Week 6

TIMBRE

What you need:

• Music book (blue)
• Pencil case
• Buster Buster, Clap Your Hands and Tepuk Amai-Amai scores 
• Percussion instruments (e.g. triangle, tambourine, guiro, all in Mozart Manor)

Objectives:

• Experience body percussion as different timbres in songs 
• Sing Tepuk Amai-Amai, a traditional Malay clapping song, and accompany the song with claps
• Create at least two different timbres from given percussion instruments 

Teacher resource: Buster Buster, Clap Your Hands and Tepuk Amai-Amai scores 

Experience

Tuning-in activity (Buster Buster)

Buster, Buster, climb the tree,     (Climb four branches)

Buster, Buster, slap your knee;    (Slap knee four times)

Buster, Buster, blow a kiss,         (Blow four kisses)

Buster, Buster, do not miss.         (Point finger four times)

• Each action is to be done four times to a steady beat.
• Substitute the actions with instrument-playing. Choose four pupils to transfer the steady beats to four different percussion instruments, e.g. triangle, tambourine, guiro, castanet.

Clap Your Hands

Clap, Clap, clap your hands,      (G G GG E)

Clap your hands to- ge ther.       (GG EA G E)

• Clap your hands quietly to the beat while singing this song, and get pupils to follow you.
• Substitute hand-claps with other actions, all performed to a steady beat:
• March, march, march along, march along together.
• Cluck, cluck, cluck your tongue...
• Nod, nod, nod your head...
• Blink, blink, blink your eyes...
• Jump, jump, jump up high...
• Tap, tap, tap your foot...
• Wave, wave, wave your hands...

• Get pupils to suggest new actions. A pupil-leader might also be chosen to lead.

Concept

• Teacher asks pupils to describe the different sounds they had made earlier. Do they all sound the same? How are they produced? 
• Teacher writes 'Timbre = Quality of sound' for pupils to jot down in their Music Books.

Tepuk Amai-Amai

English Translation:

Clap together, grasshopper, butterfly,

Clap till you're clever, Mum will give you milk;

Milky and sweet milk, from a coconut,

Younger sibling, don't cry, Mum has work.

Application I

• Teacher sings half of Tepuk Amai-Amai and plays the cross-hand clapping game with a pupil volunteer.
• Teacher gets pupils to guess what this song is about (Answer: Clapping). If pupils are receptive, Teacher enlightens pupils on the background of the song, i.e. a clapping song sang by an older sibling to soothe a younger sibling's cries when their mother is busy working.
• A small discussion can ensue on the responsibilities an older sibling has towards his younger siblings. "How many of you are older siblings? Which (school) value should you show towards your young sisters or brothers, especially when your parents are busy?"
• Pupils learn three different claps from Teacher of different timbres, i.e. Papa Clap (with all five fingers), Mama Clap (with four fingers) and Baby Clap (with two fingers). 
• Pupils describe how each clap sounds like, e.g. Papa Clap has a strong and loud timbre, Mama Clap is not so strong, Baby Clap sounds weak and soft. 
• Pair work: Pupils get into pairs, choose one of the above three claps, and practise clapping in tandem with half of Tepuk Amai-Amai, as steady beat accompaniment. 
• Performance: Pupils stand up and perform to their peers, singing and clapping their chosen clap. 
• Extension: Pupils create their own clapping game, with their own unique claps/clapping patterns.

Application II

• Pupils get into groups of four, where they are given two different percussion instruments per group. 
• Activity I: Explore at least two different timbres they can produce from their given instruments. Peer sharing will ensue after three minutes, e.g. Group A to Group B, and vice versa.
• Activity II: Perform the rhythm of Tepuk Amai-Amai using these two different timbres.