Y2. Lesson 21. Prepare quadruple metre.
Prior learning: Duple metre.
Duration: 30 minutes
Materials:
Keywords: Beat, rhythm, singing, chanting, partners, rhymes, circle games.
Difficulty: 
Prepare
Quadruple metre
Present
Practise
The woodwind family
Melodic development
Students discover strong and weak beats in a quadruple metre song.
- Students are seated and attentive.
- Lead the class in singing the song with a measured cadence. Emphasise the strong beats.
- Repeat with students using body percussion to keep the beat. A suitable pattern might be clap, pat, pat, pat.
- Ask the class how many beats were in the first phrase, 'Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping? [8]
- Ask students if all the beats were the same or stronger or weaker.
- Ask which beats were stronger. [1 and 5]
- If beats 1 and 5 are stronger, then the other beats must be...[weaker]
- Ask the class to sing again and clap for the strong beats and pat for the weak beats.
Rhythmic development
Students use visual cues to discover strong and weak beats in a known song.
- Project the graphic on the board.
- Lead the class in singing 'Are You Sleeping'.
- As you sing, point to each beat in turn.
- Ask the class where the strong beats are to be found.
- Ask a volunteer to come forward and point to them as the class sings.
- Ask students to sing using rhythm syllables. Remind them of where tika-tika and too appear if necessary.
Creative movement
Students use creative movent to express themselves as they listen to music.
- "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg is a lively and dramatic piece of music that can inspire creative movement activities. Here are some ideas to bring this music to life through movement:
- Mysterious Mountain Exploration: Have students pretend they are explorers venturing into a mysterious mountain. They can tiptoe, look around cautiously, and use their arms to mimic holding lanterns or maps. As the music gets faster and more intense, their movements can become more frantic, as if they are trying to find their way out.
- Mountain Creatures: Assign different animals or creatures that might live in a mountain (e.g., bears, squirrels, eagles) to students. They can then move like these creatures as they listen to the music. Encourage them to get into character, using both their bodies and facial expressions.
- Marching to the Beat: For a simple activity, have students march to the beat of the music. When the music gets faster, they can march faster; when it gets slower, they can march slower. You can add elements like stopping and starting, turning, and even marching in different directions.
- Free Dance: Give students the freedom to express themselves through movement without any specific guidelines. Let them interpret the music in their own unique ways, encouraging them to use their entire bodies and explore different levels (high, medium, low) as the music progresses.
- Props: Introduce props like scarves or ribbons to add more dimension to their movement. They can swirl the scarves or ribbons in the air, creating flowing patterns that match the music's mood and tempo.
- Remember to create a safe environment for these creative movement activities and encourage students to express themselves freely while listening and responding to the music. Students should have fun and use their imagination while developing their physical and creative skills.
Ask students which woodwind instrument starts the music!
Listening
Students listen to the sounds of woodwind instruments and determine their names.
- Students are seated and attentive.
- Explain that students are once again musical detectives and will listen to four short pieces of music.
- Their task is to identify which woodwind instrument is playing in each piece.
- Ask students the name of the biggest and deepest-sounding woodwind instrument.
- Ask for the name of the smallest and highest-sounding woodwind instrument.
- Ask what are the other two woodwind instruments.
- Play the first track and ask the name of the instrument.
- Ask which song it is playing.
- Repeat with the other three tracks.
- As the sound of the oboe and clarinet are similar to young ears, some gentle guidance may be necessary in determining which is being heard.
Visual learning
Students choose which of six images are of woodwind players.
- Students are seated and attentive.
- Project the graphic on the board.
- Ask students how many images are of woodwind players. [3]
- Ask for the names of the woodwind instruments.
- Ask what the names of the other instruments are.
- Ask which instruments use air blown from the mouth.
- Ask which instrument is struck or hit.
- Ask which instrument uses strings.
Instruments
Students discover how to play Are You Sleeping on tuned percussion.
- Distribute tuned percussion instruments. In this exercise, glockenspiel and xylophones are chosen.
- Divide the class into two groups.
- Demonstrate the melody of the first eight bars of the song to the first group.
- When secure, demonstrate the simple accompaniment to the second group.
- Conduct the two groups and monitor the class performance, offering gentle guidance where appropriate.
- This song may take multiple learning periods, depending on class ability.
Part work
Students perform a four-beat ostinato to a known song.
- Lead the class in singing Old Brass Wagon.
- When secure, ask students to clap a four-beat ostinato pattern, as shown in the examples.
- Ask students to sing and clap the chosen ostinato pattern.
- Monitor students closely to ensure accuracy and offer gentle guidance where neccesary.
Assess
Suggested lessons
Y1. Beat II
Y1. Beat III
Y1. Beat IV