Lesson video

Hello everyone.

It's Mrs. Steele here with another music lesson for you today.

I'm really excited about this one because we're going to be doing some call and response improvisation.

You're gonna have a brilliant time.

Let's get going.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to improvise with a partner using do, mi, so, and la within a call and response structure.

Here are some of the keywords that will be important in our learning for today.

Improvise, to thoughtfully create new musical ideas in the moment.

Note, a single sound in music.

Call and response, a question and answer musical structure.

Melody, a combination of notes to make a memorable tune.

And pitched percussion, an instrument that can play musical notes when we strike it.

Before every music lesson, it's important to warm up our bodies and our voices so we're ready to move and ready to sing.

Warming up helps prevent us from injuring our voices too.

Follow these warmups so that you're ready for singing.

Here comes the video.

(music tapping) Reach up to the sky and down to the ground.

To the side, to the side, turn around and clap.

(music tapping) Reach up to the sky and down to the ground, to the side, to the side, turn around and clap.

(music tapping) Reach up to the sky and down to the ground, to the side, to the side, turn around and 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.

(instructor breathing) Tss, tss, tss.

♪ Ah ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ She sells sea shells by the sea shore.

She sells seashells by the sea shore.

These chants and songs will help us to warm up further as they help us to move our body and use our voices in lots of different ways.

Here comes a video of "Two, Four, Six, Eight." Get ready to join in.

(music tapping) Ready, steady, off we go.

<v Children>Two, four, six, eight.

</v> Meet me at the garden gate.

If I'm late, don't wait.

Two, four, six, eight.

<v ->Now join in with Kumala Vista.

</v> Here it comes.

♪ Kumala kumala kumala vista ♪ ♪ Kumala kumala kumala vista ♪ ♪ Oh no no no no vista ♪ ♪ Oh no no no no vista ♪ ♪ Inie minie deca minie ooh ah la inie minie ♪ ♪ Inie minie deca minie ooh ah la inie minie ♪ ♪ Scattan dooten rattan dooten ra ra ra ♪ ♪ Scattan dooten rattan dooten ra ra ra ♪ ♪ Kumala kumala kumala vista ♪ ♪ Kumala kumala kumala vista ♪ ♪ Oh no no no no vista ♪ ♪ Oh no no no no vista ♪ ♪ Inie minie deca minie ooh ah la inie minie ♪ ♪ Inie minie deca minie ooh ah la inie minie ♪ ♪ Scattan dooten rattan dooten ra ra ra ♪ ♪ Scattan dooten rattan dooten ra ra ra ♪ ♪ Kumala kumala kumala vista ♪ ♪ Kumala kumala kumala vista ♪ ♪ Oh no no no no vista ♪ ♪ Oh no no no no vista ♪ ♪ Inie minie deca minie ooh ah la inie minie ♪ ♪ Inie minie deca minie ooh ah la inie minie ♪ ♪ Scattan dooten rattan dooten ra ra ra ♪ ♪ Scattan dooten rattan dooten ra ra ra ♪ ♪ Kumala kumala kumala vista ♪ ♪ Kumala kumala kumala vista ♪ ♪ Oh no no no no vista ♪ ♪ Oh no no no no vista ♪ ♪ Inie minie deca minie ooh ah la inie minie ♪ ♪ Inie minie deca minie ooh ah la inie minie ♪ ♪ Scattan dooten rattan dooten ra ra rather ♪ ♪ Scattan dooten rattan dooten ra ra ra ♪ <v ->And finally, you might know this one.

</v> It's "The Grand old Duke of York." Watch the video and join in.

(upbeat music) ♪ Oh the Grand old Duke of York ♪ ♪ He had ten thousand men ♪ ♪ He marched them up to the top of the hill ♪ ♪ And he marched them down again ♪ ♪ And when they were up, they were up ♪ ♪ And when they were down, they were down and down ♪ ♪ And when they were only half way up ♪ ♪ They neither up nor down ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Oh the Grand old Duke of York ♪ ♪ He had ten thousand men ♪ ♪ He marched them up to the top of the hill ♪ ♪ And he marched them down again ♪ ♪ And when they were up, they were up ♪ ♪ And when they were down, they were down and down ♪ ♪ And when they were only half way up ♪ ♪ They neither up nor down ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Oh the Grand old Duke of York ♪ ♪ He had ten thousand men ♪ ♪ He marched them up to the top of the hill ♪ ♪ And he marched them down again ♪ ♪ And when they were up, they were up ♪ ♪ And when they were down, they were down and down ♪ ♪ And when they were only half way up ♪ ♪ They neither up nor down ♪ <v ->Are you ready to sing?</v> Do your muscles feel loose? Is your throat relaxed? And do you feel alert and ready to focus? Fantastic.

Let's go.

We're going to begin by exploring call and response improvisation.

Listen to our new song called "Cherry Pie." After you've listened, pause and then it's your turn to sing the song and tap the beat on your knees.

You could use the audio again for this if you'd like to.

Here comes the music.

(music tapping) ♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ My my me oh my ♪ ♪ How I love that cherry pie ♪ Can you think of any different kinds of pie to add to our new song? Sam's thinking of pumpkin pie.

Jacob is adding blueberry pie to our song.

And Jen's chosen chicken pie.

Delicious.

We've thought about different kinds of pie to add to our song.

We can use these ideas to improvise new lyrics as we sing.

Aisha is telling us that improvisation is when we create and perform new musical ideas in the moment.

Improvising is different from composing.

Improvising is making up music as you go along.

And composing is creating and improving a piece of music that you may write down.

We can use these skills to improvise new endings for "Cherry Pie." It's time to learn a new game now.

In the game, sing the first line of the song together as you pass an object around the circle.

Then whoever has the object at the end will sing the second line on their own.

Choosing a new type of pie.

Have a look at this video where these pupils are completing that musical challenge.

♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ My my my me oh my ♪ ♪ How I love that blueberry pie ♪ ♪ My my my me oh my ♪ ♪ How I love that coconut pie ♪ ♪ My my my me oh my ♪ ♪ How I love that chocolate pie ♪ <v ->Now it's your turn to play the cherry pie game.

</v> Be ready to improvise your new pie lyrics without leaving a gap.

Keep to that steady pulse.

Pause now to have a go at playing the cherry pie game.

Have fun.

Let's check in with our learning so far.

Can you remember what does it mean to improvise music? Is it A, to perform a song we know? B, to create new musical ideas in the moment? Or C, to practise a song many times? Pause the video now to decide.

Here comes the answer.

It's B.

To improvise music is to create new musical ideas in the moment.

Well done if you remembered that.

Excellent understanding.

Now let's sing "Apple Tree." As you sing, show the beat using body percussion.

You could also try clapping the rhythm.

Here comes the music.

(music tapping) ♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ 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 ♪ (music tapping) ♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ 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 ♪ We can improvise alone, with a partner, or in a group.

One way to improvise is by using a call and response structure.

Laura's telling us that a call and response structure is like a musical question and answer.

We can hear this call and response structure in our song "Apple Tree." Thinking about that song, consider the question or the call.

What would you do with all those apples? Sophia's saying "I would eat them." That's what I would do too, I think.

We can also think of different ways of responding to the question or the call.

Jacob's saying "I would share them with my friends." That's a great idea, Jacob And Lucas says, "I would bake them in a pie." Listen carefully to the call.

♪ What would you do with all those apples ♪ We can improvise a new melody by singing our response.

This is Jun's improvisation.

♪ I would bake them in a pie ♪ We could listen to the call again and then try singing a different response like this.

♪ What would you do with all those apples ♪ ♪ I would give them to my teacher ♪ Good news.

It's your turn now to explore singing a response by playing the game.

Pass the object around the circle as you sing, and at the end of the song, sing the question.

♪ What would you do with all those apples ♪ Whoever has the object will sing their improvised answer.

Watch the video to see how these pupils do that.

Then pause and have a go where you are.

Here's the video.

♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ 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 ♪ ♪ What would you do with all those apples ♪ ♪ I will make an apple cake.

♪ ♪ Ready steady off we go ♪ ♪ 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 ♪ ♪ What would you do with all those apples ♪ ♪ I would make apple crumble ♪ <v ->Welcome back.

</v> How did it go? Did you answer using your singing voice? Well done if you did.

And could you keep a steady beat? Did you sing your response without leaving a gap keeping to the steady pulse? That's tricky, well done.

And was your response different than the person before you? Great listening and great improvisation.

Well done, musicians.

We are now going to try improvising using four notes.

There are many different ways to improvise new musical ideas.

We could improvise lyrics, rhythms, or melodies.

Lucas is saying we can improvise using our voices.

And we can improvise using instruments.

That's right, Lucas.

We can improvise melodies using a pitched percussion instrument like a xylophone or glockenspiel.

For this lesson, we'll be using the following bars on our pitched percussion instrument.

Here they are.

We're going to use C or do.

E, which is mi.

G, so.

And A, la.

We can use our song, "Rocky Mountain," to practise improvising, using do, mi, so, and la.

Here's a video to remind you of the song and the actions.

Get ready to join in.

(upbeat music) ♪ Rocky mountain rocky mountain ♪ ♪ Rocky mountain high ♪ ♪ When you are on that rocky mountain ♪ ♪ Hang your head and cry ♪ ♪ Do do do remember me ♪ ♪ Do do do remember me ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Stormy ocean stormy ocean ♪ ♪ Stormy ocean wide ♪ ♪ When you are on that stormy ocean ♪ ♪ There's nowhere to hide.

♪ ♪ Do do do remember me ♪ ♪ Do do do remember me ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Sunny valley, sunny valley ♪ ♪ Sunny valley low ♪ ♪ When you're in that sunny valley ♪ ♪ Sing it soft and low do ♪ ♪ Do do do remember me ♪ ♪ Do do do remember me ♪ <v ->We can improvise a new melody for the words</v> ♪ Do do do ♪ in the chorus of "Rocky Mountain." When you reach the words ♪ Do do do ♪ in the chorus, stop singing and instead try playing the notes.

♪ Do mi so la ♪ On your instrument.

Pause now to give that a try where you are.

We can also improvise a new melody by playing those notes in a different pattern.

Lucas and Sophia have had to go at this already.

Try this a few times on your instrument where you are, improvising a new melody each time.

Izzy sounds like this.

♪ Do mi so so ♪ And Jacob sounds like this.

♪ La so so la ♪ I wonder what your improvisation will sound like.

Pause now to perform "Rocky Mountain" with your own improvisations.

You could use the audio tracks to help you if you'd like.

Have a good time.

Another way to improvise on our pitched percussion instruments is by using a call and response structure.

Laura says, "We can play a musical question and answer on our instruments." We already know a song that has a call and response structure.

It's "Apple Tree." Working in two groups, we're going to clap the rhythm of "Apple Tree." The first group will clap the rhythm of the first line.

Apple tree, apple tree.

(instructor clapping) And the second group will respond by clapping the rhythm of the second line.

Will your apples fall on me? (instructor clapping) Remember to say the lyrics silently in your head as you clap the rhythm.

It's your turn to have a go at that challenge where you are now.

In two groups, clapping the rhythm of the call and the rhythm of the response.

Have a listen to this so you can hear what it sounds like.

(instruments tapping) Great listening.

Now it's your turn.

Pause the video to perform "Apple Tree" as a call and response.

We can also improvise new melodies by playing the "Apple Tree" rhythms on our instruments.

We can improvise by playing any of our four notes, do, mi, so, and la, in any order that we like.

Watch this video of these partners improvising together.

You'll notice that the first partner claps the call and the second partner plays their improvised response.

Here's the video.

<v ->Apple tree, apple tree.

</v> (instrument ringing) I won't cry and I won't shout.

(instrument ringing) <v ->We are going to improvise</v> using a call and response structure with a partner now.

We're going to take turns with a partner to improvise new melodies for "Apple Tree" using a call and response structure.

Let's begin with some time to practise clapping the call and response rhythms with your partner.

Pause now to try that where you are.

And you could use the audio to help you if you'd like it.

Are you ready for a new challenge? This time, practise playing the response using only one note on your pitched percussion instrument.

Pause now to try that where you are.

This time, we're going to think about playing the response using a combination of do, mi, so, and la.

Watch this video of these pupils in their call and response improvisation.

Here it comes.

<v ->Apple tree, apple tree.

</v> (instrument ringing) I won't cry and I won't shout.

(instrument ringing) <v ->Before you complete that musical challenge,</v> here are some important things to remember.

When you are improvising with your partner, take turns using a call and response structure.

Use only do, mi, so, and la in your response.

But you don't need to use all four of those notes.

Think of the lyrics of the song in your head.

That will help you play the rhythm accurately.

And be ready to play your response after your partner claps the call, keeping to a steady pulse.

Pause now to do your call and response improvisation.

Good luck.

How did it go? I bet it sounded amazing.

Did you take turns with your partner using a call and response structure.

Well done if you did.

And did you use the pitches do, mi, so, and la in your response? Were you ready to improvise your response without leaving a gap? Keeping to that steady pulse? And did you use the rhythms from our song "Apple Tree" accurately? Congratulations.

What a lot to remember.

Great music making, everyone.

As we come to the end of our lesson today, let's have a think about everything that we've been learning.

We know that improvising is a way to create new musical ideas in the moment.

We can improvise new words, new rhythms, or new melodies using our voices or instruments.

We know that we can improvise alone, in a group, or with a partner using call and response just like we did today.

And we know that we can improvise new melodies using do, mi, so, and la.

Great work today, musicians.

I can't wait till the next time.

Bye.