Lesson video

Hi everybody.

And welcome to lesson five in our unit all about melody.

Today we're learning about folk music.

How stories and tunes are passed down.

Let's get started.

In this lesson you will need your headphones.

If you don't have an any, just find somewhere that you can focus and sing loudly.

You will need crayons and paper, your singing voice, and you'll also need a boomy item, such as this one.

Which came from the kitchen.

So you can play along with me.

So pause the video now, go and fetch these things, and then resume once ready.

In this lesson, we will be recapping what we've previously learnt, and then we're going to cover folk music, and in particular, how tunes were learnt.

We're then going to learn a song called "The Baler of Cumbria", and another song called "The Great Discovery of 2020", and then we'll finish with a listening and drawing task, listening to some fiddle music.

Let's recap our previous lessons.

Let's establish the beat.

Here are your first two notes.

For a tuneful song.

♪ Off we go, a melody is a tune ♪ ♪ Sometimes memorable for me and you ♪ ♪ Made by pitches and a rhythm too ♪ ♪ To satisfy your every mood ♪ Brilliant.

Let's slow our beat down so we can sing "Lowlands Away".

We're singing it in unison, us together.

♪ Off we go, lowlands ♪ ♪ Lowlands away my boy ♪ ♪ Lowlands away I heard them say ♪ ♪ My lowlands away ♪ Well done.

Okay.

Let's recap lesson two.

This is we where we learnt a C major scale.

Fantastic.

And then we learnt a four line melody.

Can we sing it together? Singing the pitches with their letters, and I will show it with their numbers.

♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ C D E C G G G ♪ ♪ C D E C D D D ♪ ♪ C D E C G G G ♪ ♪ C G F E D C ♪ One more time for me.

♪ C D E C C G G G ♪ ♪ C D E C D D D ♪ ♪ C D E C G G G ♪ ♪ C G F E D C ♪ Great.

Now we move on to lesson three.

Can we sing our "Flying Dragon" theme with our actions? ♪ Off we go and ♪ ♪ I want to fly away on dragon's wings ♪ ♪ Fly to the moon and back again in spring ♪ ♪ Fly to the castle ♪ ♪ Hear the butterfly sing ♪ ♪ When I'm home again on Saturday ♪ ♪ A present I'll bring ♪ Well done.

And we also learnt about motifs.

And.

To represent objects, or characters, or places.

Just these little moments.

And we also learnt about tone poems and we listened to that piece of music by Elgar, which was like a love letter in music.

Can we now have a go at our "Woolly Mammoth" song? We're going to sing it in major key or minor key? Have a listen.

Which one do you think it is? It's minor.

Well done if you got that right.

Can we sing, the "Woolly Mammoth" song.

♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ And thump, thump, thump ♪ ♪ Thump, thump, thump ♪ ♪ The mammoth is on the move ♪ ♪ Lump, lump, lump ♪ ♪ Bump, bump, bump ♪ ♪ Let's get in the mammoth dance groove ♪ ♪ Let's dance the mammoth, thumpity thump ♪ ♪ Let's dance the mammoth, humpity hump ♪ ♪ Let's dance the mammoth, thumpity thump ♪ ♪ We're on the move ♪ ♪ And we're in the groove ♪ Two, three.

♪ Thump, thump, thump ♪ ♪ Thump, thump, thump ♪ ♪ The mammoth is on the move ♪ Great.

And we also covered, minor cords and major major cords.

Happy.

Not so happy.

Folk music is found all over the world, in every country.

And it means music by the people, for the people.

Folk music was not written down and read, it was learned by the oral tradition.

Which means by singing along, or hearing it and playing along.

And folk songs often tell all sorts of different stories.

Maybe about the workplace, or about certain people going on a journey.

We're going to learn some folk songs today.

We are going to cover our key words, whilst listening to this beautiful piece of Irish folk music played on the fiddle, the violin.

Folk music is traditional music sung and played by people.

And the oral tradition of folk music, both those words are pronounced the same, is when you learn by singing it together, or you learn by listening and playing along.

It was not written down.

And a chorus is a group of people singing together, or the main part of the song where everyone joins in.

So the song we're going to learn today is a folk song from Cumbria.

And it's about the farming tradition of sheep wool.

Where is Cumbria? Here is the UK, and this area here is Cumbria.

It's in the Northwest of England and it boarders Scotland.

And in this area there is the Lake district, full of mountains, hills and lakes.

There's also a lot of agriculture, and a lot of sheep.

Today's folk song, tells the story of a skilled worker called "A Baler from Cumbria".

So sheep farming in Cumbria, you would have shepherds looking after the sheep, known for their strong wool, packmen collecting all of the sheered fleece.

You'd have balers picking it up with strong bail hooks, and workers splitting the tangled fleece into wool.

The wool was spun, turned into yarn and cloth.

and dyed, and then sold in market towns such as this one.

Our new song, "The Baler of Cumbria", has a chorus and it sounds like this.

♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ Can you pick up your boomy instrument for me and join in with me whilst I sing the new chorus of our song? ♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ Maybe you're wondering, "What on earth is she singing about?" Well, this is the chorus to our new song, "The Baler of Cumbria".

And a lot of it is in dialect.

Dialect is when the language is specific to a certain area of the country, and it's not the same as the national language.

So we have the baler.

A skilled worker, he's very tired, picking up all of that heavy fleece using a bale hook.

And he walks home tired, after work, along the River Kent.

And when he reaches the gate, we sing, "Frae yon yat!".

Can you say that for me? Frae yon yat.

And that means, "At the gate".

Can you sing it for me? ♪ Frae yon yat ♪ And he hears his bonny bairn toward his sweet children, and then he drinks his skemmy, he eats his scran, which is drink and food, and he waits until the next day where he goes back to work.

Now, you are going to need your household item, so you can play along.

Have a listen to what I mean.

This is the chorus.

♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ Let's learn it.

So, the first part I'll sing it, you repeat it back.

♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ Off you go! ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ I'll put that together.

♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ Did you notice that the chorus has two separate tunes? The melody changes the first time round.

♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ Have a go.

♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ And the second time round.

♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ Have a go.

♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ So our melody drops at the end.

Let's try the chorus all the way through.

Get your boomy item ready.

One, two, off we go! ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ Great! So, I'm going to sing the verse.

If you would like to join in with me, then that's great.

If not, be ready for the chorus where we all join in together.

Okay.

♪ He lifts the bales of fleece and wool ♪ ♪ With his heavy hook ♪ ♪ To and fro the worker goes ♪ ♪ A break he hardly took ♪ ♪ He wanders home along the Kent ♪ ♪ His shoulder lowly bent ♪ ♪ Tired and spent he sighs aloud ♪ ♪ Arriving home he hears a sound.

♪ ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ ♪ He lifts the bales of fleece and wool ♪ ♪ With his heavy hook ♪ ♪ To and fro the worker goes ♪ ♪ A break he hardly took ♪ ♪ He wanders home along the Kent ♪ ♪ His shoulder lowly bent ♪ ♪ Tired and spent he sighs aloud ♪ ♪ Arriving home he hears a sound.

♪ ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scram ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ ♪ He drinks his skemmy, eats his scran ♪ ♪ And waits for work to begin again ♪ We know that folk songs can tell stories about a workplace, or the countryside, or your local area.

There was another way in which stories were found.

Starting 400 years ago, a dramatic poem or breaking news was written down and published in the newspapers.

Now lots of people could not read, so performers would come along and make songs out of these articles to perform to crowds in public spaces.

And then the news would spread via song.

A little bit like an old social media account.

Well we're going to do the same today, and we're going to tell a story that came for a newspaper article last October.

This article is about the great-fox spider.

Not seen since 1991, the great-fox spider was spotted on fields of Surrey by a member of the Arachnological Society.

Believed to be a gorgeous creature, it's an exciting sighting for wildlife enthusiasts.

The great-fox spider doesn't spin webs, but instead injects venom into it's prey.

And this spider hunts at night.

We need our boomy instrument for the chorus.

Have a listen to how it sounds and play along with me.

♪ The night-hunter ♪ ♪ The Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ Discovered once again, what a find ♪ ♪ The night-hunter, the Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ "21 years!" I cried ♪ ♪ The night-hunter, the Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ Discovered once again, what a find ♪ ♪ The night-hunter, the Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ "21 years!" I cried ♪ Great! I'll do a line, you repeat it back.

♪ The night-hunter, the Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ Discovered once again, what a find ♪ ♪ The night-hunter, the Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ "21 years!" I cried ♪ Let's do it together.

♪ The night-hunter ♪ ♪ The Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ Discovered once again, what a find ♪ ♪ The night-hunter, the Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ "21 years!" I cried ♪ Brilliant! I'm going to sing the whole song.

If you'd like to join in in the verse, please do.

Or it might be better if you do the chorus, listen to the whole thing, and then rewind and learn the verse too.

♪ Twas on my weekly walk whilst roaming the fields ♪ ♪ In the deep dark night of October ♪ ♪ Upon close inspection ♪ ♪ I spied eight gleaming eyes ♪ ♪ A giant furry body to my surprise ♪ ♪ The night-hunter ♪ ♪ The Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ Discovered once again, what a find ♪ ♪ The night-hunter, the Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ "21 years!" I cried ♪ ♪ What a handsome spider ♪ ♪ What a speedy sprint ♪ ♪ It's a gorgeous spider I ♪ ♪ If you're into that kind of thing ♪ ♪ The night-hunter ♪ ♪ The Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ Discovered once again, what a find ♪ ♪ The night-hunter, the Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ "21 years!" I cried ♪ ♪ I don't spin a web, I will not waste my time ♪ ♪ I use my venom to capture my find ♪ ♪ The night-hunter ♪ ♪ The Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ Discovered once again, what a find ♪ ♪ The night-hunter, the Great-Fox spider ♪ ♪ "21 years!" I cried ♪ Brilliant job everyone today.

Well done for learning two new songs, and learning that how stories and information can be spread through song, and tunes are learnt by singing and by listening.

Here's a tricky statement for you now.

Try and remember what we learnt in the previous lesson.

Both of today's songs are in major keys.

True or false? Well, the answer is.

True.

Both are in major keys.

Their melodies are made up of notes from major scales.

The first one was, ♪ "Frae yon yat!" ♪ ♪ He hears his bonny bairns ♪ And then the second one, ♪ The night-hunter ♪ ♪ The Great-Fox spider ♪ Well done if you got that right.

Let's move on to our listening.

So, we're going to listen to Scottish reels on the fiddle.

Can you hear how the musician is playing both the melody, but also sometimes a little bit of accompaniment, just to ground the melody and support the melody? And then I'd like you to draw.

So enjoy these fantastic reels.

If you would like to, choose your object to draw.

If you would like to pause and finish your drawing, then just resume once you completed it, or you can always rewind and listen again to the fiddle music, or rewind even further and to listen to our new songs.

Let's have a listen.

We've reached the end of our lesson today.

Thank you so much for joining me.

And I hope you've enjoyed learning some great new stories through folk song.

If you'd like to share your work with Oak National, then please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

That's it for today.

Thank you very much for joining me, and I'll see you in lesson six.

Meanwhile, take care.

Bye!.