Practising at Home

Year 1 - Hairy Maclary in Concert!
On the 17th June, all of Year 1 will be seeing the London Symphony Orchestra play Hairy Maclary and other pieces at the Barbican Centre. Click on the link to hear the book read by two young children.
We are learning a song for the concert, called The Marvellous Musical Menagerie. Can you practise singing along so that you know it really well in time for the concert. It's full of great animal sounds!




Year 1 - Graphic Scores
Year 1 have been making up sounds and drawing symbols to represent them. Can you look at the pictures below and try to play the music? 

Year 2 - The Great Blueness
Year 2 are soon to visit the Barbican Concert Hall to take part in a concert with the London Symphony Orchestra. We will be hearing the story and associated music for The Great Blueness by Arnold Lobel. Here are some practice tracks for the song we have been learning in class, ready to sing with the orchestra on the 11th March. Once you know it, see if you can challenge yourself and sing it with the piano track only. 


Year 5 - The Planets
In Year 5 this half term, we will be composing our own music to describe planet Earth. For inspiration, we are listening to The Planets Suite by the English composer Gustav Holst. Here's Holst's ode to Mars, as played on the BBC Proms in 2015. Can you see the strings playing col legno (with the wood of their bows)? And can you hear the ostinato? "Get in a spaceship, go to Mars!" What is the mood of the music? What do you like about this music?

Here's a slightly shortened version with some cool lighting effects:

How do you think music about Earth will sound different? 

Year 2 Orange - Obwisana Sa
We had a go at learning this Ghanaian song in class today (23rd January). We passed claves in time with the music. The pattern went 'down, up, click, down'. It was fun!

Year 5 - Ghostly Canon
Your rhythm rounds were excellent. Now it's time to try holding your part in a round or 'canon' when you are singing. We do it in singing assembly all of the time - but can you do it in a small group? Here's our halloween round (we sing 'Tom' - but this is the same song about 'John'). Learn it well so we can practise singing in rounds in class. If you are confident - teach it to someone at home and try to sing it in a round. 

Year 4 - Roman Rap and rhythms
In Year 4 we have been composing rhythms to accompany the Roman Rap. Can you practise the words at home so that you know it off by heart? be sure to keep to a beat. 

Don't forget to practise your ostinato patterns as well. Can you keep one line repeating while someone else in your family plays another one? You might have to explain which rhythms say 'boxing, gladiators, dice, chariots or swimming' - some favourite Roman leisure activities. 

Emerald Class:

Ruby Class:

Pictures to help you teach someone else:

Have fun Year 4!

 Year 3 - Limboland songs



Year 6 - Battle Music
We've been listening to this piece of music to help inspire our own composition. See if over half term you can listen to the piece again (from the beginning of the video until about 7mins in), and learn the 5 facts from memory:
Franz Liszt, Germany, Hunnenschlacht, 1857, Romantic Era. 

Can you listen out for the underlying rhythm where Alisha gave us the words 'silver armour, weapons falling'? Can you hear the brass fanfare that repeats with the rhythm 'Planes... battling up in the sky'? Can you spot where the fanfares return played more slowly? What happens at the end of the music? 

Year 5 - Rhythm Round
Can you learn to perform the rhythm pattern from memory with confidence? Before we play anything in a round, we need to know it really well and play it musically - clear and with good control.