Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to another music lesson with me, Miss Miner.

I'm very excited to be teaching you this lesson, especially because we will be learning all about how Holst used a fairly crazy time signature in one of his most famous pieces of music.

So let's go.

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

Don't clap this one back, all to do with pulse and rhythm.

Then we will listen to and explore Holst's Mars: The Planets.

And finally, the challenge will be where else you can hear irregular time signatures and applying your knowledge.

In this lesson, you will need some paper or the worksheet provided and a pencil.

As well as that, you will, of course, need your body.

Do make sure you're ready for the lesson, and if you need to pause the video, please do so to get what you need.

When you've done that, try to clear away any distractions, including turning off the notifications on any apps or conversations you have running.

Try to find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed during the lesson.

When you've done that, and you're happy, let's go.

So for this warmup, we are going to play a game called "Don't clap this one back." And this should help you practise both the pulse, that's the heartbeat of the music, and the rhythm at the same time.

So what I would like you to do first is keep a pulse going with me in your feet.

And it goes like this: one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, march your feet to the beat.

One, two, three, four.

Keep it going, two, three, four, one, two.

Be my echo.

If I clap this rhythm, don't clap back.

Don't clap this one back.

Don't clap that one back.

Keep that pulse going in your feet.

Don't clap that one back.

Watch out for that rhythm.

Don't clap that one back.

Don't clap that one back.

Don't clap that one back.

How did you get on? Pause the video to practise this game with a member of your household.

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

Music sets the scene.

What scene would this set for you? Using some paper or the worksheet provided and a pencil, try drawing a picture of what this music makes you think of.

If you're finding it tricky, why not try closing your eyes and imagining that this music was being played while a movie was on.

What would be happening in the movie at this time? Draw a picture of what it makes you think of.

Pause the video to finish your picture.

Press play when you're ready to hear all about what that piece of music really is about.

Okay, I'm so glad you finished your picture.

That piece of music was written by a British composer called Gustav Holst.

And he wrote an orchestral suite called The Planets.

This was one of the movements from his suite, The Planets, called "Mars, the bringer of war." In ancient Roman religion, Mars was the God of war.

And so Holst composed this piece in anticipation of the outbreak of World War One.

Yes, it almost sounds like a march, however, what a strange march, with five beats in every bar, whereas usually with a march, you would go left right left right left right left right.

So it would have four beats in a bar.

What planet was that movement of music named after? Was it Mars or was it Mercury? Point to the answer you think is correct.

That's right, it was Mars.

So now you've had a good listen to Holst's "Mars: bringer of war" from his suite, The Planets.

We're going to look at some of the ostinatos, some of the patterns he uses, even further.

Now, as we're listening this time, I would like you to perform the following body percussion pattern: one two three four five.

One two three four five.

One two three four five.

One two three four five.

So it's stamp stamp, clap, click, click.

Let's try it.

One, two, go! Stamp, stamp, clap, click, click.

Stamp, stamp, clap, click, click.

Stamp, stamp, clap, click, click.

Stamp, stamp, clap, click, click.

Super.

I would like you to count the beats this time as we do it.

Four, five! One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five.

Super.

As we listen this time to Mars, I would like you to continue with that body percussion ostinato all the way through.

Are you ready? One two three four five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five One, two, three, four, five Now it's time for you to make up your own five beat body percussion pattern.

I did one, two, three, four, five, but you could choose something completely different.

You could choose one, two, three, four, five, or one, two, three, four, five.

Whatever you decide to come up with, it needs to have five beats, and you need to be able to repeat it like an ostinato over and over again.

So I would like you to create your five beat body percussion pattern now.

Now you have a really good understanding of how Holst used that five beat time signature all the way through his piece, Mars, the planets.

We're going to move on to learn one of the ostinato rhythms that you can hear in the snare drum throughout this piece.

And it goes like this: tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta Can you try saying that with me and tapping out the rhythm on your knees at the same time.

Off we go! tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta Well done.

You can see the rhythm notated on the slide and you will notice that that first beat is a triola or what we know as a triplet.

That's when three note values are spread evenly across one beat, when in simple time.

So it goes like this tri-o-la.

Tri-o-la.

So the whole rhythm goes tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta Let's try it one more time, being really aware of that triplet rhythm at the beginning.

Off we go.

tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta Can you tap that rhythm on your shoulders? Off we go, tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta On your chest, off we go.

tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta tri-o-la ta ta ti-ti ta Well done.

So now we're going to try and put the pulse, that's the heartbeat of the music, and the rhythm together.

So you can either choose to do your five beat body percussion pattern with me, or you can choose to do the ostinato rhythm with me.

Okay, let's go.

I'll give you five beats in to start with.

And when you've heard those five counts, we're going to start together.

One, two, three, four, five.

So here's a vocabulary recap for you.

We have been dealing with time signatures that won't divide simply into twos or threes.

This means they are not symmetrical and therefore can feel lopsided.

So we've been exploring an irregular metre.

Five beats in a bar.

You cannot divide those beats into two and a half and two and a half.

They've got to be either a three and a two or a two and a three.

And therefore it can feel lopsided.

Pause the video to practise the pulse and rhythm patterns for Holst's, Mars, the planets.

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

What did Holst use throughout Mars? Did he use an ostinato rhythm or did he use a solo flute melody? Point to the answer you think is correct.

That's right, he used an ostinato rhythm, which we have been practising together.

Was Mars written in regular or irregular metre? Point to the answer you think is correct.

That's right, it was written in five time.

Therefore it was irregular because it's an asymmetrical time signature.

It can't be evenly split.

Now it's time for you to do some composing.

Composing in an irregular metre.

So I would like you to compose your own five beat rhythm using the note values that we have had a go at so far in this unit.

You can see on the right hand side, you have options to use a crotchet, a ta, a pair of quavers, ti-ti, or a minute, taaa, which is worth two whole beats.

You may choose to do something like this.

This is what I did earlier.

So my whole rhythm goes like this: TA TAAA TI TI TA.

TA TAAA TI TI TA.

And it covers five beats.

Now it's your turn to have a go at composing.

You can use the worksheet provided to do this.

Pause the video to compose your rhythm.

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

So now we're going to see where else we can hear five beat metres in other types of music.

I would like you to listen to the following sound clips I have and use your five beat body percussion pattern to play along.

One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five One two three four five 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 at Oak national and hashtag learn with Oak.

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!.