CHINESE PENTATONIC

Level: Primary 3

Lesson Objectives:

1. Sing the Chinese song Feng yang Hua Gu.

2. Know how to read cipher notation.
3. Know what the pentatonic scale is.
4. Recognise the notes in the Chinese Pentatonic scale.

Pre-requisite skills and/or knowledge:

1. Students know how to identify and sing a scale in solfege.

2. Students know how to play a scale on belle plates.

Lesson materials: Feng Yang Hua Gu, Auld Lang Syne and Arirang ( You tube Videos ), Cipher Notation score of Feng Yang Hua Gu, Belle Plates

Musical concepts and skills that students will be learning:

A scale is the range of notes available in a piece. It is a series of notes with a fixed intervallic structure. There are many types of scales. 5-note and 7-note scales
are the most common. Other scales includes whole-tone scales, chromatic scales, etc.

We call a 5 – note/ tone scale a Pentatonic scale. It is a musical scale or mode with five notes per octave. ‘Penta’ means ‘5’ and ‘tonic’ refers to ‘tone’ or
‘note’). In contrast, a major or minor scale is heptatonic (seven note). Pentatonic scales are divided into those with semitones (hemitonic) and those
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without (anhemitonic).

The Western pentatonic scale is defined as a 5 – tone tone/ note scale that doesn’t contain the subdominant ( 4th scale degree ) and leading note ( 7th note ). In
other words, there is no fah or ti . For example, the song “Auld Lang Syne” is pentatonic.

There are many types of Pentatonic scale forms. The most common ones are the various Chinese pentatonic scale forms. Other forms include the Korean,
gamelan pathets, Japanese, Indian ragas, etc.

The Chinese Pentatonic scale

Chinese musical scales are all based pentatonic scales. The main elements of Chinese scales are the 5 main tones.
Every tone has a name (Chinese Name), They are Gong(宫), Shang(􀦎), Jue(􀖯), Zi(􁷪), Yu(􀓋).

There are five kinds of basic scales. Every tone can be considered as the tonic of a scale, As a result, there are five kinds of basic scales. The scaleʼs name is
same as the tonicʼs name.

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 Lesson Materials: Pedagogical/ Curriculum –
Time Tasks/ Activities: design rationale:
(mins):

10 min Tuning-in: Listening Introduction to Pentatonic

scale.
1) Let students listen to a few songs on You Tube. Feng Yang Hua Gu
2) Tell them to listen to the melody of each song and listen out for http://www.youtube.com/watch? Audiation before notation.
what is common. v=2GXu960Y9OI
3) Tell them that all these three songs are composed using a Let students know that
Pentatonic scale. Auld Lang Syne anhemitonic Pentatonic scales
4) Teacher explains what is a Pentatonic scale. http://www.youtube.com/watch? occur and exist in the music of
v=CpvYoY4juLc many different countries.
5) “A Pentatonic scale is made up of only 5 notes. There are many
different types of pentatonic scales. All the three songs we have
Arirang
just heard are composed using the anhemitonic pentatonic scales. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
“ v=WnL4Hq050is
6) “In an anhemitonic pentatonic scale, the 4th and the 7th notes of
the scale is not used.”

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20 min Development:
Further explanation of Chinese Pentatonic Scales

1) Play the song again and the pupils to learn how to sing the song.
2) Show pupils the cipher notation score of the song “Feng Yang Hua
Gu”
3) Tell students this is the score for musicians playing the Chinese Cipher Notation score of Using cipher notations,
orchestra instruments. This score uses only numbers, no notes. It “Feng Yang Hua Gu” authentic to Chinese music, to
is a numbered musical notation. (Perfect Match P5 Textbook Pg. 58) derive the 5 notes of the
pentatonic scale.

4) This type of score is called jian pu. Or we can call it the cipher
notations.

20 min
Deriving the notes of the Chinese pentatonic scale:

5) “What are the numbers used for this score? (1, 2, 3, 5 and 6).”
6) “Which numbers are missing? (4 and 7).”
Belle plates Relating cipher notation to
7) Show students a set of belleplates.
solfege to derive the 5 notes of
8) Tell the students to take note that the set of belle plates consist the pentatonic scale in solfege.
of only 7 notes.
9) Get the students to sing the solfege to the whole set of belle
plates. (Doh, re, me, fa, so, la, ti)
10) Get the students to refer to the cipher notation again. “What are
the numbers used for this score? (1, 2, 3, 5 and 6).
11) I am going to number my notes 1 to 7 ( Eg. 1=doh, 2=re, etc).

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 12) “What are the missing numbers?” (4 and 7).
13) “How many notes make up this song? (5 notes)
14) “What are the 5 notes being used? “ (Doh, re, me, so and la)
15) “What are the notes not used?” ( Fa and Ti )

10 min Conclusion:

1) In conclusion, tell the students that a 5-note scale is known as a

pentatonic scale and the Chinese Pentatonic scale is made up of
“Doh Ray Me Soh and Lah).

2) Pentatonic scales are commonly used in East Asian music.

Pentatonic scales gives East Asian music a characteristic flavour
and sound.

References:

Perfect match Resources

Music Alive: Exploring the World of Sound

Chinese Pentatonic scale http://webbrain.com/attach?brain=FE9A3947-848E-CA05-DFC5-E32D9FD16A6D&attach=93&type=1

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