Expressing Emotions Through Playing and Singing

Summary

In this lesson, students will look for different moods in a popular love song and learn to express emotions musically. They will work in groups and practice instrument playing and singing, focusing on conveying the feeling of the song. In the end of the lesson, students will create small bands and perform a song excerpt. Each performance will be recorded. Students will develop their listening and attention skills reviewing the videos and giving positive feedback to their peers.

⏰ Time: 50 min

🎓 Grades: 5-12

🎯 Objective(s): As a result of this lesson, students will be able to...

• Understand how emotions are expressed in music;
• Express different moods and feelings musically;
• Play and sing a popular love song in a group;
• Reflect on the positive qualities of their performances.

💡 Required Prior Knowledge and Skills:

• Basic notation;
• Basic rhythm.

💻 Materials:

• Solfeg.io app best used with Chrome browser
• Projector or computer and access to Wi-Fi
• Any rhythm and harmony instruments you have in the class

Inspiration

🕐 5 min - Emotions and sounds

• Discuss with the students about the meaning of Valentine’s day.
• Discuss what emotions love is made up of and how they could be expressed musically.
• Do emotions have a sound?
• 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

Warm-Up

🕐 10 min - Expressions

• Distribute all the musical instruments you have in the class.
• Choose a song from the ‘Love Song’ category, for example, 'Meant to Be' by Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line.
• 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 dollars.
• 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.

Practice

🕐 15 min - Exercise 1 - Playing a love song

• Select a song from the ‘Love Song’ category, for example, 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz.
• Listen to the 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, one group could play just root notes of the chords, another one - rhythm lines, another one - play and/or sing the melody. 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.

🕐 10 min - Exercise 2 - Performing a love song

• Assign the student in small groups mixing different instruments and including vocals.
• Let each group perform a part of the song and record a video on their own phones. It could be filmed using selfie setting or by a person from another group.

Reflection

🕐 10 min - Positive feedback

• Watch the videos of each pair or group and ask each member to 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.
• Invite the students from other groups to give their positive feedback if they have anything to add!

Beyond the Lesson

Challenge students to go beyond the lesson by…

• Practicing singing or playing songs from the ‘Love Song’ category using emotional expressions.
• Practicing chords or rhythms of the song until students feel more confident in their skills.
• Choosing any song from the ‘Love Song’ category and playing it to their family or friends for Valentine’s day.

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