Music Monthly Update #4
Students will explore some of the traditions people celebrate at Christmas time. They will listen to and perform some examples of secular and religious songs such as Jingle Bells and Away in a Manger and think about how we can use classroom instruments to add variety to our performances.
As part of their sharing unit, students will explore the role of music in festivals and celebrations. They will learn some Christmas songs such as “Little Donkey”and also start thinking about New Year songs such as Auld Lang Syne.
Students will explore some of the different Christmas musical traditions, comparing traditional and modern songs as well as secular and sacred. They will explore textures in musical performance such as solo, small ensemble and whole class as well as using percussion instruments to add colour.
Students will continue to look at patterns in music. The way in which composers use different types of structures to compose music will be looked at. We will be playing pieces of music that incorporate ostinato patterns such as Christmas Canon and the students will compose and perform their own examples.
Students will listen to Winter from Vivaldi’s Seasons and discuss the devices he uses to create musical imagery. Exploring similar ideas, the students will create their own short pieces in pairs.
The students will look at some of the devices composers use to create certain effects in their music. They will compose their own examples of winter music using sounds that evoke Christmas, such as sleigh bells, a melodic motif on a glockenspiel or other metallic sounds.
