Music News 

What have we been learning in Music:

Foundation students have been exploring the rainbow ring and the bumble bee. They have been singing together and taking turns. Students have been exploring untuned percussion instruments such as the egg shaker and the claves (clapping sticks), building their understanding of how we care for and use our instruments while exploring music concepts such as beat and rhythm. 

Grade 1 students have been developing their aural skills through exploring singing, games, listening experiences and movement. They have been exploring music literacy concepts and the elements of music such as beat, rhythm, pitch, dynamics, and tempo through activities that involve the rainbow ring and bumble bee. Students have been learning to play untuned percussion instruments such as the egg shaker and claves (clapping sticks). They have also begun the process of learning the chime bars as a class while revising what ‘rest position’ (beaters on shoulders, no one playing) would look like for this instrument.

Grade 2 students have begun their introduction to the instrument, the chime bars. They have been learning how to take care of their instrument, how to hold the beaters correctly and show ‘rest position’ (beaters on shoulders, no one playing). They have learnt the song ‘99 O’Clock’ and ‘Up High, Down Low’ exploring the notes of the chime bars and different pitches (sounds).

Grade 3 / 4 - students have been learning how to use the xylophones with the correct technique. They have learnt about how to hold the mallets, how to bounce off the tone bars to play the xylophone, helicopter fingers to place the tone bars back on if they have come off or we need to change a note and what ‘rest position’ (mallets on shoulders, no one playing) for the xylophone looks like. They have been exploring new rhythmic elements such as beat, pitch and rhythm through arranging a class piece.

Grade 5 / 6 students have been exploring new rhythmic elements such as beat, pitch and rhythm through arranging a class piece, learning xylophones and beginning to look at the djembe drum. Year 5 / 6 students have been learning how to use the correct technique to play instruments such as the xylophone in which they have learnt how to hold the mallets, ‘rest position’ (mallets on shoulders, no one playing), how to bounce off the tone bars to play the xylophone and helicopter fingers to place the tone bars back on if they have come off or we need to change a note.