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New Ways To Teach An Old Song


"Hello, Somebody" is a traditional greeting song that appears in Jump Right In Grade 3 General Music Series. I've been using it for several years, singing the song and engaging students in improvising on a woodblock between verses. 

Listening and Improvising: Rhythm Focus 

This week I decided to try something new. Instead of singing the entire verse before demonstrating improvisation, I broke each verse into phrases, and modeled improvising 4-macrobeat (two-measure) rhythm patterns on a woodblock after each phrase. I also transposed it to D-major to make it more accessible for developing voices (usually between D and A).

VERSE 1:
IMPROVISE ON THE WOODBLOCK ( two measures)

IMPROVISE ON THE WOODBLOCK ( two measures)

VERSE 2:
Hello, somebody, hello. 
Somebody wants to know your name 
(Improvise)
Hello, somebody, hello. 
Somebody wants to know your name 
(Improvise)

After I modeled the sequence--alternating singing and improvising on the woodblock--I passed the woodblock around the circle. To change the pace and add variety, I sang additional verses on neutral syllable, and added melodic improvisation. 

Listening and Improvising: Tonal Focus 

I had an idea. If I changed the words to "somebody singing at the garden gate", we could transition to vocal improvisation.

Here is the outline of the process:
  • I told students to move in self space, and stop when I do.
  • I sang the song, changing the words to "singing", and after a dramatic stop, impovised tonally on neutral syllable.
  • I then asked students what was different about the song. The words! We discussed that instead of improvising rhythm patterns, we were going to improvise tonal patterns.
  • HOWEVER...I did not want to put pressure on all of the students by passing the turn around as we did with the woodblock. Instead, students raised their hand if they had an idea.
  • We started with me holding the ball. 
  • I sang and moved in self space with the students. After the first phrase, we stopped, and I improvised while holding the "magical" ball.
  • I then told the students that I will pass the ball to another student if they are ready to improvise, and then that student will continue to pass the ball to others.
It worked very well. The students understood the flow: move and listen, stop and raise your hand to improvise, catch the ball from the previous soloist, improvise, move and listen, pass the ball at the next juncture.

Onto Symbolic Association

Before my students came in, I wrote major tonic patterns on the board. Originally there were 4 patterns. The fifth pattern was a request from the students. Read on!

Surprise!!!

I sang the major preparatory sequence (sol la sol fa mi re ti do), labeled tonality (Major), and using my singing voice, stated that the resting tone is D-do. And then it happened! I heard a student humming the first pattern. Accurately! And then another student sang the second pattern. We went on, as I sang each pattern using solfege, and students echoed on solfege. Then I sang it on neutral syllable, and students identified which pattern they heard. Finally, they requested another pattern. They wanted to sing an unfamiliar pattern. It was an exciting day in the music room!

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