Five Woodpeckers

Transcript

Hello, and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman,
and today we're learning a new song called "Five Woodpeckers."
This song has a story, and I need your help with it.
Let's imagine we're deep in a forest. Can you make a tree with your arm?
And there were five woodpeckers,
all brothers and sisters that like to peck on this tree.
The first woodpecker was actually strangely afraid of heights,
and so he always pecked down low on the tree, like this:

♫ woodpecker tap, tap, ♫

Then woodpecker number two was a little bit braver so she would peck here:

♫ woodpecker tap, tap, ♫

Number three was a little braver:

♫ woodpecker tap, tap, ♫

And number four was braver still.

♫ woodpecker tap, tap, ♫

Woodpecker number five was the bravest of all.

♫ woodpecker tap, tap, ♫

Then they all pecked one more time.

♫ Looking for a bug...yum ♫

Can you tell what the woodpeckers were looking for? If you said a bug, you're right.
They were looking for something to eat.
Did you know that under the bark of a tree, little bugs live,
and that's what the woodpeckers were tapping for? A little snack.
Now, will you try the whole song with me, using your tree,
and tapping on the tree with me together as we sing? Ready, go:

♫ woodpecker tap, tap, ♫
♫ woodpecker tap, tap, ♫
♫ woodpecker tap, tap, ♫
♫ woodpecker tap, tap, ♫
♫ woodpecker tap, tap, ♫
♫ Looking for a bug, yum ♫

Great job! Now each of these woodpeckers has a name.
Do you remember, in "Hot Cross Buns," how we gave a special solfège name
for each note? MI RE DO, and that lowest note was called DO. Well,
it's the same thing in "Five Woodpeckers". The lowest woodpecker is called DO.
So now we're going to sing "Five Woodpeckers" using solfège
and our special solfège hand signs, and that will give each woodpecker a name.
We call the lowest one DO. Try this with me. The next one's RE,
and the next one up is called MI, and then here are two new ones: FA and SO.
Now, let's try to sing the whole thing using solfège this time.
Can you do this with me? Use your hands and sing along. Here's DO, ready go:

DO DO DO DO DO,
RE RE RE RE RE,
MI MI MI MI MI,
FA FA FA FA FA,
SO SO SO SO SO,
SO FA MI RE DO––DO.

Great job. Now, let's practice moving our fingers for "Five Woodpeckers."
Hold up your right hand like this. It so happens that, with five fingers,
it's perfect for playing "Five Woodpeckers."
One finger can be in charge of each woodpecker. So your thumb will be DO.
So wiggle your thumb and say DO with me.
That's gonna be woodpecker number one. So let's try this together. My turn first:

♫ Woodpecker tap, tap ♫ Now you try.

Good, then we'll go up to woodpecker number two:

♫ woodpecker tap, tap ♫ Now you try.

Good, and then next we have woodpecker number three:

♫ woodpecker tap, tap ♫ Now your turn.

And then number four:

♫ woodpecker tap, tap ♫ Your turn.

And then number five is last:

♫ woodpecker tap, tap ♫ Your turn.

Then every woodpecker is going to get one more peck:

♫ Looking for a bug ♫, then one more, ♫ yum ♫ Your turn.

Good, now let's try it one more time using our special solfège language.
Remember, we have DO RE MI FA and SO. Sing it in solfège with me,
and let's try it together this time. Ready, go:

DO DO DO DO DO,
RE RE RE RE RE,
MI MI MI MI MI,
FA FA FA FA FA,
SO SO SO SO SO,
SO FA MI RE DO––DO.

Great job. You're ready to try it on the piano. At the piano,
make sure you're always sitting with your best piano posture.
So, bench not too close or you'll have tyrannosaurus rex arms.
So, pull that bench out so your arms are comfortably placed.
Tall back using arm weight and fingers in a good, relaxed,
and slightly curved shape. For "Five Woodpeckers",
our first woodpecker is going to be on C. Remember how to find C?
You point to a C nearest the middle of your screen.
If you're pointing right here, you're correct.
We have C, and now try to name each of these notes with me:
C, D, E, F for grandma's front yard, and then G for grandma's house.
C, D, E, F, G are the five notes we're going to use for "Five Woodpeckers".
By the way, these five notes form what we call the C major pentascale.
Penta means five, like a pentagon is a shape with five sides.
A pentascale is a family of five notes all one step apart.
So with your best piano posture, let's place your five fingers on C with your thu ...