Zousan (teaching pentatonic scale)

And why do you need a pentatonic scale lesson?

Because pentatonic scales are VERY useful in learning music theory, writing or arranging music, and ESPECIALLY improvising. The word "pentatonic" comes from the Greek "pente" meaning 5 and the Latin "tonicus" meaning tone. So a pentatonic scale is a scale with only 5 tones.

Since pentatonic scale has mostly developed in Asia, I taught my students a song in Japanese. Zousan (A Little Elephant) is based on pentatonic scale.

The Elephant's Song

ぞうさん、ぞうさん zou-san, zou-san Mr. Elephant, Mr. Elephant

おはながながいのね ohana ga nagai no ne Your nose is long, you know

そうよ、かあさんも sou yo, kaasan mo That's right, my mama('s) also

ながいのよ nagai no yo is long.

Trying to combine music and literacy, and even art, I challenged my students to copy the Japanese symbols. They enjoyed the activity greatly and put their heart and soul in it.

Zousan is a great musical exposure that teaches not only pentatonic scale, but also another language. Children ages 3 to 10 habitually comprehend foreign language with ease.

My older students ages 10 to 13 were challenged even more. I used a xylophone and removed notes leaving only C D E G A. Then I asked everyone to improvise and compose a new tune based on pentatonic scale.

The students loved the activity and developed great tunes subsequently adding lyrics as well.

Here is a video for teaching pentatonic scale. It was a great inspiration for me.

http://youtu.be/ne6tB2KiZuk