Today we had a music workshop with Sharon. The workshop started with Sharon showing us how to introduce music to children through using your body and vocals for making sound. The advantage of this is that there is less mess and disruption than if you were to get musical instruments out in the classroom. This way every child is equal with their resources and are more engaged with the teacher than their ‘instrument’.
We sat in a circle, cross legged, and Sharon got one person to keep a 4 beat rhythm. Everyone else copied. Sharon then pointed at people individually and ask them to create a new rhythm to follow. We carried this on for a few different people to take charge in.
Sharon then added cups to our lesson. This was a step up from just using our bodies and would be a bit more exciting for children – keeping them engaged. We then did the same activity but using cups as part of our rhythms this time.
Sharon then discussed with us the use of story books in music. By adding sound effects to a story it enhances the words and how the children imagine the story in their head. She gave examples of movements described in books such as tip toeing and how that would be represented on a piano – the higher pitched end, compared to a stomping movement which would be on the lower pitch of the piano.
We then split into groups and were given a task. Aine, Taylor and I’s task was to create our own recording of a narrated story paired with sound effects. Sharon gave my group the story ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ which I thought was a great book for the task as in the book where are a lot of sound effects described. We scanned through the book and then picked instruments we thought would suit the different movements and words in the book. We then practiced narrating the book and adding the sounds to the correct parts and then recorded the whole thing. Here is the results:
I really enjoyed this workshop and it really made me think how language can be linked to music. It had inspired me to try this in my class in the future.
When doing this lesson with a class it is best to pick story’s that the children already know so it is more motivating and meaningful for the children. Also try and pick a story that something exciting happens in it.
