Monthly Archives: October 2011

Issue 9: Welcome to The Music Jungle

Posted on October 14, 2011 by

Hello again!  There is a distinctly mathematical appearance to this week’s issue of The Music Jungle.  The first one looks at using “Multi-link” cubes for creating graphic scores with Keystage 1 children.  I used them this time with a Year 1 and … Continue reading →

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Issue 9: Graphic Scores for KeyStage 1

Posted on October 14, 2011 by

I have just spent an enjoyable hour teaching a lively year 1 and 2 class. The children were very happy to see two crates of percussion instruments being carried over to the hall for their lesson, but mystified by a … Continue reading →

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Issue 9: Musical Multiples

Posted on October 14, 2011 by

I have been experimenting in my year 5 & 6 djembe class with poly-rhythms as a warm-up activity in recent lessons.  I was delighted when the class came back next lesson and performed a new piece to me which they had … Continue reading →

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Issue 9: Theory – “The Circle Diagram”

Posted on October 14, 2011 by

When I teach the scales and key signatures part of theory, I always teach “The Circle Diagram” quite early on. The instructions have taken me about half an hour to type, and the sheer wordiness may well put you off … Continue reading →

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Issue 8: Welcome to the Music Jungle

Posted on October 8, 2011 by

This week in the jungle there is an incident involving wildebeest,  a method of teaching the difference between triple-time and quadruple time, and how to draw a keyboard for business and pleasure.

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Issue 8: Mass Migration of Wildebeests

Posted on October 8, 2011 by

One of the QCA units for class music in year 3 and 4 is called “Animal Magic”.  It is a unit that I enjoy teaching, as it is easy to find suitable music to listen to, and there are so many opportunities for … Continue reading →

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Issue 8: Stamp Stamp Clap Clap

Posted on October 8, 2011 by

This is a nearly foolproof (nothing is ever completely foolproof in my experience!) for teaching children to identify whether a piece of music has four beats in a bar, or three beats in a bar.  I was amazed at how quickly the … Continue reading →

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Issue 8: How to Draw a Piano Keyboard

Posted on October 8, 2011 by

Drawing a piano is a very useful skill for answering theory questions, teaching keyboards, and creating musical birthday cards.  I have also found that piano students often find it much easier to grasp the intricacies of the notes and fingerings of … Continue reading →

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