The last session of music was spent looking at figure notes. Figure notes are essentially another form of notation. These are constructed of shapes and colours rather than notes, which can be beneficial to a lot of children who struggle with “normal” notation. This can include children on the Autistic Spectrum. These shapes and colours have a corresponding shape or colour on the instrument they are playing, e.g. a ‘C’ note may be a red circle on a keyboard. Therefore, every time this child sees a red circle, they will be able to play a ‘C’ note.

As I play a few different instruments, I am able to read sheet music to an extent. I prefer tablature for my guitar, as I can understand that better and process it faster. However, for pupils who have no prior experience, this would help drastically. It would avoid some confusion and enable them to learn songs faster.

During the workshop, we were given a choice of instruments to practise the figure notes on. I started off on a keyboard, which I shared with a couple of my peers. As we all had a turn at playing, I realised that it was easier to read the sheet music and was able to play a simple tune.

As I was already quite familiar with the guitar, I chose this next to come to grips with the new concept. While my peers were using the keyboard, I was able to accompany them while they were playing the piece of music.

I think this would be an ideal opportunity to integrate music into the classroom, as it can allow children to gain confidence on instruments before moving on to “normal” sheet music. I also think that it can benefit teachers who have little/ no knowledge of performing or reading sheet music.

As an introduction to using new instruments, we were paired up and given a ukulele. The ukulele is able to be played by plucking it (Pizzicato) or strumming. This was a new instrument to me, although from playing the guitar I was a little familiar of the way in which to play. At first, I struggled to grasp the playing of the instrument, as I was used to six stringed instruments, whereas the ukulele only has four. In the workshop, we were taught as if we were pupils, to give us an idea of how to introduce new instruments and concepts to a class.

We first learned the string names; G,C,E,A. once we were familiar with these, we then plucked the strings to see if our ukuleles were in tune. To check this, the lecturer taught us a short tune. “My Dog Has Flees” allowed us to listen and ensure all instruments were tuned. Julie sang the song and we plucked along in time. This would be a good way for children to check their own instruments, as it would waste time if the teacher had to check each individual instrument.

Once familiar with the string names, we were then introduced to chords. Again, I had a prior knowledge of playing chords on the guitar, therefore I was able to adapt this knowledge and construct new chords on the ukulele.

Once we had been told how to construct one of the chords, we then moved on to learn all four. We learned 4 basic chords which were then used to play along to a backing track of a Christmas song.

As this was near Christmastime, it seems logical to use Christmas music. As a teacher, I would make sure that the songs were suitable for the season. This can engage children more, as they will be able to recognise songs and be able to play along at home if they have the instruments to do so. After a brief discussion about strumming patterns, we all successfully played along to Christmas music as a class.

By teaching children four simple chords, they can then play a majority of different songs without any other prior knowledge needed. After viewing a video by Axis of Awesome, it was clear that a lot of songs have only four simple chords. This can instil confidence in children, as they can transfer their chord skills onto a vast majority of genres of music to suit their preference.

After the lecture, I then proceeded to order my own ukulele, as I found the input very insightful and I feel that my confidence grew more as I was able to play a new instrument well in a short amount of time. I now know several different chords and techniques, and can perform several songs.

Through the morning lecture, we discussed the importance of music, and how it can have a positive impact on children. Hallam (2010) states that “extensive active engagement with music can induce cortical reorganisation”. Within the arts, children are able to get a better grasp of teamwork which is a vital skill as they grow up as this can improve social skills.

For the music aspect of the day, we were visited by Greenmill Primary School, who introduced us to their String Project. The pupils had been invited to play their instruments for us and then later teach us how to play. During the discussion with pupils at the start, they expressed their feelings towards the arts and how it impacted them in their everyday lives.

Through the String Project, pupils are given an opportunity to learn to play string instruments. As they usually start this at a very young age, this allows them to develop their skills effectively. This can encourage independence and enable them to enhance their listening skills.

Pupils were able to describe their instrument, name the parts and then explain how to hold them. This included correcting posture, listening intently and explaining clearly. These are crucial skills that can be used throughout life. Hallam (2010) also states that transferring these skills to everyday life is “automatic and contributes not only to language development but also literacy”. Once the basics were covered, we then moved onto the string names and notes. By the end of the lesson, we were all able to play a rendition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. This showed that the pupils from Greenmill Primary were successful in communicating instructions.

This week we were introduced to the website “Charanga”. This was explained to be a guide for teachers to use in the classroom, and a way to teach music if you are not very confident doing so. In this site, you get the opportunity to plan lessons depending on your confidence. For example, if you have no experience, they can give you a complete plan that is laid out in simple terms. However, if you already have a rough idea of what you are doing, they can help by giving pointers and activities. We spent the first part of the lesson getting to grips with Charanga, and then we tested out some of the lesson plans.

As a student teacher, I would find this very beneficial to my lesson planning. The lessons planned in Charanga include a wide variety of activities for all year groups, so it would be easy to rearrange it a small amount to fit in with the lessons that I have already planned. I fell like the pupils would maybe engage more with this online website too, as it gives simple visual aids and is easy to navigate.

This week, Julie introduced us to a resource called “Garage Band.” This resource can be used to create virtual sounds on a computer without the fuss of an instrument, which is ideal for the classroom. Our task for this week was to create a piece of music using the tools provided within Garage Band, with a bass line, main melody and rhythm. We were able to access a lot of materials such as a drum backing track, guitar solos and pre-recorded rhythms. We were shown an animation with background sounds that were taken from the selection available, which portrayed a group of animals dancing to the rhythm. Using this as a template, we were then able to create our own backing track to accompany an animation of our choice.

We later created our own music score with the aid of the available templates. This would allow children to learn how to compose music, and get a better grasp on the different layers that go into a musical piece. It can also improve their ICT skills, meaning they become more confident with a computer.

I thoroughly enjoyed this session of music. To start with, we were given a pair of drumsticks/ beaters and asked to follow a rhythm. The teacher explained that we were going to be following an unorthodox music notation, and then said that instead of notes such as quavers, minim’s and crotchets, we were going to be using squares, circles and triangles. This meant that the children that were unfamiliar with musical notation were not confused, and everyone was on the same level. It also ensured that the pattern was easily followed with the rhythm. This was a good idea to teach children, as it teaches them concepts of rhythm and notation without confusing them too much. It can also help the teacher get a grasp of the rhythm without having to learn notation if they are not as confident in music as they would like to be.

Afterwards, we them looked at improvisation on instruments. We were split into pairs and told to choose an instrument (either glockenspiel or xylophone), and instructed to take out the F and B keys, to make the instruments sound better. This showed us the pentatonic scale, as well as improving the sound of our improvisation. We were then given an accompaniment by the teacher, who played “Hit The Road Jack”.

We took it in turns to play 3 bars of improvisation. I really enjoyed this input, as it was very hands on and I hadn’t played this instrument since 5^th year at Secondary school.

To introduce us to the module, we were instructed to listen to 5 different pieces of music and were asked to describe how we felt while listening to them.  This was to show how music can affect our mood and can have an impact on changing our attitudes towards certain things. After this input, we then watched a clip from Bill Baileys show, which showed him explaining the different layers of an orchestra. He explained how the different layers all work together to create a musical piece. He showed this by inviting the bassoon player to demonstrate their role.

Lastly, we listened to an excerpt from Fantasia and interpreted its meanings in groups. We listened to it all the way through then mind mapped ideas from the whole group. Once we decided on a story, we folded a piece of A3 paper into 6 equal pieces, and this was the base for our story boards. The music began quite calmly, then proceeded to get faster and faster until it came to a climax.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPLh0oeNLLg

With our integrated ideas, we managed to create a rough story which we thought agreed with the music.  We created a story about a boy and a girl in the woods, and the climax was a bear attacking them. When the class had finished with their stories, the teacher then put the song on one last time, but with visual aid. This showed us that the music was from Disney’s “Fantasia”, and the song was linked to the story of the tin man and the ballerina. This showed us how children can interpret music in all different ways, and no answer can be wrong when talking about the interpretation of the music.