11 minute read
Classroom Resources & Materials 59
Created by Melanie McLoughlin, Musica Viva in Schools, adapted from material from Musica Viva In Schools ‘ The Rhythm Works’ classroom resource
Students create a piece of programmatic music inspired by nature with percussion instruments
This is a fun and explorative music activity encouraging students to explore the natural world in which they create a piece of programmatic music inspired by nature. For this activity, take a walk in your school playground or backyard. What sounds can you hear? Try to walk in silence focusing on the environment around you. Move slowly and take deep breaths. Using percussion instruments students create a live piece of programmatic music to bring an image of nature to life.
For this lesson you will need:
· A variety of percussion instruments (untuned and tuned) for your class. You can also use found sound objects, such as leaves, rocks or water. Ensure that students are respectful of the environment they are sourcing their found sound objects. You could also use vocal sounds to depict bird calls or sounds of your specific environment. · An image of a landscape-MVIS The Rhythm Works show uses this image of Liffey Falls in Tasmania as inspiration for Kevin Tuck’s composition Liffey Falls.
Teaching steps:
· Class brainstorm: Choose an image of nature that resonates with the class. Students might consider landscapes they love to visit or are special to them. Create a mind map of all the sounds you might hear in the chosen landscape, bird calls, crashing waves, hard dirt, urban sounds or splashing water. Encourage the use of musical vocabulary to describe the sounds. For example, Beach landscape - loud angry seagulls, fast moving surfboards, rhythmic crash of the waves, soft footsteps on the sand. · Class experimentation: how can we create those sounds with percussion instruments and found sounds? Students are to take time to explore and experiment with the different sounds with their instruments. Use a variety of tuned or untuned instruments including found sounds.
· Small group work: Move students into small groups of 4-5 and allocate an instrument or give students the option to choose their own instrument. Aim to have a combination of tuned and untuned percussion. Each group could represent a different sound from the landscape.
· Introduce the concept of structure and texture to the class. Which sound starts the composition? Do all the sounds start at the same time? Can you tell a story? Build layers of sounds from your chosen landscape. · Experiment and discuss ideas of what happens to the sounds if using dynamics (loud and soft) or if the tempo (fast and slow) changes. Does this represent the image or change the mood of the landscape?
Extension:
Write a short story set in the image of the chosen landscape. As a class or in small groups tell the story through music considering the different sounds used. This activity can develop and be extended over several weeks, moving from an improvised soundscape to groups arranging their ideas into sequences and composing a piece of programmatic music. Perform the compositions to other classes without the image and story and engage in discussion as to what type of landscape the group is representing. Show the image, narrate the story and perform again.
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