Mix and match activities to create a fun lesson in which students will learn the chorus and post-chorus of the song “Vacation” by Dirty Heads. Integrate Solfeg.io in teaching the basics of piano, ukulele, guitar, bass, percussion and singing.
🎲 What's included in the activities:
💻 Materials:
🕐 Time: 5 min
🎯 Objective:
🎲 Activity:
🕐 Time: 5 min
🎯 Objectives:
🎲 Activity:
Do you know the song?
What is the genre/mood/tempo of this song?
What adjectives would you use to describe this song?
What instruments did you hear?
How would you describe the vocal part? What voice type did you hear?
🕐 Time: 5 min
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🎲 Activity:
🕐 Time: 5 min
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🕐 Time: 5 min
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🕐 Time: 5 min
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🕐 Time: 5 min
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🎲 Activity:
🕐 Time: 15 min
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🎲 Activity:
🕐 Time: 15 min
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🎲 Activity:
🕐 Time: 15 min
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🕐 Time: 15 min
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🎲 Activity:
🕐 Time: 5 min
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🕐 Time: 5 min
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Ask these questions to the class and have a short discussion
🕐 Time: 3 min
🎯 Objectives:
🎲 Activity:
In this lesson, students will learn to sing and play the Chorus 1 and Post-Chorus 1 of the song “Vacation” by Dirty Heads. The lesson consists of a short warm-up which will equip students with the necessary skills needed in the chorus and post-chorus, a song practice session where students will learn to play and sing different instrumental and vocal parts in groups, a band practice with the whole class and a homework assignment.
The timing and pacing of the exercises in this lesson plan example are approximate and will differ depending on your students' skill level. If the pace of this lesson plan is too fast for you, divide it into several lessons and add additional activities (see 'Activities' section). If the pace of this lesson plan is too slow for you, explore the 'Beyond the lesson' chapter at the end of this lesson plan for additional activities.
⏰ Time: 50 min
🎓 Grades: 5-12
🎯 Objective(s): As a result of this lesson, students will be able to...
💡 Required Prior Knowledge and Skills:
💻 Materials:
🕐 5 min - Tune the guitars and ukuleles
This activity can be done before the lesson by the teacher or in the lesson by the students. If it is done by the students:
🕐 5 min - Vacation!
Do you know the song?
What is the genre/mood/tempo of this song?
What adjectives would you use to describe this song?
What instruments did you hear?
How would you describe the vocal part? What voice type did you hear?
🕐 10 min - Get ready!
Vocal: practice the octave jump from C4 to C5, as in the beginning of the song. Repeat the “A-a-ay” four times!
Percussion: clap or play this rhythm
Guitar, ukulele, piano: play these chords:
Bass: play these notes like this:
🕐 20 min - Chorus 1 & Post-Chorus 1
- In this activity, students will work in groups to learn their assigned instrumental / vocal part of Chorus 1 and Post-Chorus 1.
- Each group should have one device - either a computer or a tablet.
- Each group should select the corresponding visuals under “Tools” - “Visuals”.
- Show them how to loop the song section on their devices (the “Loop” button on the right side of the “Play” button) and where to slow the song down (the “﹣” button on the left side of the “Play” button.
- Explain the steps for learning Chorus 1 and Post-Chorus 1 to each group. First, give every group just the first task from the below mentioned lists. When students are ready to move on, explain the next step.
First, listen to Chorus 1 and read the lyrics.
Repeat Chorus 1 and speak the lyrics out loud.
Sing the melody with syllables of choice, for example, “lah-lah”, “dah-dah” or just vowels - “ah”, “oh” or use the suggested “a-a-ay”.
Sing the melody with lyrics.
Listen to Post-Chorus 1 and read the lyrics.
Repeat Post-Chorus 1 and sing along!
Combine Chorus 1 and Post-Chorus, try to sing them without stopping.
If you did all this slowly, try to repeat both sections at a faster speed until you reach the original tempo.
Try singing Chorus 1 and Post-Chorus 1 with the vocal track muted - you can mute it under “Controls” - “Volume”.
Listen to Chorus 1 and establish what chords are there (C, Am, Em & G).
For now, you'll leave the G chord out, so learn or recap the three remaining chords (C, Am and Em), following the chord diagrams shown in Solfeg.io.
If there are at least 3 people in the instrumental group, they can take turns to play chords - each person chooses one of the chords and plays it when the corresponding symbol appears at the red line on the screen.
Try to combine three chords (C, Am and Em) one after another. To practice at an even slower speed, mute all tracks except the four rhythm tracks under “Controls” - “Volume” and play a new chord every 8 beats without looking at the chord symbols on the screen. To practice this, you should loop any of the post-choruses since there are long breaks in the rhythm tracks in other sections. When you're comfortable with this speed, you can gradually reduce the amount of beats between chords.
If you are comfortable with the slower tempo, you can try playing C, Am and Em in Chorus 1 and Post-Chorus 1 at a faster speed until you reach the original speed!
Try playing both sections with the piano and synth track muted - you can mute them under “Controls” - “Volume”.
Mute all the tracks except the rhythm tracks under “Controls” - “Volume”. Listen to the rhythm section and look at the notation.
Split into 4 groups and choose one rhythm track each. Choose rhythm instruments that suit best to each track.
Play Chorus 1 again and try to play or clap along.
Take turns learning the rhythm - you can mute the other three tracks when learning your track.
Listen to Post-Chorus 1 and try to play along.
Again, take turns learning each rhythmic part and be patient - this section is more challenging than Chorus 1!
If you are comfortable with the slower tempo, you can try repeating the chorus and post-chorus at a faster speed until you reach the original tempo!
Listen to Chorus 1 and find the four notes of the bass line on your bass guitar.
Play along to Chorus 1.
If comfortable with the slower tempo, you can try playing the chorus at a faster speed and try to reach the original speed!
Add Post-Chorus 1 - you have to play the same notes there!
Walk around the classroom and check how students are doing in different instrumental stations. Guide them by suggesting the next step from the above-mentioned step-by-step learning process when you see that students are ready.
🕐 5 min - Put it all together
🕐 5 min - Discussion
Ask students to practice their part of the chorus and post-chorus at home.
Encourage them to learn their part by heart.