We have been continuing to reinforce our sense of steady beat using body percussion and we have also explored the relationship between beat and rhythm. A song that we have learned called ‘Pussycat Pussycat’ gave us an opportunity to learn about a question and answer style of song in music where we kept the beat by tapping while singing the questions and showing the rhythm of the answers by clapping.

We have also been learning about pitch – how high or low a sound is and we have been using our singing voices to match the pitch that we hear. We can also use out hands to show if the pitch is high, middle or low. The song ‘Rain is Falling Down’ is one we have learned that has three different pitches.

After using our hands to show the pitch of the song, we talked about which words in the song were at a high, middle or low pitch and we put them into three different sets of clouds to show how the pitch changed in the song.

Here is a recording of the class showing the pitch with their hand positions while singing ‘Rain is Falling Down’.

We have been learning a song about Hot Cross Buns. We practised keeping a steady beat and we suggested lots of different ways we could keep the beat like tapping our heads or shoulders, or clicking our fingers in time.

We have also learned  about Boomwhackers and how they are used to create different sounds of different pitches. We worked out that the longer the boomwhacker, the lower the pitch of the note and the smaller the boomwhacker, the higher the pitch of the note.

In the clip below, you can see the class performing the song ‘Hot Cross Buns’ using boomwhackers.

This week in music we have been learning about the importance of music during Chinese New Year. As part of our learning we watched a Musical Storyland episode called ‘The Great Race’ by BBC Teach, where members of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra play a range of instruments and tell the story.  We saw a new Chinese instrument called a guzheng which is played by plucking the strings.  You can see all the instruments in the picture below.

Photo courtesy of BBCTeach

We also learned that this year is the year of the dragon and in the clip below, you can see us using scarves to move like the dragon dancers that perform at Chinese New Year celebrations.

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’!

This term we have been working very hard to get ready for our Christmas show at the end of the term. We started by learning all the songs and then we had to learn lots of speaking parts too! For the last few weeks we have been practicing on the stage and we are really excited to perform to our school community and our families on Tuesday 12th December.

We don’t want to give too much away, but it’s going to be great!

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!