Teaching the Music Curriculum

Teaching the Music Curriculum

Sue Hollingworth, Sing Up Advocate, explains how the Sing Up resources can help you teach the Music Curriculum

To acquire an understanding of the elements of music, children in our primary schools need to make music practically. There is no better way of doing this than singing songs together, playing singing games and committing songs to memory. Here's where our contact with Sing Up will pay dividends, along with its series of training programmes and the Song Bank. Once we've built up a repertoire of suitable songs with the class (and National Curriculum for Music asks us to do this),

the next step is to begin to teach some musical concepts and practise skills using these songs as the performing medium.

WHERE TO BEGIN?

The Music Curriculum asks us to help children to pitch match - in other words to sing in tune. Some children come to this later than others, but it's an ongoing skill that deserves our ongoing attention.

   To teach this concept, choose the simplest songs from the Song Bank. Even if we don't feel too confident, it is best to learn these simple songs from memory. Try singing them to the children phrase by phrase, asking them to repeat each phrase back. If they can manage to do this without the backing track, so much the better.

   We want the children to really focus on you; to watch your mouth shape but above all to listen. It is easier to pitch match to a live voice than anything else. Listen hard to their singing replies. They have to listen hard to us, so we must listen hard to them in return.

   Remember, we don't necessarily have to accept what comes back. We might ask for the reply to be a little higher or to begin on the same note as we did. I'm not suggesting here that we harangue the children who can't pitch match, but some carefully chosen words of encouragement and the knowledge that, as their teacher we are expecting some quality replies, can really focus young minds. Praise children who suddenly improve. They need to know what pleases us.

   Now let's turn our attention to beat (or pulse),

tempo and rhythm. The beat or pulse is like a constant regular single heartbeat that runs through the song. Children can tap it, move and walk to it and even play an instrument to it. Choose a song from the Song Bank and teach it thoroughly. Once they really know it, ask them to tap a pulse on knees or shoulders (body percussion). A feeling for pulse even goes on through any silences in the song. For those who can't feel the pulse, move their hands for them so that they can feel the pulse as you help them. Keep working with these children until they feel what is wanted. Walking a pulse is harder and requires more control. Playing percussion to the pulse is harder again so there is a progression of learning here to be taught over time.

   Tempo is the speed of pulse, so don't try teaching faster and slower before children experience pulse. All the songs in the Song Bank that have backing tracks have had their tempo chosen for us, so for teaching faster and slower, work without the backing tracks.

   Choose a song the class knows well and ask a child to set off the class using a tapped pulse that's slower than the normal tempo. (Young leadership is coming out here and could be used as evidence for the Sing Up Silver Award). Explore the extremes of tempo too. Which tempo do the children prefer and why? (Answers to these types of questions will fulfil some Gold Award criteria).

   Rhythm is easy to teach from songs as it's the pattern of the word syllables. This concept is also a gift for literacy lessons. It tends to be a 'stop-starty' thing unlike the beat/pulse, which is regular. Some children will have to work hard to tap every syllable as they sing. Watch and listen to them carefully. Physically help those who are having difficulty. Also, check that children don't tap during any silences. These are called rests.

Once children understand the basic concept of rhythm, it is time to play a few games. Can a child tap a phrase of rhythm from a known song while singing in their thinking voice? Can other children guess what it is?

By careful selection of songs from the Song Bank online resource, it's possible to teach children the rhythm names to simpler songs.

Analysis of phrase structure is also easy to teach from a song. A phrase is what we decide to sing in one breath (linking to literacy). You might want to ask, "How many phrases in this song?" Help the children to count them as they sing. For more experienced children, you could ask them. "Are phrases all the same or are some different? Which ones are the same? Which are different, and how?"

The findings of the recent Ofsted report, Making More of Music, said that some teachers did not challenge the responses of their pupils enough, probably because of their own lack of musical experience. Now we have a chance to grasp the opportunities offered by Sing Up, to increase our curriculum knowledge, improve our confidence and to grasp all the opportunities on offer.

Song bank songs for teaching different music topics

• oo a lay lay - an African song for pitch matching. The last phrase has wider pitch range but the other phrases revolve around three notes.
• There's a spider on the floor - children can tap the beat or pulse on the places suggested in the song. They may need help to keep the pulse going through the silent parts.
• Dem bones - a traditional spiritual great for tempo. Try it without a backing track at faster and slower tempi. Which version do the children prefer, and why?
• 'Consider Yourself' from Oliver! - This is great for rhythm - tap the rhythm of the words as they sing. Younger children will have to work hard to tap every syllable.
• Computer crazy - is ideal for learning phrase structure. The chorus has four phrases; the first and third phrases are the same. The verse has four phrases; the second and fourth phrase have slightly different rhythms.

Sing Up Advocate Sue Hollingworth is Musical Director for the Scunthorpe  Co-operative Junior Choir, which was named BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year 2008. She divides her time between music education and choral conducting, and was awarded a Churchill Fellowship for her work with young choirs.