Prior Learning:
The children may have already listened to songs where they’ve been asked to recognise male/female voices – and also have been asked to describe how the songs made them feel. This lesson follows on from that, introducing more male/female and group vocal examples.
Experiences and Outcomes
I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. EXA 2-19a
Skills from CREATE Music Tracker
- Listen and respond to musical pieces of increasing length and listen appropriately to the views of others.
- Listen to a range of live and/or recorded music and respond by expressing personal views.
- Listen to and watch musicians perform a range of musical genres.
- Recognise different ensembles and name the instruments within them.
- Listen to and identify the different sections of the orchestra (strings, woodwind, brass, percussion) and gain a deeper understanding of how the timbre of different instruments can convey different moods/atmospheres.
Activities
Remind the children of what they have previously learned about male and female voices.
How do you know it’s male? (the pitch/tone of the voice is lower/deeper)
How do you know it’s female? (the pitch/tone of the voice is higher/sweeter)
How do you know it’s a solo? (there’s only one person singing)
How do you know it’s a group? (more than one voice singing together)
Play each excerpt in turn, pausing for discussion after each piece, asking the questions:
Can you recognise if it’s a male/female voice? (If there’s only one voice it’s a solo) Or is it a group of voices? How does the song make you feel? Are there any instruments you recognise in the background? Is it loud/quiet? Fast/slow? Are there lots of instruments or a few? What kind of style is it? (pop, from a musical, classical, country, opera etc) The children may or may not know about styles, but it’s good to expose them to different types of music.
NB Do play each one more than once – you could play a couple of times, then discuss, then play again to listen out for the things you’ve drawn their attention to.
- Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmations – sung by Dr John) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWpThwwq33k
Instruments: Piano, drumkit, solo clarinet, saxophones
Piano intro, boogie woogie style. Male voice, then drumkit joins in. Clarinet joins in a bit later adding at the end of each line. Next chorus, saxophones join in underneath.
Jazzy, Blues, male solo voice, from a musical Disney film
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Eva Cassidy) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_eu5Jt0DYc
Instruments: Only guitar
Guitar intro, solo female voice
- O Fortuna (from Carmina Burana by Orff) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXFSK0ogeg4
Instruments: Orchestra, big cymbal crashes
Starts loudly, full chorus. Still full chorus but drops down v quietly
Conclude
Point out that these pieces of music are all different styles – Disney (musical), Folk, and Classical (choral) – encourage them to think about that when they hear different types of music at home.
