Lesson video

- ♪ Hello, everyone ♪ My name is Miss Hart and welcome to lesson one.

This unit is going to be all about improvising and we're going to learn what that word means later.

To start, in lesson one, we are going to recap rhythm and pulse to make sure we understand those terms first before moving on to improvising.

So what you will need, get ready, you're going to use your singing voice, you're going to be using your hands to do lots of different rhythm patterns.

Are you ready? Let's go.

In lesson one, we are going to understand the difference between pulse and rhythm.

We are going to follow rhythm notation.

We're going to perform with rhythm notation.

And we're going to perform different patterns together.

In this lesson, you will need your hands.

We're going to be doing lots of patterns and rhythms together, and definitely your brain.

So what is pulse? You might have already learnt what this is.

If you're not sure, let's have a look at this definition.

In a piece of music, there is a steady beat called a pulse.

It is like a heartbeat that keeps beating throughout.

We can tap along to different pieces of music and find the pulse.

Activity one.

To understand the difference between pulse and rhythm.

Right, we're going to learn a call and response song now.

This song is called "Step Back, Baby." Do you know what the term call and response means? Have a think.

Call and response means there is a question and an answer section in the song.

So after each sentence in this song, the response is step back, baby, step back.

Have a listen to me do it first, and then we'll learn it together.

My turn.

♪ 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 ♪ Now you've heard the song all the way through, you're going to have a go at the response section.

So when I finish the sentence, you're going to sing.

♪ Step back, baby, step back ♪ Let's practise it.

So I'll do the call and you do the response.

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

One more time.

♪ Not last night but the night before ♪ ♪ Step back, baby, step back ♪ Well done, let's see if we can do the song all the way through this time but with you singing the response.

♪ 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 ♪ Each of the sentences in this song are pitched the same.

So even though the words change, the pitches, the highs and the lows, stay constant.

Let's have a go at the first line to make sure we've got it.

I've put all the words on the screen now to help you.

My turn, your turn.

♪ Not last night but the night before ♪ ♪ Not last night but the night before ♪ Well done, one more time.

Let's do the second line.

♪ 24 robbers at my door ♪ ♪ 24 robbers at my door ♪ Well done.

You're going to sing the call section now and then I'm going to answer with the response.

Are you ready? I'll count you in and then I will sing the step back, baby, step backs.

Pulse going.

♪ Off you 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.

We have now learnt the song all the way through and had a go at the call and response sections.

Activity two, following rhythm notation.

What is rhythm? A rhythm is a pattern of sounds.

This often matches syllables in words and the rhythm fits with the heartbeat.

You can see three different musical symbols.

Maybe you have seen these before in a music lesson, at school or maybe if you learn a musical instrument.

We call these musical notation.

The first one on the left is called a crotchet.

Sometimes people say ta when they clap it to help them remember how long it is.

It is one beat and one clap.

So we will go ta.

The one in the middle, they are quavers.

Each half is worth half each, so you put them together and they make one.

Quaver.

Or we could say ti-ti.

So we've got crotchet.

Quaver.

And then that wiggly sign is a crotchet rest.

So it's one beat of rest.

So to remind us not to make a sound, I want you to put your hands out like this.

Shh.

If I clap the rhythm on the screen right now, it would sound like this.

Ta, ti-ti, shh.

Or crotchet, quaver, shh.

Or if I put those words in my head.

Shh.

We're going to need to use these notations in our lesson.

So have a little practise if you want to.

You can pause the video, remembering them and clapping the rhythms through.

♪ Don't clap this one back ♪ The rhythm on the screen is using crotchets and quavers, and they are written in such a pattern to match.

♪ Don't clap this one back ♪ ♪ Crotchet, crotchet, quaver, crotchet ♪ If you hear that rhythm, you're not allowed to clap it back.

If I clap anything else, it's correct and you can copy it.

Let's have a practise and then I'll see if I can get you out.

Are you ready? My turn, your turn.

♪ Don't clap this one back ♪ Did you clap it? Well done if you didn't.

Right, real thing now.

I'm going to try and get you out.

Here we go.

Shh.

Shh.

♪ Don't clap this one back ♪ Did you clap it? Let's have one more practise.

Here we go.

Shh, shh.

♪ Don't clap this one back ♪ Remember, if you enjoyed this game, you can teach it to somebody at home.

Can you get them out? So let's recap.

What is rhythm? Is it the pattern of sounds? The heartbeat of the music? Making sounds using our bodies? Or the length of sound, whether it is long or short.

It's the pattern of sounds.

Well done if you got this right.

Activity three.

To perform rhythm notation.

Now we need to put them in an order.

In music, if we just wrote lots and lots of notes without stopping, we wouldn't know where we were.

We might get lost.

So we group notes into bars.

In unit one, you have already looked at time signatures.

You did two-four, three-four, four-four, maybe you even did some more tricky ones.

What does the top number tell you? Can you remember? It tells you how many beats are in a bar.

So on my screen, you can see it says four-four.

That means there are four crotchet beats in a bar.

When I've got up to the number four, I put in a bar line.

Then I start counting again.

Beat one is always the strongest beat in our bar.

And when I've finished, I'll put a double bar line at the end to show that the piece is done.

Activity four, to perform different patterns together.

In each of these boxes, we are going to all do a different rhythm.

I'm number one and then we've got number two, three and four.

You choose a rhythm now, and when the box joins in, I want you to clap along with your chosen rhythm.

Are we ready? Number one is starting, then number two, okay? Are we ready? ♪ A one, two, three, four ♪ Number two.

Number three.

Number four.

Did you manage it all the way through? Well done if you did.

This time, choose a different number.

Let's have one more turn.

Are you ready? A one, two, three, four.

Number two.

Number three.

Number four.

Did you manage to clap your rhythm correctly all the way through? Well done.

You've now got a quiz to complete to see if you can remember all the things we have learnt today.

What pulse is, what rhythm is, and maybe some notation might be in there too.

Well done for your fantastic learning today.

Remember, if you would like to, share some of your work with your class teachers.

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 next time for lesson two.

Bye bye.