Understanding Primary Music

Session 2:

Listening and responding to music

Teaching singing

Learning objectives:

1. Reflect on how listening and appraising activities can support the development of understanding of the elements of music

2. Consider different styles of music within listening and appraising activities

3. Evaluate different approaches for structuring pupils’ responses to music

4. Explore different uses of voice and begin to develop learning through vocal games and activities.

5. Evaluate a range of strategies for supporting vocal development.

Using listening and appraising to develop understanding of the elements of music

Pitch: high/low Duration: rhythm and pulse Dynamics: louder/quieter/silence Tempo: faster/slower Timbre: different types of sound Texture: different ways sounds are combined Structure: different ways sounds are organised

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/subjects/music/clipslibrary

Listening and appraising: areas of focus

Key theme: How does the music tell a story?identifying instruments and why these sound qualities were chosen for the piece reflection on musical elements:

Pitch, Duration, Dynamics, Tempo, Timbre, Texture, Structure

and how these contribute to the atmosphere or moodidentification of repetitions, patterns and variationspersonal response to the music: like/dislike; how it makes you feelHow is the music used with words, movement, drama or film? What does it add?

Listening and responding to music: ways of responding Talking about sounds and music – need to support

the development of musical vocabulary Movement – body percussion; moving around the

floor to a steady beat; dance Art – responding to musical elements or creating

images in response to music Sounds around us – listen to sounds in the

environment on a sound walk and record these electronically, then make a display to represent the sounds visually

Choice of music

For each piece of music you listen to identify which musical elements that piece would be particularly exploring.

What are the criteria for choosing music for listening in school?

Choir One singer Slow Fast

Loud Soft Happy music Sad music

Instruments with strings

Percussion instruments

Wind instruments

Grid structure – fixed choices

Listening and appraising: structuring responses to recorded music

Evaluate the different approaches for supporting listening and appraising

Devise a format that will enable you to structure the listening process and facilitate recording of feelings and thoughts about a piece of music.

Evaluate another group’s recording sheet using 2 stars and a wish.

Aspects of developing the singing voice Controlling the voice Developing pitch accuracy Developing musical memory Clarity of diction Understanding the words leading to

singing expressively

Basics of good singing

The importance of good posture Warming-up both physically and vocally

prepares children for singing Breathing for singing Having fun

Vocal warm ups

Body Warm ups Breathing Face Mouth Voice Finally…. Singing!

Selecting songs Singing was a strength… where… the repertoire was matched

to pupils’ voices, their ages and interests (Ofsted, 2009: 9). When choosing s song consider:- Is the pitch range of the song suitable?- Is the level of difficulty of the song appropriate (complexity of

melody and difficulty of the words)- Do the children enjoy the song and find it meaningful? Within your groups discuss possible songs you could use within the

primary age phase. Choose one song from each group, identifying the Key Stage it

would be most appropriate for.

Teaching children to sing Importance of repetition of short parts of a song

until children are confident Using an echo approach How to start a song:

Counting in using pitch of first note – to help find this use tuned percussion

Advantages and difficulties of using backing tracks (see next slide)

e.g. ‘Sing up’ website: http://www.singup.org/songbank/song-bank/letter/W/page/2/ http://www.singup.org/songbank/song-bank/song-detail/view/424-dance-to-you

r-daddy/

Using backing tracks

Many schools visited had registered with Sing Up and had either downloaded material from the song bank, or were using songs from the termly magazines. These resources were, rightly, valued by schools – particularly by those that had not accessed the Sing Up training. As with other published resources, however, their effectiveness was entirely dependent on the quality of the teaching that accompanied them.

Ofsted 2012: Para 50

Teaching a song

Review what you know about teaching a song – group discussion.

How do you think children may respond when asked to sing?

How can you help develop the skills of children who are having difficulties singing?

In your small groups choose a song and use the principles you have learned to teach it to the rest of the class.

Introducing part-singing

Simple rounds

Songs with sung ostinato

Partner songs

What’s my role? Consider the role of the teacher in

fostering good quality singing. Good role-modelling Discriminating listening – for pitch and

rhythmic accuracy and clear diction Attention to character, mood and

expression Choice of pitch and rhythm-appropriate

(and enjoyable) songs

Creating a jingle

 Create a short advertising slogan and compose a simple tune

Sheila’s wheels http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3jNd63cHA0 We buy any car http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXiJBp7HK5o Coca cola jingle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5ULzR6-UZ8

Scaffolding composition of a song: Plainsong

A plainsong also uses the approach of limiting the notes that can be used:

D E F G A This type of scaffold does not facilitate more

than one tuned instrument playing at once Compose a plainsong melody to accompany

the following poemhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o27yzE0K-g4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuVA_KHDyow

What can you see?

What can you see?

I can see the pattern of the waves on the sea

What can you hear?

I can hear the seagulls when they’re flying near

What can you smell?

I can smell the salt that’s hiding in a shell

What can you feel?

I can feel the stones moving under my heel

What can you taste?

I can taste my ice-cream, couldn’t bear to let it waste

Scaffolding vocal composition:Composing a Rap

Version 1 Create a rap for a well known children’s story that has

repeated elements which children could join in with.

Version 2 Create a rap which sends out a message about an

issue relevant to primary age children e.g. environmental issues. Develop a rhythmic or melodic pattern to use as an ostinato.

Independent Study Tasks

Familiarise yourself with a range of percussion instruments and think about different ways they could be played. See the Powerpoint ‘Instruments’.

Look at the findings of the Ofsted reports (2009 and 2012), identifying aspects of effective practice in teaching music.

 Read the excerpts from books, available as PDFs on the learning network.