The street is the setting for this unit of buskers and flash mobs. The children explore Ravel s Boléro through rhythmical mime, learn songs with instrumental accompaniments, and create a dance to build into a thrilling street performance. Click here to view the plans: Medium term plan 1st lesson plan 2nd lesson plan 3rd lesson plan 4TH LESSON PLAN 5TH LESSON PLAN 6TH LESSON PLAN Music Age 2014 A&C Black (an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc) 1
Subject link: Georgraphy medium term Plan 1 Feeling and moving to a three-beat pulse and revising rhythmic ostinato Boléro Practise feeling groups of three in the listening piece Boléro Street scene Mime street scene actions to the rhythm of Boléro Children who are less confident about creating an individual mime to perform with Boléro can work with a partner, eg miming as a parent and child, two friends, or asking someone for directions. Miming patterns Build a texture of rhythmic mimed ostinati 2 Performing and improvising rhythmic and melodic ostinati Street busker Learn to sing Street busker Street calls Perform rhythmic ostinati as a musical conversation To help the instrumentalists keep a relaxed, steady beat without gradually speeding up the tempo, it may help to appoint a confident conductor to indicate the beat. Double bass ostinato and calls Perform rhythmic ostinati on instruments 3 Singing in harmony Learning about chords Harmony junction Explore building harmony using voices Street busker harmony Sing the song Street busker in three-part harmony To help the singers when they sing Street busker in three-part harmony, group them in three blocks with confident singers dispersed within each group. Street busker accompaniment Perform a melodic and chordal ostinato to accompany a song 2
medium term Plan 4 Performing music and dance Flash mob Learn about flash mobs and learn to sing the Flash mob song Flash mob rhythms Perform a rhythm pattern on drums and tuned percussion Dance attack Invent movements to perform with Flash mob To learn the tuned percussion accompaniment, the players should use the notation as support at first, but encourage them to learn it by heart so that they can play confidently as part of the ensemble with the other instruments. 5 Revising, rehearsing and developing music for performance Comparing flash mob structures Compare and contrast two flash mob performances Street scene flash mob Revise singing Street busker using expression It may help to begin to draw a plan of the performance ideas and display it for everyone to see as they rehearse. Street scene revision Revise musical ideas and begin planning a performance 6 Understanding the process of a musical performance Busker bash Clarify the structure of the final performance Dress rehearsal Practise performing Busker bash To support the children in rehearsal, it may help to display a plan of the complete performance structure as a reminder. When the children are more confident, this can be removed and committed to memory for a fluent performance. Performance Perform to a friendly audience and evaluate 3
1 Plan learning Feeling and moving to a three-beat pulse and revising rhythmic ostinato NEED Boléro Practise feeling groups of three in the listening piece Boléro listen to music and identify its texture; identify the beat of a piece of music; follow a graphic score to perform a repeating rhythm on body percussion with music. Street scene Mime street scene actions to the rhythm of Boléro discuss a picture and watch a movie of mimed actions to music; copy mimed actions to a rhythm. Miming patterns Build a texture of rhythmic mimed ostinati invent rhythmical mimed actions to music; demonstrate and interpret mimed actions; conduct a performance to music of increasing texture and evaluate. Texture Rhythm Ostinato Explore the development of this performance, eg by increasing the number of different patterns used at the same time or the numbers of performers using the same pattern at different times. Support: Children who are less confident about creating an individual mime to perform with Boléro can work with a partner, eg miming as a parent and child, two friends or asking someone for directions. 4
2 Plan learning Performing and improvising rhythmic and melodic ostinati A selection of four untuned percussion, eg tambourine, shakers, finger cymbals, hand drum Street busker Learn to sing Street busker listen to a song following the lyrics, then discuss its structure; learn a verse by echo-singing. Street calls Perform rhythmic ostinati as a musical conversation listen to instrumental music and identify its structure; in two groups, count a metre of three in music; listen to and then invent three-beat street calls in two groups; perform a musical conversation in two groups. Double bass ostinato and calls Perform rhythmic ostinati on instruments listen to music and identify its structure; revise a body percussion ostinato; transfer a rhythmic ostinato onto selected untuned percussion; accompany street calls in two groups with a layered instrumental texture. Support: To help the instrumentalists keep a relaxed, steady beat without gradually speeding up the tempo, it may help to appoint a confident conductor to indicate the beat. Ostinato Metre Structure Working in groups, each group invents a new accompaniment rhythm ostinato to perform on their choice of percussion instruments in the given structure. The flute and trumpet melodic conversation is available to print out in staff notation. Invite confident individuals to learn to play these parts and perform them with the double bass ostinato and street calls. 5
3 Plan learning Singing in harmony Learning about chords Tuned instruments, eg chime bars, xylophones, glockenspiels notes G Bb C D E G' Harmony junction Explore building harmony using voices listen to two extracts of music and compare the texture; explore building vocal harmony in three groups. Street busker harmony Sing the song Street busker in three-part harmony revise a song then learn a two-part harmony; add a third harmony part; then perform a song in unison and three-part harmony. Street busker accompaniment Perform a melodic and chordal ostinato to accompany a song learn to play a melodic accompaniment following a grid score; learn to play a chord accompaniment in pairs; combine instrumental ostinati; perform a song with two instrumental ostinati accompaniment. Support: To help the singers when they sing Street busker in three-part harmony, group them in three blocks with confident singers dispersed within each group. Texture Harmony Ostinato Chord Perform the complete Street scene: - all sing the Street busker song in harmony accompanied by the double bass ostinato; - in the instrumental section a small group accompanies the Street calls with the double bass and chord ostinati; confident individuals could play the flute and trumpet melodic conversation using the staff notation displays. 6
4 Plan learning Performing music and dance Flash mob Learn about flash mobs and learn to sing the Flash mob song watch a movie and learn about flash mobs; learn to sing a song in unison; listen to and compare two songs. Flash mob rhythms Perform a rhythm pattern on drums and tuned percussion clap a repeating rhythm then transfer onto untuned and tuned instruments; use notation to learn rhythmic and tuned accompaniments to a song; perform a song in two groups with instrumental accompaniment. Dance attack Invent movements to perform with Flash mob learn rhythmic dance moves; improvise dance moves for a section of a song; combine singing and dance moves; discuss ideas for development of a performance. A selection of untuned and tuned instruments, eg drums, tuned percussion, keyboards notes C D F and G Beat Rhythm Metre After filming, consider any necessary changes then perform Flash mob song and dance to a friendly audience to see their reactions and suggestions. Discuss whether the moves look realistic, artistic and convincing. Support: To learn the tuned percussion accompaniment, the players should use the notation as support at first, but encourage them to learn it by heart so that they can play confidently as part of the ensemble with the other instruments. 7
5 Plan learning Revising, rehearsing and developing music for performance A selection of untuned and tuned instruments, eg drums, tuned percussion, keyboards notes C D F and G Comparing flash mob structures Compare and contrast two flash mob performances watch and compare two flash mob performances. Street scene flash mob Revise singing Street busker using expression revise songs and learn an optional harmony part; plan the sequence of songs for a musical finale; combine songs with a percussion rhythm piece; rehearse songs in a chosen sequence. Street scene revision Revise musical ideas and begin planning a performance revise and practise musical ideas to build a performance; work as a class and in small groups, using singing, chant, playing instruments and dance. Unison Harmony Dynamics Search on the internet for other examples of flash mob music or dance performances. Discuss any ideas that you could use in your own flash mob performance next lesson. Support: It may help to begin to draw a plan of the performance ideas and display it for everyone to see as they rehearse. 8
6 Plan learning Understanding the process of a musical performance A selection of untuned and tuned instruments, eg drums, tuned percussion, keyboards notes C D F and G Bb C D E G' Busker bash Clarify the structure of the final performance watch a movie and discuss its structure; join in with songs in unison or harmony; plan a performance, combining song, instrumental accompaniments and dance. Dress rehearsal Practise performing Busker bash plan the staging of a performance with awareness of space; practise a musical story scene by scene. Performance Perform to a friendly audience and evaluate perform to an audience; film the performance and evaluate. Unison Harmony Dynamics Flashmob 6 is a good opportunity to perform the piece in readiness for an authentic friendly audience, such as in a school assembly or concert. Perform the piece again for different audiences. Support: To support the children in rehearsal, it may help to display a plan of the complete performance structure as a reminder. When the children are more confident, this can be removed and committed to memory for a fluent performance. 9