Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

Welcome back to lesson three, improvising in a piece of music.

If you haven't done already, make sure you have done lesson one and lesson two as well first.

Today we're going to be doing lots of singing.

And of course, we're going to be learning about improvising and creating different patterns.

Are you ready? Let's go.

In lesson three, we are going to be recapping what improvising means.

We're going to create rhythmic patterns for the step back song we learned last week, we're going to improvise a rhythmic pattern, and we're going to be using different improvising techniques.

In this lesson, you will need your hands again.

We're going to be doing lots of rhythmic patterns and your brain.

Activity one, recapping what improvise means.

So, what does improvise mean? Can you remember? Have a little think.

Can you think of a sentence to describe what the word means? Improvise means we make it up.

There is no plan before you perform.

When you are improvising a pattern, you make it up on the spot.

In lesson two, we had to go at improvising some response patterns.

We're going to have another go this week, but we're going to go straight in with no practise.

So on the screen you can see our pattern.

I've mixed them up this week.

And then you're going to come up with a body percussion pattern to finish it with, okay? When my hands go out, I would like you to do a response.

This is our pulse.

Oh one, two, three, four.

Stomp, clap, stomp, clap.

And again.

Stomp, clap, stomp, clap.

Again.

Stomp, clap, stomp, clap.

Last time.

Stomp, clap, stomp, clap.

Did you manage to fill all the responses? Did you change your pattern each time, making sure that you improvised? Let's have another go, this time we're going to do the second one.

Okay, are we ready? One, two, three, four.

Stomp, tap, stomp, tap.

One, two, three, four.

Stomp, tap, stomp, tap.

One, two, three, four.

Again.

Stomp, tap, stomp, tap.

Last time.

Stomp, tap, stomp, tap.

Well done, this time you're going to do the call and the response.

Okay, so I want you to join in with each one.

We're going to do each pattern four times, like for practise.

Are we ready? Oh, one, two, three, four.

Stomp, response.

Again.

Well done.

Let's have a go at the second one, ready? One, two, three, four.

Last time.

Well done.

Did you think of some really fun actions to do? Not just stomping, tapping, and clapping? Maybe you did clicking, or maybe you touched your nose, or maybe you jumped? Remember, if you'd like to have another go at improvising some different body percussion patterns.

Just rewind this video now.

Last week we played plug the gap.

Can you remember how this game works? You will see on the screen, there are four crotchets.

They are one beats each.

And then before the next time, there are four gaps, and you have to clap a pattern that fits.

So for example, it might sound like this.

And the second one again, I'm going to make a new pattern.

Again.

Don't forget, you can use silence in your improvisation too.

Are we ready? I'll do the call part, and then you can fill in the gap.

Here we go.

This is our pulse.

Oh, one, two, three, four.

Well done, should we have one more practise? This time we're going to go a little bit faster, so this is our tempo.

Oh one, two, three, four.

Whew, that was quick, wasn't it? Did you manage to make every single pattern that you did different? Well done.

Activity two, to create rhythmic patterns for step back song.

We're going to have a go at the song now, first of all.

And then after we've done it, we're going to have a go at creating some backing rhythms, and improvising the responses.

Here we go.

Off we go.

♪ Not last night, but the night before ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ 24 robbers at my door ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ Open up the door and let them in ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ Hit em on the head with a rolling pin ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ I picked up my frying pan ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ Should have seen the way those robbers ran ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ Some ran east and some ran west ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ Some flew over the cuckoo's nest ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ Well done.

Right, what we are going to do now is we're going to create some rhythmic patterns underneath our performance.

Now, if we're thinking about this, this song is double time.

So it's actually a one two three four, one two three four.

So the first rhythm that we're going to learn, you will see on the screen now, and it will go like this one, two, three, four.

And there's one more.

This rhythm fits in between the first one.

So this one goes like this.

What we're going to do now is we're going to have a go at the song.

Now there's lots of different options with this one.

You could just clap rhythm one, or you could just clap rhythm two.

Or you can see if you can sing at the same time like this.

♪ Not last night, but the night before ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ Or.

♪ Not last night, but the night before ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ It's harder when you sing.

So maybe you want to rewind the video a couple of times, maybe the first time you might choose a rhythm, and then the second time you might sing the song.

Let's have a go.

One, two, three, four.

With song, okay, are we ready? ♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ Not last night, but the night before ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ 24 robbers at my door ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ Open up the door and let them in ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ Hit em on the head with a rolling pin ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ I picked up my frying pan ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ Should have seen the way those robbers ran ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ Some ran east and some ran west ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ ♪ Some flew over the cuckoo's nest ♪ ♪ Step back baby step back ♪ Right, on this go through, we're going to get rid of the step back baby.

And I want you to see if you can sing the call, and then make up a rhythm to respond.

For example, have a listen to my turn.

♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ Not last night, but the night before ♪ ♪ 24 robbers at my door ♪ ♪ Open up the door and let them in ♪ ♪ Hit em on the head with rolling pin ♪ Do you get the idea? The next recording leaves gaps where the step back baby step back comes in, and you can add in your own rhythmic pattern.

Once you've done that, you can have a go at singing the call and then doing the rhythm as well.

Should we have a go? One two three four.

And the song, ready? ♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ Not last night but the night before ♪ ♪ 24 robbers at my door ♪ ♪ Open up the door and let them in ♪ ♪ Hit em on the head with rolling pin ♪ ♪ I picked up my frying pan ♪ ♪ Should have seen the way those robbers ran ♪ ♪ Some ran east and some ran west ♪ ♪ Some flew over the cuckoo's nest ♪ Let's recap, what does improvise mean? Does it mean, to write down a piece of music, the heartbeat of the music, to make up a pattern on the spot, or a repeated pattern or phrase? Have a think.

It means to make up a pattern on the spot.

Activity three, to improvise a rhythmic pattern.

We're going to learn a new song called A Keelie Makolay.

And this song is from Ghana.

And it almost translates to, hey, would you like to come out and play? Yes, I'm would Okay.

So what we're going to do, this is a call and response song again, okay? And I want you to have a look at me do it first, and I'll show you where the response is, okay? My turn.

Which part of that song was the response? And then, for the ending of the song, we come all together again.

Right, should we learn the response first? So it goes like this.

Okay my turn, your turn.

My turn.

And you're going to do that twice.

Are we ready? This time, I will sing the call and then you're going to answer with, yeah, I want to go outside.

Okay? My turn.

Well done.

And the next bit we sing together.

My turn.

I'll sing it again.

Should we have a go together? Off we go.

Well done.

Right, let's try it all the way through.

First bit, response, second part of the song, both of us together.

Are you ready? My turn, your turn.

Again.

Well done.

This time, you're going to be the call, and I'm going to be the response.

So you are going to go.

I'll sing it once more.

Do you want to have a go? Off you go.

And then I will go.

Are we ready? Here we go.

Off you go.

Well done.

We're going to have one more go.

This time we're going to go a little bit faster, okay.

So it's going to go like this.

And you're going to go back to the response, are we ready? Yay, well done.

Let's recap.

What is call and response? Is it, rhythm patterns where stress notes are placed off the beat? The heartbeat of the music? A musical conversation where one phrase, the call, is answered by another? Or a repeated pattern or phrase? Have a think.

That's right.

It's a musical conversation where one phrase, the call, is answered by another, the response.

Activity four, using different improvising techniques.

So we've had a go at improvising some rhythms now.

I'm going to teach you a few tips and tricks to make your improvisations even more interesting.

We can vary the way that we improvise, so each time it sounds a little bit different.

The first thing we are going to do is we're going to think about where we're going to start improvising.

So, instead of doing a call followed straight away by a response, I want you to start your improvisation on different beats of the bar.

So let me do an example.

One two three four, one two three.

One two three four, one two three.

Your part came in on the second beat of the bar instead of the first.

Now I want you to see if you can really feel where those beats are, and see if you can leave the first beat blank.

Are we ready? My turn, your turn.

I'll count us in so we can feel that pause, okay.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

Well done.

Did you manage to come in on number two? This time, let's see if we can come in on beat number three.

Okay? My turn, your turn.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

Well done.

Now I wonder if you can guess what's going to be next.

That's right, big number four.

Are you ready? I'll do a two bar pattern, and then you're going to come in on the fourth beat of the first bar, okay? One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

Yeah, well done.

This time, I want you to vary it.

So you're not allowed to improvise on the first beat of the bar.

Other than that, you can choose two, three, or four.

Are we ready? We're going to keep going over and over these patterns.

Ready? One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four.

Well done, did you manage to come in on the different beats of the bar? Another trick we can do is we can use off beats, you might have heard of the word syncopation.

That's where the stress notes are off the beat.

So instead of one, two, three, four, it might go one, and two, and three, and four, and one, and two, and three, and four.

They fit in between beats.

So I would like you to think about how we can create an off beat trigger.

It could be simply that you're not doing it on number one again, or you can go in between the beats on the half beats.

Let me show you some examples.

So one, two, three, four.

I used off the beat there.

See if you can have a go.

I'm going to keep the pulse, this is the on beat.

So try and make your notes fit in between my clicks, ready? Well done.

The last trick that we're going to do, is we're going to do call and response, but this time you're going to do the call and the response.

So I want you to really try and make them relate to each other.

So for example, if my call went like this.

I've got some crotchets and quavers in there, haven't I? In my response, I'm also going to have crotchet and quavers.

Have a listen.

This is the call.

The response.

It's similar, but completely different at the same time.

Okay? So I'm going to give you a few moments now, if you want to pause the video, that's okay.

And I want you to see if you can do a call and a response.

Right, time to put all of our tips and tricks into practise now.

I'm going to put a backing on, and I'm going to say what we're going to be doing as we're going along, okay? Trying out our three different techniques.

One two three four.

One two three four.

One two three four.

So, the first thing we're going to do is we're going to have a go at starting on different beats in the bar, okay? So I'll clap the rhythm, and I want you to see if you can start on two, three, or four, okay? My turn.

One.

Yeah, well done.

Right, this time, what we're going to do is you're going to do a call and response, and I'm going to do an example first, then I'm going to leave a gap for you to have a go.

Okay? So my turn first, and then you're going to have a go, okay? So here's my go.

One two, a one two three four.

My turn.

My turn.

Last one.

Yeah, well done.

Right last one, now we're going to try and do the off beat.

Now, this is quite quick paced.

A one two three four.

One two three four.

So see if you can clap on the twos, and the fours, okay? The weaker beats.

Okay? My turn.

Join in when you got it.

Now using that idea, add your own section.

My turn.

Your turn.

Yeah, well done.

Well done for finishing lesson three, you now have a quiz to complete.

This will include terms that we have learned this lesson and seeing if you can remember all of the activities we have been doing, I hope to see you again next time for lesson four.

Don't forget, if you would like to share your work with a teacher, please ask a parent or carer first.

Or if you would like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

I hope to see you again for lesson four.

Bye bye.