This term in music, P4 have been learning about how music can tell a story and the important role it plays in enhancing a story by driving the plot, revealing characters or expressing a theme. We listened and appraised four different songs from four different Disney animations and we concluded that music was an essential element in each film. Without music, there would be no story!

In the clip below, you can see the class reading and performing the rhythms of crotchets (ta), quavers (ti-ti), crotchet rests (shh) and whole rests (shh-shh-shh-shh). They not only had to understand and play the rhythms, they also had to read and perform drum notation.

Here is a link to the play along that we used:

And here is our class performance:

This morning P4 took part in the Youth Music Festival 2024 for primary schools across Shetland. They did a fantastic job of singing their medley of songs and it was noted by the adjudicator, just how well they performed without a conductor and only the piano to follow!

They all did so well and I am incredibly proud of each and every one of them!

Thank you to Siobhan Pirie for the photo above and to Jen Williamson for the video recording below.

This week in music we have been learning about note values as shown in the graphic below.

We practised clapping each note and vocalising the length using the words ‘ta-a-a-a’ for a 4 beat note (whole note), ‘ta-a’ for a 2 beat note (half note), ‘ta’ for a 1 beat note (quarter note) and ‘te-te’ for a half beat note (eighth note). We also discussed the importance of rests in music and how to read them.

We then used our knowledge to help us follow musical notation in the form of a rhythm play along which was created for lunar new year which begins on the 10th of February this year.

Here is a clip of the class in action!

Tuesday 30^th January 2024 was a special day at Sound Primary School as we were visited by both the Junior and Senior Jarl Squads of 2024.

The Junior Jarl Squad, led by Guizer Jarl Skeppare Nokkvesson (aka Oran McCulloch), were in fine voice during their time with us, supported by a group of young local musicians who did a brilliant job. ‘Yes Sir, I can Boogie’ was definitely a highlight! The clip below shows all the pupils from p1 to p7 joining in with the Up Helly Aa song.

The Senior Jarl Squad, led by Guizer Jarl King Harald Olafsson (aka Richard Moar) were also pretty spectacular both in sight and sound. A fantastic line up of local musicians provided the music for the Up Helly Aa song and also their squad song which made us all want to get up and dance! Here is a clip of all the pupils from p1 to p7 joining in with the Up Helly Aa song. The Jarl commented how loud and enthusiastic our singing was. High praise indeed from a ‘King’!

P4 were invited to perform at the Sound Senior Citizen Christmas party recently, and below, are a few clips of their performance. They all did so well and brought much cheer and happiness to everyone in the hall.

Little Donkey (part 2)

Calypso Carol

Silent Night

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

P4 have been really busy in Music this term. As well as preparing for and performing at local community events, the class have been learning some traditional folk songs.

Below is a clip of an African folk song called ‘Obwisana’ from the country of Ghana. It is traditionally sung by children in a circle, where they pass rocks in time with the pulse of the music. We adapted this by using drum sticks to keep the pulse and we also composed our own four beat patterns.

The children’s performance below takes the form of (A) the song, (B) stick pattern 1, (A) song, (C) stick pattern 2, (A) song, (D) own four beat repeated pattern, (A) song and the ‘coda’ which we have learned is an Italian term used to describe the ending in a musical piece.

We were treated to a performance by the Shetland Youth Orchestra last week in the Sound Hall. The orchestra is made up of children from all over Shetland including both primary and secondary, and their musical talents are amazing!

We were introduced to all the different instrument families including brass, woodwind, strings and percussion. We listened to a mixture of music including classical, swing and even a theme tune or too. We particularly liked the Wallace and Grommit theme tune which they played as we were leaving the hall.

What a very enjoyable way to spend a Friday afternoon!