Lesson video

Hello, my name is Miss Miner and welcome to this unit of music.

All about rhythm and especially looking at rhythmic cycles from the non-Western world.

Now I'm extremely excited to guide you through this topic because it encompasses one of my favourite instruments of all time.

And that would be the djembe drum, which you've just heard.

So without further ado, let's get going.

What will we cover in this lesson? We will start off with some call and response as a warmup.

We will then listen to West African drumming music and learn more about the djembe drum.

Following that, we will learn ostinato patterns inspired by the music of West Africa.

In this lesson, you will need just your bodies.

So before we start, I'd like you to clear away any distractions, including turning off the notifications on any apps or conversations that you have running.

I would like you to make sure that you are in a quiet place and you're ready to start.

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

For this lesson, we are going to warm up with some call and response.

So I'm going to use some body percussion to start with, to play a rhythm, and I would like you to do your best and copy it back.

Well done.

This time, I'm going to play a rhythm on my djembe drum, and I would like you to clap it back.

We are now going to explore a specific call and response pattern from West African drumming.

And it goes like this.

It's not just an echo.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Rice and peas.

This time, I'm going to clap my rhythm as a call and I would like you to respond.

So I'm going to clap ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ And you would clap ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ I would clap ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ And you're going to clap Rice and peas.

Are you ready to try it? My turn first.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Well done.

This time, I wonder if I can clap my call, but you can respond on your chest.

Let's try it right from the beginning.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Rice and peas.

Let's try, ready? My turn first.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Super, well done.

What about if our call and response phrase this time has two parts? Listen to the whole thing.

And I'd like you to think about how it changes the second time.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Rice and peas.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Chicken and chips Let's see if you can remember that.

I will clap my rhythm and I'd like you to do yours on your chest.

Off I go.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Rice and peas ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Chicken and chips.

Did you remember the change at the end of the second time? Let's have one more go just in case.

My turn first.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Rice and peas.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Chicken and chips Did you remember at that time? Super.

We're going to do this now as if it's the third time round.

The first time was rice and peas.

The second time was chicken and chips.

And this third time, I would like you to really tell me what you've had for dinner or if you can't remember what you had for dinner yesterday or your favourite dinner, that's fine.

I would like you to clap or beat that rhythm back to me.

This is the third time round.

So on the fourth line, you will make up your own dinner.

My turn first.

Oh, I'm not sure I caught all of that.

Let's try it one more time.

I want to know what you had for dinner.

Sounds delicious.

You're making me hungry.

We have been exploring call and response in our warmup, like a musical conversation.

One phrase acts as a call.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Which is then answered in response, rice and peas.

Pause the video to revise the call and response patterns with a member of your household.

When you're finished, press play and we'll carry on.

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

Point to the answer you think is correct.

You would be right.

Call and response is a musical conversation.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum ♪ Rice and peas.

I would like you to close your eyes and listen to this music.

While you're listening, I would like you to think about what do you enjoy about the music? How does it make you feel? What instruments can you hear? And can you hit the pulse of the music? Which of these instruments do you think you could hear? Point to the instrument you think you could hear in that clip.

That's right.

That was the djembe drum.

Let's learn a little more about the djembe.

The djembe is one of the key instruments used in West African drumming.

It's made out of wood, traditionally a carved out trunk with a skin stretched over the top.

Djembes are often decorated with ornate patterns carved into the wood.

Music and dance are a key part of African culture.

Now let's learn a little bit about technique on the djembe.

Imagine this is the head of the djembe from a bird's eye view.

Now there are two main sounds that you can make on a djembe drum.

The first is the bass sound and that is made by using the palm of your hand in the centre of the drum.

The second sound is the tone, and this is made by using your fingers near the edge of the drum.

Listen to the bass and tone sounds on a djembe drum.

We are going to try some more call and response patterns now, but using two different sounds.

In the case of the djembe, a bass sound and a tone sound.

Now, unless you've got a djembe at home I would like you to do this using body percussion.

If you hear a bass sound, I would like you to clap.

And if you hear a tone sound, I would like you to click.

I would now like you to respond to my drum.

So if I play bass tone, bass tone, you would respond with bass tone, bass tone.

Listening carefully.

My turn first.

Well done.

Pause the video to practise the bass and tone sounds by using claps and clicks.

Here's your challenge.

Can you create your own call and response rhythms combining base and tone sounds? Maybe you could do these call and response patterns with a member of your household.

When you're finished, press play and we'll carry on.

So, which of these instruments is not commonly used in West African drumming? The djembe or the bassoon? Yeah, you're right.

A bassoon is more likely to be found in a wind quintet or in an orchestra.

Certainly not in a drumming circle.

Which of these is not possible to play a djembe? A melody, a bass sound or a tone sound? Point to the answer you think is correct.

Well done.

It's not possible to play a melody on a djembe.

And that's because it is an untuned percussion instruments.

That means we can't play tunes or melodies on it.

Like you would be able to on a violin or a flute.

We're now going to learn all about the role of the master drummer.

Now the master drummer takes the role of a conductor or a leader in a drumming ensemble.

Except there are quite a few differences.

The leader or master drummer of a drumming ensemble or drumming circle would certainly not be carrying a baton like an orchestral conductor and also would do their best not to use their voice to start and stop the piece.

So how do the drummers know when to start and when to stop? Well, they will hear a musical signal and that is in the way of a pattern.

The go pattern or the go symbol sounds like this.

♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ It does work as a call and response pattern.

So you will hear it twice.

The call is made on a high pitch sound, usually on a tone.

And the response is on a lower pitch sound.

In this case, on a bass sound.

So we're going to try I will shout the call and you will respond back to me with the same thing in your low voice.

♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ Super.

Let's try clapping the rhythm this time.

In fact, I will clap it and I'd like you to beat it on your chest.

♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ Let's try and inner hear those words this time.

So we're not saying them out loud.

My turn first.

Super, well done.

Now it's your turn to become the master drummer.

That means you need to play the lead.

You need to start.

I would like you to do this and inner hear the lyrics or the words at the same time so that you're not saying the words out loud.

♪ Ready, steady, here you go ♪ Let's try that one more time.

Off you go.

♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ Super, well done.

Now it's time to learn the stop signal.

This is very similar to the go or start signal except there's one small difference.

I'd like you to listen out and tell me what it is.

♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ Did you notice the difference? Yes, it's that last little bit.

Play the djembe and shout Africa.

Instead of here we go.

So the stop signal is ♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ Let's try it.

I will be the master drummer.

♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ Super.

This time, I'm going to clap it.

And I would like you to show me on your chest.

♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ Well done.

We'll try that one more time.

And this time I would like you to inner hear the words.

So you're not saying them out loud.

My turn first.

We are now going to play a game to see how well you remember those signals.

Once we have played it, I would like you to tell me whether that was the start or the stop signal.

My turn first and you're going to answer.

Tell me, was that the start signal or the stop signal? Well done.

That was the start signal.

Here comes the next one.

And which one was that? It was the stop signal.

This time, I'm not going to mouth the words to help you.

Tell me which one was that.

Well done.

And how about this one? Which one was that? Absolutely.

That was the start signal.

Now you understand the role of the master drummer.

We can get started.

Pause the video to revise the start and stop signals.

When you're finished, press play.

Which of these is not a responsibility of the master drummer? To use the start and stop signal, to lead the ensemble or to conduct the ensemble with a baton.

Point to the answer you think is correct.

Absolutely.

It's very unlikely that you would see the master drummer with a baton in their hand.

They are far more likely to be holding a djembe or a drum.

Now, I'm going to play you the first ostinato that we're going to learn.

This is ostinato one.

Don't forget that an ostinato is a repeated pattern or phrase, so that pattern would keep going until the drummers heard a signal.

It goes like this.

♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ Do you know why I'm making my voice lower and higher in certain places? That's right.

Because I'm mimicking the bass and the tone sound on a djembe.

So I'd like you to do the same.

And I'd like you to join in with me this time.

♪ One, two, here we go ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ Super.

This time, we're going to use body percussion to practise that pattern further.

This time around, when you play the bass sound, I'd like you to do it on your chest.

And the toney-tone is going to be in clicks.

♪ One, two, here we go ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ How did you get on? This time, let's see if we can do the same thing but without saying the words out loud and just thinking them in our head.

♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ Let's see if you can do it with my drum.

♪ Off we go.

♪ Here's a reminder that we have been practising an ostinato, a repeated pattern or phrase.

Pause the video to practise ostinato one.

Please do use the body percussion as well as saying it out loud.

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

So what is an ostinato? Is it a repeated pattern or phrase? Is it the heartbeat of the music? Is it making sounds using our bodies or is it rhythm patterns where stress notes are placed off the beat? Point to the answer you think is correct.

That's right.

It's a repeated pattern or phrase.

We are now going to learn our ostinato two.

Our repeated pattern number two.

And we're going to learn it by saying it first.

This is exactly how they would do in drumming circles.

They don't tend to read the notation.

That's written down for them to follow and sight read.

Instead, they tend to learn things by ear.

So we're going to do the same thing.

This one goes like this.

♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ Again, can you tell me why I'm making my voice higher and lower on certain pitches? Yes, you are absolutely right.

They represent the sounds on the djembe, the tone and the bass.

Have a listen, I'm going to do it in slow motion.

And I would like to know which word is the bass sound.

♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ Yeah, that's right.

Play comes on the bass sound and everything else is on the tone.

This rhythm is a little more tricky than ostinato one.

And that's because it starts before the beat.

On the off beats, it starts before the beat.

And we're going to do it like this.

♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ Let's have a go.

♪ Ready, steady, here we go.

♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ ♪ And play djembe ♪ Have a go while I'm playing my drum.

♪ Ready, steady, here we go ♪ Pause the video to practise ostinato two.

When you're ready, press play and we have more to do.

I am going to take the role of the master drummer.

And just like a drumming circle or a drumming ensemble would do, I'm going to give you all my signals either musically or visually, and you are going to follow in the same way.

I'm going to do my very best not to use my voice during the performance at all.

So just to recap, our signals, especially our signal for go is ♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ While you're responding to that signal, I may show you one finger.

And that means we're going to go straight into ostinato one.

♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass ♪ And this is an ostinato so you keep going until you hear me play that go signal again.

♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ And you answer ♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ While you're responding, I may hold up two fingers.

And that means you're going to go into ostinato two ♪ And play the djembe ♪ ♪ And play the djembe ♪ ♪ And play the djembe ♪ ♪ And play the djembe ♪ And that's an ostinato so you're going to keep, keep, keep going until you hear me play the stop signal over the top.

♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ So you need to be listening and you need to be looking.

We're going to try this performance first just by saying it.

You can add the body percussion if you wish but this time I would really prefer you to concentrate on saying it.

If you can do the body percussion as well, that's fantastic.

♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ ♪ Base toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Base toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Base toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Base toney-tone bass bass ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and here we go ♪ ♪ And play the djembe ♪ ♪ And play the djembe ♪ ♪ And play the djembe ♪ ♪ And play the djembe ♪ ♪ And play the djembe ♪ ♪ And play the djembe ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa ♪ Now let's see if we can do it with the body percussion.

I'm going to play on my drums so you can hear me.

And I would like you to respond with your body precaution.

Are you ready? Well done.

You have learned so much in such a short space of time.

If you want to practise any of this again, please do rewind the video and have as many goes as you need.

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 learned.

If you'd like to, please ask your parents or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

Tagging @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.