Music Class 2023 - 2024
Mrs Carruthers
Music Teacher
We've had some musical fun at Redcastle in our first half term of the school year.
I'm enjoying getting to know the Nursery and Reception children and singing lots of new songs and old favourites. We like to sing songs that we can clap and move to, so we can learn about keeping the BEAT or the PULSE in music.
Year 1 have been "feeling the beat" and playing some musical games to help them learn to mark the beat with big movements and to change what they do as the tempo changes. From clapping, to rocking, to actions like walking, jogging and skipping!
In Year 2 we have been musical explorers, listening to the Sea Interludes of the composer Benjamin Britten. We listened to the first one, "Dawn" and listened out for the instruments that represented "birds" "Seaspray and rippling waves" and "big rolling waves". We also used "pitch pencils" to help make children aware of the range of their voices and the sounds our mouths and voices can make - from very high, to very low.
https://play.lso.co.uk/performances/Brittens-Four-Sea-Interludes
In Year 3 we have been looking at patterns in music. We call a repeating musical pattern, an Ostinato. There are rhythmic and melodic ostinatos. There's a rhythm ostinato in Queen's We Will Rock You. If you do a "stamp stamp clap" everyone knows what song it is because of that ostinato. It just so happens that there are Stone Age song lyrics to that song, so we had fun with that too, creating the ostinato using different combinations of percussion instruments. The children made up some groovy Stone Age dance moves too!
In Year 4 we have been learning about music in Roman times - how important music was - so important that they even had musicians playing during battles - and what kinds of instruments they had. We even handled a replica Roman harp. Year 4 have also been learning some songs to get ready for a VERY special musical event in January.
In Year 5 we've been learning about music in Victorian times, looking at classical music as well as Victorian Music Hall. We have also been learning about music theory and doing rhythm work with crotchets, quavers and rests in preparation for learning to play glockenspiels next half term.
Year 6 have been learning about music during the war years as well as learning some of those songs. We looked at Big Band jazz and talked about the music migration from the USA to the UK. Year 6 have also been doing rhythm work, in readiness for learning to play Steel Pans.
