Description
To memorize a song in order to clarify the meaning of its text, to practice diction, to place emphasis on being present and preparing a set up, and to develop coordination of rhyhm of text.
Materials
- A piano is useful not not necessary.
- Part of a song from a musical or any song familiar to the students.
Full Lesson Plan
For the purpose of explaining, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is used:
1) Requires two people, one to perform and one to ask questions. Both must know the melody and lyrics to the refrain of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".
2) The performer (P) starts to sing the song. In between each line, the questioner (Q) asks questions that serve to provoke the next line of text.
3) P sings as if they are answering the questions. Therefore, the words must be stressed and inflected as a response to the precise nature of the question asked.
For Example:
P: Somewhere over the rainbow
Q: Where is that?
P: Way up high
Q: What's there?
P: There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
Q: Where is this place?
P: Somewhere over the rainbow
Q: What does it look like?
P: Skies are blue
Q: What happens there?
P: And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true
~ Q can adopt any tone he or she chooses. For example: whispering the questions. Notice how different tones of voice in question produce different responses from the performer in the way they treat the text.
~ Q can ask any question they like bearing in mind two things:
1) Your partner must perform the song in time and so you must ask question short enough to fit in the gaps between lines.
2) The questions you ask should provoke the text in some way.
For example:
Q: Where did you go on vacation?
P: Somewhere over the rainbow
Q: Which direction is that?
P: Way up high
Q: Why would you go there?
P: There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.