The Right Beat by Ken Benn
Connected 3, 2005.
WALT: Read the text to extract greater meaning which we will display in our follow up activities.
Success Criteria: I can read the text to extract greater meaning which we will display in our follow up activities.
Answer the following questions in red:
Referring to the images and title of the story what do you think this text is about? I think that it’s about singing and a band.
Simon is the producer of Feilding, what would his job entail? He helps to make sure everyones doing what they need to do and he is in charge of it.
Who is the fundraiser for? For people affected by the recent floods
What will be done with the money generated from the fundraiser? It will be given to the people that have been affected by the floods.
What is Shona’s problem? She thinks that the tune is not right
Why is it important to sing in tune? Because if you don’t sing in tune you get it all wrong and everything goes out of time. (do your own research)
What lasts for two beats? An open circle with a stem, lasts 2 beats
What lasts four beats? The big circle note without a stem, the semibreve, lasts 4 beats.
What would happen if they double the tempo? The dance would be totally frantic if they made the tempo any faster. What is the tempo? Its the type of speed that the music should be played at.
Why is it important for the drummer to know about bounce? It’s important for the drummer to know about bounce because when it comes to drumming they need to keep the beat in place for all the other instruments or people to do their thing. They also need to know about bounce because they’re the drummer, there the ones that create the beat for everyone to join in.
Wednesday:
Why is it important to understand the rhythm when taking part in music? It’s important to understand the rhythm because if you don’t you won’t know what tune to sing at or what pitch. You won’t know what note to play if you’re playing an instrument.
Summarise what has happened in the story so far. Simon (the producer) was putting together a great show for the people that have been affected from the recent flood. But Simon says that Shona’s words aren’t that great. Shona disagrees with Simon and says that the problem is the tune. But things just got worst because a news crew will be filming them for 30 seconds and putting it on for national t.v. Simon also wants the dancers to be in scenes as well, so it has to be something they can move to. “It’s your words Shona. There’s too many of them”, says Ben. Simon looked at Shona’s lyrics again. He liked the words but it takes 65 seconds to sing the whole thing in Bens tune. He knows just a little about music but he tried to understand what the problem was. Simon knew that each of the notes shows by an open circle with a stem (the minims) lasts for 2 of the beats. That means 2 full dance steps. The big circle note without a stem, the semibreve, lasts 4 beats. Moniques the lead dancer and thinks that it might just help if they played this tune at double speed. Monique placed her hands on her hips and said “We make one movement per beat, so the dance would be totally frantic if you made the tempo any faster. “Sorry Simon, it’s the tune that’s the problem. It’s got no bounce”. Ben (the drummer) was a little bit startled and said “ No bounce!, what does she mean no bounce”. Simon passed Ben a piece of paper and a pen and mumble “You understand rhythms better than I do, Ben”. “ Your music is made up of only 2-beat and 4-beat notes”. They tried so hard to figure out how to make it shorter without ruining it and finally they found it. Kiwa was listening to the argument with amusement. He has written his own music before and knows about the time limits and dancers. “Try writing the tune in crotchets”, he suggests. Kiwa then explained how he could make the timing right by adding in and taking out things. “Your tune is cool Ben. But we need to flash it up a little. If we change the rhythm, we can leave the beat the same, That way the dancers won’t have to move any faster”. “Whatever”, Ben mumbles. Shona sang with with a big smile spread across her face but the timing was 33 seconds, which was still too long. They needed it to be 30 seconds. “We still need to lose another 3 seconds, I know what we can do”, says Kiwa. A quaver is halve a crotchet. “We need 30 seconds of music. At 2 beats a second, that’s 60 beats. So with 4 beats in a bar, we need 60 divided by 4 which equals 15 bars of music at the most!” “I think we’ve got it,” Ben says to Kiwa. Feilding Idol was a great success. The dancers did their moves and Shona was pleased to hear that all her lyrics will be used in the news clip. Simon was relieved and said a special thanks to Ben and Kiwa. He decided to frame the music for them- in three versions.
Describe and analyse the image and labels on page 27. What does each title referring to the musical bars refer to?
Minim- lasts half as long as the normal semibreve, you’re able to fit 2 beats in a bar
Quaver- lasts half as long as a crotchet, you can fit 8 beats in a bar.
Semibreve- The longest note in a bar is called a semibreve. It lasts for the whole bar.
Crochet- lasts half as long as a minim, you’ll be able to fit 4 of them in a bar
Kiwa has been listening to the argument with amusement, what does amusement mean? When you find something funny or when you find something entertaining. For example- Amusement filled the room as bill held up his artwork.
Put amusement into a sentence of your own. Amusement filled the room as bill held up his artwork, which was a portrait of himself.
What is Kiwas idea that will solve the issue? Writing the tunes in crotchets.
The ratio of crochets to minims to semibreves is 4:2:1. What does this mean? I think that this means there are 4 crotchets, 2 minims and 1 semibreve.
Define the word ratio? The relation between two amounts, how much is in one of them and how much is in the other one.
Put ratio into a sentence. The ratio between girls clothes and boys is 8 to 1.
Friday:
What is a hasty decision? A hasty decision is when you react or make a decision quick. Simon says “let’s not make any hasty decisions, what does he mean by this? I think he means “lets not make any quick decisions”.
Why would knowledge of maths be important as a musician? Refer to the text on page 31. So that the musician can understand how many beats there are and all of that stuff.
How was Feilding Idol a great success in the end? They managed to get the show done and dusted and all the dancers got to do their thing. Shona was pleased to hear that all her lyrics will be used in the news clip.
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