Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

I'm Ms. Boyd and I'll be your music teacher today.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to recognise contrasting dynamics, you'll be able to perform using contrasting dynamics, and you'll be able to compose your own piece of music using contrasting dynamics.

But before we get started, should we begin with a hello song? ♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ Hello hello, it's good to see you ♪ ♪ Hello hello, it's good to see you ♪ ♪ I must say, you've made my day ♪ ♪ Hello, hello, hello ♪ So what are dynamics? Dynamics are how loud or quiet a sound is.

And to get us thinking about dynamics, have a look at the objects on our screen.

Which of these objects do you think make a loud sound? And which of these objects do you think make a quiet sound? I'll pause for a few moments for you to have a think.

Each of these three pictures represents something that make a loud sound.

Have a listen.

That trumpet was pretty loud, wasn't it? How about the next picture? That was really loud, wasn't it? And I think the dynamics got even louder as the train got closer.

What about the third picture? Gosh, all of those people shouting really did create a loud dynamic, didn't it? And these three things don't make much sound at all.

In fact, their dynamic is really, really quiet, isn't it? When you wear slippers, you can hardly hear footsteps.

Or if you're whispering to someone, you can just about hear what they're saying.

That was really quiet.

And something even quieter like a teddy bear, doesn't make any noise at all.

Now in music, contrasting dynamics make things sound really interesting.

You can get loud sounds with your instruments.

You can get quiet sounds with your instruments, and a variety of both really makes the music sound really, really good.

Often, you see loud marked as F, which means fortissimo.

And P, which means soft.

Have a listen to this piece of music.

Let's listen out for when it gets really quiet and soft.

And let's notice when the dynamics grow and get really loud.

Are you ready? Listening ears on.

Did you hear how that grew from being really quiet to much louder? Those dynamics really worked.

Let's try and listen to that again.

Those dynamics really do make us feel like something's coming, something's about to happen.

I was using my hands to demonstrate going from really quiet sounds to a really loud sound.

And the movement from a quiet to a loud sound is a called a crescendo.

When we go from a quiet to a loud sound or a loud sound to a quiet sound, it's called a crescendo.

Remember, the P stands for really quiet and soft, and the F stands for really loud.

So those symbols that you see on the screen means that piece of music can go from being really quiet to much louder and then back to quiet again.

For this next activity, we're going to sing a song and we're going to apply these dynamics to the song.

So when I go like this, it's my turn to sing.

And when I go like that, it's your turn to copy me.

Are you ready? Let's sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

We're going to start by singing it really quietly and then we're going to crescendo and get much louder, and then we're going to bring it back to being quiet.

Okay? I'll be the conductor, the one controlling the dynamics in the music, and I want you to follow me as we sing this song together.

Are you ready? ♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ Twinkle, twinkle little star ♪ ♪ How I wonder what you are ♪ ♪ Up above the world so high ♪ ♪ Like a diamond in the sky ♪ ♪ Twinkle, twinkle little star ♪ ♪ How I wonder what you are ♪ Well done for following those dynamics.

Now, you can add dynamics to any piece of music, any song that you know, we can make it louder and quieter in different places.

So we're going to play a game to practise that.

In this game, you're going to make up your own dynamics.

You can choose which parts you want to make loud and which parts you want to make quiet.

I'll have a go singing through the song first.

Whenever I go like this, it's my turn, and when I do that, it's your turn.

Are you ready.

A one, two, a one two, three.

♪ A boom chick a boom ♪ ♪ A boom chick a boom ♪ ♪ A boom chick a rock a chick a rock a chick a boom ♪ ♪ Uh-Huh ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ One more time ♪ ♪ Let's go ♪ ♪ Boom chick a boom ♪ ♪ A boom chick a boom ♪ ♪ Boom chick a rock a chick a rock a chick a boom ♪ ♪ Uh-Huh ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ One more time ♪ ♪ Let's go ♪ ♪ I said a boom chick a boom ♪ ♪ I said a boom chick a boom ♪ ♪ I said a boom a chick a rock a chick a rock a chick a boom ♪ ♪ Uh-Huh ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ One more time ♪ ♪ Let's go ♪ Okay.

What I'd like you to do now is pause this video.

Have a go at singing boom chick a boom, and I want you to create different dynamics for each of those different lines.

Maybe find someone in your house to listen to you and copy you while you share your dynamics.

Now and create your own dynamic contrast using the boom chick a boom song.

Wow, we're at the end of the lesson already.

But well done, we've learned so much about dynamic contrasts.

You've practised how to recognise contrasting dynamics.

You've performed some contrasting dynamics, and you've been composing using contrasting dynamics.

Well done.

But before we go, we have to say goodbye properly with our goodbye song.

♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ Goodbye, goodbye ♪ ♪ It's time to go now ♪ ♪ Goodbye, goodbye ♪ ♪ It's time to go now ♪ ♪ I must say, you've made my day ♪ ♪ Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye ♪ If you'd like to share some of the music we've made together today, feel free to ask your parent or carer to share your work on social media.