Activities

• Singing Over a Drone: Develop key stability while singing and practice your intonation. Pick a familiar folk song or melody. Have someone in the class play a drone on the tonic pitch (or use the online app here). Sing the melody over the drone. Be careful to check the starting note of the melody before you begin (it may not be the tonic!). Sing the melody slowly and focus on how each note sounds against the drone. As your intonation improves, use the drone only at cadence points to check your pitch. 

• Rhythm Call & Response: Navigate to the Rhythm Sight Reading page in the anthology for this unit and open the rhythm grid at the top. Have your instructor or a group member compose a short rhythm using the rhythm options and sing it on a neutral syllable while conducting. The rest of the group sings back the rhythm while conducting using the correct Takadimi syllables. Take turns making up rhythms and making longer strings of rhythmic patterns. 

  • • A Twist: The Rhythm Train: Form a line. 1) The first person sings a 4-beat rhythmic pattern. The group sings it back on Takadimi. 2) The next person in line adds another 4-beat pattern; the class sings back Pattern 1 immediately followed by Pattern 2 with Takadimi. 3) The third person adds another 4-beat rhythm; the class sings back Pattern 1, 2, and 3 in order. 4) Focus on memorizing each pattern. See how long you can make the train before you can't remember how the pattern goes anymore!