Expressing Emotions Through Playing and Singing

Grades 

K5 - K12 

Feel free to adjust the plan according to the level of the class or as you like

Goals 

This lesson plan is designed to teach students to work in groups and express different emotions by playing and singing.

The goal of this lesson plan is for students to learn different expressions by playing and singing the song

Required Materials

Solfeg.io song library, open category ‘Love Songs’

Any rhythm and harmony instruments you have in the class

ANTICIPATORY SET | 5 min

Discuss with the students about the meaning of Valentine’s day

Discuss how many emotions love includes and if emotions have a sound. For example, how would happiness sound? How would you sound if you were tired?

Inform the students this class will consist of three activities - warm up expressions, playing a song and positive feedback 

WARMUP EXPRESSIONS  | 15 min

Distribute all the musical instruments you have in the class

Choose the song from ‘Love Song’ category

Assign a ‘mood’ to each part of the song. For example, verse 1 - in love, chorus 1 - sad, verse 2 - angry, chorus 2 - surprised, bridge - like you won 1 million $, etc.

Let the students express these parts in assigned moods

Expressions can be made by playing chords or rhythm as displayed in the song or as a free improvisation with voice, cratching, clapping

Play the song and let the students know which mood comes next

PLAYING A LOVE SONG | 20min

Select a song

Discuss the lyrics in the song and the emotions this song might express

Split the class in groups

Choose which groups will be playing instruments and which will be singing. For example, play just root notes of the chords, rhythms, melody or allow students to rap instead of singing

Show each group how to perform their part

Let each group practice their part

When practicing, remember to express the feeling of the song

You can mute the melody or different instruments and let the class perform with or without the backing track

POSITIVE FEEDBACK | 5min

Assign the student in small groups 

Let each group perform a part of the song and record a video on their own phones. This can be done with selfie setting or by a person from the group who films it, then switch

After, each member of the pair or group must watch it and say at least one thing they liked in their performance. For example, we all smiled, I liked how ‘Anna’ expressed the emotion ‘happiness’, I liked how well you felt the rhythm

HOME TASKS

Practicing singing or playing songs from ‘Love Song’ category using emotional expressions

Practicing chords or rhythms of the song until students feel more confident in their skills

Students can choose any song from ‘Love Song’ category and play it to their family or friends for Valentine’s day

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