Music at Cotsford
At Cotsford Primary School, the children are exposed to music in a variety of different forms. We use Charanga, a scheme of work which follows the National Curriculum, to deliver our Music lessons in school each week. Charanga allows the children to experience a range of musical genres and styles and introduces children to the different dimensions of music at an accessible level. In class, children have the opportunity to play musical games and play percussion instruments as they progress through the curriculum. Each week, a class will focus on a certain song of a particular style and have the opportunity to listen, play and sing along to explore the different features of the music.
In KS2 children also have the opportunity to receive music lessons from Durham Music Service professionals. Year 3 are currently learning to play the recorder with a music teacher from Durham Music Service. There are also opportunities for individual music tuition in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Find out more about what we have been enjoying in Music this year below.
Summer 2
In Early Years this term we have listened to lots of different music and made our own beat. We have kept the beat with our friends and moved our bodies to the beat.
The children have looked at classical music in Year 1. They have watched YouTube videos of classical performances and have been able to identify some of the musical instruments that were played. The children have also learned about classical composers and have even played some instruments along to the music.
Year 2 and 3 love music and this shows in their passion for their lessons. They have identified instruments in pieces of music, the different value of the notes used and revisited songs that the children have loved over the year. The children have worked hard and developed their glockenspiel skills too.
Wow! What a performance from all the children in Year 3. The children rehearsed each week in their music lessons as well as extra practices to prepare for the, ‘Big Play’. Their singing was phenomenal and pitch perfect. Their recorder playing was fabulous as they all kept the tune as they read the music. Throughout the year, they have not only improved their singing and recorder playing but more importantly become confident musicians!
Year 4 have looked at lots of different styles of music. They enjoyed challenging themselves to pick out different instruments and voices in lots of different songs. The children also really enjoyed having more opportunities to draw pictures and write about how they felt when they heard a piece of music. Playing the glockenspiel and singing back pieces of music they heard was their favourite!
The children in Year 5 have revisited different songs, musical notation and the language of music. They have identified rhythm, pulse, pitch and melody in different songs and looked at the different value of the notes used. Year 5 enjoy music, especially singing along to popular songs.
Year 6 have been learning about the history of music this half term. They have enjoyed exploring the history of music and can use some musical language accurately.
Summer 1
In Early Years this term we have had lots of fun with the African drums. We have taken part in our own travelling African band, making lots of music as we travelled through the school. This made lots of other classes stop and listen to our fantastic music playing.
The children in Year 1 have loved learning the song A Whole New World – Aladdin. They have played instruments alongside the music and also sang and performed actions.
Our Year 2/3 children have worked so hard to learn the Friendship song this half term. Not only have they learned the multi-verse song, they have been able to add glockenspiel accompaniment and play in time with each other.
The children in Year 3 have continued to have weekly music lessons. Their recorder playing is improving all the time and they have been rehearsing for Durham’s big music event. The children have learnt many recorder songs as well as singing. Their favourite is the ‘Plastic song’ and ‘Make you feel my love’.
In Music, Year 4 have been exploring civil rights as part of their topic ‘Blackbird’. We have enjoyed listening to music by The Beatles and talking about the reasons why important songs like Blackbird were written.
We listened to the song carefully and tried different ways of tapping the pulse using body percussion. We also enjoyed discussions about what thoughts and feelings we had when we heard the song, or if it reminded us of anything.
We enjoyed learning another song by The Beatles, Yellow Submarine. The children also practised playing along to Blackbird on the glockenspiel using 3 notes – C, D and E.
Music is a firm favourite in Year 5. The children absolutely love learning about different styles of music – this half term they focused on the Motown song ‘Dancing in the Street’ and looked at comparing different songs including ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ by the Four Tops http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXavZYeXEc0 and ‘I Heard it Through the Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUzTr2P0AJo
What a great time we have had in Music this half term in Year 6. We have been learning about female musicians from around the world. We have been learning how to analyse and comment on the effectiveness of sounds and how they create different moods. The best part of it was listening to the many different pieces and being able to identify pitch, tempo, rhythm and timbre.
Spring 2 – Remote Learning / Return to School
In Early Years this term, the children have loved listening to lots of different music at home. They also enjoyed sharing opinions about the songs they listened to.
During home learning, the children in Year 1 had lots of fun exploring Purple Mash to create their own beat! They used 2Beat, shown in the photograph below.
In school, they enjoyed practising the song Livin’ La Vida Loca and used their percussion skills to play the tambourine to the beat – as you can see, they had lots of fun!
Year 2 and 3 children were introduced to reggae music as part of the Zootime topic. They practised following the pulse and rhythm of the music, and enjoyed copying it back during warm-up games. They had the chance to improve their playing skills on the glockenspiel and even managed to compose their own music with a partner!
Whilst at home, children in Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed live Teams lessons with their music teacher. They improved their listening skills by playing games and challenges with different songs. Children also enjoyed finding out about different instruments and which type of instrument family they belong to. We continued recorder lessons at school and remembered how to read music and playing the notes B, A and G. We even had a go at playing C, D and F to challenge ourselves.
When we returned to school, the children listened to ‘Don’t Worry’ by Bob Marley. They cleverly performed the song using sign language! You can try it yourself by following this link:
Year 4 explored Soul and Gospel music in our topic ‘Lean on Me’. We listened to this song by Bill Withers and all agreed that it had an important message about helping each other. Here is the link to this special song.
Year 5 loved learning about old school hip hop this half term. The children particularly enjoyed being able to rap most of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air in perfect timing with the music! See if you can do the same…
In Year 6, we have thought a lot about how the voice is a special kind of instrument that we can use and enjoy if we practise often. Why don’t you practise singing your favourite song?
Spring 1 – Remote Learning
In Early Years this term the children have listened to lots of different music at home and commented on their favourite songs. They have also enjoyed doing lots of dancing.
The children in Year 1 have enjoyed listening to and learning the song ‘Livin La Vida Loca’ on Charanga. They answered questions about the song and also learned some background information about the song and Ricky Martin. As part of our Mental Health week, the children listened to a video made up of lots of different types of music. They had to listen to the music and draw pictures and write some key words to describe how the different pieces of music made them feel.
This half term, the children in Year 2 and 3 have enjoyed listening to rock music as part of our ‘I Wanna Play in a Band’ topic. They have performed their new song with actions and sign language. Year 2 and 3 have also played pulse games and tried to compose their own music on Purple Mash.
Year 3 have completed live weekly music lessons with Mrs Milne from Durham Music Service. They have been introduced to graphic scores and created their own to play home instruments and clap to. Within this the children learnt a few new songs including actions which were represented on a graphic score. They also enjoyed identifying a range of instruments within a piece of music and beginning to understand what instrument family they each belong to. During home learning children have carried out song reviews.
Year 4 have been exploring Grime music. They had a go at listening and appraising their focus track from home. Some of the children had a go at creating a piece of music in a similar style to the track Stop! which they have been exploring by using 2Beat on Purple Mash.
Children had a go at learning a song called Waddaly Atcha where they had to follow actions provided by Mrs Sellers from Durham Music Service.
Some children have also been making time to practise their own instruments at home.
The children in Year 5 have investigated the Pop ballad; listening to and appraising them. They also chose a favourite song to recommend to a friend within the pop ballad genre.
Year 6 have been listening and responding to music, explaining the mood the music creates and how it makes them feel. They have focused on finding the pulse in a piece of music and have copied beats back to learn the rhythm using Charanga and Purple Mash. Year 6 have also designed their own musical instruments from everyday materials and have used these to compose a repetitive beat.
Autumn 2
In Early Years the children have explored musical instruments independently and the different sounds they make. They listened to the sound of a drum and copied some of the musical patterns Mrs Laverick made.
In Year 1 this half term, children continued to use Charanga to learn the lyrics and beats to songs from their Reggae topic. Children then progressed to using percussion instruments to tap to the beat of some of their favourite songs. They particularly enjoyed Happy by Pharrell Williams!
Year 2 / 3 children have listened to and appraised a range of songs such as ‘Suspicious Minds’ by Elvis Presley and ‘Sir Duke’ by Stevie Wonder. They played music games and enjoyed finding the pulse. They also learnt the song ‘Ho Ho Ho’, adding actions and played the glockenspiels to the instrumental part of the song.
In Year 3, the children have continued to complete weekly music lessons with Mrs Preston. They have been introduced to the notes ’c’ and ‘d’. The majority of the children enjoyed playing solos following the notes and accompanied by music. From this they learnt to play ‘Jingle Bells’. The children love to sing along to a range of songs – Mamma Mia is still their favourite. They also get the opportunity to complete weekly quizzes identifying a range of instruments within a song.
Year 4 have been learning to play the glockenspiel this half term. They have been learning to use the notes C, D, E and F and how these notes fit together in a piece of music. Children have had the opportunity to read musical notation and sing and play along with a piece of music. They have spent some time learning the song ‘Good, Better, Best’ and learning how to play their instrument along with this piece.
Year 5 have been exploring swing and jazz music. They have listened and appraised the different songs each week, and given their opinions and which instruments they could hear. They have discussed the different elements of the orchestra and which sections the different jazz instruments would be part of. They focused on the notes D, G, A and B and have been able to follow musical notation to play these on the glockenspiel. They have looked at notation and where the notes sit in the bar, and also understand that some songs have a 4/4 time signature whereas others are 3/4. This enabled them to count themselves in when playing with each other to a backing track.
Year 6 have been listening to Jazz music. They have actively listened to Bacharach Blues and given their opinions and reasons for why they liked or disliked each song. They discussed the repetitiveness of the piece and are beginning to talk about its features such as melody and tempo.
Autumn 1
In Early Years the children have sung nursery rhymes and explored some musical instruments. They have had fun exploring the different sounds instruments make.
In Year 1, the children have listened to various rap songs. They listened to and talked about the lyrics. They also listened to the rhythm of the songs and clapped to the rhythm.
Year 2 and 3 have listened to and appraised examples of South African music during our Hands. Feet and Heart unit. They practised musical terms such as pulse and rhythm by playing games. They also learnt the song, Hands, Feet and Heart by using actions and we are beginning to learn how to play the glockenspiel.
Year 3 have completed weekly music lessons with Mrs Preston from Durham Music Service. This half term they have been introduced to a treble clef, stave and different notes (semibreve, minimum and crotchet). They began to learn how to play the note ‘B’ and play songs with ‘B’. The majority of children enjoyed playing solos following the notes and accompanied by music. From this they learnt to play ‘A’ and ‘C’. They began playing tunes with all three notes and also included semibreves, minimums and crotchets. Their favourite was ‘Hot cross buns’. They adapted the lyrics to vary the length of the notes, playing ‘hot cross el-e-phants’, ‘hot cross crot-chets’ and ‘hot cross re-cor-ders’.
Year 4 have explored the music of ABBA in our Mamma Mia topic. Each week, they have listened to the focus song and found the pulse within each song to improve our sense of rhythm. They have also worked on listening to a rhythm and copying back the rhythm, performing this as either a class or within small groups. They also began to play along with a song using the glockenspiel and the note ‘G’. They have had discussions about the style of each song and how they can recognise an Abba song. Children are beginning to discuss how different songs can make them feel different ways and how to express an opinion on a piece of music by justifying why they do or do not like it.
Year 5 have investigated different rock songs throughout their Livin’ on a Prayer topic and discussed their likes and dislikes for different songs from 1950s onwards. The children have investigated the pulse of different songs and used glockenspiels to play along to each song.
Year 6 have enjoyed listening to a range of songs that help us feel happy. They have discussed their thoughts and feelings before and after listening to a song and can identify the main sections. They also identified some instruments they could hear whilst listening and discussed the pitch, tempo and rhythm throughout the songs.
Please click the link for Music National Curriculum Information.
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