Concepts development for infant classes
Musical concepts
Through completing the strand units of the music curriculum the child should
be enabled to
A sense of pulse
- show a steady pulse or beat (e.g. marching, tapping, clapping)
A sense of duration
- listen to and imitate patterns of long and short sounds
A sense of tempo
- understand and differentiate between fast and slow rhythmic and melodic patterns
A sense of pitch
- understand and differentiate between high and low sounds
- imitate melodies
A sense of dynamics
- understand and differentiate between loud and soft sounds
A sense of structure
- understand 'start' and 'stop'
A sense of timbre
- play with and explore a variety of sound-making materials
- classify sounds by the way they are produced
A sense of texture
- listen and respond to sounds from one source and from more than one source
A sense of style
- listen and respond to music in different styles.
Strand: Listening and responding
Strand unit: Exploring sounds
The child should be enabled to
Environmental sounds
- listen to, identify and imitate familiar sounds in the immediate environment from varying sources
rain falling, car horns blowing, dogs barking, babies crying, silence - describe sounds and classify them into sound families
machines, weather, animals, people
Vocal sounds
- recognise the difference between the speaking voice and the singing voice and use these voices in different ways
whispering, talking, shouting
saying aaaahh, singing aaahh, oooh - recognise different voices
distinguish child and adult voices
voices in the school environment
advertisements on radio - use sound words and word phrases to describe and imitate selected sounds
vroom! vroom! (engine)
clippity clop (horse)
Body percussion
- discover ways of making sounds using body percussion
tapping, clapping, slapping
Instruments
- explore ways of making sounds using manufactured and home-made instruments
manufactured
triangle, tambourine, drum, chime bars, xylophone
home-made instruments
shakers, metal or wooden objects - experiment with a variety of techniques using manufactured and homemade instruments
different ways of making sounds with a drum: using a variety of beaters; striking loudly, softly; playing different parts of the drum (e.g. rim, centre, side).
Strand unit: Listening and responding to music
The child should be enabled to
- listen to a range of short pieces of music or excerpts
excerpts from classical music
'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' from the 'Nutcracker Suite' by Tchaikovsky
'Sleigh Ride' by Leroy Anderson
extracts from 'Carnival of the Animals' by Saint-Saëns
recordings of nursery rhymes and children's songs by various artists
Eric Nagler, Danny Kaye, Rolf Harris
Irish music
'Each Little Thing' recorded by Sharon Shannon
'Trup, Trup, a Chapaillín', 'A Stór 's a Stóirín'
popular music
'Yellow Submarine' by Lennon and McCartney
'Popcorn' by Gershon Kingsley - respond imaginatively to short pieces of music through movement
clapping, skipping, marching, waving
'Hello, Dolly' performed by Louis Armstrong
'Golliwog's Cakewalk' from 'Children's Corner Suite' by Claude Debussy - talk about pieces of music, giving preferences, and illustrate responses in a variety of ways
this music is bouncy, scary, funny
it makes me feel happy, frightened, like jumping
drawing, painting - show the steady beat in listening to live or recorded music
marching, clapping, tapping the beat
'Portsmouth' by Mike Oldfield - recognise and show the difference between fast and slow tempos
running, walking, skipping
reciting a rhyme quickly, slowly
responding to fast or slow recorded music
fast: 'Flight of the Bumble Bee' by Rimsky-Korsakov
slow: 'Morning' from 'Peer Gynt Suite' by Grieg - recognise and show the difference between loud and soft sounds
slamming a door, gently closing a door
loud voices, soft voices
adjusting volume control on a tape recorder
recorded music, loud or soft
loud and soft:
'Pomp and Circumstance' March No. 1 by Elgar;
'Over the Sea to Skye', traditional Scottish song - recognise and show the difference between high and low sounds
vocal sounds, songs
extreme notes on a keyboard instrument - listen and respond to patterns of long sounds and short sounds
echo clapping, tapping rhythm patterns.
Linkage
Composing -- Talking about and recording compositions
Integration
Visual arts: Drawing; Paint; Elements of art -- An awareness of line, pattern, shape
PE: Dance -- Exploration, creation and performance of dance
Science: Energy and forces -- Sound
Strand: Performing
Strand unit: Song singing
The child should be enabled to
- recognise and sing familiar songs and melodies from other sources
nursery rhymes and songs
rainn Ghaeilge
action songs
playground or street games and songs
popular tunes from television and radio - recognise and imitate short melodies in echoes, developing a sense of pitch
simple two-note or three-note tunes and singing games, learned through imitation, without awareness of the solfa names
'Suas, Síos', 'Cherry Pie' (s, m)
'See Saw, Marjorie Daw', 'Ring-a-Rosie'(l, s, m)
'Little Sally Saucer' (l, s, m ) - show the steady beat in listening to or accompanying songs or rhythmic chants
marching, clapping, tapping the beat - show, while singing, whether sounds move from high to low or from low to high
crouching for low sound, stretching up for high sound
demonstrating with arm movements - perform songs and rhymes with a sense of dynamic (loud/soft) control where appropriate
soft, gentle singing for a lullaby
loud, energetic singing for a march or action song.
Strand unit: Early literacy
The child should be enabled to
- match selected sounds with their pictured source
teacher hums 'Twinkle, Twinkle' or 'Pease Porridge Hot' and the child chooses a picture of a star or a picture of a porridge bowl as the appropriate matching symbol - recognise and perform simple rhythm patterns from pictorial symbols
teacher claps a simple rhythm pattern from a selection of known patterns comprising 'cats' (single beats) and 'kittens' (two half beats), which the child matches.
Strand unit: Playing instruments
The child should be enabled to
- play simple percussion instruments
holding a suspended triangle and striking with a stick
shaking a tambourine
beating a drum
taking turns, playing in ones and twos - use simple home-made and manufactured instruments to accompany
songs, nursery rhymes or rhythmic chants
When singing a traditional tune (e.g. 'Five fat sausages sitting in the pan, One went pop! And the other went bang') the children may play a note on a melodic instrument for 'pop' and beat a drum on the word 'bang'.
Strand: Composing
Strand unit: Improvising and creating
The child should be enabled to
- select sounds from a variety of sources to create simple sound ideas, individually and in groups
vocal sounds, body percussion, manufactured instruments, home-made instruments
representing a bear, a frog, a fairy
using sound effects to accompany games, stories, poems - invent and perform short, simple musical pieces with some control of musical elements
fast/slow (tempo), loud/soft (dynamics), long/short (rhythm), knowing when to start and stop (structure)
soft, slow sounds on the drum
Old McDonald had a farm
... and on that farm he had a:
horse (coconut halves) -- fast, short sounds
lamb (vocal sounds) -- soft
duck (hand claps) -- slow
cow (cow bell) -- long sounds - improvise new answers to given melodic patterns
singing conversations
'How are you?' -- 'Fine, thank you!'
'Céard is ainm duit?' -- 'Pád-raig'
new verses for familiar songs and rhymes
'Hickory dickory dock, the (cat) ran up the clock'
'Let everyone (clap hands) with me'.
Strand unit: Talking about and recording compositions
The child should be enabled to
- talk about his/her work and the work of other children
how the instruments were selected
how the sounds were made
how he/she enjoyed making them
what he/she liked best - invent graphic symbols for single sounds and sound effects
- record compositions on electronic media
using the school equipment or a child's basic tape recorder.
Linkage
Listening and responding -- Exploring sounds
Performing -- Playing instruments
Integration
Visual arts: Drawing
Strand unit
Content for infant classes