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Picture
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Brain Gym - Games - Songs - Listening - Composing - Improvising

It is VERY important that you consistently and correctly warm up your body and your voice BEFORE you attempt any singing.

​Siren sounds are a great place to start: Begin by placing your top teeth on your lower lip and 
making
a low-pitch " V v v v v v " sound. Slowly ascend to your highest, comfortable note. Focus on pushing the sound out.
Imagine you are making the sound of a revving engine on a motorbike. Continue with this warm up for 1-2 minutes.

Now, continue with the " V v v v v v v " sound, but try to create the melody of a simple song, such as a nursery rhyme or a Christmas Carol.


For variety, you could repeat the above warm ups by humming, or using the sound " B r r r r r r " (with floppy, relaxed lips and mouth).

PHYSICAL WARM UP - NO VOICE

​Games and Activities for
​Concentration and Listening:

Opposite Game
Rainstorm Circle
​Breathing Square

Now Be A Statue
(
ta ti-ti ta ta - similar game to
​Don't Clap This One Back)

Bopit
1, 2, 3, Look At Me
Emotional Sitting
Follow the Conductor
​Stage Directions
Gimme One / Two / Three
​Clap Samba Rhythms

USING THE VOICE - SPEAKING, RAPPING & CHANTING

VERBAL - non melodic

Pass the Beat Around the Room
Grandma Sick in Bed
I Am a Little Robot
Wobbly Chicken
Boom Chika Boom
Joe and the Button Factory
Pizza Pizza
​Bob the Builder / Teletubbies
​Music Rocks
​Boom Sits the Cat
​Hip-Hop / Snow-Man
​Chew / Spit / Throw
​Can you use your ___?___ voice?

Cross the Circle
​Appreciative Claps
​Remote Control
 SYLLABIC SAMBA RHYTHM PATTERNS

Hello, how are you? (Very well thank you)
Who wants a cup of tea (I do / me)
Do you want any fish or chips? (Yes, I do)
​
(Beat Goes On / Ollie Tunmer's Ideas)
1, 2, 3, Cla-ves
Rio Carnival, fast and funky
Samba rhythm beat, on the street
(Mambo) Work your way up the bo-dy groove (7/8)

Tongue Twisters
​Musical Theatre Charades
1-2-3-1-2-3  &  8-7-6-7-8 (spoken, in pairs)
1-clap-3-1-clap-3 (in pairs)
1-clap-stamp-1-clap-stamp (in pairs)
Boom sits the cat and the cat sits down - Boom-Boom, shhh cat, don't be so loud    (Now try to beat-box the lyrics)
MEE-yow, mee to the yow to the mee to the yow to the MEE-yow, mee to the yow to the mee to the yow

1-8, 1-4, 1-2, 1-1,  w o b b l y   c h i c k e n  !
​Chick, chick, chick, chick, chicken, lay a little egg for me
Pizza, Pizza Daddy-oh 
_________ has a new friend (pizza-pizza daddy-o), how do you know it? '(Pizza-pizza daddy-o) Cause he/she told me (Pizza-pizza daddy-o)
(Leader) - Let's _______________ it (________ it, _______ it daddy-o)

USING THE VOICE - SINGING, PITCH-MATCHING

VERBAL - melodic

Banana Song
​Boa Constrictor​
​Double This Double That
Dr Knickerbocker
Penguin Song
1-2-3-2-1
A-B-C-B-A
​1-8, 1-7, 1-6, 1-5, 1-4 etc.
​Honk Honk / Shadow
A Sailor Went to Sea
VERBAL - melodic - rounds

Hey, Hello, Bonjour
Harry Potter: Freres Jacques
Gospel Medley
(
Sing/Saints/Swing)
​I Like the Flowers
Hum-a-Tune
Knees Up Mother Brown
(5-syllable cannon)
VERBAL - African Songs

Abeeyo
Jambo Bwana
Si Si Si
Allunde
South Africa Anthem
​Nanuma
​Senwa Dedende

Picture
Honk, honk, round and round and round and crash, beep-beep
1. Jaws was swimming in the sea, ate a diver for his tea, chopped him up into little chunks, then spat out his swimming trunks
2. Superman flies through the air, in his funny underwear. Looking for his Lois Lane. Is it a bird, or is it a plane?
3. Romeo and Juliet, on a balcony they met. Romeo said to Juliet - you're the cutest girl I ever met.


SONGS WITH SIMPLE CHORD PATTERNS
(can you work out the chord progressions for these songs?)

Somebody to Love, Ode to Joy, Stay With Me, Wake Me Up, Counting Stars, Riptide,
​Amazing Grace, Three Little Birds, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Fight Song, Hound Dog, Skin,
​A Thousand Years, Stand By Me, This Is Me, Just the Way You Are, Count On Me, One Call Away

Here's our Ukulele page.

STORYTELLING - NARRATIVE SONGS - MUSICALS BY MISS RUSBATCH

Kesho Amahoro - Peace Tomorrow
Albatross - Wings of Freedom

CHOREOGRAPHY FOR DJS SPORTS DAY

Waka Waka / Hall of Fame / ​The Haka (Kamute)

YOUR IDEAS

EDIT/CHANGE AN EXISTING WARM UP GAME/SONG - or - DESIGN A NEW MUSIC WARM UP GAME/SONG


  • Physically warm up the body (shake, stretch mouth, tongue and face)
  • Warm up the mind (listening, concentration and focus)
  • Warm up the speaking voice (chanting, rapping)
  • Warm up the singing voice (pitch matching a simple pattern of notes)
  • Create sound with the body (hand clap games, body percussion)
  • Create visual actions (Makaton, signs, choreography and movement)
  • Performed as a round/cannon (use pentatonic notes)
  • Difficulty levels or layers? Elimination to find one winner?
  • It should be easy to teach to others / young children
  • BEHAVIOUR e.g. Abeeyo, Bob the Builder, Teletubbies
  • LISTENING GAMES e.g. Opposite Game, Rainstorm Circle, Don’t Clap This One Back, Follow the Conductor, Breathing Square, Emotional Sitting
  • SPEAKING/RAPPING SONGS e.g. Pizza Pizza, Grandma Grandma, I Am a Little Robot, Button Factory, Boom Chika Boom, Wobbly Chicken, Music Rocks, Boom Sits the Cat, Pass the Beat, Tongue Twisters, 1-Clap-3, Musical Theatre Charades,
  • SINGING GAMES e.g. Banana Song, Dr. Knickerbocker, Penguin Song, Harry Potter (Freres Jacques), Knees Up Mother Brown, A Sailor Went to Sea, Honk Honk, Gospel Medley (Sing-Saints-Swing), I Like the Flowers, 1-2-3-2-1, Allunde, A-B-C-B-A, Si Si Si, 8-7-6-7-8, Double-This Double-That, Boa Constrictor, Hum-a-Tune, Hey-Hello-Bonjour-Guten Tag
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