Welcome to Episode 3. Today we’re going to share a popular song that combines the singing voice and the speaking voice and helps to prepare pulse or beat.

Zoom Zoom Zoom

This song has so many uses

• Many parents will know this song from baby groups where the babies can be lifted into the air at the blast off. In my classes we do the same with a soft toy and often use a lycra sheet to blast one lucky finger puppet into the atmosphere! It’s one of my students’ favourites. I haven’t asked the puppets!
• The lycra game includes movement so gets the children out of their seats and stretching their legs
• The lycra game also requires co-operation and sharing. The children have their space around the lycra and in order to get the puppet to fly they must work as a team
• It uses the singing voice and the speaking voice so a great one for that first term of lessons where our students are discovering what their voices can do
• The countdown helps our students to experience the beat and when you allow them to take a solo turn it’s a great opportunity to assess their ability to maintain the steady beat and to draw their attention to its importance when they don’t
• The solo section is also a great opportunity for the other children to remember NOT to sing, thus developing their impulse control and their inner hearing
• The toneset is do-re-mi-fa-so-la with a range of a Major 6th so very achievable for young voices and for reluctant teachers
• The melodic motifs could be used with older children but by the time we reach those tonesets they are possibly too old for the game. But you never know, they can surprise you and love a bit of a retro flashback to their younger years

The Game

Hold a large lycra sheet around the edges. Mine sheet is a 1.5 x 2m rectangle

Place the unsuspecting puppet in the centre of the sheet and sing the song while holding the sheet steady or maybe dancing a little on the spot.

For the countdown pulse the sheet upwards on each count but gently enough so the puppet stays in the middle. Then on blast off lift the sheet up faster and the puppet will fly into the sky. Hopefully landing back on the sheet if everyone has worked together. But often someone will have to let go to retrieve the toy for the next round.

After a few weeks you will be able to select children to perform a solo countdown. Some will speed up and you’ll need to remind them that a Rocket countdown has to stay steady so everyone knows when to blast off.

Make sure you let us know what you think of the song, and if you use it in your lessons. You can get in touch with us through our website at doremiconnect.co.uk

Do share us with your colleagues if you’ve found it helpful

I hope you have a lovely week, filled with music and singing.

I’ll see you soon here, on Facebook, Twitter or at doremiconnect.co.uk to help you achieve your music teaching goals using the Kodály approach.

For more resources and free webinars on teaching music through singing make sure you visit doremiconnect.co.uk/freetraining for our latest opportunities.