In Year One, we always have lots of fun learning about the different musical elements during our weekly lessons.

Pitch

We had an exciting time learning about pitch. We sang lots of funny songs and played lots of games. Then we all composed our own music using musical hand signs and notation, Our teachers thought we were even better than Mozart!

Rhythm

We have had lots of fun learning about rhythm.

We know that... 'Pulse is the beat you feel it in your feet,'

Whereas... 'Every bit of every word is the rhythm!'

We have learnt lots of rhymes and songs and have played their rhythms using our hands, feet, voices and the musical instruments. 

We had lot of fun playing clapping games with different partners. Then we learnt out how to write the rhythms using special musical rhythm notation. We then wrote our own notation. Our teachers were very proud of us.

We also listened to the start of the music called Mars composed by Gustav Holst and listened to the repeated rhythm (ostinato) he used throughout the piece of music. We talked about how it made us feel and what pictures it created in our minds. We then copied the ostinato and played crescendos and dimenuendos to create tension. 

Structure

Our children have learnt about the 'musical shape' of different songs and chants. They have enjoyed listening to and learning the songs and chants, and then they have worked out their structure using 'ABC.' They performed the rhythmic structure of the songs and chants following the 'structure score.' Finally. they  chose songs with a simple structure and rearranged their structure to compose their own music. Our children really are music superstars!

Composing and Performing Music

We read the story called 'Giraffes' Can't Dance.' Our children then decided they wanted to find out more about all the different dances in the story. We watched recordings of all the dances. Then all the children danced their own versions of a waltz, cha-cha, rock and roll, tango and Scottish dancing. After that, we listened to some beautiful violin music and danced like Gerald the giraffe. 

Next, our children decided that they would like to compose a piece of music for each dance. First of all we listened to the sounds of each instrument and discussed their timbre. Then in groups, the children selected instruments to play for each dance. We listened to each group play their dance music. Finally we had lots of fun in our classroom playing the music on our instruments and dancing along to the music. Thomas said 'I've had the best fun ever!'