Category Archives: Music

Music by Claude Debussy

Music
Today, Bluebirds listened to Prelude a L’apres Midi d’un faune by Claude Debussy, a French composer.
The class were experts in recognising the genre being classical and used the timeline to establish was era the music was set in.   They could translate midi and Mrs Parry explained apres meant after in French.  It was quite amusing to see this linked to our current Maths topic of Time!  We listened carefully to hear the flute solo and the the harp.  The children identified the instruments being played in the song We Are Family and could name the instrument families. Most children knew the genre was disco this time!
Afterwards, we revised some of the Y3 areas learnt in our Music sessions about bars and notes.  We recapped that dynamics was about the music getting quieter and louder and could all tap the pulse/keep the beat to Clash and Bang.

Listening and Appraising

Music
This morning, Bluebirds listened to L’hom Arne by Robert Morton.  This instrumental piece was French and from the 1400s.   We used the timeline to see this was in the genre of Early Music and was in the Tudor times.
Taylor – I heard the drum keeping the beat.
Massera – The instruments are from the brass family.
Thomas S – I can hear a trombone.
Emma – I heard a trumpet
Edey – I can hear a violin
Evie – The music sounds like bagpipes.  This reminds me of when we listened to the Colonel Bogey March we heard earlier in Year 3.
We also listened to Clash and Bang by Talvin Singh who was inspired as a youngster when he visited a Sikh Temple.  He then experimented with saucepans in the kitchen before moving on to drums.  Finally, we all found the pulse of a piece of music together.

Evaluating Performance

Music

Bluebirds have really enjoyed listening and appraising a selection of disco songs every Friday morning. Today they made a final performance which was recorded in sections, enabling them to evaluate themselves and their partner. They considered what went really well and how they could perform better next time.

 

Bringing Us Together

Music
This morning, Bluebirds listened and appraised their new song for this half term.  Emma recognised it was disco/pop and Evie explained it was all about music connecting people together. Thomas L and Brooke began to tap along the pulse and before long, the whole class joined in!  The children recognised there was percussion, keyboard and electric guitar.   They also acknowledged the vocals ….. everyone’s free and portable instrument!
The class discussed the recent TV programme, Britain’s Got Talent, with a dance/ singing group from Uganda, a choir boy who sang Pie Jesu and a huge choir, who were also sat throughout the theatre, all singing a song about happiness.   Bluebirds made links to this and the song they heard today about friendship, hope and peace.   Some children acknowledged they can feel emotional or moved by the power of music and song.

Composing and Performing 

Music
Bluebirds have finished off their unit of music about The Dragon Song this week.  Recently, they have composed notes to this tune and then learnt how to play the correct notes whilst singing the chorus. It was a very big challenge! After the performance, children evaluated what went well and what they needed to improve on in the Summer term.   This was a very loud lesson!

The Dragon Song

Music
Today, Bluebirds listened to their new song for this half term, called The Dragon Song.  The children closed their eyes to concentrate on the lyrics, listen out for which instruments they could hear and use this imagination!
They discovered it was a song with a message about friendship. They compared this to other songs and genres such as reggae and rock.

Performing “Three Little Birds”

Music
This afternoon, Bluebirds played and sang the song the have been learning and rehearsing.  They found singing and playing at the same time very challenging so Mrs Parry split them into two groups and half sang whilst the other half played the glokenspiels.  The the children swapped parts.  To finish with, the children all sang the song and then played the chorus at the same time.  Great perseverance Bluebirds – it was very tricky!
The children evaluated their performances and critiqued themselves honestly.   Pausing and timing seemed to to be the most challenging.   Well done to Olivia, Ella and Emma for mastering both singing and playing really well!

Marvellous Music!

Music
On Thursday afternoon, the Bluebirds in year three had music.
We listened to a piece of music, we decided what we liked about it, we thought about what instruments we could hear and compared it to other pieces of music we had listened to.
Then we had a go composing our own piece of music on the glockenspiels. Afterwards we followed a piece of music to go with a background accompaniment.

Improvising

Music
After listening and appraising more reggae music, Bluebirds learnt about the difference between improvising and composing.  All the class had a go at improving with the song we are currently learning.  It was a very noisy session!