Term three has been an exciting term of composing and playing music.

Year one and two students have undertaken an inquiry into rhythmic notation. The students explored different ways of organising and writing music. They used picture cards and developed their own methods for composing and communicating music. What they found was that systems using pictures and other signs were very time consuming to write and could get very confusing when they were trying to put together longer pieces.

The students discovered that the system of rhythmic notation was a great way of writing music.

They brainstormed a list of reasons why it worked so well.

• It’s fast and easy to write
• You don’t need lots of colours
• It’s global, people from all over the world use it.
• It doesn’t take up much space
• It doesn’t matter what language you speak or read and write
• You don’t need much paper
• You don’t need to be a good drawer.

The students then used their new found knowledge and worked in small groups to create short rhythmic patterns which they clapped and played on instruments.

Students in years three to six have been working on units of inquiry based on the theme, How We Express Our Self. Music is a fantastic way to respond to and communicate how you feel about a topic, idea or emotion. Students worked individually and in small groups to compose short pieces on the glockenspiel. We explored the structure and features of well known tunes and tried to include some of these elements in our compositions which were later performed for classmates.

To follow on from this experience students have been working in groups to add musical accompaniment to one of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes. Students worked cooperatively to develop tunes for each of the roles which reflected how they felt about the character. They also used instruments to create a sound scape to add excitement and bring their poem to life.