1. Diddledy Dumpty
by Marian Ingoldsby

2. Let’s form a percussion band!
First we need a bass instrument.
What pitched drum might we use that could play our bass line?
The timpani (kettle drums)

3. Here’s the timpani line…
Let’s sing…
Are we all singing down in the bass clef where the timpani would sound or are some of us singing higher?

4. Here it is in the treble clef…
Now let’s look at the text and see what rhythm we could give to the words.

5. Dumpty, dumpty, dumpty diddledy
Let’s say the following, first with rhythm names, then with text. Then let’s sing and decide which rhythm pattern suits best…

6. Ostinato
This two-bar phrase is repeated over and over and is called an ‘ostinato’:
Now sing these two bars 10 times while I sing a melody above your ostinato.

7. Hear the bells: ding dong
Can you tell which bell would play which note?

8. Compare the bells
If these bells were bigger, how would that affect the sound?

9. Let’s sing… The melody for the smaller bells:
The melody for the bigger bells:

10. Now let’s put the parts together
And let’s ‘sing’ the bell parts now.

11. Tubular Bells Melody Can you remember ‘singing by
numbers’ and sounding like tubular
bells?
Let’s remind ourselves:
Let’s sing the ‘dumpty, dumpty, dumpty diddeldy’ text…

12. Dumpty, dumpty, dumpty diddeldy
And now let’s divide into four groups and build
the four notes into a chord by descending from 5…

13. Dumpty, dumpty,dumpty diddeldy - 5, 4, 2, 1

14. Let’s try it the other way around - 1, 2, 4, 5

15. Dumpty diddeldy Let’s just take ‘dumpty diddeldy’.
SPEAK the words in CAPITAL letters out loud and whisper the words in lower case letters.
DUMPTY diddeldy, DUMPTY diddeldy,
dumpty DIDDELDY, DUMPTY diddeldy,

16. Dumpty diddeldy with chords

17. Music Checklist Can we sing bars 1 - 8? What melody is this?
Can we sing bars ? What music is this?
Can we sing bars ? What music is this?
Can we sing bars ? What music is this?
Can we sing bars ? What music is this?
Can we sing bars ? What melody is this?

18. Sing through
Sing what you have learned and listen as the teacher fills in the rest.
Help with the vocal percussion in the last three bars!

19. Further Classwork
Learn bars Discuss imitation and examine the intervals closely here.
Add a third note to the chord in bar 50.
Add the vocal percussion
Learn the final 5 bars. Whisper ‘dumpty’ on the rests in bars 63 and 65 as the exercise used for bars
Add ‘The cat ran up the plum tree’.
Consider dynamics and articulation and let the students choose their own.
The form is potentially a palindrome.

20. Learning Outcomes Ostinato Tonic–Dominant bass line. Chords I and V
Use of pentatonic scale – Dorian or ‘ray’ mode
Parallel 4ths - like organum
Syncopation
Clusters
6/8
Canon
Interval imitation
Rhythm recognition

21. Learning Outcomes continued
Unison to four-part singing
Bass clef
Vocal Ranges
Repeat marks
Word painting
Vocal percussion
Learning about percussion instruments
Instrument size in relation to its pitch

22. And finally…
Let the students do what they can. This is often more than we anticipate.
Give them a challenge and then a little assistance.
Give them a lot of help if work is beyond their current ability but ensure you gradually step back.