1         Dash Can Play the Xylophone

1.1        Description

How can we play and create music?  Can robots play music?  Use the Xylophone accessory and watch Dash play favorite childhood songs.  Then students create their own songs or translate from sheet music.    

 

·         Subjects: ELA, Math, Music

·         Group Size: 1 - 4 students per Dash robot

·         Time Required: 1 to 2 hours (3 activities)

·         Online Lesson: Dash Can Play the Xylophone

1.2        Objectives

  1. Control a robot to play music.
  2. Create music through improvising, arranging, and composing.

 

1.2.1        Adaptations for Different Grades or Ability Levels

·         All grade levels can use the Xylophone App. 

·         Adjust expectations for creating new music based on grade level and prior exposure to musical concepts.

·         Use a math lesson to teach the difference between one half and one quarter when explaining notes.

1.3        Materials (What you’ll need)

1.3.1        Robots & Accessories

1.3.2        Other Supplies

·         Online Resources:

1.3.3        Handouts

Xylophone Setup for Dash

Happy Birthday song sheet music (see online resources)

Erie Canal song sheet music (see online resources)

 

1.4        Lesson Procedure

Overview

In this lesson students learn to attach the Xylophone and then use the Xylophone App to play music.  A music teacher may provide valuable assistance in this lesson, as sheet music is translated into notes for the Xylophone.  An unplugged activity may be added at the beginning where the music teacher teaches about rhythm and rhythm instruments.

Vocabulary

Xylophone: A musical instrument that consists of bars struck by mallets.

Rhythm Instruments: Simple classroom instruments that are played by striking: drums, rhythm sticks, maracas, claves, triangles, cymbals, castanets, tambourines, tone bells, xylophones, (Orff instruments), cow bells, jingle bells, etc.

Beat: The steady, unchanging pulse in the music.

Meter: A regular pattern of recurring accents on the beat, usually in twos, threes, or fours.  In the Xylo App Each section is a meter.

Note Values: Quarter notes are the basic unit of time. Half notes receive twice the time value. Whole notes receive four times the time value. It takes two eighth notes to equal the time of one quarter note and four sixteenth notes to equal the time of one quarter note. There are corresponding rests to signal the same time values, but instead of sound, they symbolize silence.

Rhythm: A pattern of short and long sounds and silences. The rhythm is usually superimposed over an implied steady beat. Rhythm is the end result of starting with a beat, establishing a tempo for the beat, putting a pattern of accents on the beats, organizing them into a meter; then, working with those elements as a base, composing/ improvising a rhythmic pattern that rides on top of the beat, tempo, and meter.

Assessments

                Participation.  Or one of the other assessments may be modified to include music objectives and participation.

1.4.1  Warmup and Review Activity

A prior lesson may have used rhythm instruments to teach fundamentals of playing music.  Or include that now - an unplugged activity where a music teacher teaches about rhythm and uses rhythm instruments.

Ask students how many have played a musical instrument?  What are instruments? 

Have you ever seen a Xylophone? Let’s learn a little more about Xylophones. Play a video such as this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRW2SkgIjRw

Write vocabulary words on the board and go through the definitions. Modify the definitions to fit the level of understanding of students.

1.4.2        First Activity: Setup the Xylophone to Play a Song

1.       Did you know Dash can play music?  He uses a Xylophone, which is a rhythm instrument. Let’s see. Play this Video for students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrrMneHsc6Y

2.       Pass out the handout – Xylophone Setup for Dash.  

Help students add the Xylophone to Dash and then calibrate it, following the directions in the handout.

3.       Open the Xylophone APP on a tablet.

4.       Click the menu button (3 lines).

5.       Click the NEW SONG icon.  Then choose one from these songs:

a.       Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

b.      Mary Had a Little Lamb

c.       Row Your Boat

d.      Frere Jacques

e.      London Bridge

f.        This Old Man

g.       Old McDonald

h.      Three Blind Mice

i.         Jingle Bells

j.        Hail to the Chief

k.       Up On the House Top

6.       After the song is loaded, press the Play button to download the song to Dash and he plays it.

7.      Explain that each small box represents one measure, and each circle represents one note to play. Dash plays one note at a time. A white bar moves over the notes to show which one Dash is playing. To stop Dash at any point, just tap somewhere in the background. To start playing again, press the Play button, or tap on one of the measures. Notice the colors of the bars on the screen match the colors on the Xylophone. So if a note is on the Red, Dash will strike the red key, if it is on the Blue, Dash strikes the blue key.

8.       Show students how they can modify the song by adding more notes or moving notes in a measure and allow them to experiment as time allows.

1.4.3        Second Activity: Create Happy Birthday New Song

1.       Download some sheet music: for example, the Happy Birthday song: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/freesheetmusic/happy-birthday-alphanotes.pdf

2.       Open the Xylophone App and Choose New Song, then Empty Song.

3.       Change the name of the song to __  Happy Birthday. (put student name in the blank)

4.       Help students translate the sheet music notes into notes for the Xylophone.  Add colors to the sheet music notes.  (We suggest to put the lowest note on the bottom bar and work up from there with each note.)

5.       Students then put the notes onto the measures. When they tap the colored bar, a note is added. When they tap the note again it is removed.   Use spacing to modify the note values.  For example, quarter notes are closer together and half notes are further apart.  Work on one measure at a time.

6.       Press the Play button to see Dash play the song.

7.       Continue working on the song until it plays well.

1.4.4       Third Activity: Create Erie Canal New Song

1.       Download some sheet music: for example, the Erie Canal song: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/freesheetmusic/erie-canal-alphanotes.pdf

2.       Open the Xylophone App and Choose New Song, then Empty Song.

3.       Change the name of the song to __ Erie Canal. (put student name in the blank)

4.       Help students translate the sheet music notes into notes for the Xylophone.  Add colors to the sheet music notes.  (We suggest to put the lowest note on the bottom bar and work up from there with each note.)

5.       Students then put the notes onto the measures. When they tap the colored bar, a note is added. When they tap the note again it is removed.   Use spacing to modify the note values.  For example, quarter notes are closer together and half notes are further apart. Work on one measure at a time.

6.       Press the Play button to see Dash play the song. Play for each measure, and then modify one measure at a time until it sounds right.

7.       Continue working on the song until it plays well. 

1.5        Educational STANDARDS

SL.4.5
Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

SL.5.5/6.5
Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

MENC: The National Association for Music Education and the nine National Music Education Standards:

  1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
  2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
  3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
  4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
  5. Reading and notating music.
  6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
  7. Evaluating music and music performances.
  8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
  9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.