Crew Hamill and Crew Thompson – Music 🎶

10th October 2023Sarah Mcglone

This week we had a snapshot lesson – a lesson in the middle of the unit to assess how well we can apply the skills we have worked on so far to another piece of music. We began by looking at the length of phrases within the song and worked on finding a beat using body percussion (tapping knees and shoulders). We then looked at each of the words, practised saying the words first before adding the melody and thinking about the pitch of each note. Once we confident in this, we then moved on to combining all the elements and began to sing in unison trying to get the correct notes. As a challenge, we then turned the song into a call-and-response song (just like the song we are looking at during this unit – I’ve Been to Harlem). We split into 2 groups and practised where group 1 started singing the song before group 2 started singing. It worked extremely well and sounded lovely once we had mastered it!

During recorders, we were introduced to the note A. We looked at where we need to place our fingers before practising call-and-response style activities with Miss McGlone, playing different rhythms of the note A. We then took our new knowledge and played a piece called ‘Amazing Aeroplane’. Some people were even brave enough to place the piece on their own in front of the rest of their crew, with praise and wonders being given after their performance! ✨

Year 1 music – using untuned percussion instruments to keep the rhythm 🥁 🎶

28th September 2023Sarah Mcglone

In Year 1, we have added untuned percussion instruments to the song we have been learning ‘The Menu Song’. We listened carefully to instructions and found the beat to the song and first showed this by clapping our hands in time. We then moved on to finding the beat with the percussion instruments, and we even pushed ourselves to try singing at the same time! It was tricky, but we are already looking forward to practising again next week and getting even better! ✨

Year 2 music – playing the tune to Tony Chestnut on the glockenspiel 🎼 🎶

28th September 2023Sarah Mcglone

Today we have taken our song ‘Tony Chestnut’ and looked at how to play a call and response melody on the glockenspiel. We made sure that we knew the sequence of the notes we needed to play and practised repeatedly. Miss McGlone started the piece by playing the ‘call’ part of the melody and we then played the ‘response’ part as a crew. We showed great resilience when practising to perform together and gave critique on what we did well and what we needed to do better next time. The end product sounded amazing and we can’t wait to get even better next week and add in singing whilst we are playing too! ✨

Young Voices 2024

26th September 2023Sarah Mcglone

Rehearsals are well underway for our performance at Young Voices 2024. We have kicked off our preparation by learning ‘Today’s Gonna Be a Great Day’. We’ve totally mastered it in just 2 rehearsals! Fab work guys! 🎤

Note B ♩

26th September 2023Sarah Mcglone

In Year 3/4, we continued our musical journey to learn the recorder and practised playing the note B in multiple ways to create a melody. We looked at how some notes only last for one beat (crotchet) and how others last for two beats (quavers). Using these different notes, we were able to play 2 short pieces of music and eventually performed these without Miss McGlone’s help! Even our learning coaches are learning something new and playing their own recorders alongside us! Great work everyone! ✨

Creating sound effects for The Pink Panther theme tune 🎶

26th September 2023Sarah Mcglone

We began by discussing the character and mood of the music – we agreed that it was mysterious and sneaky. We then thought about how the dynamics and timbre gave the piece a certain feel and said that the way the composer used short, quiet sounds and then long, loud sounds really matched the action of the cartoon.

We watched a video that showed us how sound effects can be made for cartoons and identified that not only can instruments be used, but body percussion could also be used to give an action more meaning.

Using untuned percussion instruments and body percussion, we watched a short clip of the opening sequence and began to think about the sounds that could be used to match the action on screen.

Creating our own pentatonic melodies using glockenspiels 🎼

26th September 2023Sarah Mcglone

In Year 3/4 this morning we have been using the notes F, G, A, D and C on our glockenspiels to create our own melody for ‘I’ve Been To Harlem’. We used the notes in lots of different ways and each pair created a completely different melody that we noted on our whiteboards so that we could remember the sequence. We then had some brave volunteers who performed to the rest of their crew! ✨

KS1 Music 🎶🎼🎵

8th September 2023Sarah Mcglone

In Year 1 this week, we began our musical journey by looking at our first unit of work – The Menu Song. We warmed our bodies up by using big gestures and actions to act out baking a cake! We then listened to the song we are going to be learning during this unit. It is a cumulative song which refers back to past lines throughout resulting in verses that get longer each time. This particular song also helps us to remember the days of the week, as well as practise our sequencing skills. We began to learn the lyrics and we will continue to build up our confidence as the weeks go on.

In Year 2, we started work on our first unit – Tony Chestnut. We began by using call-and-response style 4-beat action games. This really got us thinking and we had to concentrate to make sure we were listening to and then repeating back the correct pattern. Tony Chestnut is an action song and we looked at the words to add actions to. We practised the actions in the correct order whilst trying to keep in time to the beat. We then challenged ourselves by trying to add the vocals in whilst doing the actions! It was a little tricky but with further practise over the coming weeks we will soon be ready to showcase what we have achieved!