Welcome to the gallery. This page contains video clips of classes at various ages
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BABIES 1 - NEWBORN - 1 YEAR OLD - Click HERE to watch our baby class working with
the song “Cobbler Cobbler mend my shoe”. This simple two note song is the sort of
thing that very young children can take on board. Please note there is no piano
accompaniment or backing track. This would make things more difficult for very young
children to absorb properly. Hearing and experiencing these notes is a very good
experience for babies. This class includes our youngest pupil to date. Jake attended
his first session at the 24th week of pregnancy and is still learning while inside
his mum. For special family reasons Jake has been named well before his birth. Unborn
children can hear from the 22nd week of pregnancy.
The technical bit - Feeling the musical pulse of Ta (Crotchet) or Ti-ti (Quavers)
helps to input a basic musical pulse. If properly established the concept of keeping
a steady pulse should last for life. Singing in canon to gives a feel for two part
work and the harmonies that it created in music.
BABIES 2 - NEWBORN - 2 YEARS OLD - Click HERE to see one of our younger classes
enjoy the activity “Walking in the rain”. This mixed age class (0-2) are experiencing
the sounds and joining in with the “Splash” which is great fun. Lots of adult support
is needed here, particularly for the babies who gain from being carried and then
pick up the pulse activity through the walking actions of the parents.
The technical bit - They are learning about the underlying pulse through the parent’s
feet and also the quieter sounds of music. The concept of the “silent splash” is
a useful teaching tool as it encourages the children to “think” the missing note
thereby developing the inner hearing (the ability to hear music in your head). Parents
go on to sing in canon to give a feel for two part work and the harmonies that it
created in music.
Parents can sometimes feel a bit unsure of their own singing when they first come
along, but with a little time and patients all are able to sing in tune. We are
always understanding.
4-5 Year Olds 1 - Click HERE to see a Class of 4-5 year olds answering their names
to the register
The Technical bit - During this activity notes So and Mi (fifth and third degree
of the scale) were used. These particular notes are very useful in getting children
to sing on pitch (Tone deaf doesn’t exist - we believe that everyone can sing on
pitch if given the proper encouragement and training.) As well as responding on
pitch they are also identifying with their hand which is the higher note. This is
the beginning of their conscious understanding of pitch sounds and the spatial musical
concept of high and low sounds.
4-5 Year Olds 2 - Click HERE to see a Class of 4-5 year olds singing “Walking in
the rain” and having much fun jumping in the puddles. The sheer amount of fun that
can be had doing music is clearly evident in this activity.
The Technical bit - During this activity the children are working with the concept
of piano and forte which is now well established. They are also able to perform
a whole verse in silence (Tacet) which requires them to be able to imaging the sound
of the song in their musical minds (internalisation). The proof of this mental activity
is the fact that they all perform the “splash” in the right place. The children
don’t realise the academic work that they are doing. They are just splashing in
the puddles ..! The song also includes the rhythmic element Tim-ki (Dotted quaver
- semi quaver) which is being learned here for use when the children are much older.
This song contains all the notes of the Do hexachord.
4-5 Year Olds 3 - Click HERE to see a class of 4-5 year olds working with music flash
cards. These children have been reading basic rhythmic music for about a year and
as such are able to perform these rhythms with a degree of accuracy. This activity
is one of their favourites.
The Technical bit - Please note that the teacher doesn’t say the cards with the children.
You are hearing the children read these music cards unaided. In the early part of
this sequence as well as reading the rhythms there is some work done on the concept
that by inverting the card the music can have “tails up” or “tails down”. When a
card is inverted the music is effectively performed backwards (retrograde). At the
very end of the sequence there is some work done on the concept that a card can sound
the same forward as it does in retrograde. During the second half of this sequence
flash cards are turned over before the children have finished reading them. This
forces the musical mind to take in information and store it before performing it
a few seconds later. This process strikes at the heart of all form of sight reading
both music and text.
4-5 Year Olds 4 - Click HERE to see a class of 4-5 year olds working with the song
Hot Cross Buns and working with discovering the rhythmic elements.
The Technical bit - In the activity a series of heart cards are used to represent
the underlying pulse of the song. As the activity evolves the various rhythmic elements
are worked on. The crotchet (Ta) and paired quavers (Ti-ti) are already known and
are being reinforced here. The concept of a crotchet rest (Sh) which creates as
short silence in the music is being brought to a more conscious level. In future
weeks this element will be labelled and the children will fully understand this particular
element of music.
We would like to thank all the staff for allowing us to video their work, all the
parents for giving permissions to show their children on the web site. We would
particularly like to thank the children for “being themselves”. Whether you are
one of our current parents, an interested parent or perhaps a teacher visiting this
site to see what we do we would like to suggest that you look at clips from all age
groups so that you can see how it all starts, and where it all leads to. These videos
were done without prior notice or extensive practice, they just show children at
varying stages of musical development having fun with simple music while they learn
the underlying musical skills. We have included the “technical bit” mainly for visiting
teachers. We believe that teaching without this sort of depth produces superficial
learning.
5-6 Year Olds 1 - Click HERE to see a class of 5-6 year olds doing some board work.
The whole idea of children having to guess what the song is and then playing with
the building blocks of music is interesting. Making sure that the teacher doesn’t
miss important bits out is also good fun - and interesting.
The Technical Bit - This activity starts with just the basic notes So and Mi on the
board. The children are not aware which song is to be used. “Hob Shoe Hob” is a
song know to them. The children are required to sing the notes from the board and
identify the notes at the end (the missing Do Do Do). They are then given the opportunity
to add the rhythmic element of the song to make this piece of board work complete
by adding in all the rests (Sh). Being able to play with the basic building blocks
of music at this relatively young age helps children to gain a deeper understanding
of music from all perspectives. Really knowing the basics is so important. There
is a great deal of technical work here all done while the children are doing a fun
activity.
5-6 Year Olds 2 - Click HERE to see a class of 5-6 year olds transferring the knowledge
displayed on the board to instrumental use. Playing these instruments is always
popular and good fun. Notice that the playing is not too loud. This helps children
to hear what is going on and to play in time together.
The Technical Bit - This activity is a continuation of the board work done previously
(see above). The rhythmic elements are transferred to xylophones and metalaphones
and the children are lead to discover the function of the crotchets rest (Ta). Those
not actually playing the metalaphones are given the task of producing the rest at
the right place thereby strengthening their understanding of this element of music.
3-4 Year Olds 1 - Click HERE to see a Class of preschool children having fun with
xylophones.
The technical bit - These children have learned the concept of Ta and Ti-ti (Crotchets
and Quavers) and how to perform them on xylophones when required. They also show
their understanding of the different volumes in music at a conscious level and are
able to use the correct labels (piano and forte) as required. They are still having
fun
3-4 Year Olds 2 - Click HERE to see a Class of preschool children enjoying some “Hot
Cross Buns” with the teddies.
The technical bit - This song contains the pitch notes Mi Re and Do and the rhythmic
elements Ta (Crotchet) Ti-ti (Quavers) and Sh (Crotchet rest). Children here are
establishing the concept of the Sh (Crotchet rest) when they blow on the teddies,
or when the teddies take a bite of the bun. The children don’t realise that they
are learning. They are just playing with the teddy.
3-4 Year Olds 3 - Click here to see a class of preschool children being introduced
to basic music reading.
The technical bit - The concept of Ta (Crotchet) and Ti-ti (Quavers) has already
been learned and these children are familiar with the song concerned. The fact that
mummy bear always walks “Ta” and the baby bear always runs “Ti-ti” is the key to
this activity. As long as the children have been taught properly they will succeed
in the reading of these fundamental elements. In subsequent weeks the music reading
will be reinforced and practiced in one form or other so that this skill is built
upon. Other musical elements will be taught in time but not until those elements
are well taught first and well established.
2-3 Year Olds 1 - Click HERE to see a class of parents and toddlers enjoying the
song “Rain is falling down”. Blowing the clouds away in the second verse is good
to do
The Technical Bit - This song contains three pitch sounds (Mi Re and Do) and just
three rhythmic elements (Ta, Ti-ti and Sh). Blowing the clouds away with the outwards
action of the hands helps to teach the Sh (Crotchet rest) to an unconscious level.
2-3 Year Olds 2 - Click HERE to see a class of parents and toddlers having fun with
xylophones and metalaphones. Making interesting sounds with your friends is good
fun.
The Technical Bit - This activity shows children working on the accuracy of their
pulse work playing Ti-tis (Quavers). As the activity builds and more children become
more accurate they gain the skill of playing in time with each other that is so important
later in their musical development.
6-7 Year Olds 1 - Click HERE to see a class of 6-7 year olds doing a warm up sequence
at the beginning of the lesson.
The Technical Bit - Although the main aim is to get the voice warmed up and get the
muscles in the throat warmed up, just as you would do a warm up before doing any
exercise or using any muscles, this was also an opportunity to include some unconscious
music training. Starting with just a few notes the copying exercise extended out
to include all notes of the basic Do Pentatone. Children were then asked to identify
what was going on so that they had a bit of a mental warm us as well. The entire
exercise was done in five time which will help all the children when they come across
this time signature at some time in the future.
6-7 Year Olds 2 - Click HERE to see a class of 6-7 year olds doing some work on recorders.
The use of recorders is an ideal starting instrument as it encompasses the concept
of music being put into a pupil and then exported from the pupil to an external medium,
in this case the recorder. This is good preparation for playing any instrument.
Again this is a popular activity with the children. If we ever run out of time
and can’t do recorders there is much disappointment.
The Technical Bit - There is a great deal in this activity despite the fact that
only two notes (B and A) were used. There was much more here than just learning
to play a recorder. It all begins with the children copying by aural awareness rhythms
played by the teacher. These include the elements Ta (Crotchet), Ti-ti (Quavers)
and Syn-co-pa (syncopated rhythm). This whole activity was transferred to music
reading with the children reading rhythmic flash cards on the note B. Having some
cards inverted teaches the basics of tails up and tails down in music. It also teaches
the basics of retrograde music (this will be helpful for those that go on to do GCSE
Music as this is part of the syllabus ...!!). There is the realisation that one
rhythm sounds the same when inverted, but others do not. Finally the concept of
aurally identifying pitch by having the teacher turn away from the class so that
they couldn’t see the fingers when the note changes from B to A. This entire routing
took less than 3½ minutes and included so much more than just learning to play the
recorder.
7-8 Year Olds 1 - Click HERE to see a class of 7-8 year olds enjoying “Hey Jim Along”.
Children take turns to make up their own activity which is always good to do.
The Technical Bit - This is mainly a pulse and improvisation activity. The tone
set used is So Mi Re Do La, which includes the lower La extension. The rhythmic
elements include Ti-Tiki (Quaver-semiquavers) and Tiki-Ti (Semiquavers-Quavers) is
used to unconsciously reinforce these elements. Children having to make up their
own action and keep the pulse going at the same time encourages improvisation at
all levels and improves quick thinking.
7-8 Year Olds 2 - Click HERE to see a class of 7-8 year olds reading some rhythm
flash cards.
The Technical Bit - These cards include the rhythms Ti-tiki (Quaver-Semiquavers)
and Tiki-ti (Semiquavers- Quaver) which was included in Hey Jim Along (see above).
The syncopated rhythm Syn-co-pa was also included
7-8 Year Olds 3- Click HERE to see a class of 7-8 year olds reading using the rhyme
Diddle Diddle Dumpling my son John as a fun pulse activity with shoes. Click HERE
to see the “second take” when it all went dreadfully wrong. We thought we would
include this as it does show the child centred nature and relaxed atmosphere of these
classes.
The Technical Bit - there were 16 children in this group which means that all the
shoes get returned to the correct owner by the last note of the song. This worked
perfectly first time much to the joy of everyone concerned. Second go was not at
all good, but it was such fun.
7-8 Year Olds 4 - Click HERE to see the children working with the song “Li’l Liza
Jane”
The Technical Bit - The children were not aware of the song that was to be used at
the beginning of this sequence. Hand signs were used to access their mind through
the eyes and generate the musical sounds in their heads so that they could identify
the song. Once identified the children were able to perform it with words, in solfa
(identifying all the pitch elements - Top Do, La So Mi Re and Do) and in rhythm solfa
(identifying almost all of the rhythmic elements - Ta, Ti-ti, Syn-co-pa, To-o). They
sang the words to “Oh Eliza” because they have not been shown this rhythm (Tai-Ti)
at a conscious level just yet. They know this element at an unconscious level but
have not yet been shown how to read and write it.
7-8 Year Olds 5 - Click HERE to see the children working with the song “Li’l Liza
Jane” and making it into a percussion ensemble piece. This is all based on the children’s
understanding of the musical content of the song a shown above.
The Technical Bit - The children understand the rhythmic elements of this song are
are able to extract them out and perform them on various percussion instruments to
create a small ensemble piece. It requires all children to understand all elements
fully to enable this sort of ensemble piece to be performed with any level of success.
Having a strong “handle” on such musical building blocks enables children to access
all music more easily regardless of the genre of the music. Being able to spell
the words that you hear gives a deeper understanding of language - even if you are
not going to become a professional writer. Being able to ‘spell’ the notes that
you hear gives a deeper understanding of music - even if you are not going to be
a professional musician, or even learn an instrument. It just means that you access
all music at with a deeper level of understanding.
INSTRUMENTAL DEMONSTRATIONS
Wherever possible children get “hands on” when demonstration instruments are brought
into the Music School. Instruments demonstrated on a rota basis include all brass,
all woodwind, Violin, Cello, Banjo, Piano Accordion, Concertina, Piano and a whole
host of percussion and other instruments. All instruments are demonstrated to all
children in all age groups.
ORCHESTRAL TAM-TAM - Click here to see a demonstration of the orchestral Tam Tam
(large gong) Please note that for this demonstration a class of under 2 year olds
joined a class of 2-3 year olds. We don’t normally have classes that exceed 16 children.
These two classes were put together for this demonstration for the last 10 minutes
of a 40 minute session. Please notice how focused and engaged these very young children
were even at the end of a full 40 minute session.
BASS CLARINET - Click here to see a Bass Clarinet demonstration experienced by a
group of 3-4 year olds. Notice that when they sing “bye bye Bass Clarinet” at the
end of this sequence they do so on the correct notes.
VIOLIN - Click here to see just how well a group of 4-5 year olds play the violin
- at their very first attempt ..!! Perhaps the teacher is giving a little help here.
This is great fun for the children and so rewarding for them when they hear the
tune come out that they recognise.
To go to the section showing instrumental demonstrations please click here
