LESSON PLAN: Call and Response (ECHO)
Objective
Students will be able to use the notes in a hand position to do call and response, encouraging a deeper connection to music through the ears by using a combination of melodic and rhythmic ear training.
Resources
Only a keyboard!
Procedures
- Have students place their right hand in a C position (this lesson plan can be applied to any 5 finger position you’re currently teaching students to use in the future). Have them warm up by playing each note in the position with each finger going up a couple of times and then going down (Figures A & B)
- Have students play just fingers 1 and 5 (thumb and pinky) on C and G back and forth. These will be the only notes used at first in this exercise, the same notes used in the lesson plan “Piano Power Chords”.
- Tell students you’re going to play a pattern for them using only these two notes, C and G and that you want them to try and only use the fingers that are on these notes to play them. After you play the pattern you want them to play it back to you. Demonstrate a couple of easy examples; play C C C G (Figure C) and then tell the students what you played and that they would play that back to them. Give three or four examples using only these two notes in very simple quarter and half note rhythms (Figures D, E, & F)
- Ask students to try playing back to you exactly what you play for them, but have them do it as a group so that no-one gets singled out for being wrong. This exercise encourages everyone to reach out with their ears. You’ll quickly be amazed at how well students are able to make these distinctions. Keep a slow steady beat as you play each example so they keep time with you in their responses. At first use lots of repeated notes and slow rhythms.
- When it becomes obvious to you that they’re able to repeat any pattern you play for them, add another note in the hand position that will be easy to hear and manage. I recommend going next to the 2 finger (index), so for the next several “call and response” patterns they will hear patterns made out of C, D, and G. Keep expanding the exercise to include other fingers as they get good at it. Rhythms can also become faster or more complex as the exercise progresses (Figures G, H, & I)
- When you feel they are ready, do the same thing for a hand position in the left hand using bass notes. This helps them pay attention to notes in different frequency ranges, allowing them to more clearly hear what a bass player is doing versus the vocal or guitar part in music they listen to.
National Core Arts Standards (Music)
Anchor Standard 5: Develop and refine artistic techniques for presentation. Example: General Music MU:Pr5.1.5 a. Apply teacher-provided and established criteria and feedback to evaluate the accuracy and expressiveness of ensemble and personal performances.Common Core Correlations: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.1.B Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges. (simple musical conversation)