Music

Choir

Playground Games

We played a new song from the Caribbean called 'Sally, Sally Water'. The children responded excitedly as they could choose their friend to dance with in the middle: Sally, Sally Water, sprinkle in the saucer. Rise, Sally, Rise, Sally Rise and wipe your eyes. Sally turn to the East. Sally turn to the West. Sally turn to the very one that you will love the best. [Child to choose a friend to take into the middle of the circle.] Dance around and dance around and dance a-round. Dance around and dance around and dance a-round.

We learned an English song from History called 'London Bridge'. We looked at choosing which side of the bridge we wanted to be part of when we were captured by the closing bridge.

We sang and moved to the song, 'In and out the dusty Bluebells'. We worked hard on weaving in and out the circle aka dusty bluebells.

Composition using hands, feet and mouths. The clips show how the children's chosen sounds to represent each symbol.

Response to a contemporary piece of music called Angreji Beat. There were lots of requests to play it week after week and again through the lessons after the first time the classes heard it. They LOVED it!

Groups from Year 3 go with Jamie B to read TAB music and learn to play the Ukulele. They love it and cannot wait until it is their turn for a lesson.

Year 3 Ukulele

In Year 2 we composed our own repeated rhythms using notation to accompany a piece of traditional Asian Music called Kaherva.

In Year 4 we learnt an African song called Che Che Koolay and sang it along with some actions. We've been told it's a song about Harvest.

Year 4 - Lewis Bridal Song

This is a Scottish (Celtic) song about Mairi's Wedding. The children danced along to this song with a partner. The dance is a progressive dance. When they sang the words, "Step we boldly on we go..." both the inside and the outside circles stepped to the right and ended up with a new partner.

The words we sing for the song are:

(Chorus)

Step we boldly, on we go

Heel for heel and toe for toe.

Arm in arm and row on row

All for Mairi's wedding.

(Verse)

Over hill-ways up and down,

Myrtle green and bracken brown,

Past the shielings, through the town,

All for sake of Mairi.

Chorus

Red her cheeks as rowans are,
Bright her eye as any star,
Fairest o' them a' by far
Is our darling Mairi.

Chorus

Plenty herring, plenty meal,
Plenty peat to fill her creel,
Plenty bonny bairns as weel:
That's the toast for Mairi.

Chorus

Watching Bars and Melody's 'Hopeful' and Galantis' 'No Money' was the inspiration needed for the Year 5 children to write their own Anti-Bullying Song. Check out some of our amazing efforts!

Macy's Anti-Bullying song composed by... herself.wmv

Alicia, Jessica and Casey's Song - Anti-Bullying Y5 Music.wmv

Oliver, Jack & Liam Y5 Music Anti-Bullying Song.MOV

In Year 3 we have been working as a class orchestra. Each section played one instrument and sat in our orchestra's chosen seating plan. The music played was composed using crotchets, quavers, minims and semibreves. There was a lot of practising so we could play at the same time using the beat to help. This is what some of the groups played:

Year 5 looked at cyclic musical patterns from Africa and Asia. We composed a piece of cyclic music based on the rhythms of African Mountains, Rivers and Countries. Some of us even used dynamics (different volumes) to help make our music more interesting to listen to.

In the KS1 base, the children have been exploring sounds to We're going on a Bear Hunt. They used different instruments to match the words in the story. Here are some photos of the children practising:

Children from our KS2 base have been listening to music and describing how it makes them feel. The children enjoyed dancing to the music too!

In KS1, we have been focusing on our listening skills and how music makes us feel. In Year 1, we listened to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and listened out for the different types of instruments. In Year 2, we drew pictures linking to the sounds we heard and identified how this made us feel. Also, we described the music using musical vocabulary.

In Year 1, we have begun to learn about the importance of warming up our voice before we sing. When we warm up our singing sounds better. This is a new ‘Warm Up’ we have learnt:

Step 1 - Put your hand on your head and pull up with a WHOOSH!

Step 2- Pull our hands down to our ears. Pretend we are pulling an rubber band away from our ears.

Step 3- Scrunch your fingers up and put them by the bottom of your nose. Now pull them away and make a ‘nasal’ kind of sound. (A nose sound. Pnnng not ping!)

Step 3 – Pretend to stretch your mouth as though it is pizza being pulled apart with lots of stringy cheese, with an EEEEEEEEE

Step 4 – Push your chin up a little and, keeping your head very still, wiggle your chin with your mouth open and say, UUUUUH!

Step 5- Stretch up high and wriggle your arms and body down to the ground and back up again. Our voices change pitch from high to low to high. OOOOOOOOOOOO!

Step 6- Imagine there are tiny low sound-bubbles at the lowest part of your body (your feet).

-Wriggle your toes so the sound can be pushed up.

-Now the bubbles are at your knees and pop together to make some bigger bubbles.

-Wriggle your toes more so the bubbles reach your hips. Now there is one bubble at each hip.

-Wriggle your toes some more so the bubbles reach your tummy. They pop together to make one large bubble.

- Keep wriggling your toes so the bubble travels up to your throat but it gets stuck so help it out by stepping forward and opening your mouth and letting the sound out with a … Huuuuh!

Year 1 have been learning a new song...

I've caught myself a Baby Bumble Bee...

Won't my Mummy be surprised with me?

I've caught myself a Baby Bumble Bee...

Ouch! It stung me!

I'm squishing up my Baby Bumble Bee

Won't my Mummy be surprised with me?

I'm squishing up my Baby Bumble Bee...

Ergh! It's sticky!

I’m licking up my Baby Bumble Bee…

Won’t my mummy be surprised with me?

I’m licking up my Baby Bumblebee….

Ugh, I feel sick!

I’m puking up my Baby Bumble Bee….

Won’t my Mummy be surprised with me?

I’m puking up my Baby Bumble Bee….

Uh Oh! What a Mess!

I’m sweeping up my Baby Bumble Bee…

Won’t my mummy be surprised with me?

I’m sweeping up my Baby Bumblebee….

Bzzzzzzzzzzzz….

SNAP!

Our Amazing Music Displays

Year 5 have used what they have learnt to compose and perform short pieces of their own Egyptian music. They used the different musical elements of pitch, tempo, dynamics, duration, timbre, texture and structure.

Some Egyptian music is based on the pentatonic minor scale. This is a scale using 5 notes that sound good together. A minor scale is used in music that sounds somber and sad. A major scale is used in music which is happier and more cheerful. Listen out for the ostinato pattern in our compositions.

We thought carefully about the dynamics of our composition.

Our composition...

It was hard work...

We had lots of fun...

Have a listen...

Year 4 have been learning about orchestra. They looked at the different sections and the instruments within them and worked on their listening skills to identify instruments using pitch and timbre to help them work out which instrument was playing.
They created some rhythmic ostinatos that they clapped in groups and individually.

Year 5 listened to 'A Night on The Bare Mountain' by Mussorgsky, a Russian composer.

We thought about what images it put in our head and how the music made us feel. As we listened, we reflected on our thoughts and presented them as pieces of art.