Description:A woman is standing in front of a turquoise background. She has long hair and a burgundy button-down shirt.
Juliana: Thank you for joining us. We're excited that you're here. At Daniel's Music Foundation, we believe in meeting our musicians where they are most comfortable, whether in person at our New York City music center and our online Zoom events and classes or through on-demand video library. Check out the description box below for all the ways you can join us and participate. Now please enjoy the video, and we appreciate you tuning in.
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A woman is standing in a turquoise room, in front of a selection of conga drums and bongos. She has short brown hair, and a black t-shirt that reads "Just Call Me By My Name".
Stefani: Hello, my name is Stefani, and I'm a teaching artist at Daniel's Music Foundation. I'm so excited to be teaching this activity to you. During this activity, you will learn all about songwriting. For example, what is a verse and a chorus, a hook? And what about melody and lyrics? If you enjoy these videos and would like to see more of them, please click the Subscribe button down below to help us grow our channel.
And just a quick reminder, if you would like to skip ahead to the activity portion of this video, take a look at the description box down below for the exact time the activity begins. If you'd like to learn the moves, stay right here with me. We're going to be moving and grooving to a song that I love so, so much called "Put a Little Love in Your Heart."
There are a lot of things that go into a song. Let's talk about what ingredients we need to cook one up. First, let's talk about the form of a song. The form of a song allows us to organize all of our brilliant ideas into something we can map out. This helps the listener navigate where they are in the song.
A song is like taking a beautiful hike, and our form is the trail we follow. The form of this song is divided into the two most important parts of any song-- a chorus and a verse. The chorus of the song is the part of the song that repeats and repeats and repeats and repeats. That's why it's usually the first part of the song we learn or remember.
A verse is the part of the song that tells us the story. Unlike the chorus, the words usually change throughout the song and relate in some way to the chorus. Now that we know what a verse and chorus are let me sing the first verse of this song to you.
(SINGING) Think of your fellow man, lend him a helping hand--put a little love in your heart
Stefani: Wow, I just love the message of this song. Now, how does a song deliver a message to us? It uses something called lyrics. Lyrics are the words of the song. It's how the song talks to us. Just like I'm talking to you now.
Let's learn the moves that go along with the verse. I'm going to sing the verse again. And while I'm singing, I'm going to drum freely. While I'm tapping on my drum, you can either stomp your feet, tap on your legs, move your shoulders back and forth, or do any move that works best for you and your body.
You can also find a chair or a desk to drum on gently if you'd like. Let's just try that. I'm going to sing the first part of the verse and drum.
(SINGING) Think of your fellow man, lend him a helping hand.
Stefani: Super! After I drum, I'm going to curl and raise one hand to make half a heart, then curl the other hand and bring it up. To connect both hands and form a full heart. After I connect my hands, I'm going to bring them back to my chest. That's because the lyrics of the song say put a little love in your heart. Let's try it all together from the beginning of the verse.
(SINGING) Think of your fellow man, lend him a helping hand--put a little love in your heart.
That was beautiful. I wonder if the same moves will work for the lyrics of the next verse. Let's try it out.
SINGING) You see it's getting late, oh, please don't hesitate--put a little love in your heart
Stefani: Wow, the moves work. They sing put a little love in your heart in the next verse, too. That's something called a hook, and it's exactly what it sounds like. The hook of a song is meant to catch people's attention. Just like a hook catches a fish when you go fishing-- sometimes.
Not every song has a hook, but it's nice to find one when there is one. The hook of a song uses the same lyrics and melody throughout the song, just like this song uses put a little love in your heart at the end of each verse. This line also happens to be the title of the song or the name of the song.
Now we've discussed what lyrics are, but we haven't discussed what melody means. The melody is the part of the song that you can sing, play on a piano, a clarinet, or any instrument that produces a pitch. So everything we are singing in this song is the melody of the song. Let's play a little game called Is This a Melody? You're going to hear some melodies and some, well, not melodies. Tell me if this is a melody or not.
(VOCALIZING)
Stefani: Yes, that's a melody. Great job. How about this one? (BLOWS RASPBERRY)
No, that was just me making a sound. How about this one? [DRUMMING]
I tricked you. That was just my drum. OK, here's your last one. (VOCALIZING)
Yes, that is a melody. And it sounds a little familiar, too. That's because that's the melody of our hook. Wow, we just learned so much about songwriting. We learned about the form of a song, how a song has a verse, and a chorus, and sometimes even a hook. We learned about lyrics and melody.
Are you ready to finish learning our dance for the chorus of the song? Let's do it. The chorus of our song starts with, and the world and the world will be a better place. For these lyrics, I'm going to make an arm circle with one arm for and the world that I'm going to switch arms to do the same move for the repeat of the line and the world. For will be a better place, I'm just going to drum.
Again, you can move your body however you'd like to when I'm drumming. Let's put it all together.
(SINGING) And the world and the world will be a better place...And the world and the world will be a better place.
Stefani: Great job. Next, the lyrics of the chorus go for you and me. When they sing for you, I'm going to stretch my arms out in front of me and point to you. And when they sing and me, I'm going to bring my arms back to my chest and point to myself. Let's try that.
(SINGING) For you
Stefani: You point to me
(SINGING) And me
Stefani: You point to yourself. Beautiful. Now, this is our last move for the whole song. The last line of the chorus says, you just wait and see. So I'm going to tap on my drums super quietly for
(SINGING) You just wait, And when we hear, and see
Stefani: I'm going to roll on my drums. If you're dancing to this part, you can start with a small move and then shake it all around when I roll my drums like this. Let's put it all together now, from the beginning of the chorus.
(SINGING) And the world and the world will be a better place...And the world and the world will be a better place, for you and me, you just wait and see
Stefani: That was incredible! I think we're ready to try it with the song.
["PUT A LITTLE LOVE IN YOUR HEART" PLAYING]
Stefani: All right, everybody, I'm going to start by drumming freely. You can grab a desk, a chair, you can stomp your feet, tap your legs, or just dance. Let's make that heart and bring it to our chest. Beautiful. One more time.
(SINGING) You see it's getting late, oh please don't hesitate--put a little love in your heart
Stefani: That was beautiful. Let's do the chorus. Beautiful.
(SINGING) Will a better place...and the world, and the world, will be a better place for you
Stefani: Now let's point to each other and me...And point to ourselves. I'm going to start drumming softly. And I'm going to roll it out. Beautiful. Now let's do that first.
(SINGING) And still the children cry
Stefani: Oh, I just heard our hook. Very nice. Let's keep going.
(SINGING) If you want the world to know, we won't let hatred grow--Put a little love in your heart
Stefani: I felt that.
(SINGING) And the world...And the world
Stefani: Very nice.
(SINGING) Would be a better place.
Stefani: One more time.
(SINGING) And the world--And the world will be a better place for you. For who? For you. And me, And me. You just wait
Stefani: Now, you can do a little dance move
(SINGING) And see
Stefani: And stick it out. Beautiful. Now try this one on your own.
(SINGING) And if you're looking down, put a little love in your heart. I hope when you decide, Kindness will be your guide--Put a little love in your heart. And the world (and the world), will be a better place. All the world (all the world). Will be a better place for you, and me. You just wait, and see.
Stefani: Beautiful job. Now let's just put a little love in our hearts. You can dance. You can shake. Whatever you'd like to do. Maybe you can point up to the sky. Maybe do a little Cabbage Patch. My personal favorite. Maybe you can drum a little.
(SINGING) Put a little love in your heart...Put a little love, Put a little love in your heart. Put a little love--Put a little love in your heart.
Stefani: Wow, that was so fun. I hope you feel as full of love as I do right now. And just a gentle reminder. If you enjoyed this video, please click on the Subscribe button so we can continue to celebrate the joy of music together. Have a wonderful day filled with peace, love, and music. Until next time.
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