Musical journey around the world!

Students in 123 Bicicletta began term three exploring music from different countries, including the USA, Japan, Ireland, and Ghana. This involved learning about musical instruments, cultural aspects and celebratory traditions unique to each region. Students participated by playing instruments, using body percussion, and immersing themselves in songs, stories and rhymes. 

We are so lucky to have a number of West African instruments in the music room. The students enjoyed exploring and experimenting with these during music. 

As a part of the Cultural Infusion day, students enjoyed learning about West African music and participated n drumming. 

Students enjoyed learning a rhyme and about culture and instruments from Japan. We were very lucky have Toshi sensei come and teach us more about taiko and other Japanese instruments. 

Pass the Pumpkin

Students loved learning this spooky song and game for Halloween. They did a brilliant job at accompanying the singing!

Storytelling through Music

In preparation for their visit to the performance of ‘The Carnival of the Animals’, students listened to the music and explored instruments of the orchestra.  They listened to the story ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and created movements to tell the story and played listening games. To finish the semester students experimented with instruments and found sounds to compose soundscapes for the story ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. They then had the opportunity to perform their compositions to the class. 

Gatherings & Markets

Students had the opportunity to perform at 123 gatherings and Curiosita markets. Here are some of the talented and brave performers from this semester. 

Singing & Playing

This semester, students focused on in-tune singing with singing games and practised beat and rhythm by performing rhythms using body percussion & instruments. 

Bouncing Bicycle 

Students had to follow different parts of the music and follow tempo changes in the music. This piece required students to listen and echo. Some students had the opportunity to lead the call and response section. 

Parachute & Dance

Students explored the element of form by actively listening to different musical pieces and responding through movement with the parachute. Additionally, they learned folk dances, further expanding their understanding of musical expression.

Aiken Drum 

Students learnt the traditional Scottish song with an Italian twist. 

There was a man lived in the moon, in the moon, in the moon

There was a man lived in the moon and his name was Aiken Drum. 

And he played upon a ladle, a ladle, a ladle

And he played upon a ladle and his name was Aiken Drum. 

And his hair was made of spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti

And his hair was made of spaghetti and his name was Aiken drum

And his eyes were made of meatballs, meatballs, meatballs

And his eyes were made of meatballs & his name was Aiken drum.

And his nose was made of cheese, cheese, cheese

And his nose was made of cheese and his name was Aiken drum

And his mouth was made of pizza, pizza, pizza

And his mouth was made of pizza & his name was Aiken drum.

And he played upon a ladle, a ladle, a ladle

And he played upon a ladle and his name was Aiken Drum.

They then created their own new versions of 'Aiken Drum' by creating a new character made up of different food or objects. Here are all the wacky and wonderful new characters they created! 

Exploring Pitch

In Term 2, students explored the concept of pitch. They engaged in singing and played simple songs on xylophones, deepening their understanding of musical notation through solfege and the stave.

Gatherings & Markets

Students had the opportunity to perform at 123 gatherings and Curiosita markets. Here are some of the talented and brave performers from this semester. 

Ukulele

This semester in Music, 123 students began by learning ukulele. They learnt the different parts of the ukulele and how to locate and play simple chords. They practiced strumming and accompanying the class with singing. 

Singing & Pitch

They continued to explore pitch and develop in tune singing by playing singing games such as 'Apple Tree' and 'Poison SoLaMi'. With a focus on group and individual singing and playing simple ostinatos. 

In term 4, students began rehearsing for the performance at the Twilight Market. Students made decisions about actions and how they wanted to present their song to the audience. 

In the Hall of the Mountain King

They explored the piece of music ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ by Edvard Grieg. They completed different tasks such as deriving the rhythm, creating their own rhythm monsters, dancing and telling the story through movement. To end the unit they surprised the audience at gathering with a flash mob dance to this piece. 

Gatherings & Markets

Finally we combined both body percussion and rhythm notation to make our own ostinato patterns to accompany the song 'Icka Backa'. 

Singing, Xylophones & Keyboards!

In term 2 the focus was on pitch, singing and playing xylophones & keyboards. We started each session off with warm ups, playing listening and singing games then played instruments.  Students made choices about the music they performed by changing elements such as tempo and dynamics. 

All 3 groups performing Performing 'Pudding on the Hill' listen out for the different farmer voices

Listening & Responding

Students listened to different styles of music and responded through drawing and dance.  They discussed and described how the different use of elements of music creates moods, effects or how it changed. 

Students had fun learning a folk dance to a piece called 'Chimes of Dunkirke'. They had to listen to the patterns in the music and for any changes in the tempo. They also worked as a team to make sure everyone had a turn at sharing their moves down the middle. 

Gathering Performances

This year Friday Gatherings are back with a bang and we have had some absolutely fantastic performances by brave & talented students from Bicicletta. Here are some of the students that performed this semester. Well done to all of the students that have performed so far.

Bicicletta started off the year with a focus on beat and rhythm. They learnt chants and raps that involved adding movements while keeping a steady beat. They explored graphic notation by performing using body percussion and then playing percussion instruments along with the Donkey Kong theme song. Here are some snippets & photos of the students playing along. 

They then moved onto reading rhythmic notation and performing along with Yoshi's theme. In this task the focus was on playing the rhythms with a steady beat and composing a short solo for the free play section. Students then explored with this rhythm by playing it on different instruments and experimenting with different musical elements; dynamics, tempo and pitch. 

To end the term we explored how music can be used to change the mood of a story. They watched this snippet of Lion King and responded by drawing faces or writing to how the different music made them feel and how the story changed. 

In term 2 the focus has been on pitch, singing and using our voices in different ways. We started each session off by doing lots of different warm ups, playing listening and singing games. Here is a song called 'Charlie over the Ocean'. Students get to be a soloist and the group echoes. 

Plasticine Person

Another warm up activity was 'Plasticine Person' have a listen to the wacky adventures plasticine person went on with Bicicletta

Mama Llama

Mama Llama is a super catchy nonsense song that involves body percussion, singing and creating dance moves.

Down by the Bay

Students read the story 'Down by the Bay' and identified all the rhyming lyrics and learnt the song. They then became lyric writers and created new verses to the song. These new lyrics have been put together to create an LC singing book. 

Rain Storm

Students created a rainstorm by using different body percussion sounds & their voices. They explored texture by putting the different sounds together and dynamics by making the sounds build up through the storm. Here are the 3 different groups performing their rainstorms. 

Isle of Tune

Making musical beats and patterns using the website 'Isle of Tune'.