Music - MRS TODD
Weekly music lessons take place in our large Community Room which is ideal for whole-class music making. The room is well-resourced with lots of musical instruments that are used throughout our music curriculum.
Click the + sign next to each title, below, to see what our young musicians have been up to lately!
April
We had a very special Easter assembly, with Father David. The children enjoyed hearing about Holy Week - Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. Father David brought some objects along to show the children – including some palms, a chalice and a crucifix. Thankyou Father David for an excellent assembly. The choir had a very important job, because they closed the assembly with a joyous song – Sing Hosanna. They led the singing so well, and everyone in the Hall joined in. After Easter, the choir will be preparing for the ‘Sunderland Sings’ event, at the Empire. Also – shortly after Easter – the Choir will get their very own Grangetown Choir polo shirts! Well done to the GPS choir!
March
We recently had a new visitor in school for a special assembly. Andrew joined us in school with his fantastic guitars. He showed us all the fantastic sounds and cool effects electric guitars can make but also how acoustic guitars can make music for us anywhere. The children really enjoyed hearing different songs and even sang along. They asked Andrew many questions about playing guitar and why he likes it. The children were extremely excited to see the fantastic guitars and all the names Andrew has for them. The children even got involved with naming a new guitar.
February
This half term Year 1 have looked out how sound is created and how we can make sounds ourselves! We even got very crafty and made our very own instruments! In years 2 and 3 we looked at instrument names and where they came from! We even designed our own and discussed what style of music it might play. In year 4 we explored a wide range of instruments and how they sound together! Year 4’s favourite task was creating a poster for a concert and researching facts about instruments they were interested in! In year 5 we learnt how musicians read their music and understand how to play it! We worked on reading pitch and writing pitch and could even test our friends by playing each other’s music. Year 6 had a blast learning about instruments in the Orchestra! They were able to identify and classify instruments into their orchestral family. Year 6 highly enjoyed experimenting with new instruments such as the cello and violin and it inspired students to learn in the future!
January
This half-term, year 5 and year 6 have had a blast learning about instrument families and exploring the instruments in person! Year 5 have been creating their own percussion orchestra and have really enjoyed working together to create music and understand how to use percussion instruments to their advantage. Year 6 have enjoyed exploring the features of an instrument and how to classify it. They have even added in some science and discovered how a string instrument produces its sound! Both year 5 and 6 have had the opportunity to explore a range of instruments and loved being able to hear the sound of a cello in person, even if they did think it sounded like a horror movie!
December
Choir at Christmas!
Being in a choir at Christmas is a very special job as we need to bring Christmas cheer to everyone. This Festive season the choir has a blast performing a mix of songs to bring musical cheer to everyone passing by. The choir had so much fun getting dressed up in tinsel and hats and getting ready to show off their hard work from rehearsals! The children in the choir worked together to pick the best songs from the repertoire of songs they had learned during the term and took great pride in performing them for everyone! Everyone watching was incredibly generous, giving wonderful donations which the choir has begun to save up to put towards special choir polo shirts for performances.
Writing a Song with Marty Longstaff!
During the last two weeks, the year 5 children had the wonderful opportunity to help write and record their own song. Working with singer/songwriter Marty Longstaff, the children worked together to give their own ideas linking to what makes them sad, mad and glad. They talked about how emotions were an excellent start to writing their own song. Marty took away all of our suggestions and ideas and put them into a song, to spread the word of how to take care of others. This week, Marty returned to Grangetown and taught the children their wonderful new song. We then sang each of the verses and chorus, being recorded as we went. Marty is now putting the recording together to create the whole song. We all had a wonderful time, listening to Marty sing and then singing with him, and can’t wait to hear the final version of our song. See the chorus of the song here.
Christmas Singing Extravaganza!
Last week, each class in KS2 came together for our annual singing event. Each class chose a Christmas song to perform and the school council did a fantastic job at narrating the event. There were jingle bells, guitars and some wonderful dancing throughout the afternoon. Our school choir sang two songs beautifully. It was a lovely way to get into the festive spirit. Thank you to all of our parents and carers for coming to join us.
November
Ukulele and performance!
Year 5 have had a fantastic half term learning how to play the Ukulele! They have begun to play up to three chords including C major, F major and G7. This has been a tricky new skill to obtain but they have persevered and are doing extremely well. They have even been able to play some songs! As their confidence grew, when using the C major chord in a song, they then divided into groups to work on creating a performance. Year 5 shone and sparkled in their small group performances and everyone was eager to share what they had worked on. These budding musicians are oozing with enthusiasm and confidence when they play and they can’t wait to learn more.
October
The children in our new Choir have been learning a selection of popular and well know songs. For our last session of the half term we even enjoyed a dance along to our favourite songs. We’re looking forward to learning more songs, and we are hoping to perform them for GPS families and for the whole school!
September
Exploring Rhythm and Notation
This term in year 6 we have begun to explore rhythm and rhythm notation! We have looked at beat and finding the beat in our favourite and well known songs. Using our dancing feet we found the beat. The class have enjoyed using rhythm sticks to create their own rhythm and have begun to move onto rhythm notation! We have danced, played and performed multiple rhythm patterns and have started to explore what this means. Year 5 are eager to learn about pitch next so they can try to write their own songs using musical notation. They hope to move onto this in the coming terms so they can create, play and perform their own pieces of music. Future composers at the ready!
Southmoor Music Project
In July we were invited to join a very special music project at Southmoor, offering children from three local primary schools the chance to learn to play a ‘brass’ instrument. Each school was allocated four places. The children are learning either trumpet or trombone, and are attending a special after school session at Southmoor every week, as well as having a lesson at GPS. This is a two year project, and we wish our young musicians ‘all the best’ as they embark upon their musical adventure!
