In the past few weeks of distance learning, video tutorials have become an important part of my daily teaching. When I was looking for a tutorial to help my MYP Grade 6 students understand the concept of the pentatonic scale, I could not find any on YouTube which would be slow and simple enough for my class. Many of my students learn in a language other than their mother tongue. Being one of them myself, I can understand their frustration if they cannot follow the instructions.
I created this little video with the following guidelines
speed of the language is slow
the keywords are visible
the language is kept simple
there are enough pauses to hit the stop button in time to pause the video.
Once they have understood what a pentatonic melody is, they are ready to compose. My students have already been introduced to different structures, textures and we have done a think, pair, share about what they consider a good melody.
With distance learning, not everybody has access to "real"instruments. I can recommend two different programs - they have their limitations but they are free and they passed our very rigid GDPR checks at school.
Song Maker - a chrome music lab.
You can set the scale to pentatonic
Or Beepbox.co
A fun, simple free online site, where no log in is required. By choosing easy : )
the scale turns into a major pentatonic scale while easy : ( will give you the notes for the minor pentatonic scale.
