Lesson video

Hi there again, everybody.

Welcome back to our compose and create unit on recording our musical ideas using a graphic score.

In today's lesson, we are going to be choosing appropriate percussion timbres to represent an animal, which means we get to link our instruments to animals that we want to explore, and we're going to do that together.

Let's go.

In this lesson, you're going to respond to music using movement and understand that timbre can help develop a character.

Let's begin by looking at today's keywords.

We begin with composer.

A composer is a person who creates music.

Then the conductor, a person who directs musicians or singers.

Then timbre the description of the sound or tone of a musical instrument.

We know that before we start our music lesson, we warm up.

Not only will we warm our voices if we are singing, but when we're playing music, we're warming up to connect to each other, to be listening, to be ready so that when we do make music together, it sounds good.

I'd like you to begin by joining in with these warmups.

You'll start by following the actions to keep the pulse of the music.

Here they come.

(playful music) (stomping) (playful music) (clapping) (playful music) (thumping) (playful music) (playful music continues) (playful music continues) (groaning) I do like a good stretch.

Right, there are three more warmups on your screen.

There's, 'Don't clap this one back." There's, "Do as I'm doing." And there's "Timbre in a box." Now have a go at playing those where you are and I'll see you in a mo.

Off you go.

This is a game called "Don't Clap This One Back." You'll hear me clapping different rhythms, like this one.

(rhythmic clapping) And that rhythm is actually our secret rhythm that we are never going to clap, because that rhythm says, (rhythmic clapping) don't clap this one back.

So if you hear it, you do nothing.

Any other rhythm you hear, we all clap together.

Let's try a couple.

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

Now you're going to listen super carefully because if you hear, (rhythmic clapping) we don't clap that rhythm back.

Okay, let's play.

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

Here we go.

(rhythmic clapping) (rhythmic clapping) (rhythmic clapping) (rhythmic clapping) (rhythmic clapping) Very well done.

Now you can practise that where you are.

♪ 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 ♪ ♪ 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 ♪ ♪ Here is a box ♪ ♪ Lift the lid ♪ ♪ I wonder what inside it is hid ♪ (jingling) <v ->What could it be?</v> Yes, come have a look.

<v ->I think it's a tambourine.

</v> <v ->Let's see.

</v> (jingling) Let's have a look and see what's next.

Are you ready? (playful music) ♪ Here is a box ♪ ♪ Lift the lid ♪ ♪ I wonder what inside it is hid ♪ (thudding) <v ->Yes, come have a look.

</v> <v ->I think it's amagogo.

</v> <v ->Let's lift the lid and see.

</v> You are right, it was a wooden sound.

Can you see what it is? <v ->A wooden block.

</v> <v ->It's a wood block.

Amazing.

</v> What does it sound like? (thudding) Brilliant.

Let's see what's next.

(playful music) ♪ Here is a box ♪ ♪ Lift the lid ♪ ♪ I wonder what inside it is hid ♪ (jingling) <v ->Come and see what you think it could be.

</v> What do you think? <v ->I think it's a shaker.

</v> <v ->Let's lift the lid.

</v> (jingling) <v ->Now let's check in with ourselves,</v> are we ready for music? Jacob says, his body's feeling relaxed and ready, Laura's listening and Andeep is feeling focused.

If you're ready to listen, you're feeling focused, your body's feeling quite relaxed, we're probably ready to carry on.

There are two learning cycles in today's lesson.

The first one is responding to music, and we're going to do that with plenty of movement.

The second is choosing sounds to represent an animal.

All very exciting.

Let's start by responding to music.

We've been listening to the Carnival of the Endangered Animals by Debbie Wiseman.

Debbie uses music to tell stories of animals and the environments that they live in.

I'm going to put some music on and I would like you to think, which animal might this music be describing? Your choices are blue whale, orangutan, polar bear, and red panda.

Here comes the track.

(playful orchestral music) (playful orchestral music continues) That music was orangutan.

And I wonder what it was about the music that Debbie created that made us feel that the animal she was describing was an orangutan.

<v ->Orangutan.

</v> They got really long arms and they live in the forest, and I wanted you to imagine the rhythm of these animals.

So there's lots of rhythmic music there between the orchestra and the percussion.

It's like a very, very lively dance.

And these are animals that have loads and loads of energy.

There's a little quiet section in the middle, where I was imagining they may be having a little rest or sleep.

And then at the end, big finale and they spring back to life.

<v ->If we think about the music and the animal,</v> it's lively, excited, full of life, energetic, dance like, rhythmic and playful.

We can respond to music using movement.

Have a watch of this clip and I'd like you to think, how does an orangutan move and does this music help us to move like an orangutan? Here it comes.

(playful music) (playful music continues) You are going to listen again to "Orangutan," and imagine an orangutan moving to the music.

And I'd like you to show your orangutan movements.

Off you go.

Thinking about that animal and that music, how did you move and why did you decide to move in that way? Lucas says, "The music made me want to stretch up high and reach for the trees." And Sofia said the music wanted to make her swing from tree to tree, just like an orangutan might.

This next piece of music describes the blue whale.

Have a listen.

(graceful orchestral music) (graceful orchestral music continues) (graceful orchestral music continues) (dramatic orchestral music) And again, thinking about the animal and the music, some of the words we might use to describe it are awesome, big, beautiful, amazing, immense, graceful, and majestic <v ->Blue whale, another huge animal.

</v> So there's big grand chords.

I wanted you to feel the scale of the animal in the music, and it's marked Maestoso, which means majestically.

Play it majestically.

And I want you to feel the waves and the feel of the waves in the music as well with the horns and the strings.

<v ->We're gonna have another listen to the track</v> and we're gonna respond by moving to the music.

And I'd like you to think, how does a blue whale move and does this music help us to move like a blue whale? (graceful music) (graceful music continues) (graceful music continues) So listen again.

Imagine a blue whale moving to the music and show your blue whale movements.

Pause the video, put the music back on.

Off you go.

So how did you move this time? How did you move in a different way to the orangutan? And why did you choose those movements? Andeep said the music made him want to move gracefully and also more slowly.

And Alex says, "I think that the blue whale moves proudly," which is a beautiful word.

So we might be thinking about that confident, graceful movement in our classroom through the water, feeling proud of ourselves.

It's now the turn of the polar bear.

So we're going to think how a polar bear moves and think about if this music would help us to move like a polar bear.

Here comes the clip.

(bold orchestral music) And the same as the orangutan and the blue whale, this time it's your turn to move like a polar bear.

(bold music) (bold music continues) So pause the video here, use that music to play in your classroom and start thinking about the movements of a polar bear.

Off you go.

And how did we move this time? How is it different again.

Aisha tells us, "Well, I think a polar bear moves with big, strong steps." And Jun said, "The music almost made me want to sway a little bit from side to side." I hope you had fun exploring how each of those animals move and hopefully that music helped us want to move in different ways.

It's time for our first task and there's two parts to it.

The first one is, you're going to watch the clip and decide which animal the music is representing.

And then we're going to listen to a track, and move in character with each animal in turn.

Okay, so we're going to pause, we're going to watch the clip first and decide, oh, I think that music is representing that animal.

Then you're going to move in character with each animal.

So you're listening for when the music sounds different.

Does it sound more like a blue whale, more like a polar bear, or more like an orangutan? (graceful music) (graceful music continues) (bold music) (bold music continues) (playful music) (playful music continues) Pause the video and enjoy that where you are.

Beautiful.

What creative movements.

Now if we think about each animal in turn, that blue whale, how did you move like a blue whale? I'd like you to pause the video and just chat with each other and your teacher to think how did different people move like a blue whale.

What words would you use to describe? Have a pause.

Maybe you said something like, with graceful, majestic movements, swooping and diving through the water.

Now we're going to think about the orangutan.

How did you move like an orangutan? Again, have a pause so you can all chat.

You may have said something like, I stretched up high as if I was swinging through the trees.

You may have said something entirely different, 'cause you'll be thinking about the character of an orangutan and what that means to you.

And lastly, how did you move like a polar bear? Pause again and check in with those around you.

You might have said something like, with big, bold steps moving over the icebergs.

I hope there was lots of exciting discussion in your class about how you move differently as a blue whale, as an orangutan and as a polar bear.

Well done.

It's time for our second half of the lesson.

This is our learning cycle on choosing sounds to represent an animal.

We know that each instrument has its own special sound or tone and we call that timbre.

As Jun says, "The composer Debbie Wiseman, she chose instruments really carefully for each animal, each with a timbre that helps us to hear or imagine that animal and its environment." Now there's an instrument called a viola, it's a bit bigger than a violin.

And the violas are part of the big sweeping melody that suggests that blue whale is swimming graciously deep in the ocean.

Have a watch of this clip to see if you agree.

(graceful orchestral music) (graceful orchestral music continues) (graceful orchestral music continues) (dramatic orchestral music) Wow, so why do you think Debbie Wiseman did choose the violas to play the melody for the blue whale? What is it about that sound that helps us see the blue whale in our mind's eye? You can pause here to have a discussion in your class about the timbre of the violas.

What is it about that sound that might relate to why Debbie Wiseman chose them to show the blue whale? Pause now and have a quick chat.

You might have said something like, the viola has a deep rich timbre, maybe that's why she chose it for that elegant, huge animal.

We're now going to hear from the conductor.

The conductor, Matthew Quinn.

Now Matthew's job is to stand at the front and to make sure all of those players, those musical instrument players, are keeping in time and helping that sound really come to life to describe those animals.

<v ->I think the use of the cymbal in particular</v> in this movement, listen out for that, because it depicts so clearly the crash of a wave.

You'll hear these cymbals starting off very, very, very, very quiet and then crashing as if this whale has just crashed through the surface, and kind of the blow hole that we all know at the top of whales is kind of emerging from the surface.

And then it sinks back down again, and we have this kind of playful pattern.

<v ->We're gonna take a look now just at that cymbal crash,</v> it has that crashing shimmering timbre.

Here it comes.

(dramatic orchestral music) (dramatic orchestral music continues) Did you hear it? Did you hear the cymbal? Can you imagine that whale crashing through the surface of the water? It's a really effective instrument choice.

The timbre of the cymbal is bringing to life the idea of a whale crashing through the water.

A quick check-in then.

Why do you think the composer Debbie Wiseman chose to use a cymbal instead of a different instrument? Why did you use a cymbal when thinking about the blue whale? Have a pause, have a chat, and see what ideas you come up with.

Aisha came up with a good idea.

She said, "It might be to suggest the blue whale blowing water as it reaches the surface." And Lucas says, "The sound of a cymbal is like the splash of a wave." Maybe you had some of these ideas too and some of your own.

The cymbal was chosen because of its unique sound, it's timbre.

Lucas reminds us, "An instrument's timbre is the way it sounds.

It helps us identify that instrument and it gives that sound a special colour." Now the djembe offers an exciting rhythm that helps us imagine the orangutan playing and swinging through the trees.

Have a watch.

(playful thumping music) Also, the clarinet plays this repetitive swinging-swaying melody.

What does this make you think of? Here it comes.

(playful music) (playful music continues) (playful music continues) And it's not just timbre by itself that creates a musical story, all of those musical elements are coming together to help create this.

So when we think of the clarinet, that swinging-swaying rhythm, and the change in pitch of that clarinet melody, that helped us imagine orangutans swinging through the trees.

And Aisha says, "The fast repetitive rhythm played on the djembe that helps us feel the energy of those wonderful orangutans." So a quick check-in for you, a true or false.

The timbre of an instrument can help us imagine an animal, but it's the way that the instrument's played that brings the story to life.

Do you think that's true, or do you think that's false? Give me a thumbs up or a thumbs up.

Yeah, it is true, 'cause you can play an instrument with a high or a low pitch, you might play it fast or slow, energetically or calmly.

All those musical elements and the way we choose to play that helps create the animal.

It's not just the timbre, not just the sound of the instrument by itself.

So here is our task for today.

You're going to choose an animal.

You might choose a blue whale, you might choose an orangutan or a polar bear, and we're going to create some music.

The second thing you're going to do once you've decided on your animal is choose a percussion instrument that you think might represent either the animal, thinking about its size, the way it moves, or perhaps the environment that it lives in.

Then think about what your instrument's called, and what material makes it sound.

Then decide how to play that instrument.

That might be a straightforward way of playing it, but maybe there's other ways you can explore too.

Can you tap it? Can you scrape it? Can you shake it? Can you rub it? Can you do different things to make that instrument create different sounds, different timbres that you think will represent your animal? Why then have you chosen that particular sound or timbre? Is it 'cause it's helping to describe the movement of the animal, or the size of the animal, or what it's walking on or moving through? Have a think about how you're going to bring to life that idea of that animal.

And then, when you've had a bit of a practise, play that instrument to a partner and see if they can guess which animal that you chose.

Okay, pause the video here and explore where you are.

See you in a bit.

What a fantastic thing to do, bringing those animals to life in your classroom, because you've carefully thought about how you will describe it, and how you will play that instrument to really bring it to life.

Well done.

The last thing we're going to do is look at a number of questions and then share our responses.

So you'll pause the video in a moment and chat to maybe a talk partner, or as a class and run through some of these questions.

The first one is, what made you choose the animal? And you might say, well, I chose the polar bear because I really like polar bears, or because I knew I could describe that with an instrument.

Think why was your instrument a good choice, and was it a good choice? You might say, well, the instrument works really well because it's big and boomey, or because it made a swinging sound or whatever it might be.

And then could you identify the instrument's material? Did you know if it was metal, wood, had a skin? Did that help you choose it for that animal? Then think about the way that you played the instrument.

Did it make just one sound, or did you manage to use it to create different sounds.

And think, is there anything you would change? For example, would you play it louder or quieter to help describe your animal? Or maybe faster and slower if you animal moves at a different tempo.

Then you're going to think, how would I describe the timbre of this instrument? You might say, well, I describe my instrument's timbre as, shiny or big or bold, or scratchy, or whatever it might be.

Okay, and lastly, did your partner guess correctly when you played your animal on your instrument? Could they guess which animal you were trying to describe, and what feedback did they give you? Pause the video, work through those questions, and I'll see you at the end.

You have been fantastic today, choosing really carefully, thinking about the instrument choice and how you would play it to represent an animal.

Let's have a recap on our learning before we go.

We know composers can create music and they can help us imagine animals, characters, and stories.

When we move to the music, that can also help us imagine the stories that the composer's trying to tell.

Instruments are chosen carefully because of their timbre.

But all those musical elements of tempo, of dynamics, of texture, all work together to create an animal and the story that we're trying to tell in our music.

Percussion instruments can be played in many different ways.

We can really explore with that to create the imagery of an animal, or its environment.

I hope you've had fun creating animals with percussive instruments today.

Lovely to see you.

See you next time.

Bye-bye.