Vacation Lesson 4: Verse 3 & Bridge

Summary

Mix and match activities to create a fun lesson in which students will learn Verse 3 and the bridge of the song “Vacation” by Dirty Heads. Integrate Solfeg.io in teaching the basics of piano, ukulele, guitar, bass, percussion and singing.

🎲 What’s included in the activities:

• Understanding Verse 3 & Bridge
• Warming up with singing, rhythm and instrument activities
• Practicing the vocal part, chords, rhythm and bass line of the Verse 3
• Combining and playing the Verse 3 & Bridge with chords, rhythm tracks and singing
• Reflecting
• Ideas for homework & further lessons (Beyond the lesson)

💻 Materials:

• Solfeg.io web app best used with Chrome browser
• Solfeg.io mobile app (optional)
• Projector or computer and access to WIFI
• Computers or tablets
• Ukuleles, guitars and/or pianos
• Percussion instruments

Discover the bridge and a new verse

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Understand the building blocks of a song and their function
• Describe different song sections

🎲 Activity:

• Open the song “Vacation”.
• Listen to Verse 3 and the Bridge and discuss it with the class.

What are the differences between Verse 3 and the previous verses?

What are the differences between the bridge and the song sections you learned previously?

Are there any new chords in the bridge?

What are the lyrics about?

What are the functions of the bridge in a pop song?

Tuning

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objective:

Tune the ukuleles and guitars

🎲 Activity:

• Distribute the guitars and ukuleles to students.
• Ask them to open the Solfeg.io tuner. You can find it in the home section on the Solfeg.io mobile app.
• Tap on a letter to hear how the string should sound, find the corresponding peg on your guitar or ukulele and turn it to tune the string.
• When the encircled letter turns green and reaches the middle of the screen, the string is in tune.
• Repeat the actions with the other strings one by one until all of them are in tune.

Warm-up

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Warm up the vocal cords
• Get familiar with vocal techniques used in the song
• Get familiar with the musical elements of Verse 3

🎲 Activity:

• Explain that this time, all students will be doing a vocal warm-up together!
• Slow the song down by pressing the “﹣” button on the left side of the “Play” button.
• Click on the beginning of Verse 3 and invite students to rap along to the first part of Verse 3. Press pause after the first two bars.

Corresponding lyrics: Van Gogh, my earlobe, I can't hear, I'm here though.

• Invite the students to repeat this phrase on their own!
• Rap the next phrase along to the song player, then repeat on your own.

Corresponding lyrics: I may be a weirdo, but this is my year, yo.

• And finally, repeat both steps with a longer phrase: the last four bars of Verse 3:

Corresponding lyrics: My life may be crazy, my lack of the lazy has let me do things that I love on the daily.

• Now, mute the vocal track under “Controls” - “Volume” and invite students to rap the whole Verse 3 on their own.

Recap Verse 2

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Recap the song section that were assigned as homework

🎲 Activity:

• Split the class into groups, the same as in the previous lesson.
• Distribute the instruments to the students.
• Click on the beginning of Verse 2 on the timeline of the song player and invite the class to play along to the part they did in the previous lesson and as homework.
• Hit the “Play” button and have fun!
• Shortly discuss how they were doing.

Did they practice at home?

Did they manage to learn their part by heart?

How did it sound compared to the previous lesson?

Learning Verse 3

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Be able to sing and play Verse 3

🎲 Activity:

• Students already practiced rapping the lyrics in their warm-up. Explain that the task of this activity will be speeding Verse 3 up to its original tempo and adding the chords and the 1st rhythm line.

Most of the class will be doing the vocal part.

To create a contrast with other song sections, select only a few students to play the chords from the ukulele, guitar and piano players.

If the instrument players feel comfortable with playing and rapping at the same time, they can do the vocal part too.

From the rhythm section, only the 1st rhythm line has to be played - there are only breaks in other lines. Students who usually play the 2nd, 3rd and 4th line will do the vocal part. The players of the 1st line can rap along, if they feel confident with playing at the same time.

• Practice Verse 3 together, still at a slower speed.
• When the instrument players are comfortable, press “+” to speed the song up and repeat this section until the original speed is reached.
• Remember you can loop this part of the song by pressing 🔁 on the right side of the “Play” button.

Learning the vocal part of the bridge

🕐 Time: 15 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Be able to sing the bridge

🎲 Activity:

• First, listen to the bridge and read the lyrics.
• Repeat the bridge and speak the lyrics out loud in the indicated rhythm.
• Sing the melody with syllables of choice, for example, “lah-lah”, “dah-dah” or just vowels - “ah”, “oh” or other.
• First, practice at a slower speed, then speed the song up to the original speed.
• Try singing the bridge with the vocal track muted - you can mute it under “Controls” - “Volume”.

Learning the ukulele and guitar part of the bridge

🕐 Time: 15 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Be able to play the bridge

🎲 Activity:

• Slow the song down to a comfortable speed.
• Practice strumming the four chords in this pattern: down-up-down-up in eighth notes.
• When you're comfortable with the slower tempo, try playing the bridge at a faster speed and try to reach the original speed!
• Try playing the bridge with the piano and synth tracks muted - you can mute them under “Controls” - “Volume”.

Learning the piano part of the bridge

🕐 Time: 15 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Be able to play the bridge

🎲 Activity:

• Slow the song down to a comfortable speed.
• Play only the left hand part of the bridge - the same notes you play with your right thumb when pressing the chords, only lower - to the left on the piano.
• Repeat the bridge, this time adding the chords with your right hand: play the bass note on the first beat, then the chord on the third beat of every bar.
• When you're confident with this pattern, you can make it slightly more interesting by playing it twice as fast: play the bass on the first beat, the chord on the second beat, then repeat the same bass on the third beat and again the same chord on the fourth beat. Then move on to the next chord in the next bar.
• When you're comfortable with the slower tempo, try playing the bridge at a faster speed until you reach the original speed!
• Try playing the bridge with the piano and synth tracks muted - you can mute them under “Controls” - “Volume”.

Learning the rhythm

Time: 15 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Be able to play or clap the rhythm of the bridge

🎲 Activity:

• Slow the song down to a comfortable speed.
• Mute all the tracks except the rhythm tracks under “Controls” - “Volume”. Listen to the rhythm section.
• Play the bridge again and try to play or clap along.
• Take turns learning each rhythm line - you can mute the other three tracks when learning your track.
• If comfortable with the slower tempo, you can try playing the bridge at a faster speed and try to reach the original speed!

Learning the bass line

🕐 Time: 15 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Be able to play the bridge

🎲 Activity:

• Slow the song down to a comfortable speed.
• Play along to the bridge - it contains the same four notes in the same order as in the whole song.
• Repeat each note four times in each bar.
• If comfortable with the slower tempo, you can try playing the verse at a faster speed and try to reach the original speed!

Put it all together

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Practice playing in a band
• Be able to play Verse 3 and the bridge

🎲 Activity:

• Invite students to play Verse 3 and the bridge together.
• Find a suitable tempo for all, slow the song down if needed.
• Have “Notation” selected under “Tools” - “Visuals”. If the piano, guitar, ukulele or bass players are not comfortable with playing just from chord symbols without the diagrams, repeat the bridge with the necessary visuals selected.
• Invite students to play an even longer part - from the beginning of Verse 3 until the end of Post-Chorus 4 - the end of the song!

Reflection

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Reflect on the learning process

🎲 Activity:

• Ask these questions to the class and have a short discussion

How did it go with the new strumming/rhythm patterns and rapping?

What difference did it make to the overall sound of the band and the general mood of the song?

Was Chorus 4 and Post-Chorus 4 any different from the choruses and post-choruses you played previously?

Homework assignment

🕐 Time: 3 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Improve the song section students learned at the class
• Get ready for the final performance

🎲 Activity:

• Ask students to practice their part of Verse 3 and the bridge at home.
• Encourage them to learn their part by heart.