Develop your own sounds, join a sing along and appreciate the world of music. Have a go at these music challenges and get feedback from an expert... Mrs Gibbon!

Key Stage 1 Challenge

With some new limitations in activities I thought it would be great to see what we can hear from our gardens or windows, or maybe if you go on a walk, what you can hear then. 

What do you need to do?  

Sit and listen for 1 minutes – maybe ask mum or dad to record on their phone. 

What did you hear? 

• Listen to the low sounds 

• Middle sounds 

• High sounds 

Now do it again and listen to 

• The close sounds (like your breathing)  

• Sounds from your garden or very close by 

• Sounds from further away 

How about listening for 

• Sounds that keep repeating themselves– (like birds) 

• Sounds that keep changing. 

Can you draw a picture to show what happened in your minute of listening? 

Perhaps you can share your picture and, if you made the recording, what you heard? 

Key Stage 2 Challenge

With some new limitations in activities I thought it would be great to see what we can hear from our gardens or windows, or maybe if you go on a walk, what you can hear then. 

What do you need to do?  

1. Sit and listen for 1 minutes – maybe record on a phone. 

What did you hear? 

• Listen to the low sounds 

• Middle sounds 

• High sounds 

Now do it again and listen to 

• The close sounds (like your breathing)  

• Sounds from your garden or very close by 

• Sounds from further away 

How about listening for 

• Sounds that keep repeating themselves– (like birds) 

• Sounds that keep changing. 

 

2. Creating a Score 

Now watch this film of bird song and see if you can follow it like a musical score.  

https://tinyurl.com/covidsoundscore1 

You can see time moving from left to right with a line, and frequency (how low or high a sound is) from bottom to op. 

Notice it shows the same image twice. One represents the left microphone and one the right. Loudness is shown by a change in colour from black (silent) through red, to almost white (loud)  

• Can you describe what you see and how that represents the sounds that you can hear? 

• Can you identify any of the birds? 

 

3. Try this! 

Try recording 10 seconds of audio then see if you can draw the sounds, using that film as a guide. 

 

4. Share it with me!  

Share your picture on your class Google Classroom, or through the school office.  

Singing Challenge

Say the words to this song – can you hear the different body parts in the song? Point to them as you say the words.

Tony Chestnut knows I love him

Tony knows, Tony knows.

Tony Chestnut knows I love him

That’s what Tony knows.

Can you think of other names that would fit instead of Tony Chestnut and what the actions may be? The names can be as silly as you want them to be and don’t have to be connected to your body! How about Isla Wigglefoot (Is = eye, la = point to mouth to show singing, Wiggle = wiggle your whole body, foot = stamp foot)

Isla Wigglefoot knows I love her,

Isla knows, Isla knows.

Isla Wigglefoot knows I love her

That’s what Isla knows.

Now for a challenge! Miss out the words one by one and sing them in your thinking voice. You should still perform the actions though. Eventually sing the whole song in thinking voice except for the words “that’s what".

 

 

Making Your Own Sounds Challenge

Watch the video we made at school with some of the children.

Have a go at making your own home percussion orchestra, using any thing around the house you can tap, shake or hit! 

 

Listening Challenge

Who enjoys David Walliams books to read? Well, he has also made some brilliant podcasts for Classic FM called David Walliams Marvellous Music. Have a listen and let us know what you think. https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/david-walliams-marvellous-musical-podcast/

Other Musical Resources 

Here are some useful websites 

https://www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-hall/news/2020/april/meet-the-orchestra-with-alberts-band/

https://www.singup.org/singupathome

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/bring-the-noise

Performance

Here is a fun video of 5 guys playing “What Makes you Beautiful” on a grand piano, but in an unusual way!!