Learning a musical theme

Hi there, everybody, and welcome to today's lesson on playing a musical theme. This is from our Compose and Create unit, where we are creating melodic variations based on a theme. My name's Mr. Croughan, and I'll be guiding you through learning a musical theme in today's lesson, so let's get going. In today's lesson, you will learn a melodic theme using notation to support you. Let's begin by looking at today's key words. We'll begin with theme. This is a short, recognizable melody that's the main musical idea for a composition. Then variation, when a musical theme is repeated with changes. A glockenspiel. This is a tuned percussion instrument with metal bars. Glocken is a German word that means bells and spiel means play. A mallet. A mallet is the musical name for the beaters with which you play the glockenspiel. Before each lesson, we know how important it is to warm up our bodies, our voices, and our minds so we're ready to listen, to play, and sing, especially if we're doing that together. We want to be focused and ready. So, we're going to begin by joining in with our theme and variation song. The lyrics are on the screen. Here comes the track. (bright piano music) ♪ Here's a theme and some variations ♪ ♪ Different versions of one idea ♪ ♪ There are so many permutations ♪ ♪ Changing aspects of what you hear ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Here's a theme and some variations ♪ ♪ Different versions of one idea ♪ ♪ There are so many permutations ♪ ♪ Changing aspects of what you hear ♪ (jazzy piano music) ♪ Here's a theme and some variations ♪ ♪ Different versions of one idea ♪ ♪ There are so many permutations ♪ ♪ Changing aspects of what you hear ♪ (tinkling piano music) ♪ Here's a theme and some variations ♪ ♪ Different versions of one idea ♪ ♪ There are so many permutations ♪ ♪ Changing aspects of what you hear ♪ (orchestral piano music) ♪ Here's a theme and some variations ♪ ♪ Different versions of one idea ♪ ♪ There are so many permutations ♪ ♪ Changing aspects of what you hear ♪ (whimsical piano music) ♪ Here's a theme and some variations ♪ ♪ Different versions of one idea ♪ ♪ There are so many permutations ♪ ♪ Changing aspects of ♪ ♪ Changing aspects of ♪ ♪ Changing aspects of what you hear ♪ (lively piano music) ♪ Here's a theme and some variations ♪ ♪ Different versions of one idea ♪ ♪ There are so many permutations ♪ ♪ Changing aspects of what you hear ♪ There are three more warmups designed to help us. We have our 1, 2, 3, 4, where we're stepping forwards and backwards, clapping on the different beats. Then the challenge version of that, and then our thumbs up, thumbs down for major and minor tonalities. Here, we'll follow each of these now. Make sure you're ready. Have you got a space? Here we go. Ready, steady, off we go. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Clap on number one. One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) Clap on number two. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) Clap on number three. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) Clap on number four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) Harder version. Ready, steady, off we go. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, let's go. One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) One, two, three, four. (hands clap) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music continues) Very good stuff. Now, some indicators to see if we're ready for music. Alex says, "I can internalize a beat." And you might have shown that with that 1, 2, 3, 4. Aisha says, "I can recognize major and minor tonalities." And Lucas says, "Well, I feel alert and focused." So, we're ready to learn. Let's press on. There are two learning cycles today, and the first one, recognizing a theme and a variation, then the second playing a musical theme. We'll begin by recognizing those themes and variations and we're going to start by listening to two different musical themes and then example of a variation from each. The first one is Benjamin Britten's "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra." We'll watch the theme and then the variation. Here comes the theme to begin with. (energetic orchestral music) And here's the variation. (whimsical clarinet music) (whimsical clarinet music continues) Super. The next one is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman," which is played on a piano. We'll listen to this one. First of all, here comes the theme. (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music continues) And now here's the variation on that theme. (energetic piano music) (energetic piano music continues) Did you hear the theme in each of those variations? In the Britten variation, the composer gives parts of the theme's melody to the clarinets and adds lots of extra notes for decoration. And in the Mozart variation, the composer adds lots of notes, especially in the right hand to playing the higher pitch part of the piano to decorate the main theme. And now, a quick check for you. What is a theme? Specifically a theme. Is it a short, recognizable melody that's the main musical idea for a composition? Is it an idea a composer has for a piece of music? Is it when a piece of music is repeated with changes? Or is it a section of the orchestra. Specifically, what is a theme? Take a moment. Is it a recognizable melody? Is it an idea a composer has to create this piece of music? Is it when that piece of music's repeated with changes? Or is it a section of the orchestra? And if you've got it, well done, it is a, a theme by itself that is a short, recognizable melody that's the main musical idea for a composition. We're going to listen to see if we can still recognize the original theme from "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" by Britten in each of the variations. So, I'll play you a clip of the theme first, followed by which I'll play you each variation. I want you to just listen and go, "Can I recognize the theme on the percussion, on the oboes, and on the harps? Here comes the theme. (energetic orchestral music) And now that variation on percussion. (slow percussion music) (rhythmic glockenspiel music) (slow percussion music) (rhythmic tambourine music) (slow percussion music) (rhythmic slapper music) (escalating orchestral music) A variation on the oboes. (whimsical oboe music) (slow orchestral music) And lastly, the variation on the harp. (gentle harp music) (gentle harp music continues) Could you make out that theme each time? Aisha says, "In the percussion variation, parts of the rhythm of the original theme are passed around the percussion instruments." Alex suggests, "In the harp variation, the melody's actually played upside down. Instead of the first few notes going up in pitch, they go down." And Andeep says, "In the oboe variation, the direction of the melody is the same, but the music is slower." If you identified those differences, very well done. Now, the melody of the theme "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" is very similar to the nursery rhyme "Twinkle Twinkle" Mozart had used a traditional French melody for his theme and his variations. Now, the poem that we recognize as "Twinkle Twinkle," that nursery rhyme, that was written by Jane Taylor many years after Mozart wrote his variations. Good bit of quiz knowledge for you there. Mozart composed his piece for the piano. We're going to listen now to the theme and then the variations to see if you can still recognize the original theme in each variation. So, first of all, here comes the theme to remind ourselves. (gentle piano music) Next, I'm going to play a variation where the rhythm of the melody changes. Here it comes. (tinkling rhythmic piano music) (tinkling rhythmic piano music continues) Next up, let's hear this variation in a minor tonality. (soft tonal piano music) (soft tonal piano music continues) And lastly, here's a variation where extra notes are added. (rapid piano music) (rapid piano music continues) Ace. Now you've heard them all, I'm gonna play you this one. I won't tell you which one it is. And you are going to tell me, is this the variation where the rhythm of the melody changes? Is it in a minor tonality? Or is it where lots of extra notes are added? Here it comes. (soft tonal piano music) (soft tonal piano music continues) Well done, well done! Yes, that was the variation in a minor tonality. If you got that right, very well done. Now then, this is your practice task. There are four audio clips and four descriptions. Your job is to match them up correctly. Is the audio clip you're listening to a variation in a minor tonality? Is it variation where the rhythm of the melody changes? Is it a variation where extra notes are added? Or is it the theme? You're going to pause the video here and match those descriptions to each audio clip. Pause here and we'll catch up in a moment with the answers. Did you get them all? That first clip you heard is variation where extra notes are added, then your second one was the theme, the third one was in a minor tonality, and that last variation was where the rhythm of the melody changed. If you've got them all right, super duper, well done. Now, in this second part, we are going to be playing a musical theme and we'll begin by listening to this piece of music. It's similar to the opening of the Mozart theme and it's performed on a glockenspiel. Have a listen, and while you do, you can see some notation there. And I would like you to follow the direction of the melody in this notated example. And what I mean by that is following where the pitch rises and falls. Here comes the clip. (gentle glockenspiel music) (gentle glockenspiel music continues) The theme we're listening to uses the first six notes from the major scale, so we hear. ♪ Do, re, mi, fa, so, la ♪ Those six notes. Notating the music allows a musician to revisit that music as a later date and for other people to play it and to be able to recreate the same music. In this three-line stave, not to be confused with a five-line stave if you're reading music, just this three-line one, there is a symbol here that tells us where do is. So, do is on the bottom line of this three-line stave, and we can sing, ♪ Do, do, so, so, la, la, so ♪ Familiar tune, right? ♪ Fa, fa, mi, mi, re, re, do ♪ Now, using your finger, trace the direction of that theme as you hear the notes. Here comes the clip. (gentle glockenspiel music) (gentle glockenspiel music continues) Okay, quick job for you. There are three clips I'm going to play and there's three lines of music there. You're going to follow along with the notes and you're going to tell me which note does the clip stop on, so the clip's gonna stop at different times in the music. So, follow with your finger, and then you will land on the note where the music stops, and that will be the correct answer for each, okay? Here comes A. (gentle glockenspiel music) Well done, good following of the music. A played all the way to the end, finishing on do, on the C note. Here comes B. (gentle glockenspiel music) Magic, well done. B stopped halfway through and finished on a D note. Here comes C. (gentle glockenspiel music) Very good, and C stopped just on the first note, which was an F. Very well done! We'll now look carefully at the notes that we are going to play. They are, ♪ C, D, E, F, G, A ♪ ♪ Or do, re, mi, fa, so, la ♪ So, pause here and find those six notes, those six next door neighbor notes on your instruments. Great, check you're all right. You're starting on the C and working up those six notes, those six next door neighbor notes up the scale. We're now going to look at the rhythms that we will use. We have ta-di, ta-di, ta-di, ta. Let's clap that together. Ready, steady, off we go. (hands clapping rhythmically) Great. You'll see that used throughout this piece, but in the middle line, the rhythm changes slightly, so be ready to clap along. I'm gonna pop the track on, and you're going to read the musical notation, clapping the correct rhythms. Are we ready? Here it comes. Ready, steady, off we go. ♪ Ta-di, ta-di, ta-di, ta ♪ (hands clapping rhythmically) ♪ Ta-di, ta-di, ta-di, ta ♪ (hands clapping rhythmically) ♪ Ta-di, ta ♪ (hands clapping rhythmically) ♪ Ta-di, ta ♪ (hands clapping rhythmically) ♪ Ta-di, ta ♪ (hands clapping rhythmically) ♪ Ta-di, ta ♪ (hands clapping rhythmically) ♪ Ta-di, ta-di, ta-di, ta ♪ (hands clapping rhythmically) ♪ Ta-di, ta-di, ta-di, ta ♪ (hands clapping rhythmically) Some top tips for you. When you're playing a glockenspiel or a xylophone, you're gonna hold the mallet loosely in your hand about three quarters of the way down, and you play in the very center of the bar and so that the mallet bounces lightly off the bar. Don't push the mallet into the bar because that will stop the bar vibrating and it will deaden the sound. Quick check. Make sure we're all going to get this absolutely spot on. Where do you aim to strike the bar of a glockenspiel? Is it at the top? Is it at the bottom? Is it in the middle? Is it anywhere? A, B, C, or D? If you've been paying attention, you're going to make a brilliant sound as you begin to play. It is, of course, C, in the middle of the bar. Striking the middle of the bar will produce a clean sound. You are ready for your last practice task of today. You're gonna practice the theme on the glockenspiel or another tune percussion instrument that you might have, like a xylophone or chime bars, what's available to you. When you play, you are following this music, so we're following the rhythm, the ta-di, ta-di, ta-di, ta, until it changes and you are following the tune the, ♪ Do, do, so so, la, la, so ♪ And working out how to play that on those six notes, the first six notes, C, D, E, F, G, A on your instruments. It might take a few times to practice. What you're aiming for is to get it smooth. If you can play that to a steady beat, it's gonna sound great, rather than stopping and starting. So, my top tip, take your time, go slowly with a, ♪ Do, do, so so, la, la, so ♪ Is perfectly quick enough. Remember, "Twinkle Twinkle" itself can be sung as a lullaby. Pause here and practice where you are. All right, how did it go? Easy, okay, hard? How was it? Izzy said, "I played the theme confidently and fluently." Well, good for you, Izzy. Laura said, "I played in the very center of the bar, so the mallet bounced off to make the best sound." Very good technique. And Lucas said, "I followed the notation carefully and checked I was playing the correct notes and rhythm." Really well done. I hope you managed to play that theme successfully where you are. Did you play it all together eventually as an ensemble in your class and could you keep to the same steady pulse? If you did, you're all winners. Very well done, super duper. It's time to summarize our learning for today because we're almost done. First thing, you can usually recognize aspects of the original theme when you listen to a variation. When we compose variations, composers, well, they might change the rhythm, the melody, or even the tonality of the theme. A glockenspiel, that's an instrument played with mallets, and the best sound is when we strike in the center of the bar with loosely held mallets in our hands. And lastly, we can play a theme accurately using pitch and notation. Really well done for today. Great listening and great playing. I look forward to seeing you next time. Bye for now!.