3 Nov 2017

Music Monthly Update #3

Understanding the concept of beat or pulse in music and songs.

Learning short action songs and adding percussion instruments.

Exploring the variety of sounds that we can produce on non-pitched percussion instruments in the classroom and learning how to control them.

Understanding the difference between beat and rhythm.

Learning that some music has a strong beat and some may have almost no pulse.

Using instruments to create classroom arrangements of songs such as “A Sailor went to Sea”.

We are starting to explore rhythmic notation using classroom instruments.

As part of their Sharing Unit, students are thinking about children’s rights and learning relevant songs that explore the issue.

Such songs include Food, Glorious Food from “Oliver”, Hard Knock Life from “Annie” as well as the Michael Jackson song Heal the World.

Students are exploring patterns in music.

The way in which composers use different types of structures to compose music.

We have been playing pieces of music that incorporate ostinato patterns such as “Tubular Bells” by Mike Oldfield and students will now start composing their own examples

We are learning about rounds in music.

The students have learned to sing several examples such as “I Hear Thunder”, “Shalom, my Friend”, and “Autumn Leaves are Falling”.

They are now practising instrumental versions and exploring how to create their own.

Linking with their current UOI, “Conflict”, we will explore the devices and conventions that composers use to convey the idea of tension or conflict through music.

Students have explored the timbre of different instruments as well as using dissonant intervals and melodies.

They are now exploring the use of semitones and silence in their compositions.