Unit 2, LESSON 2

LINK TO LESSON SLIDEDECK Google Slides)

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Authors: Katherine Alarcio, Janice Boychuk, Lauren Fagaragan, Chet-Yeng Loong, and Kevin Morita.

Central Focuses:

Music:

  • Students will improvise and explore what a pentatonic scale sounds like, using bells, boomwhackers, or xylophones. (Cr1.1)     
  • Students will explore and create different rhythmic patterns using quarter notes, paired eighth and half notes in simple duple meter, and refine and evaluate their performances using rubrics. (Cr3.1)
  • Students will respond to fast and slow, major and minor scales, and explain how intent is conveyed through interpretive decisions and expressive qualities (tempo, tonalities, and style). (Mary had a Little Lamb, Jazz) (Re 7.2)
  • Students will explain how responses to music are informed by the use of the elements of music - tonalities and social and cultural context. (Shabat Shalom) (Re 7.2)
  • Students will be able to identify stanza and ABA form. (Bobby McFerrin: Don't Worry, Be Happy) (Pr: 4.2)

SEL:

The focuses of this unit are to guide students to explore self awareness, social awareness and relationship skills.

HĀ: 4c: Strengthened Sense of Aloha; 6f: Strengthened Sense of Hawai‘i

  • Students will discover how harmony in music can create a harmonious atmosphere among human beings. 
  • Students will be able to discover the importance of relationships among individuals. Having different roles can contribute to making harmony and beautiful performance.

 

FOCUS KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS SONG/INSTRUMENTS

HARMONY

IMPROVISATION

FORM

  • Do Pentatonic
  • ABA
  • Power of the Pentatonic Scale
  • Boomwhakers

 

Key Questions:
  • How does this connect with what we’ve learned before?
  • What do you notice?
  • How would this be different if…”

Class format: ftf

  • Think/ Pair /Share, Modeling, Discussion Questions

Entrance Task/Check-In: (be sure to review virtual class norms)

Activity 1

Teacher-led instruction (“I do”):

  • Ask the students if they remember the song they listened to last time (Don’t Worry, Be Happy).
  • Tell the students that they’ll be watching a video of the same singer (Bobby McFerrin) demonstrating how a pentatonic scale can be used.
  • Watch the Power of Pentatonic video as a class.
  • Since the pentatonic scale is made up of a collection of notes that work well together, any of those notes (do, re, mi, so, la) that are played together, will have a pleasant sound.
  • Review the absolute letter names with students (C D E G A).
  • Tell students we are also adding letter C’s cousin, high C. High C and regular C have the same sound in the pentatonic scale, but high C has a higher sound.
  • Show high C on the staff.

Bobby McFerrin is the singer who made Don’t Worry, be Happy famous. Here is a video that Mr. McFerrin "demonstrated the power of the pentatonic scale." Please watch the video.


MUSIC & SEL: Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making

HĀ: 4c: Strengthened Sense of Aloha; 6f: Strengthened Sense of Hawai‘i

 

Independent Practice (“You do”) or Group-work with deliverable: 

Think/pair share (SEL Questions)

  • What do you think of when you hear the pentatonic scale?
  • How did you feel when you saw Bobby McFerrin using the pentatonic scale with the whole crowd? 

Activity 2

Teacher-led Instruction (“I do”): 

  • The C pentatonic scale is made from the notes: C, D, E, G, A, and high C.

Explore the C pentatonic scale (notes C, D, E, G, and A) on bells, boomwhackers, or xylophones.

 

Guided/Collaborative Practice (“We Do”):

  • Students are divided into groups, 3-4 students in each group.
  • Each group goes to the Lumio and creates four different rhythmic patterns. You may click the image below.

Improvisation

Guided/Collaborative Practice (“We do”):

  • Together, explore what a pentatonic scale sounds like, using bells, boomwhackers, or xylophones. 
  • Assign one note to each group of students (group 1: C, Group 2: D, etc.).
  • As a class, play the pentatonic scale C - D - E - G - A - high C.

Independent Practice (“You do”) or Group-work with deliverable: 

  • Within the group, arrange the boomwhackers (or xylophones/bells, etc.) in a C pentatonic sale: notes C, D, E, G, A, and high C.
  • Following the rhythm pattern that the class or group created, students can play 1 or two notes at a time. Students can choose whatever notes they want, as long as they follow the rhythm pattern. 
  • Practice each phrase one at a time; each time, plays different notes.
  • After students have had a chance to try improvising, ask them to still follow the rhythm, but now their last note needs to end on C.
  • Each time, ask the students to play different notes. When the students make up their own melody on the spot, it’s called improvisation. 
  • Ask the students: How does it sound when the whole class plays on the C pentatonic notes? Did it sound like the notes were “agreeing” or “arguing” with each other?
  • When notes “agree” with each other, we call it harmony. In this C pentatonic scale, all the notes “agree” or “harmonize” with each other.

SEL: Self Awareness

  • Watch the video - The Power of the Pentatonic Scale again.
  • At 0'33", the audience sang the note even without Mr. McFerrin telling them, do you know why?
  • At 1'18", the audience sang the pentatonic scale and Mr. McFerrin improvised with a different melody. Was it pleasant? Why? (Answer: It is because he improvised using notes of the pentatonic scale which harmonize with each other.) 

Activity 3

Teacher Led Instruction (“I Do”):

  • Remind students that in one of our previous lesson we learned the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and we’ve been learning about the pentatonic scale.
  • Show students the melody of the part they’re going to sing (show on the staff; refer to google slide).

Guided/Collaborative Practice (“We Do”):

  • Guide students through reviewing the names of the solfege notes in the abstracted melody.
  • Ask students to sing the first line of the melody with the teacher.
  • Then, the teacher makes students aware that at the beginning of the song, there is a blue note Eb. Listen for the blue note in the original version of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
  • Have students sing and hand sign the first part of the song, then sing on “ooh” for the 2nd part of the song, where the blue note is. 
  • Guide students through reviewing the names of the solfege notes in the abstracted melody.
  • Ask students to sing the first line of the melody with the teacher.
  • Then, the teacher makes students aware that at the beginning of the song, there is a blue note Eb. Listen for the blue note in the original version of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” 
  • Have students sing and hand sign the first part of the song, then sing on “ooh” for the 2nd part of the song, where the blue note is.

 


FORM

  • Listen to the lyrics. Can you identify the first "paragraph" of the song? This is called section A.
  • Now, continue listening to the part with the blue note; this is called section B.
  • Did you hear the melody of section A is repeated but replaced with different lyrics? We still call this section A.
  • Stanza: This term means the same melody (paragraph) of a section is repeated but replaced with different lyrics.
  • Thus, the form of this piece is ABA.  

Independent Practice (“You do”) or Group-work with deliverable:

SEL - Self Awareness:

 

  • There is a blue note in this original version of Don’t Worry, be Happy (Eb). You may hear it from the original version on the left.
  • Blue means sad. After two years of dealing with the pandemic, do you think we will be okay? Should we sing with or without the blue note? Are we hopeful?
  • Have students turn and share their answers with a neighbor.

SPED SUPPORTS

  • Students can verbally respond or draw responses.
  • Students can use solfege hand signs or use their hand staff for absolute names.
  • Teachers can print out the solfege chart, absolute name chart, and flashcards. Students can point to the answers.

ASSESSMENT

  • Google forms/Exit Ticket
  • Self-Reflection
  • Rubric
  • Visible Thinking Routines
  • FlipGrid (optional)
  • Exit task: On a sticky note or notepad, have students write down the letter names for the pentatonic scale (C, D, E, G, and A) and explain in their own words what “harmony” is. 
  • Formative - informal observations of students (whole class time) and their group work. Exit task also used as formative assessment.
  • Summative - Unit Summative Assessment at the end of lesson

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