Experiences and Outcomes:
I can sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skill and using performance directions, and/or musical notation. EXA 2-16a

I can use my voice, musical instruments and music technology to experiment with sounds, pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre and dynamics. EXA 2-17a

Inspired by a range of stimuli and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 2-18a

Lesson Outcomes
After this lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music
• Create their own Latin inspired rhythmic ostinatos
• Learn rhythms from Bernstein’s ‘Mambo’ and structure them into a piece
• Perform as an ensemble
• Learn musical language appropriate to the task

Curriculum Checklist
Learners will:

• Play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments
• Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music
• Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

Activities

Warm up. Start with your class stood in a circle again. This time after passing a clap around ask the children to suggest other body percussion or vocal sounds to pass along.

Remind them about the work you did with Mambo and tell them that you are going to spend a few lessons creating your own version of Bernstein’s piece. The first and most important element in any mambo is the pulse.

Demonstrate a pulse. Staying in your circle but perhaps sitting down, clap a slow, steady pulse and encourage your class to join in. If children are clapping at a different pace to you or speeding up encourage them to watch you as well as listen and try to stick together

It will help in later lessons if this initial pulse is quite slow. Slow pulses are difficult to perform by a group and will speed up. To prevent this, ask your children to think of a short word between each clap (for example their first name). Filling up the gap between claps can help to steady it.

• Explain that, unusually, the second beat is louder and stronger than the first.
• Saying ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ as you clap will help to reinforce this idea.

Body percussion: With your class standing encourage them to tap and stamp this slow pulse, tapping on the weak beat and stamping on the strong. (This will feel weird – it’s the opposite way around to what we expect!)

Instruments: Ask the class to choose two sounds, one ‘weak’ and one ‘strong’ to play these beats (a shaker and a drum would be ideal).

Split into groups and ask each team to practice the ‘weak-strong’ pulse either on body percussion or on instruments (you can use any unpitched instruments for this, save xylophones, glocks etc for another session). Challenge them to practice starting and stopping together neatly perhaps by appointing a conductor

FINALLY end the session by hearing all the groups and, if time permits, putting together one big mambo pulse piece.

Additional resources and a more detailed lesson plan can be found here on the BBC Ten Pieces website;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/classical-music-leonard-bernstein-mambo-west-side-story/zd9cscw

Experiences and Outcomes:
I can sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skill and using performance directions, and/or musical notation. EXA 2-16a

I can use my voice, musical instruments and music technology to experiment with sounds, pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre and dynamics. EXA 2-17a

Inspired by a range of stimuli and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 2-18a

I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 2-19a

Lesson Outcomes
After this lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music
• Create their own Latin inspired rhythmic ostinatos
• Learn rhythms from Bernstein’s ‘Mambo’ and structure them into a piece
• Perform as an ensemble
• Learn musical language appropriate to the task

Curriculum Checklist
Learners will:

• Play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments
• Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music
• Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

Activities

Bernstein’s music is littered with Latin rhythms. The fun lesson below outlines how to make your own Latin dance music

Warm-up. Clear the classroom and ask your children to stand in a circle. To wake them up, pass a quick clap around the circle.

Pulse. Using a drum or a woodblock, play a steady pulse and encourage your class to clap or tap along. When they are good at this you might like to choose a child to play the drum and lead everyone else. Pay particular attention to starting and stopping together.

Now encourage your class to count to eight as they clap. We are heading towards making patterns that will fit one bar of 4/4 and so are counting the 8 quavers.

Demonstrate. To make an interesting pattern we have to choose some of the beats to be highlighted or made ‘special’. Ask your class to choose one of the beats (one number from 1 to 8). Challenge your children to tap out the pulse and count in their head. When they reach their ‘special’ number they must say it out loud.

Now ask your class which instrument should play on their chosen ‘special’ beat. Give out that instrument and practise with everyone clapping the 8 and the players just playing on the ‘special’ beat.

When this is achieved, go through the process a couple of times more choosing other numbers to emphasise and add these (with new instruments playing them) into your pattern. Limit your class to a maximum of four ‘special’ beats. Perhaps appoint one child to play the pulse throughout to help keep everyone in time.

Split into small groups and challenge each group to go through the steps above to create their own Latin rhythm. When they are getting good at playing their pattern challenge them further to replace one beat with a flourish, shake, or glissando (slide between notes) or even two quicker notes. Such modifications must still only take up one beat of time! This will make your pattern even more ‘Latin’, but don’t overdo it!

Bring your class back together and hear what they have done. End the session by either layering up all the pieces to create one big Latin dance or by dancing to the patterns (this is easily done by inventing one move for each ‘special’ sound)!

Additional resources and a more detailed lesson plan can be found here on the BBC Ten Pieces website;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/classical-music-leonard-bernstein-mambo-west-side-story/zd9cscw

Experiences and Outcomes:
Inspired by a range of stimuli and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 2-18a

I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 2-19a

Lesson Outcomes
After this lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music
• Create their own Latin inspired rhythmic ostinatos
• Learn rhythms from Bernstein’s ‘Mambo’ and structure them into a piece
• Perform as an ensemble
• Learn musical language appropriate to the task

Curriculum Checklist
Learners will:

• Play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments
• Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music
• Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

Activities

Prepare your class
Explain to your class that you are going to begin a 6-week music project focusing on a fantastic piece of music by a composer called Leonard Bernstein. Explain further that the music is from a musical which tells a well-known story.

Listen to Mambo (or watch the orchestra performance film) and afterwards have a discussion about what you have seen. You might like to ask the following questions –

• Did you like the film?
• What was your favourite part?
• What might the music be describing?

Explain that the music is called ‘Mambo’ and is from a musical version of Romeo and Juliet. Check that your class know Shakespeare’s story and explain further that this version takes place in New York in the 1950s with Romeo and Juliet now called Tony and Maria. The Montagues and Capulets are now the Jets and the Sharks, rival gangs. (You could watch the film with Pixie Lott at this point to reinforce these ideas).

Listening task

Give out sheets of paper to everyone and as they listen again, ask them to draw the section of the story it might be describing. Give them three options to choose from. Does it describe:

• Tony and Maria falling in love?
• The Jets and the Sharks fighting?
• Everyone dancing at a party?

There is no ‘correct’ answer for this, it actually describes all three things. In the original show and film, the Mambo happens during a dance. Everyone is dancing but the two gangs are pitted against one another. At the end Tony and Maria meet for the first time.

Play a recording of Mambo in full. Its better if there are no images to look at now, we just want them to listen and draw. Perhaps play the recording two or three times to give them time to finish their pictures.

Discuss their artwork and show some to the class. Tell them that all of their efforts are correct because it is what they imagined whilst they listened. Then explain what happens in the show and film at this point.

FINALLY, if you have time left in your lesson and space in your classroom, encourage your class to have a go at dancing to the Mambo too. By now, they should at least be able to shout ‘Mambo’ at the right time!

Additional resources and a more detailed lesson plan can be found here on the BBC Ten Pieces website;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/classical-music-leonard-bernstein-mambo-west-side-story/zd9cscw

Experiences and Outcomes:
I can sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skill and using performance directions and/or musical notation. EXA 2-16a

I can use my voice, musical instruments and music technology to experiment with sounds, pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre and dynamics. EXA 2-17a

Inspired by a range of stimuli and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 2-18a

I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 2-19a

Lesson Outcomes
After this lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music
• Invent their own musical motifs and structure them into a piece
• Perform as an ensemble
• Learn musical language appropriate to the task

Curriculum Checklist
Learners will:

• Play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments
• Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music
• Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

Activities

Warm up. Begin the lesson with a quick focusing warm-up like pass the clap and then make a list on the board of all the elements you have made so far. It should look something like this:

• Everyone: Anna Meredith’s motifs on body percussion
• Groups: Short ‘name-motif’ pieces on body percussion
• Everyone: Anna Meredith’s motifs orchestrated
• Groups: Short ‘name-motif’ pieces orchestrated

Get the instruments out and put all of these elements back together. Remember the shape of the Anna Meredith sections (canon? wave? etc.)

Ask your children to come up with an order for these sections and fashion them into one big piece. If they want to discard anything at this point, that’s ok. They may choose to make a piece that is just body percussion (like Anna’s) and scrap the instruments for example.

Remind your class of some of the techniques Anna uses:

• Canon
• Mexican wave
• Moving across the space
• Everyone ending together

Try out several versions until you have found the best one and practice it until it is the same every time and everyone knows exactly what they are doing. 

Finally, invite another class in to watch you perform your new composition

Additional resources and a more detailed lesson plan can be found here on the BBC Ten Pieces website;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/KS2-anna-meredith-connect-it/zhyyb82

 

Experiences and Outcomes:
I can sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skill and using performance directions and/or musical notation. EXA 2-16a

I can use my voice, musical instruments and music technology to experiment with sounds, pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre and dynamics. EXA 2-17a

Inspired by a range of stimuli and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 2-18a

I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 2-19a

Lesson Outcomes
After this lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music
• Invent their own musical motifs and structure them into a piece
• Perform as an ensemble
• Learn musical language appropriate to the task

Curriculum Checklist
Learners will:

• Play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments
• Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music
• Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

Activities

Warm up. Begin once again in a circle and place a varied selection of percussion instruments into the middle of your circle. Remind your class of the following pattern from lesson 1:

• Ask your class to keep this going and move their hands up to one ear and really listen to the sound.
• Select a volunteer to come forward and choose an instrument from the selection that can make a similar sound. Try out several until everyone has agreed on the best choice
• Explain that this is called ‘orchestration’ – the process of choosing which instrument plays which part of a piece. It is rather similar to colouring in a black and white picture.
• Repeat this process

You will need more than one instrument to make all of these sounds. Again, keep trying out ideas until your class are satisfied that they have the perfect combination

Continue working in this way until you have orchestrated all four patterns from lesson 1. Double up ideas so that everyone will has an instrument and a part to play

Practise performing these patterns as follows:

• Repeat each pattern four times
• Move from pattern to pattern without a gap in between
• As a four part canon
• As a Mexican wave.

                        … just as you did in lesson 1 on body percussion.

Ask your class to decide on their favourite version (they might even like to invent a new structure) and write it down carefully. Also write down who played what.

Finish this lesson by playing through your orchestrated piece one more time.

Additional resources and a more detailed lesson plan can be found here on the BBC Ten Pieces website;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/KS2-anna-meredith-connect-it/zhyyb82

 

Experiences and Outcomes:
I can sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skill and using performance directions and/or musical notation. EXA 2-16a

I can use my voice, musical instruments and music technology to experiment with sounds, pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre and dynamics. EXA 2-17a

Inspired by a range of stimuli and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 2-18a

I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 2-19a

Lesson Outcomes
After this lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music
• Invent their own musical motifs and structure them into a piece
• Perform as an ensemble
• Learn musical language appropriate to the task

Curriculum Checklist
Learners will:

• Play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments
• Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music
• Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

Activities

Warm up. Begin once again in a circle and place a varied selection of percussion instruments into the middle of your circle. Remind your class of the following pattern from lesson 1:

• Ask your class to keep this going and move their hands up to one ear and really listen to the sound.
• Select a volunteer to come forward and choose an instrument from the selection that can make a similar sound. Try out several until everyone has agreed on the best choice
• Explain that this is called ‘orchestration’ – the process of choosing which instrument plays which part of a piece. It is rather similar to colouring in a black and white picture.
• Repeat this process

You will need more than one instrument to make all of these sounds. Again, keep trying out ideas until your class are satisfied that they have the perfect combination.

Continue working in this way until you have orchestrated all four patterns from lesson 1. Double up ideas so that everyone will has an instrument and a part to play.

Practise performing these patterns as follows –

• Repeat each pattern four times
• Move from pattern to pattern without a gap in between
• As a four part canon
• As a Mexican wave.

                        …just as you did in lesson 1 on body percussion.

Ask your class to decide on their favourite version (they might even like to invent a new structure) and write it down carefully. Also write down who played what. 

Finish this lesson by playing through your orchestrated piece one more time.

Additional resources and a more detailed lesson plan can be found here on the BBC Ten Pieces website;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/KS2-anna-meredith-connect-it/zhyyb82

 

Experiences and Outcomes:
I can sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skill and using performance directions and/or musical notation. EXA 2-16a

I can use my voice, musical instruments and music technology to experiment with sounds, pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre and dynamics. EXA 2-17a

Inspired by a range of stimuli and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 2-18a

I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 2-19a

Lesson Outcomes
After this lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music
• Invent their own musical motifs and structure them into a piece
• Perform as an ensemble
• Learn musical language appropriate to the task

Curriculum Checklist
Learners will:

• Play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments
• Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music
• Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

Activities

Warm up. To get some energy into the room, challenge your groups to remember their ‘name-motifs’ from last week and perform them whilst travelling across the room so you create a mad, swirling carnival of ideas.

Ask your children if they can remember what a ‘canon’ is. If they can’t, demonstrate by either singing a canon or round they all know (Frere Jacques or London’s Burning perhaps), or using one of their motifs.

I.e. teach one of their longer motifs to the whole circle, start one side of the circle and ask them to loop it, start the other side halfway through.

Ask your class to suggest ways they could use their motifs to make a bigger piece and make a quick list of suggestions on the board. They might say things such as:

• Make a canon
• Make a Mexican wave (this is just a canon with the parts entering very quickly after each other)
• Fragment the motif (break it up into separate sounds again)
• Repetition
• Overlap two motifs
• Perform ideas backwards
• Build up from one sound, adding a new sound each repeat until you have the full idea
• Add rhythm

Split back into your groups and ask each group to make a short piece using their motif, other motifs and perhaps borrowing from the Meredith motifs they learnt in lesson 1. They must use at least one of the ideas on the list above.

Bring the class back together and hear each group one by one. Give gentle feedback.

Finish the lesson by encouraging each team to write down what they have done.

Additional resources and a more detailed lesson plan can be found here on the BBC Ten Pieces website;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/KS2-anna-meredith-connect-it/zhyyb82

 

Experiences and Outcomes:
I can sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skill and using performance directions and/or musical notation. EXA 2-16a

I can use my voice, musical instruments and music technology to experiment with sounds, pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre and dynamics. EXA 2-17a

Inspired by a range of stimuli and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 2-18a

I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 2-19a

Lesson Outcomes
After this lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music
• Invent their own musical motifs and structure them into a piece
• Perform as an ensemble
• Learn musical language appropriate to the task

Curriculum Checklist
Learners will:

• Play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments
• Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music
• Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

Activities

Warm-up. Begin with your class sitting in a large circle. Pass a clap around the circle and then ask the children what next? Encourage them to suggest other body percussion or vocal sounds to pass around or perform altogether. Take any and all suggestions made, if they don’t work you’ll find out by trying them!

Remind the class of the patterns from Anna Meredith’s piece that you explored last week. If you have time, perform it again.

Now, lead a simple name game; ask everyone to say their name with a gesture in turn around the circle. Encourage your children to say their names loudly and proudly!

Next, ask everyone to say just a part of their name with a gesture and go around the circle hearing these. Demonstrate first how to choose one part of the name (one syllable) and how that sound can be stretched out. For example, MELISSA might become ‘sssssss-A’
This is an excellent opportunity to teach or remind your children about syllables!

Lastly, ask your pupils to add a body percussion sound to their syllable and gesture. So they might end up with something like –
‘ssssssssssssssssssssss – A’
move hand like a snake – clap

Go around the circle a few times hearing these until everyone has something and can perform it confidently.

Split the class into small groups. Ask each group to join their ideas together to make a new pattern. The pattern must include –

• At least 1 syllable
• At least 1 gesture
• At least 1 body percussion sound
  …but the more of each of these elements, the better

Bring the class back together and hear each group one by one. Give feedback and tweak the pieces making sure that everyone knows exactly what they are doing. Explain that they have made new musical ‘motifs’ (a motif is just a small musical idea).

Finally, give out big paper and pens and ask each group to write down their motif. This could be as a list of events, a diagram or they could invent a symbol to describe it. However they do it, they must be able to remember it for next lesson.

Additional resources and a more detailed lesson plan can be found here on the BBC Ten Pieces website;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/KS2-anna-meredith-connect-it/zhyyb82

Experiences and Outcomes:
I can sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skill and using performance directions and/or musical notation. EXA 2-16a

I can use my voice, musical instruments and music technology to experiment with sounds, pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre and dynamics. EXA 2-17a

Inspired by a range of stimuli and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 2-18a

I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 2-19a

Lesson Outcomes
After this lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music
• Invent their own musical motifs and structure them into a piece
• Perform as an ensemble
• Learn musical language appropriate to the task

Curriculum Checklist
Learners will:

• Play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments
• Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music
• Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

Activities

Prepare your class
Explain to your class that you are going to begin a 6-week music project focusing on a fantastic piece of music by a composer called Anna Meredith and watch the introductory film with Anna and Dev.

Teach the patterns borrowed from Anna’s piece and practise performing each one four times.

Challenge your children to perform each pattern four times back-to-back before moving onto the next one. You might like to choose someone to play a steady pulse as you do this, or just stand and count the patterns out loud.

Split the class into four teams, and try this as a canon or round. (A canon is the same as a round, the term describes a piece where the same material is performed by different teams but with staggered starts.)
Start the first group on their own. When they move on to pattern 2 start the second group, when they move on start the third group etc. The groups will stop at different times.

Once this is achieved, re-do but this time, ask the groups to continue looping pattern 4 until everyone is doing it at the same time. You’ll need to put in place a good signal for stop to ensure everyone stops at the same time after this looping!

Finally, when everyone is really confident with these patterns, arrange the class in a large circle and perform them as a ‘Mexican’ wave. One person starts pattern 1 when they move to pattern 2, the person on their right begins pattern 1 etc. Before you perform this, ask your children to decide what happens at the end. Do they continue looping pattern 4 until everyone is together again, or stop one by one? They might choose to end like Anna’s real piece, with a loud “Yeah!” from everyone.

Decide on your favourite version (canon, wave, altogether) and write it down.

Additional resources and a more detailed lesson plan can be found here on the BBC Ten Pieces website;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces/KS2-anna-meredith-connect-it/zhyyb82

 

Experiences and Outcomes:
I can sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skill and using performance directions and/or musical notation. EXA 2-16a

I can use my voice, musical instruments and music technology to experiment with sounds, pitch, melody, rhythm, timbre and dynamics. EXA 2-17a

Inspired by a range of stimuli and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities. EXA 2-18a

I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 2-19a

I have experienced the energy and excitement of presenting/performing for audiences and being part of an audience for other people’s presentations/performances. EXA 2-01a

 Skills:                                                                                                  

• Use digital technology to record sound (video and/or sound).
• Explore rhythm by copying, creating and layering patterns of sound.
• Use instruments to produce higher/lower pitches and control changes in tempo and dynamics with increased accuracy.
• Use music technology to create compositions experimenting with an increasing range of pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo and timbre.
• Work individually and/or with a group to create soundscapes, sound effects and sound tracks which incorporate an increased range of musical elements to reflect the mood/atmosphere of a given stimulus.
• Use music technology to create simple compositions experimenting with contrasts in pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo and timbre.
• Listen to and watch musicians perform a range of musical genres e.g. Classical, Musical Theatre, Pop/rock, Jazz, Scottish, World music.
• When creating music, explain choice of instruments/voices, sound/silence, dynamics, tempo, pitch, legato/staccato, structure and texture.
• Use instruments to lead others in keeping the pulse.
• Demonstrate a secure sense of pulse and rhythm when singing or playing percussion instruments.

DOWNLOAD LESSON PLANS (Sequence of 3 Lessons)