Lesson video

- ♪ Hello, it's time for music ♪ ♪ Hello, it's time for music ♪ ♪ Hello, it's time for music ♪ ♪ Hello, it's time for music ♪ ♪ Hello, it's time for music ♪ ♪ Hello, it's time for music ♪ Hello, it's me Miss Miner again, and I'm here for another lesson of music.

What will we cover in this lesson? We'll start off with a warmup, switch.

We'll then learn a Nigerian song with syncopation.

We will then learn to read syncopated rhythms, and finally, we will compose our own syncopated rhythm.

In this lesson, you will need some paper, or the worksheet that you can download for this lesson, a pencil and your body.

Please take a moment to clear away any distractions, including turning off the notifications on any apps or conversations you have running, if you know how to.

Finally, if you can, try to find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed during the lesson.

Pause the video now to get any of the things that you will need.

When you have them press play, and we'll begin.

Let's warm up with another game of switch, switching between the on beats and the off beats.

Switch.

Switch.

Switch.

Switch.

Switch.

Switch.

Sorry, my fault! Switch.

Switch.

Now, pause the video to practise tapping on and off beats.

When you're ready, press play, and we'll continue.

We're now going to learn a welcome song from Nigeria, it's called "Funga Alafia", it sounds like this.

♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ We're going to learn it a bit at time, my turn first and then yours.

♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ Let's see if we can sing it all together.

I'll sing the whole song, and then on the second time round, you can join me and sing the whole song with me.

Listen first.

♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ Well done, that time we were tapping the pulse on our chest, I wonder if we can march the pulse this time.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ I wonder if this time we can put the pulse on our shoulders? ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ Well done.

Now you know the song really well, instead of marching or tapping the pulse, I would like you now to clap the rhythm, that's the pattern of the sounds.

So we're going to do this.

♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ I'd like you to do it with me this time and we're going to sing it twice through.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ Now I wonder if you can march the pulse and clap the rhythm at the same time.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ Well done, this time I would like you to inner-hear the words that you're singing.

So we're clapping the rhythm of the words, we're marching the pulse and we're singing the melody in our head.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ Do you notice how our hands and feet aren't always moving at the same time? That's because the rhythm or the pattern of the words isn't always on the beat.

In fact, sometimes it's on the offbeat.

Sometimes we're clapping on the and's that come in between the main beats and that makes it sound more offbeat or more syncopated.

We're now going to look a little bit more closely at the rhythm that comes at the beginning of this song.

♪ Funga a ♪ ♪ Funga a ♪ You probably noticed in the last activity, that as we were marching the pulse and clapping the rhythm, our sounds didn't always fall at the same time.

That's because this pattern is offbeat or syncopated.

Musicians like to call this rhythm syncopa, let's see if you can clap that.

My turn first and then yours.

Syncopa.

Your turn.

My turn.

Syncopa.

Your turn.

Super.

If you're used to reading musical notation, you'll see what this looks like at the side.

If you're not used to that sort of notation, please don't worry, you can see I've drawn it in a grid underneath.

Use this to help you visualise where those beats come.

Syncopa.

Syncopa.

Super.

As we sing "Funga Alafia" this time, and we clap the rhythm, I want you to listen out to where those syncopa rhythms are.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ ♪ Funga alafia ♪ ♪ Ase, ase ♪ To recap syncopation, rhythm patterns where stressed notes are placed off the beat.

Pause the video to practise clapping the syncopa rhythm that we hear in "Funga Alafia".

When you've finished, press play and we'll continue.

So what is syncopation? Is it, rhythm patterns where stress notes are placed off the beat? Is it the heartbeat of the music? Is it making sounds using our bodies? Or is it the length of sound, whether it's long or short? Point to the answer you think is correct.

Well done, it's rhythm patterns where stress notes are placed off the beat.

Let's think a little bit more about these rhythm grids.

On the grid, you can see the one, the and, the two, the and, the three, the and, the four and the and.

This first rhythm grid should look familiar to you from the last few lessons.

Let's have a go at clapping it, I'm going to count all four beats, and the and's.

First, one and two and three and four, and one and two and three and four and.

Let's have another go at that, off we go.

One and two and three and four and.

Well done, you probably recognise this as being on the beat.

How about this rhythm grid then? This one may also look familiar to you from the last few lessons.

I'll count all four beats in first and the and's, and then I would like you to join in.

One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and.

And I'm sure you recognise that grid as being off the beat.

Now, before I give you a clue about how these ones go, I would like you to have a go first.

Have a look at the two rhythm grids on the screen, and I'd like you to have a go at clapping them, pause the video while you do this.

Super, let's have a go together at the first rhythm grid.

One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and.

Super, did you get it right? Let's have a look at the second rhythm grid on the screen.

One and two and three and four and, off we go, one and two and three and four and.

Super, well done.

Now this page includes the most tricky rhythm grids.

Like before, I would like you to pause the video and have a go at these before we go through them together.

So pause now.

Super, you must have finished.

Let's go through them together.

The first one on the page should have sounded something like this.

One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and.

Let's do it together.

Ready, steady, off we go.

One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and.

Super.

The second rhythm grid on the page goes like this.

One and two and three and four and.

I'll do that one more time.

The second rhythm grid on the page goes like this.

One and two and three and four and.

You will have noticed that these rhythms, more often than not, fall off the beat, which means that's syncopated.

Now it's time to compose your own syncopated rhythm using the worksheet provided.

On that worksheet, you will see a blank grid that looks like this.

It's your job to put crosses in the boxes that you would like, for example, you might choose to do something like this.

Once you've marked the crosses in your grid, you then need to practise your rhythm saying the numbers and the and's out loud to ensure they're in the right place.

Pause the video now to fill in your worksheets, and practise.

Now it's time for the challenge.

You should now have composed your own syncopated rhythm using a rhythm grid, just like I did.

Now, I'm going to play a track and I'm going to try and perform my syncopated rhythm alongside it, just like this.

So that brings us to the end of the lesson, a really big well done on all the fantastic learning you've achieved in this lesson.

I've got two final things I'd like you to do now.

Firstly, think back and identify one key thing you've learned today, it's totally up to you what it is.

Secondly, if you'd like to, please take a picture of your work and ask your parent or carer to share it with your teacher so that they can see all the fantastic things you've learnt.

If you'd like to, please ask your parents or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging at @OakNational and #LearnWithOak.

Now, don't forget to complete the end of lesson quiz.

Well, all that's left for me to say is thank you, take care and enjoy the rest of your learning for today.

Bye.