do this.

So our intro is our three bars using addition.

We then follow straight into the main groove that is our ostinato, played four times and that goes straight into our outro.

There isn't really a pause or a break in between each section.

Let's see if we can put this together.

We're going to go really slowly and I'm going to give you a count in of four.

Follow me.

One, two, three, four, stamp, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, main groove, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, semi-quaver, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, clap, Outro, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp.

And that's how they fit together.

If you didn't quite get that, again just keep rewinding the video and playing along until you actually do get that.

And if you're a genius and yeah, yeah, I got that, totally got it, this one's for you, we're going to go slightly faster.

Here we go.

One, two, three, four, stamp, two, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, three, four, stamp, clap, stamp, stamp, and Second time.

Third.

Four.

Outro.

Did you manage to keep up with me then? I nearly lost it as well in the middle.

But if you can, see if you can practise it at that speed, because then you'll be ready to add in your own that you're going to learn now and some dynamics as well, if you want that challenge.

For your next pause task, I'd like you to take five minutes to practise putting the intro, main groove and outro to our Stomp inspired performance together.

As an extension, can you perform this, using different body parts? You knew that one was coming.

Or in true Stomp style, could you use items from around your house? But please seek permission and help from a parent or carer before getting those items from around your house.

So, as an example, you could find one that needs to be shaken, maybe rice in a jar.

One that you need to play using your hand, so it may be a pan and one you stand on, for example, bubble wrap or newspaper.

See if you can teach the Stomp inspired performance to somebody at home and remember you can rewind the video and follow me if you want to check that you're doing it correctly and stay in time.

Pause the video to complete your task and then resume once you're finished.

Now that you performed a body percussion piece, you're now going to compose your own body percussion section.

So this part is super exciting, because you can be really creative.

So you're now going to compose a second section to our performance, using body percussion.

I've put some ideas in the blue box for you.

It must last at least four bars long, so that's 16 counts, so one, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

You need to think about which sounds you are going to use.

Personally, I would only use two or three to start with.

If you start simple, you can always add more.

Think about how you're going to create your section using a body or vocal section or a mix of both.

You can use ideas from our intro and our outro, for example, addition and subtraction.

You can improvise if you want to, but it might be quite hard to improvise for the whole four bars.

There's a bit of a challenge for you.

And if you have any other household members present, could they do this task with you and create polyrhythm section? So you'd have more than one body percussion rhythm being played at the same time.

Have a think about what you would like to put into your own section.

The structure of our piece is going to be intro, then our main groove, then your section and then our outro.

So to help you, you can see a grid on the screen now and you can see the sixteen counts that you will need to play for.

I've colour coded each bar, so this is bar one, bar two, bar three, and then bar four.

And this table is in the downloadable resources or you can draw it out yourself if you prefer.

So take a look at my example and see how I've used the idea of addition to begin with, then changed to something else later, in my last bar.

So I've begun bar one with a stamp and then I've used the technique of addition and done the same thing in bar two and added in some half beat claps.

So bar one and bar two sound like this.

Stamp, two, three, four, stamp, clap clap.

Okay, and then I've used addition again down here in bar three, where you can see my stamp, my claps and I've added in four thigh slaps.

And then I've changed it slightly, so I haven't used addition here in my fourth bar, where I've used stamp, clap clap, rest, stamp.

So here is how this sounds.

Here's a count in of four.

One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

Can you join in with me this time? See if you can perform my body percussion section.

Here's your count in of four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

Well done if you managed to stay in time with that.

So that's one way of drawing out and composing your body percussion section.

If you already read music and you can read notation, this is how I notated the intro, the main groove and the outro that we performed earlier.

So if you would prefer to notate it using rhythm notation, that is absolutely fine.

And if you want the challenge, go for it and see what you can come up with as well.

You don't have to use the rhythm grid from before.

So now that you had to go out doing my example, it's time for you to create your own example.

For your next pause task, I'd like you to take 10 minutes to compose a second section to follow the main groove.

Remember to rewind and use the ideas in the blue box to help you.

And there is also that empty structure sheets in the downloads that you can write your ideas out on As an extension, can you also compose your own intro and outro sections? How would you communicate those effectively as well? Pause the video to complete your task and then resume once you're finished.

Now that you've composed your own body percussion section, you're now going to perform your whole body percussion piece with a structure.

For the next pause task, take five to 10 minutes to perform your body percussion piece to a member of your household.

Ask them to clap the pulse for you as you perform to keep you in time.

And can you teach them your body percussion section? Try performing it in time with them.

Then, once you've done that, re perform it to them again, but this time add in some dynamics, Can they tell what's changed? As an extension, how could you make your body percussion part more complex? Can you add in at least two more body percussion sounds to it and try and perform it and also tell me why you have chosen those sounds? Pause the video to complete your task and then resume once you're finished, Let's take a look at today's lesson agenda and what you have learnt.

You began by exploring different body percussion sounds and then performed a body percussion piece, inspired by Stomp.

You then composed your own body percussion section and performed your body percussion piece.

Well done.

For your last pause task of the lesson, on your piece of paper, I would like you to answer the following question.

How can we use our body as an instrument? Take five minutes to answer this, pause the video, to complete your task, and then resume once you're finished.

So what did you come up with as the answer to this question, how can we use our body as an instrument? Well, body percussion can accompany lots of different pieces of music instead of instruments and also they can be pieces within their own right, as we've explored today.

So how incredible is that, that our body, we don't need anything else, can just be a piece of music or produce sounds that make a piece of music.

Incredible.

They also allow us to produce a variety of different sounds and that's vocally or by striking different body parts.

And that allows us to do really fun things like beat box.

It allows us to do body percussion pieces like we've seen today, making vocal groups and body grooves as well.

The fact that we've got hands and feet and our voice, also lets us layer lots of different body percussion sounds or vocal sounds, to create polyrhythm at the same time.

So more than one rhythm at the same time.

So our body is actually an incredible instrument to make music with and I hope that you've enjoyed using it today.

So my last plea from you is please don't forget to go and fill in the end of lesson quiz to see how much you've learned and show me how much you've learnt as well.

I really hope that you've had as much fun as I've had to today, teaching you that Stomp inspired performance.

If you have recorded your performances and you would like to share your work with Oak National, we would love to see what you've been up to.

And if you would like to, please ask your parent or parents to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak That's all for me today.

I now need to go and have a little rest and I'm sure you do too.

So I'll see you soon in one of the next lessons and goodbye for now.