Supplies Needed:

1. Computer with speakers

2. Musical instrument (preferably one that can easily play chords, such as a piano or guitar)

3. Copies of sheet music for the pieces you will be playing (click this link to download)

 

Explaining that Harmonies Make a Song Distinctive

You may wish to mention that harmonies often make a simple melody line much richer with just a few repeated chords.  This is often done in orchestras, where the first violins or flutes have the melody and the rest of the orchestra has to accompany them.

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Play through the melody line of “Can’t Buy Me Love” by the Beatles (below), making sure to include the rhythm.  Ask them what song it is, and they may not be able to name it from just a one-line melody.  Then play a recording of it.  Note that the accompanying part is what makes the song sound so unique and makes the sound full (otherwise, the melody line would sound bare and weak).

Click on the song title for the link to the recording:

Can’t Buy Me Love – The Beatles

 

Explaining the Difference Between Good and Bad Chords

Explain that certain notes sound good together, while others sound dissonant.  Play a couple of samples – for example, do-mi-so (C-Major chord) is a “good” chord, while do and ti do not sound good together.  Once you have gone through a couple of “good” and “bad” chords of two or three notes each, ask the audience to come up with their own combinations of notes that they think will sound good together, and play those.  You may wish to explain that a “bad” chord may be easily “fixed” by altering one of the notes to make it less dissonant.

 

Songs with Prominent Chords

Play through the harmony lines for each of these songs, then playing the rest of the song on the computer afterwards.  They are extremely simple, and yet they add a layer of depth to the song that would not otherwise be there.  Sometimes, the singer and instrumentalists trade off, but the bass line is always constant (see “Blueberry Hill”)

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For “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” you may wish to play the middle line (the line with the ooh-wahs written underneath as lyrics).  Explain that in an a cappella group or any other type of chorus, the harmony line is not just the piano or other accompaniment – it is also the different pitches of the singers.

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Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran (1958)

Why Do Fools Fall In Love – Frankie Lymon + The Teenagers-1956

Blueberry Hill – Fats Domino

 

At the end of the lesson, ask each of them to come up with a song or two that brings back a particular memory they would like to share with the group.  The next lesson will be spent telling the stories as they relate to the music.