Music Year 1
Autumn
We’ve got Rhythm
In this unit the children learnt that music has a steady beat and they learnt to recognise and follow that beat. They used their body as percussion and learnt that they can create different sounds and tried to maintain a steady beat. They then looked at how they could create patterns with their body percussion sounds and repeat those. They created their own 4 beat bars and learnt how by clapping or tapping out a syllabic pattern they could follow along with a simplified notation.
Toys
In this unit the children revisited steady beat and created syllabic rhythm patterns using toy names. They explored ‘tempo’ in music by watching wind-up toys and responding to the sounds and music through movement. They looked at how music can speed up and slow down and that a conductor can change the tempo of music using hand signals. They loved being able to listen to extracts of orchestral music and, using untuned percussion instruments, they composed simple pieces to represent different toys. Finally, they learnt a new cumulative song about toys and used their instruments to represent the toys moving.
Spring
Carnival of the animals
Throughout this unit the children became familiar with some of the movements of ‘Carnival of the Animals’ by Saint-Saens. They looked in depth at the music of ‘The Lion’, recognising the repeated roar and the contrasting ‘prowling’ music. They then listened to ‘The Cuckoo’ and learnt to recognise the repeated call of this animal on just two notes. Using animal names, they explored syllabic rhythms and then used percussion instruments to improvise and then composed their own music. Finally, they appraised their own music and that of other groups.
Summer
Musical Explorers - Coming Soon
Minibeasts – Coming soon