Y2. Lesson 24. Inner hearing
Prior learning: Inner hearing
Duration: 30 minutes
Materials: Woodblocks or claves
Keywords: Beat, rhythm, singing, chanting, partners, rhymes, circle games.
Difficulty: 
Prepare
Melodic canon
Present
Inner hearing
Practise
Inner hearing, or audiation, is a vital skill in music education. It allows students to mentally grasp musical elements like pitch and rhythm, aiding in sight-reading, memorisation, and improvisation. This skill deepens musical understanding, making it essential for aspiring musicians, enhancing their ability to compose, interpret, and appreciate music.
Melodic development
Students add a new song to their repertoire.
- Hold up your right hand, fingers extended.
- Sing and count the fingers from one to five using your left hand.
- When you sing "Once I caught a fish alive," make a catching motion with your hands.
- For "Six, seven, eight, nine, ten," count those fingers as well.
- On "Then I let it go again," release your hand as if letting the fish go.
- For "Why did you let it go?" shrug your shoulders.
- When you sing "Because it bit my finger so," pretend that your right-hand pinky (the little finger on the right) was bitten and shake it.
- Finally, when you sing "Which finger did it bite?" point to your right-hand pinky.
- This song entertains students and helps with counting and fine motor skills.
Rhythmic development
Students listen to clapped rhythm syllables to discover the name of a song.
- Students are seated and attentive.
- Teach that inner hearing, or head voice, allows musicians to hear melodies or rhythms in their heads.
- Inform students that you will clap the first part of a song's rhythm, and they must finish the pattern by clapping.
- Begin by clapping the first pattern [Big Black Train].
- Then, ask students to copy you.
- Students must then name the song and clap the rest of the song's rhythm. Give hints if necessary.
- Repeat for the second pattern [Bluebells], the third pattern [Twinkle Twinkle] and the last [Apple Tree].
Creative movement
Students have fun in this classic circle game.
- Two students stand facing each other, raising their hands to create an arch.
- The remaining students walk, one by one, under the arch, forming a circle as they go.
- This circle of students continues to move under the arch sequentially.
- In the final word of the verse, "My fair lady," the two students make the arch swiftly lower their hands to capture one child beneath them.
- The game continues until each student has been captured, making it an engaging and fun activity for all participants.
Lyrics
- London Bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London Bridge is falling down
My fair lady - Build it up with iron bars...
- Iron bars will bend and break...
- Build it up with gold and silver...
- Gold and silver, we've not got...
- London Bridge is falling down...
Listening
Students use inner hearing to identify songs.
- Students are seated and attentive.
- Begin by humming the first few bars of a known song.
- Ask the class to identify the song.
- Once the song is correctly identified, ask the class to hum with you from the beginning.
- Repeat the procedure with another song perhaps in increasing difficulty.
- Ask a volunteer to come forward and hum a few bars of a song and have the class identify and sing back.
- These exercises are excellent in developing inner hearing.
Visual learning
Students respond to the teacher's hand signs and use inner hearing to discover the song.
- Explain to the class that they are once again music detectives.
- Their mission is to discover a song from your hand signs using inner hearing.
- Begin with a simple song, such as Snail Snail and silently show the hand signs for the song [so-mi, so-so mi, so-so la-la, so-so, mi].
- Ask for answers, and on receiving one, ask the students to sing the song and use hand signs as they do so.
- Repeat the procedure with another simple song, such as Bounce High.
- Repeat with songs in increasing complexity as time permits.
Instruments
Students discover how to play Bell Horses on tuned percussion.
- Divide the class into two groups, one group will use glockenspiels and the other xylophones or similar instruments.
- Teach the melody of Bell Horses to the first group using a good mallet technique.
- When secure, teach the accompaniment to the second group.
- When secure, lead both groups to play together and conduct whilst monitoring class progress.
- This exercise may take more than one learning period to master.
Part work
Students
- Divide the class into two groups.
- Explain that everyone will sing Are You Sleeping, with one-half of the class singing in canon.
- Remind students about the term canon.
- Begin by asking the first group to sing, then lead the second group in singing after two beats.
- As this song uses the pentatonic scale, the resulting canon should sound musical (depending on students' abilities).
- When secure, swap out the two groups and repeat.
Assess
Suggested lessons
Y1. Beat II
Y1. Beat III
Y1. Beat IV