Over the last week I have been recording my own music lessons. You can listen to seven recordings here that give a little more insight into the development of musicianship through singing.
All recordings made in January 2017
This is a collection of recordings made during lessons. These are not rehearsed items. Each recording is from a regular weekly music lesson with a class of 30.
Yr2 Echo clap and name rhythms (40sec)
In July 2016 this Year 2 class named the crotchet as ‘ta’ and pair of quavers as ‘ti-ti’. In this clip it is some months later and the class are echoing a rhythm played by me on the claves. They don’t just clap back the rhythm they name it too.
Yr3 Bobby Shafto Clap the rhythm (15 sec)
The class work together to sing this song accurately and to clap the rhythm of the words at the same time.
Yr3 Bobby Shafto Walk the beat and clap the rhythm (22 sec)
The challenge for this Year 3 pupil is to sing Bobby Shafto and, at the same time, walk the beat and clap the rhythm.
Yr3 Recognising and singing la/so/mi (16 sec)
I often begin lessons by singing ‘Hello Everyone’ using different pitches. Here the children demonstrate that they can recognise the intervals I am singing by echoing my tune and naming the solfa; at the same time, they show the corresponding handsigns.
Yr5 Sing ‘do pentatonic’ pitches as the teacher points to the solfa names on a vertical note ladder
(27 sec)
Before reading a simple three note melody on the stave the class warms up by singing pitches in the ‘do pentatonic’ scale (do/re/mi/so/la) that I point to on the board.
Yr5 Rocky Mountain in four parts (30 sec)
The class sings a pentatonic song in four groups; the opening group sings the song twice while simultaneously the other groups take a phrase each and repeat these as ostinati to accompany the main song.
Yr5 Rocky Mountain sung in solfa and then played by a volunteer on the xylophone
The class sings Rocky Mountain with the pitch names and corresponding handsigns from memory. Next a volunteer comes to the front of the class and plays the song on a xylophone; he does this very well despite having never attempted to play this tune before.