Singing: Ear Training Using Tonic Sol-Fa – Basic 1 Cultural & Creative Arts Lesson Note (Third Term)

Ear training means learning to hear music correctly. In this lesson, students listen carefully to sounds, tell whether a note is high or low, and practise singing the right notes with tonic sol-fa. They sing two songs, “Hot Cross Buns” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, and review the sol-fa hand signs.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

• name the seven sol-fa notes
• explain what ear training means
• sing “Hot Cross Buns” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb” with sol-fa notes and with words
• show the hand sign for each sol-fa note
• use good posture and breathing when singing

What is tonic sol-fa?

Remember the sol-fa notes:

• d (doh)
• r (ray)
• m (me)
• f (fah)
• s (soh)
• l (lah)
• t (te)

What is ear training?

• Ear training means learning to hear music correctly.
• We listen carefully to sounds.
• We can tell if a note is high or low.
• We practise singing the right notes.

Singing with sol-fa

Song 1: “Hot Cross Buns”

m r d | m r d
Hot cross buns, hot cross buns

d d d d r r r r | m r d
One a pen-ny, two a pen-ny, hot cross buns

Song 2: “Mary Had a Little Lamb”

m r d r | m m m
Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb

r r r | m s s
Lit-tle lamb, lit-tle lamb

m r d r | m m m m
Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb its

r r m r | d – –
fleece was white as snow

How do we practise a song?

1. Listen: the teacher sings first.
2. Echo: you repeat what the teacher sang.
3. Sol-fa: sing with sol-fa notes.
4. Words: add the words.
5. Together: sing as a class.

Difficult words

• Fleece (fleece): the wool on a lamb.
• Penny (pen-ny): a coin, money.

Hand signs review

• Doh: hand at waist
• Ray: hand at stomach
• Me: hand at chest
• Fah: hand at shoulder
• Soh: hand at mouth
• Lah: hand at forehead
• Te: hand above head

Singing tips

• Stand or sit straight.
• Open your mouth.
• Breathe properly.
• Listen to the tune.
• Sing clearly.
• Enjoy the music!

Evaluation

1. Ear training helps us _____ music correctly.
   • a) ignore
   • b) hear
   • c) destroy
2. The third sol-fa note is _____.
   • a) doh
   • b) ray
   • c) me
3. “Hot Cross Buns” starts with the note _____.
   • a) me
   • b) doh
   • c) soh
4. When singing, we should stand _____.
   • a) crooked
   • b) straight
   • c) upside down
5. Hand signs help us _____ sol-fa.
   • a) forget
   • b) remember
   • c) destroy

Assignment

1. Practise “Hot Cross Buns” with sol-fa.
2. Sing the sol-fa scale: d, r, m, f, s, l, t, d.
3. Practise the hand signs.
4. Sing one song you learned to your parents.