Tick Tock

Welcome to Episode 16 of the Doremi Teach podcast. Today I’m going to teach you a song that’s perfect for preparing steady beat and dynamics, loud and soft.

Tick Tock

Tick, tock, tick, tock, goes my little clock

All day long it just goes tick tock

Hello there and welcome to the Doremi Teach podcast. If you’re interested in teaching musical skills and literacy through singing then this is the place for you. My name is Helen Russell from Doremi Connect and I’m going to help you achieve your goals using the Kodály approach.

Benefits of Tick Tock

• This song is used to prepare beat and dynamics (loud and soft)
• The toneset is mi-so-la with a range of a Perfect 4th so ideal for little voices and for nervous teachers
• It uses the so-mi motif, which is the easiest for beginner singers to pitch, and the so-la-so-mi motif
• It’s ideal for teaching the piano as we can play on black keys, where the high hand will bounce between so and la
• Easy to transfer to tuned percussion
• The rhythm is very simple, just using ta (crotchets) with a single titi (quavers) for “little” so it’s easy to sing but I don’t use it for working on rhythm skills
• With the tick tock motif, it’s a great way to prepare two-time or duple metre and time signatures later on

The Game

Make a tick tock sound and make a waving action pivoting at the elbow, like a metronome or upside-down pendulum.

Keep that going while you sing the song

Prepare for work on dynamics (loud and soft) by singing softly when it’s a little clock. Then sing again as a big clock, louder. You can explore the size-dynamic connection with tiny clock and massive clock. Anything you like – be inventive and most importantly get the students involved with the creativity.

Make sure you let us know what you think of the episode and do share it with your colleagues if you’ve found it helpful

For more free resources and webinars on teaching music through singing make sure you visit doremiconnect.co.uk and sign up to our daily emails.

I hope you have a lovely week, filled with music and singing.

You’ve been listening to the Doremi Teach podcast with Helen Russell from Doremi Connect. Helping you achieve your music teaching goals with the Kodály approach.