T2W1

STRUCTURE

What you need:

• Music book (blue)
• Pencil case

Objectives:

• Sing and move to Funga Alafia and Dua Mata Saya, with solfege and actions
• Describe that a song is made up of groups of notes, or phrases (demarcated by breathing points)
• Identify the phrases in Funga Alafia and Dua Mata Saya
• State that phrases make up a song's structure, like body parts forming the main skeleton, and identify the structure of both songs through music and movement
• Listen to and watch related videos and describe the structure of the songs 

Experience

Funga Alafia 

(Acknowledgement: http://www.slideshare.net/clasedemusica/funga-alafia-2545671)

• Action: Tap head, mouth, heart, brush side of arms, twice each, to steady beat.
• Action and words: Do above, while saying these lines to accompany each set of actions:

I greet you with my thoughts (tap on head twice)

I greet you with my words (tap on mouth twice)

I greet you from my heart (tap on heart twice)

With nothing up my sleeves (brush side of both arms, one at a time)

• Action and chant words of song:

Funga alafia (tap on head twice)

Ashay ashay (brush side of both arms, one at a time)

Funga alafia (tap on mouth, then heart)

Ashay ashay (brush side of both arms, one at a time)

• Action and sing song:

Funga alafia (tap on head twice)

Ashay ashay (brush side of both arms, one at a time)

Funga alafia (tap on mouth, then heart)

Ashay ashay (brush side of both arms, one at a time)

Concept

• Prompting for 'phrase', "If we can break this song into parts, like how you are seated in your colour groups as a class, which parts will go together? Why?" or " Which parts of the song do you find yourself taking a breath?"
• Teacher draws four small phrases on the board, for "funga alafia" and "ashay ashay", and calls a phrase a "group of notes" (see photo below).
• Prompting for 'structure': "Which words or melodies sound the same? How many times do they repeat?"
• Teacher writes 'A' for "funga alafia" and 'B' for "ashay ashay", making the pattern 'ABAB', calling it the "structure" or "skeleton" of the song.
• Teacher explains that phrases make up a song's structure, like body parts forming the main skeleton. This is how they are related.
• Pupils write 'Phrase = Group of notes' and  'Structure = Skeleton, pattern' in their logbooks.

Application I

Funga Alafia (ABAB = Girl/Boy/Girl/Boy)

• Visual representation of 'structure': Pupils break into two groups of girls and two groups of boys. Each girl group will sing, with actions, "funga alafia" and each boy group will sing "ashay ashay", making it ABAB.
• Solfege representation of 'structure': Teacher teaches pupils the solfege for 'Funga Alafia'. Now, pupils sing with solfege. Pupils are to realise that even though "ashay ashay" have different solfege, the rhythm is exactly the same in both occurrences, and its purpose is like an 'answer' to "funga alafia", justifying ABAB.

Application II

Bridging (Africa)

 

• Pre-video teaser questions for pupils: 1) Which musical element is this choir trying to explore with their body percussion introduction (Answer: Timbre)? 2) In the song itself, what patterns do you see? What skeleton does it have (Answer: Verse-chorus, or an approximate ABAB)?
• Pupils watch this MTV by Perpetuum Jazzile, featuring a choreographed body percussion prelude to Toto's 'Africa', and answer teacher's questions at the end.

Dua Mata Saya

•  Teacher does each action in accordance to each body part description in steady beat while reciting the following: 

I have two eyes,
I have one nose.
I have two feet,
To wear new shoes.

I have two ears,
One left, one right.
I have one mouth,

That eats and eats!

• Pupils watch video below once, repeating the actions they have learnt: 

 

• Pupils now sing along to the Malay words while doing the actions:

Dua mata saya,

Hidung saya satu.

Dua kaki saya,

Pakai sepatu baru.

Dua kuping saya,

Yang kiri dan kanan.

Satu mulut saya,

Tidak berhenti makan!

• Teacher and pupils figure out the phrases of the song. If pupils are receptive, teacher can introduce this song as a Malay poem, or a pantun (in ABAB form based on rhyme scheme).
• Groupwork: Pupils figure out the structure of the song by dividing their group into smaller groups of A and B to sing. After five minutes, they are to perform. Teacher can flash the lyrics of the song for groups' convenience, throughout this process.
• Chinese version: Pupils watch a teaser video of the song sung in two different languages, Malay and Chinese, if time permits:

(From http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yzU-7g6P9Sg)