This half term, Year Two have been making music using Chrome Music Lab.
In their first lesson, they learned about Gustav Holst – a composer who named his music after the planets. The children listened to two pieces of music composed by Holst, but they weren’t told what they were called. As they listened, the children wrote down adjectives to describe each piece. From this, they were able to identify which was Mars, the God of War, and which was Venus, the Goddess of Love and Beauty.
Next, the children learned that rhythm is a pattern of long and short sounds. To begin, they created a repeating pattern using coloured counters and, from this, hand actions. Once the children were confident, they used Chrome Music Lab to experiment with rhythm. By changing the instruments used, the children were able to transform their repeating patterns into musical masterpieces.
Next, the children learned all about pitch – high and low sounds. Using the Kandinsky function, the children recognised that the pitch was high at the top of the screen and low at the bottom. The boys and girls had great fun drawing shapes and lines to create different sounds, and even some funny faces.
Finally, the children explored the Song Maker function. Again, they created a repeating pattern with an instrument of their choice. Once they had completed their pattern, they were able to adjust the tempo (speed) of the music to change how it would sound.
For their final piece, the children created a piece of music to represent an animal. First, they chose an instrument which they used to create a rhythm. Then, they adjusted the tempo to reflect the speed at which their animal moves. Finally, they added a musical pattern. The boys and girls thoroughly enjoyed listening to the music and were able to accurately guess many of the animals their friends had chosen.
