Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman.
Today we're learning a new song called "Frog in the Middle". Hence,
the friends I brought today.
So let's meet these three friends I brought.
We've got Mommy Frog.
We've got Baby Frog.
Cute, huh?
And we've got Grandpa Frog.
Hey Grandpa.
So today, the song we're learning is "Frog in the Middle".
I'm going to ask Grandpa Frog to help me out with this song.
♫Frog in the middle, frog in the sea.♫
♫Frog in the middle, can't catch me♫
Now will you try singing that song along with me while I play the frog?
Here we go.
♫Frog in the middle, frog in the sea♫
♫Frog in the middle, can't catch me.♫
Great job.
Thank you Grandpa Frog.
Croak
This time what I'd like you to do is go on a little hunt with me
for the three lowest notes of this song.
This song is made up of three notes.
A high one called SO,
a middle one called MI,
and a low one called DO.
So I'll sing the song one more time for you.
This time without words, and I want you to listen for those three low notes that sound like this,
and when you hear them I want you to touch your knees or touch your feet.
It's up to you. You choose.
Okay, you ready?
Here we go. Listen for the low notes that sound like this.
Did you hear the low notes?
If you touched three times at the end of the song,
♫can't catch me♫
those were the three low notes.
We call that DO DO DO
Good listening.
Now this time let's sing the whole thing again. We're going to touch our shoulders when you hear the high notes,
and this song happens to start on SO up here,
and then you'll go to your middle, or your waist, and then we'll touch knees or feet
for the low notes at the end.
Ready, can you sing "Frog in the Middle" with me and help me find those high middle or low notes?
Ready, go.
♫Frog in the middle, frog in the sea♫
♫Frog in the middle, can't catch me♫
Good job.
Now the next thing I'd like to do is try singing it in our special musical language called solfège.
Remember, this one we call SO, this one MI, and the low one DO,
and this time let's use our hand signs. Remember we have SO
MI
and DO. We'll make this for DO.
Ready, here we go. Try it with me.
SO SO SO MI MI SO SO SO MI
SO SO SO MI MI DO DO DO
Great job.
Now we're ready to try and figure out how to play this song on the piano.
This song is made up of skipping notes.
You'll remember that when we did "Hot Cross Buns", we started out with three notes stepping down,
and when we did 'Five Woodpeckers", one note at a time we're stepping higher and higher, and then we end up stepping down.
Now in 'Frog in the Middle" we're going to skip notes.
So we're only going to need SO and MI
and DO, and we're never going to use RE or FA.
So these two fingers, your finger here and here, won't actually get used in this song.
That's okay, they'll get a turn on another song.
So let's practice moving our fingers for 'Frog in the Middle".
All right, for "Frog in the Middle", let's use our left hand this time.
For "Hot Cross Buns" and "Five Woodpeckers" we start with our right hand, so let's give that left hand a turn.
All right, now,
in the left hand your pinky is DO. That will be the lowest note,
and then it will go up from there DO RE MI FA SO.
Remember, in "Frog in the Middle" we're skipping notes, so we have SO,
MI and DO.
So would you hold up your left hand with me and let's practice finding those solfège notes.
SO, wiggle your thumb,
MI, wiggle your middle finger,
DO, wiggle your pinky.
Good, now let's try the notes from "Frog in the Middle".
I'll sing first and move my fingers and then you copy what I do when it's your turn.
My turn. SO SO SO MI MI, your turn
Good, now my turn.
SO SO SO MI. Your turn.
My turn. SO SO SO MI MI, your turn.
DO DO DO, your turn.
Good job. Now let's try it with words,
and this time let's do it together at the same time.
We're going to sing the words of the song and use SO MI and DO fingers, but we'll sing the real words 'frog in the middle'.
Ready, go.
♫Frog in the middle♫
♫frog in the sea♫
♫Frog in the middle, can't catch me♫
Good.
Now here's a little hint:
Whenever the words of the song say middle, it's your middle finger.
How about that?
So, if you can't remember when to switch to your middle finger just think about the words. 'Frog in the'
and then on 'middle' it's your middle finger.
Alright let's come to the piano keys and try it on the piano.
Can you point to a C nearest the middle of your screen?
If you're pointing right here, you're correct.
So let's review our C major pentascale. Can you name each note of the C major pentascale? We have C,
then what's this one?
D,
keep naming them.
If you said E, you're correct.
What's this one?
If you said F, you're correct, and what's this note?
If you said G, great job.
These five notes build the C major pentascale. A family of five notes all one step apart.
C D E F G
Now for "Frog in the Middle" we don't need the whole pentascale.
We're going to
take away RE,
take away FA, and now you'll see that we have this skipping pattern. We skip from DO to MI
to SO,
and in letter names we would say C E G
A skipping pattern like this in music can be called an arpeggio.
So these three notes we see here we also can call the C major arpeggio.
So it's this arpeggio that we will be using today for "Frog in the Middle".
Now for "Frog in the Middle" since we're going to play with our left hand, can you find a C lower on your screen?
If you're pointing here, you're correct.
So let's also find the C major arpeggio down here.
Our left hand will be using these three keys: C, E, and G today for "Frog in the Middle'.
So let your left hand find this position.
So your thumb will be on G, your pinky will be on C.
And for "Frog in the Middle" we start on SO which is going to be with your thumb on G.
And then remember, we're going to be skipping fingers. So my turn first.
SO SO SO MI MI. Your turn. Sing and play.
My turn. SO SO SO MI. Your turn.
My turn. SO SO SO MI MI DO DO DO
Your turn.
Good. Now let's try it with the lyrics. My turn first.
♫Frog in the middle♫
Now your turn. Sing and play.
My turn. ♫Frog in the sea♫ Your turn.
My turn.
♫Frog in the middle, can't catch me♫ Your turn.
Good, now pause the video and I'd like you to try to play the whole song
singing the lyrics while you play, and then press play to go on.
How did it go?
Did you remember to have good piano posture?
As you're practicing "Frog in the Middle" this week, remember to have a bouncy wrist so you're using arm weight
to help the notes go down,
and make sure that your fingers are all staying
in a relaxed curved shape. No flying fingers,
staying relaxed as you play.
Now I'd like to show you how you can have even more fun
playing along with the play-along track from the practice album for Unit 1.
You can get this track as a premium member.
What you'll do is you'll hear some music playing and just like before you'll hear four clicks, and then you start.
Then this time there will be a little time to improvise like we did with "Hot Cross Buns".
Remember, when you improvise you're just going to be making up notes that sound good to you.
But for "Frog in the Middle" we're just going to improvise using the three notes of the C major arpeggio.
Let me show what that would sound like.
If you like, you can try playing along with me or you can just listen,
but here's the play along track for "Frog in the Middle".
Remember to listen for four clicks. Here it comes. 1 2 3 4
And then we get to improvise.
Then we play the melody one more time.
This week in your practicing, don't just play it in your left hand. Also remember to practice it in your right hand too.
Pianists use both hands you can do some practicing left hand,
some right hand, and then for a super challenge try playing it hands together,
or even hands together with your eyes closed.
Remember for the right hand it will still be the same C major arpeggio, but now you have to start with your pinky.
Great job.
Now at home,
on your own I'd like you to practice "Frog in the Middle" every day.
Today we learned it in the left hand, but I also would like you to try playing it in the right hand.
Why don't you try doing it five times every day.
For an extra challenge, you can try singing the solfège while you play.
Or for a really extra challenge, try singing the letter names as you play.
For the sheet music to this song, you can download it from our website as part of the complete materials for Unit 1.
Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time!
We will now play for you "Frog in the Middle"
uh, with um, well, frogs.
Thank you very much! Everyone take a bow!