Music

     

Choir at Darwen St James is run by Miss Lawson and Mrs Thompson

Harvest 

St James' have all been to Church for the very first time in what seems a long time. We all celebrated Harvest, looking at different Harvest festivals from around the world. Choir performed their first song together. It was beautiful.

Reception 

We have really enjoyed our music lessons this half term, learning some new songs with actions and also using musical instruments to add dynamics. The children have become experts at playing their instruments at key points and have also learnt how to play them loudly, quietly or by gradually increasing or decreasing the speed or volume.

Year 1

Year 2

We have enjoyed listening to music and discussing how it affects our moods.Musical terms such as timbre (the quality of a musical note) and tempo (speed/pace of music) were used throughout the lessons. In particular the children enjoyed making lots of different marks in response to specific sounds.

Year 3

 

Year 4

We began this half term learning about the different instrument families in an orchestra and have become experts at grouping instruments and recognising their sounds.  The children have also learnt about how moods can be created by different instruments and how they are played. They can now recognise if a tune is played in a major or minor key provoking different emotions in the listener.

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Year 5

In Year 5  we have made up simple musical rhythms using different dynamics by changing the speed, volume or quality of sound. We then described the music in words and then considered how music can create images in our minds, especially symbols and colours. The children enjoyed listening to some classical pieces whilst drawing the images and colours that were conjured up for them.

Year 6

Year 6  have been learning about the different Italian words that are used to describe musical dynamics such as loudly (forte) or increasing impact (crescendo). They have also been learning about how they can use their voices to show a change in pitch and different sound effects. They were able to use their new skills to give musical emphasis to a poem describing the rising and setting of the sun.

Reception 

Reception have continued to love their music lessons and have been improving their skills at playing their instruments using different dynamics; loudly, quietly, softly and strongly. They have also been learning about simple rhythms in each song and how they can clap or move along to the pulse.

Year 1

Year 1 have been learning how to create simple motifs to represent sounds and then perform them using instruments.  They have investigated different ways of playing an instrument and to create a variety of contrasting sounds.  They listened to the William Tell Overture by Rossini which they really enjoyed and then experimented to create a variety of different sounds.

Year 2

Year 2 have had a lively time listening to music and using different voices to reflect the mood of the music. They have been exploring music articulation and how music can sound cross, lively, serene and gentle. Different instruments have been used and the children discussed whether they had to tap, shake or scrape to make a sound. A whole class production was made; I’ll sing this song.

Year 3

Year 3 have had a wonderful time in their Music lessons this term. In the lesson Music doodling, they listened to a piece of Music and used their hands to doodle the different types of tempos they could hear. They then transferred this to paper-making a Music doodle. In the lesson, We’re going around the world. The children listened to different pieces of Music from around the world and researched what instruments each country used. The children also had a little dance to some of their favourite pieces. During our lesson on Suitable Samba, the children watched a clip of a South American street band that played Samba Music. Using musical instruments, the children created their own piece of Samba Music. This was a very noisy lesson but the children loved it! In our final Music lesson, the children had to imitate the actions of a ball moving and recreate the actions using musical instruments. Finally we sang a song about different parts of our bodies.

Year 4

Year 4 have continued to work on their recognition of music in the minor and major key and how our moods are affected by music. They have been improvising using their musical instruments through the inspiration of Kandinsky art.

The class also love singing and their favourite song this half term has been “Song of the wives” which is about Henry 8th. Although it is written in the minor key it still made them smile!

Year 5

Year 5 have been working in pairs to create simple beat improvisations using their hands and bodies. Then over a few weeks the class worked on using their instrument skills to have musical conversations. They particularly enjoyed the samba rhythm in the song “Music makes the world go round”. This required the class using their call and response skills with the instruments and were excellent at playing at the correct time and with the right level of expression.

Year 6

Year 6 have been thinking this half term about how music can work against itself (discord) or together to form a beautiful melody (unity). They have also been learning about how different instruments and dynamics can be used in drama and films to create a soundtrack. As a result, they have been creating  their own soundtrack for a rocket taking off and landing on the moon. They have come up with creative ideas for which instruments should be used and how to depict the countdown, takeoff, stars and landing.

Reception

During our Music lessons this half term, Reception class have continued to work on their singing skills. We have also looked at call and response in songs, solo singers and how to recognise if a song is a solo or a group act. The children had the opportunity to sing their own solos! They all did a brilliant job and had so much confidence to get up in front of the class and sing their chosen song.

Year 2

Year 2 have been continuing their drumming lessons with Mr Navekar. He has introduced some new instruments that we have used for our rhythms - tambourines and shakers and some of us have had the opportunity to experience these and really enjoyed it.

Year 3

Year 3 have been using keyboards to play simple tunes. They then went on to look at sheet Music and putting the notes on they keyboard. They then could follow the Music score sheet to play a piece of Music.

Year 4

Year 4 have really enjoyed following musical scores to play simple tunes on the keyboards. They have also looked at Music theory, which they also enjoyed. 

Year 5

In Year 5 we have been using keyboards to create our own melodies. The children have also been looking at how to read Music and then following a piece of Music.

Year 6

Year 6 have been using the keyboards to learn how to play simple tunes. They have been learning about all the different Music symbols. They have really enjoyed learning about the theory of Music.

 

 

Reception

This half term, Reception class have been working on their singing skills. The children have learnt how to warm up their voices and how to change their voices to sing different songs. They have also been listening to different songs to determine if they are happy or sad songs .

Year 3

This term the children have been thinking about songwriting. They have listened to different pieces of music and recorded the beats. They then applied this to write their own songs. Once this was complete the children used glockenspiels to create music for their song.

Year 4

Alongside the music lessons that Junior Jam have provided this term, we have been learning lots of songs to help with maths. A class favourite has been the lively and energetic times tables songs sung by Percy Parker, he is a groovy grandad with lyrics and raps that have really stuck in our heads!

Reception

Reception have been doing lots of singing this half term to help support their listening, attention and phonics skills.

Year 1

This half term year 1 have been listening to music and finding the beat.  We have practised clapping, marching and moving in different ways to the steady beat of the music.  Once they had perfected this, they moved onto using percussion instruments.  The photos show the children patting hands and using the instruments to play along to the beat of the music.

Year 2

This half term we have been learning about the rhythm in tunes and have been learning how to tap out our own rhythm for others to copy. In the photos the children were making actions to the number of beats in a bar. They all got very good at counting the beats in a bar and talking about the beat of the music (also known as pulse). We have also listened to different types of music and thought about how the pulse or rhythm makes us feel.

Year 3

In Year 3 we have been learning about rhythms and how to mimic them using body percussion. The children then created their own rhythms where their partner had to copy it back, They then moved on to using cups to create more rhythms and pass them around a circle. The children really enjoyed these lessons and are looking forward to their next musical experience.  

Year 4

We have had a fun music day towards the end of term where we all learned to find the beat of multiple pieces of music. We used cups as percussion instruments and worked in symphony to the beat to create our own class piece of music. We then went on to learn the ‘musical rules’ i.e. a crochet = 1 beat, a minim = 2 beats and a semibreve = 4 beats’ and composed our own music for our peers to perform.

Year 5

In our blocked music unit this half term we looked at Rhythm. We looked at beats of 3 and 4. We identified the beat in pieces of music, we clapped it, clicked it, said it and then, using percussion instruments, we played it.

Year 6

Year 6 had a really fun time during music day.  We were learning about rhythm, and began simply clapping along to music to find the rhythmic beat.  We then used plastic cups to create a pattern of beats along to the music.  Finally we moved onto percussion instruments, and created alternate patterns of beats with the music.