Y4. Lesson 21. Orchestral percussion II
Prior learning: None
Duration: 30 minutes
Materials: Woodblocks or claves
Keywords: Beat, rhythm, singing, chanting, partners, rhymes, circle games.
Difficulty: 
Prepare
Present
Practise
Orchestral percussion
Melodic development
Students discover how timbre affects the melody.
- When teaching melodic development, it's important to show students that the same melody can sound very different when played by various instruments. Timbre changes how a melody feels and can influence the mood or character of a piece.
- Activity: Have students listen to the same melody played by different instruments (e.g., xylophone, glockenspiel, piano, and violin). Ask them to describe how the melody changes when played by different instruments and how the timbre affects the associated emotion or imagery.
Rhythmic development
Students discover more about percussion in these videos.
- Let's learn from our peers! Watch these videos featuring Year 11 students who are skilled in percussion.
- After each video, ask which instruments they liked the most and why.
- What many percussion instruments have in common? [they produce sound by being struck, shaken, or scraped. Whether using hands, sticks, mallets, or other tools, percussion instruments rely on physical impact or motion to create vibrations that result in sound.]
- Activity. Gather one of every tuned and untuned percussion classroom instrument and discuss the different ways to make a sound. Ask how the different methods can make the instrument sound different. For example, a tambourine sounds different if shaken instead of being struck.
Classroom activities
Students use their homemade percussion instruments to perform as part of a class percussion ensemble, exploring rhythm, dynamics, and teamwork.
- Review the Instruments: Briefly recap the types of instruments the students have made:
- Shakers (Maracas)
- Tambourines
- Drums
- Cymbals
- Rainstick
- Castanets
- Woodblock
- Hand Bells
- Explain the Goal: Tell the students they will work together to form a percussion ensemble. The word ensemble means a group of musicians. Each instrument will have a specific role, and together, they will create a piece of music by playing different rhythms and patterns.
- Individual Instrument Sounds: Have each student play their instrument briefly, exploring its sound. Encourage them to experiment with soft/loud [dynamics]and fast/slow [tempo].
- Rhythm Patterns:
- Clap a simple 4-beat rhythm and have the students repeat it on their instruments (e.g., "ta-ta-ti-ti-ta").
- Ask them to play different rhythms on their instruments while keeping the beat and experimenting with different patterns.
- Divide the Class into Sections:
- Group 1: Drums and woodblocks (for keeping the beat).
- Group 2: Shakers and tambourines (for rhythm patterns).
- Group 3: Handbells, castanets, and cymbals (for accents and special sounds).
- Group 4: Rainsticks (for texture and sound effects).
- Assign Roles:
- Group 1: This group will keep a steady pulse or beat. They’ll set the foundation for the ensemble.
- Group 2: This group will play rhythmic patterns that complement the beat.
- Group 3: This group will provide accents at key moments in the music (e.g., cymbals crash on the downbeat).
- Group 4: This group will add texture and sound effects to fill the gaps between the beats and rhythms.
- Step-by-Step Building:
- Start with Group 1 (drums and woodblocks): Have them establish a steady beat, using a simple rhythm (e.g., 4/4 time, “ta, ta, ta, ta”).
- Add Group 2 (shakers and tambourines): Layer their rhythm patterns on top of the beat. You can give them a simple repeating rhythm or let them improvise while staying in time with the pulse.
- Add Group 3 (handbells, castanets, cymbals): Introduce accents at specific points (e.g., cymbal crashes on the first beat of every measure, handbells ringing every four beats).
- Add Group 4 (rainsticks): Let them add texture, using their instruments to create a background sound, like a “wind” or “rain” effect, softly playing throughout the performance.
- Practice Together: Start and stop the ensemble multiple times, ensuring that each group knows when to come in and how to work together. Use a conductor role (you or a student) to help cue when groups should play.
- Change Dynamics: Practice playing at different volumes. Start quietly and gradually get louder, then reverse. Teach the students to follow the conductor’s hands to adjust their volume.
- This exercise may be practised over several learning periods for best results.
Listening
Students listen to music and discover which percussion instrument is heard.
- Play the "Danse Macabre - Fossils" by Camille Saint-Saëns.
- Ask which percussion instrument is heard [xylophone].
- Teach the name of the piece. Ask what a fossil is.
- Ask what the xylophone represents in the music.
- Teach that the xylophone mimics the sound of rattling bones, representing dancing skeletons in this vivid musical depiction of the dance of death. Its rapid, eerie sounds make the xylophone stand out in this famous piece.
Visual learning
Students discover the gourd and small shaker percussion instruments used in Ghana and Nigeria.
- Play the video and teach that the African gourd shaker is a percussion instrument from West Africa, particularly from the Yoruba people of Nigeria. It consists of a dried, hollow gourd (calabash) covered in a net of beads, shells, or seeds.
- The instrument is played by shaking it or striking it against the hand, producing a range of rhythmic sounds integral to African traditional music. In Ghana, this instrument is called the Axatse.
- It is widely used in various cultural ceremonies, social gatherings, and performances. It is essential in maintaining rhythm and creating unique sound textures within African music, often accompanying drums or other percussive instruments.
- The small shaker is used as a percussion instrument in Ghana and two of them combined can produce complex rhythm patterns.
Instruments
Students
Part work
Students will explore playing different rhythms using a call-and-response format, layering rhythms to create a combined performance.
Introduce the Call-and-Response Concept
- Explain that one group will play a rhythm (the “call”), and the other group will respond with a different rhythm (the “response”).
- Demonstrate by clapping or tapping a rhythm and having the class repeat or play back the rhythm after you.
- Emphasise the importance of listening carefully to the call before responding.
Teach Two Simple Rhythms
- Rhythm 1 (Call): Clap out a simple 4-beat rhythm and show it on the board:
- [example] ta, ta, ti-ti, ti-ti, ta.
- Rhythm 2 (Response): Clap out a different 4-beat rhythm for the response:
- [example] tika-tika, ti, tika-tika ti.
Divide the Class into Two Groups
- Group 1 (Call): Give this group drums or woodblocks to play Rhythm 1.
- Group 2 (Response): Give this group shakers or tambourines to play Rhythm 2.
- Have Group 1 (Call) play Rhythm 1 , and Group 2 (Response) must listen carefully.
- When Group 1 finishes their call, Group 2 should immediately respond with Rhythm 2.
- Practice this several times, alternating between the call and the response. Encourage students to keep a steady beat and focus on timing.
Combine the Groups for Layered Partwork
- Once the students are comfortable with the call-and-response format, combine both rhythms and have the groups play their rhythms simultaneously.
- Group 1 plays Rhythm 1 continuously, and Group 2 plays Rhythm 2 at the same time. This creates a simple partwork structure, where two rhythms are layered to form a more complex pattern.
[Extension] Add Dynamics and Variation
- Introduce dynamics by asking the groups to play their rhythms softly at first, then gradually get louder.
- Have students play faster or slower to explore how the rhythms interact at different tempos.
- Allow students to suggest other variations, such as starting and stopping at different times or changing the instruments used for each rhythm.
- 7. Switch Roles (5 minutes)
- After practising the partwork, have the groups switch:
- Group 1 now plays Rhythm 2, and Group 2 plays Rhythm 1.
Assess
Suggested lessons
Y1. Beat II
Y1. Beat III
Y1. Beat IV