Folk songs and the minor pentachord

Hello musicians. My name is Mrs. Steele and I'm back again with another music lesson for us today. Today's lesson is called "Folk Songs and the Minor Pentachord," and we're going to have lots of fun together. So let's get started. By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to follow the melodic shape of minor tonality folk songs, singing and signing the minor pentachord and framing this with a drone accompaniment. Here are the key words that will be important in our learning today. Minor pentachord. The first five notes of the minor scale: la, ti, do, re and mi. Accompaniment: a musical part that supports the main melody or chant. Drone: a constant pitched sound that continues throughout a piece of music. Texture: the combination of different layers of sounds. And dynamics: how loud or quiet the music is. As always, let's start by warming up because it's so important to make sure our voices, minds, and bodies are ready to move and ready to sing. Join in with these warmups. Here's the video. (piano plays) Ready chickens. ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 ♪ ♪ 1, 1, 1, 1 ♪ ♪ Warm up chicken ♪ (piano music continues) Ready Chickens. ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 ♪ ♪ 1, 1, 1, 1 ♪ ♪ Warm up chicken. ♪ (children cluck like hens) Let's warm up all the muscles of our faces. Show me your happy face. Show me your grumpy face. Show me your big face. Show me your small face. Show me your silly face. Show me your thinking face. You ready? (soft piano music) (all breathe in then out deeply) (all breathe in then out deeply) (all breathe in then out deeply) (all breathe in then out deeply) Follow me. ♪ Mm, mm, mm ♪ ♪ Zz, zz, zz ♪ ♪ Ah-Ha, ah-ha, ah-ha ♪ The great Greek grape growers grow great Greek grapes. These tongue twisters and songs will help us to warm up further as they help us to use our voices in lots of different ways. Let's start with two tongue twisters. Here they are. Listen carefully, then press pause to give them a try. ♪ Ready, steady. Off we go ♪ ♪ Fresh fried fish, fresh fried fish ♪ ♪ Fresh fried fish, fresh fried fish ♪ ♪ Fresh fried fish ♪ ♪ Fresh fried fish, fresh fried fish ♪ ♪ Fresh fried fish, fresh fried fish ♪ ♪ Fresh fried fish ♪ ♪ Ready, steady. Off we go ♪ ♪ She sees cheese, she sees cheese ♪ ♪ She sees cheese, she sees cheese ♪ ♪ She sees cheese ♪ ♪ She sees cheese, she sees cheese ♪ ♪ She sees cheese, she sees cheese ♪ ♪ She sees cheese ♪ Next, let's sing light and dark. Here's the music. (bright piano music) ♪ M-M-Minor, minor, M-M-Minor, minor ♪ ♪ M-M-Minor, minor, Mmm ♪ ♪ M-M-Major, major, M-M-Major, major ♪ ♪ M-M-Major, major, Mmm ♪ ♪ M-M-Minor, minor, M-M-Minor, minor ♪ ♪ M-M-Minor, minor, Mmm ♪ ♪ M-M-Major, major, M-M-Major, major ♪ ♪ M-M-Major, major, Mmm ♪ And finally join in with the song, Abiyo Abeyo. Here comes the music. (tom-tom plays) ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Abiyo ♪ ♪ Abiyo ♪ ♪ Abeyo ♪ ♪ Abeyo ♪ ♪ Abiyo, biyo, bi, ma, ma ♪ ♪ Abiyo, biyo, bi, ma, ma ♪ ♪ Abiyo, biyo, bi, ma, ma ♪ ♪ Abiyo, biyo, bi, ma, ma ♪ ♪ Abiyo ♪ ♪ Abiyo ♪ ♪ Abeyo ♪ ♪ Abeyo ♪ ♪ Abiyo, biyo, bi, ma, ma ♪ ♪ Abiyo, biyo, bi, ma, ma ♪ ♪ Abiyo, biyo, bi, ma, ma ♪ ♪ Abiyo, biyo, bi, ma, ma ♪ Let's check that you're ready to make music. Does your body feel relaxed? Does your throat feel warm? And is your mind alert? Brilliant. Let's make music together. We're going to start today by learning about the minor pentachord. Let's sing the folk song, "When the Train Comes Along." This song has a minor tonality. Tap the pulse gently as you sing. Here comes the music. (soft piano music) ♪ When the train comes along, when the train comes along ♪ ♪ I'm gonna meet you at the station ♪ ♪ When the train comes along ♪ ♪ If my mother asks for me, if my mother asks for me ♪ ♪ Tell her I'll meet at the station ♪ ♪ If my mother asks for me ♪ Now let's sing, "Rise Up O Flame." This song has a minor tonality too. How would you describe the melodic shape of this song? Think particularly about the lyrics in purple that you can see here. Here comes the music for "Rise up O Flame." Join in. ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ When we sing, we string together a series of high and low notes to create a melody. That's a bit trickier to hear in "Rise Up O Flame" because there are many notes for each syllable sometimes, but this song makes much use of the minor pentachord, both ascending, going up, and descending, going down. Can you hear these five notes ascending in step in this part of the song? ♪ By ♪ ♪ The ♪ ♪ Light ♪ And again here. ♪ Vision ♪ ♪ And ♪ This song has a minor tonality, so it centers us around the tonic note la. It uses the first five notes of the minor scale and we call this the minor pentachord Here it is with our hand signs and solfege syllables and we've got a new hand sign here, ti. Let's practice signing the minor pentachord. We'll do it ascending, going up, first. Watch this video to see what that looks like. Then press pause to try it yourselves. ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ La, ti, do, re, mi ♪ ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ La, ti, do, re, miready? ♪ Now have a go at descending. Watch the video, then press pause to give it a try. ♪ Ready, steady, off we go. ♪ ♪ Me, re, do, ti, la ♪ ♪ Ready, steady, off we go. ♪ ♪ Me, re, do, ti, la ♪ The minor pentachord doesn't always start on the same note. La, the tonic, can be any note, and once la is decided, all the other notes fall into place around it. This means that we can sing any song we like starting on any note we like. The minor pentachord creates a different tonality to the major pentachord. Listen to, and then join in with, "Old Abram Brown," by Benjamin Britten. This song has a minor tonality. What do you notice about the melodic shape as we sing ♪ Buttoned down before ♪ What did you notice about the melodic shape as we sang ♪ Buttoned down before ♪ Lucas noticed that the five notes descended in step. Well done if you spotted that too. And Laura spotted that they descend the minor pentachord. Excellent work if you identified that one. Sing "Old Abram Brown" again. This time add the solfege for the minor pentachord and your hand signs too in that last line. The minor pentachord helps give a song its identity and sense of character. When we hear the minor pentachord ascending or descending, it helps us identify the tonality of a song. It's time for a quick check-in. Which two statements are true? A, minor tonality songs center around the note la? B, the minor pentachord uses the pitches la, ti, do, re, and mi? C, the minor pentachord uses the pitches do, re, mi, fa and so? Or D, minor tonality songs center around the note do? Press pause to decide together which two statements are true. Here comes the answer. A and B are true. Minor tonality songs center around the note la, and the minor pentachord uses the pitches la, ti, do, re, and mi. Great understanding everyone. Let's sing "Have you Seen the Ghost of Tom?" This folk song has a minor tonality. Listen carefully to the purple lyrics and think about their melodic shape as you sing. What can you notice? Here's the music for "Have you Seen the Ghost of Tom?" (gentle piano music) ♪ Have you seen the ghost of Tom ♪ ♪ Long white bones with the skin all gone ♪ ♪ Oooooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Wouldn't it be chilly with no skin on ♪ ♪ Have you seen the ghost of Tom ♪ ♪ Long white bones with the skin all gone ♪ ♪ Oooooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Wouldn't it be chilly with no skin on ♪ Now try singing the solfege for the purple lyrics which are descending the minor pentachord. Well done if you spotted that. It sounds like this. ♪ Mi, mi, re, re, do, do, ti, la ♪ Join in with "Have you Seen the Ghost of Tom" singing the solfege in that last line as it descends the minor pentachord. Here's the music. ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Have you seen the ghost of Tom ♪ ♪ Long white bones with the skin all gone ♪ ♪ Oooooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Mi, mi, re, re, do, do, ti, la, skin on ♪ ♪ Have you seen the ghost of Tom ♪ ♪ Long white bones with the skin all gone ♪ ♪ Oooooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Mi, mi, re, re, do, do, ti, la, skin on ♪ Finally, challenge yourselves to sing the solfege and use your hand signs to show the melodic shape in that last line. Here comes a video to show you what that looks like. Then press pause to try it for yourselves. And as you do this, you could use the audio to help you if you need it. ♪ Ready, steady, off we go. ♪ ♪ Have you seen the ghost of Tom ♪ ♪ Long white bones with the skin all gone ♪ ♪ Oooooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Mi, mi, re, re, do, do, ti, la, skin on ♪ ♪ Have you seen the ghost of Tom ♪ ♪ Long white bones with the skin all gone ♪ ♪ Oooooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Mi, mi, re, re, do, do, ti, la, skin on ♪ Do you remember when we listened carefully to the purple lyrics in "Have you Seen the Ghost of Tom?" We thought about their melodic shape. Do you remember what we noticed? Yes. The melody descends in step using the minor pentachord. And when you challenged yourselves to sing the solfege and use the hand signs to show that melodic shape did your hand signs move lower on your body as the melody descended? Well done if they did. Great singing and signing. Now let's move on to adding a drone layer. Folk songs can be accompanied or unaccompanied. An accompaniment is a musical part that supports the main melody or chant. We're going to add a drone accompaniment to a minor tonality folk song, and then we can use this accompaniment to add another layer. This creates a thicker texture. We're going to accompany "Rise up O Flame" with a drone. This song is in three time, and we can tap the beat like this as we listen. Strong, weak, weak, strong, weak, weak, strong, weak, weak. Listen carefully to "Rise up O Flame." Can you hear the drone? ♪ Ready, steady, off we go ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ ♪ Rise up o flame ♪ ♪ By thy light glowing ♪ ♪ Show to us beauty ♪ ♪ Vision and joy ♪ Hello again. Could you hear it? It sounded on the strong beat when we tapped our hand a little louder. An accompaniment like a drone accompaniment is a musical part that supports the main melody or chant. It's important to remember that the accompaniment supports the main melody. That means we shouldn't play it too loudly. We need to balance those dynamics so that we can still hear the main melody. We want the main melody to be louder than the accompaniment. To create a drone, we're going to use pitched percussion instruments and the notes, la and mi from the minor pentachord. For this song, la is D, and mi is A, like this. But first, there's time for a quick check-in. Which of these statements is true? A, an accompaniment should always be louder than the melody? B, an accompaniment adds another layer so we have to sing the melody louder so that we can be heard? C, it's important to consider balance and make sure the accompaniment is not louder than the melody? Or D, both the accompaniment and the melody are important, so we must play both parts loudly? Press pause to decide which one of these four statements do you think is true. Here comes the answer. Yes, It's C. It's important to consider balance and make sure the accompaniment is not louder than the melody, because remember, it's supports the melody. It's time for our big musical challenge now. Let's add a drone layer. Find la and mi on your pitched percussion instrument. Then practice playing both notes at the same time. This creates a chord. Then you're going to want to practice playing this chord on the strong beat as you listen to the recording. This creates a drone. And when you are confident playing your drone, you can try the ultimate challenge and have a go at singing at the same time. But remember, make sure your drone is not louder than your singing. Your drone is an accompaniment that supports the melody. You're going to want to do this at your own pace where you are. So I'll leave this slide here so you can see all of the steps. You can use the audio button to help you practice if you need it. Good luck everyone. I'll see you soon. Have a listen to the recording of "Rise Up O Flame" again. How did your playing compare? Did you play la and mi neatly together? And did you feel the pulse playing your drone on that strong beat? And did you manage to balance your dynamics playing quieter than your singing? Fantastic work, everyone. As we've reached the end of our music lesson today, let's take a moment to think about everything we've been learning together. We know that the minor pentachord is the first five notes of the Minor Scale, la, ti, do, re and mi. And we know that folk songs can be accompanied or unaccompanied. We know that adding a drone underneath the song adds another layer of sound to the texture of the piece, just like we did in "Rise Up O Flame." And we know that to be able to accompany songs effectively, we need to be able to play with a sound sense of pulse. And finally, we know that we need to consider the dynamic balance when adding accompaniment to songs. Great music making and understanding today, everyone. I can't wait to see you again sometime soon. Bye.