Lesson video

Hello and welcome to another music lesson with me, Ms.Miner and in this lesson we're going to be continuing on our journey through West African drumming.

So let's go! What will we cover in this lesson? We will start off with a warm up using call and response.

Then, we will recap signals and ostinatos.

Following that, we will perform a cross-rhythm.

And finally, we will plan a performance.

In this lesson, you will need: just your body.

Do make sure that you have cleared away any distractions including turning off the notifications on any apps or conversations you have running.

Do try and find a quiet place where you will be able to concentrate for the lesson.

When you're ready, let's go.

So for our warm up today, we're going to do something very similar and remind ourselves of what we did in the last lesson.

We're starting off with that call and response pattern that goes like this.

♪ 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! ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum? ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum? ♪ ♪ What's for dinner, Mum? ♪ ♪ Make it up.

♪ Hopefully you remember that from last time.

This time I'm going to play the call, as the master drummer on my djembe, and I would like you to reply on your chest.

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? ♪ Super! Well done.

I wonder if we can do it one more time but without saying the words out loud this time.

Let's try it.

Well done! This time I'd like you to become the master drummer.

So that means you are going to be playing the calls and I am going to be responding.

Now the calls are always on a higher sound, so I would like you to do those as a click.

♪ What's for dinner, Mum? ♪ And I will respond with a bass sound.

Let's try it.

Ready, steady, you're turn first! Could you guess what my dinner was last night? What could that be? Have a think.

Some of you might have guessed it.

It was pizza night last night.

Pause the video to revise the call and response patterns.

Perhaps you could try them with a member of your household.

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

So what is call and response? Rhythm patterns where stressed notes are placed off the beat? A musical conversation where one phrase, the call, is answered by another? The heartbeat of the music? Or, a repeated pattern or phrase? That's right, it's a musical conversation where one phrase, the call, is answered by another.

Which of these instruments is most popular in West African music? Point to the instrument you think is most used.

You would be right.

That's the djembe.

So, let's recap the signals that we learned in the last lesson.

There was a signal for go or start and a signal for stop.

Both working in a call and response way.

So the call for the start signal was this: ♪ Play the djembe and here we go.

♪ and you would respond: ♪ Play the djembe and here we go.

♪ Let's have a go.

My turn first! Well done.

Now let's swap over so that you are the master drummer.

Ready, steady, off you go! Let's try that one more time.

Ready, steady, off you go! Super! And our stop signal was very similar except it was: ♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa! ♪ ♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa! ♪ Let's have a go.

Ready, steady, my turn first! ♪ Play the djembe and shout Africa! ♪ Well done! Let's have one more turn.

My turn first! Now we're going to reverse our roles so you are the master drummer.

Ready, steady, here you go! Well done! So now it's time to remind you of ostinato number one, which went like this: ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass! Bass toney-tone bass bass! ♪ ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass! Bass toney-tone bass bass! ♪ Join in with me this time.

Ready, steady, off we go! ♪ Bass toney-tone bass bass! Bass toney-tone bass bass! ♪ Well done! We're going to try that ostinato, that repeated pattern, but with the signal to start at the beginning and the signal to finish at the end.

For this practise, I will become the master drummer.

Well done! Now it's time to remember the second ostinato.

I'm going to play this now, using body percussion and when you've picked it up, I would like you to join me straight away.

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 and play djembe ♪ Well done! Just like last time, we're now going to practise this with our starting signal at the beginning and our finishing signal at the end.

For this practise, I will be the master drummer.

Well done! Pause the video to practise the signals and the ostinatos.

Perhaps you can find someone in your household to teach this to.

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

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

Absolutely.

It is impossible to play a melody on a djembe and that's because it is an untuned percussion instrument.

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 stressed notes are placed off the beat? You're right.

It's a repeated pattern or phrase just like ostinato one and ostinato two that we've learnt in our West African drumming.

So, we are now going to have a go at creating a cross-rhythm in the middle of our performance.

A cross-rhythm is where we can hear two conflicting rhythms at the same time.

They're often syncopated, or with emphasis off the beat.

So for our cross-rhythm, we're going to combine rhythm one, or ostinato one, with ostinato two at the same time, and you should be able to see how they fit together.

You should be able to follow the body percussion on this video and choose either ostinato one or ostinato two to play along with.

We're going to start off with the signal and finish with the stop signal.

Master drummer.

So, this is a reminder that you have just been playing a cross-rhythm, which is the effect produced when two conflicting rhythms are heard together.

So, pause the video to practise playing cross-rhythms with a member of your household.

Perhaps they could play ostinato one, while you play ostinato two, or vice versa.

Good luck! When you're ready, press play.

So, what is a cross rhythm? Is it when a pattern is repeated several times? Is it when a rhythm sounds angry? Is it the effect produced when two conflicting rhythms are heard together? Or is it a West African dance? Point to the answer you think is correct.

Well done.

A cross-rhythm is the effect produced when two conflicting rhythms are heard together.

So now it's time to plan our performance, and you can see at the bottom of the screen that we have our blocks to symbolise each section of the performance.

We're going to start off with a signal.

That's our start signal.

Then, we are going to play ostinato number one.

Following that, you'll hear the start signal again, and we'll go into ostinato two.

Following that, you'll hear the start signal again, and we'll go into our call and response patterns which we will play as we practised in the warm up.

Following that, you'll hear the start signal again, and we will play our cross-rhythm.

So you can either choose ostinato one, or ostinato two, to play at that point.

Following that, you will hear the stop signal and we will finish our piece together.

You should be able to join in with the whole performance just using your bodies.

If you do, of course, have a djembe, please do join in with that.

Master drummer.

I really hope you enjoyed that performance.

Pause the video now to practise the structured performance below.

Or, what you could do is rewind the video and have a few more turns playing with me.

Like all of these things, it requires some practise.

But when you can do it, it's amazing.

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

So here comes the challenge.

Now it's your turn to structure your own performance.

How could you do it? Write it out using the symbols here and perform it for your household! You have all the ingredients you need now.

You know how the start and stop signal sounds.

You know how to play ostinato one and ostinato two.

You also know how to create your own, and use our practised, call and response patterns.

You have everything you need and I really hope you're able to produce your own amazing performance for the members of your household.

Good luck! 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 learnt 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 parent 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!.