Your First Lesson With Solfeg.Io

⏰ Time: 40 min

🎓 Grades: any

🎯 Objective(s): As a result of this lesson students will know and/or be able to...

• Understand the importance of music in their everyday life
• Perform their first song together as a class

💡 Required Prior Knowledge and Skills:

• Basic note names and symbols

💻 Materials:

• Solfeg.io app best used with Chrome browser
• Projector or computer and access to WIFI

Visual presentation

Song suggestions:

A cover of
Blinding Lights
THE WEEKND

Inspiration

🕐 5 min

• Play the chosen song to your students. Ask them the following questions:
• How did you like this song?
• Who is singing this song?
• Would you like to make a career on-stage in the future?
• Use our provided facts from the song description, if necessary.

Warm-Up

🕐 5 min

• Divide the class into several parts to learn their parts of the song. Fit the groups according to their skillset.
• Here are a few possible designs for dividing your class:
• Playing the 3rd rhythm line + singing (for less experienced students)
• Playing the 2nd and 3rd rhythm line + singing (for less experienced students)
• Playing all the rhythm lines + singing (for more experienced students)
• Playing all the rhythm lines + playing chords on an instrument + singing (for more experienced students)
• Give all the necessary instruments to your students (for the rhythm lines, just clapping is fine!) and sing some preparatory exercises for voice-warmup if needed.

Practice

🕐 10 min - Exercise 1:

• Identify the main motifs for the 3rd rhythm line and help your students learn the rhythm ostinato;
• Repeat the same process with the group doing the 2nd or 1st rhythm line if necessary. Mute the other instruments in the song if it helps your students to learn faster.
• Help your students to combine their rhythm lines together, creating a whole united power of clapping!

🕐 15 min - Exercise 2:

• Practice “verse” or “chorus” parts with the singers and instrument players depending on the skill level of your students. It’s completely okay to just focus on one part of the song as a polished verse will sound so much better than a whole chaotic song!
• Identify the similar singing motifs or chord patterns - help your students to see the connection.
• Try to combine the vocal/chord parts together with the students who learned their rhythmic parts. Remind your students that they should not only do the technical exercises, but not forget to enjoy the feeling of playing in a band!

🕐 5 min - Exercise 3:

• Perform the song (or parts of the song) together as a class! You can either “fill in” the parts that nobody is playing through muting/enabling tracks through Solfeg.io controls or join the performance yourself!

Reflection

🕐 5 min - Q & A

• Select students to answer the following questions:
• What did you learn today?
• Would you like to try playing in a band after today?
• What songs would you like to learn in the next lesson?

Beyond the lesson

• Explore our guitar, ukulele or piano classes to learn more chords and be able to play more songs!

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