Into Music 1
Classroom Music in Years 1 – 3
About this resource
This Ministry of Education resource is an adaptation of the original book and
CD Into Music 1, Classroom Music in Years 1 – 3, Learning Media (2001). In
this online resource, the book has been updated and digitised to provide links
to online resources and to reflect the New Zealand Curriculum (2007).
The resource is written for all teachers of children in years 1 to 3 and may
also be useful to adapt for other age groups. It aims to inspire and reassure
teachers by providing approaches to teaching music that reflect the strands
and achievement objectives of Music – Sound arts (levels 1 – 2) and the New
Zealand Curriculum.
This first section looks at the skills and concepts involved in listening, moving,
singing, playing, creating and representing music through a range of effective
pedagogical practices for teaching and learning in music. The second section
provides units of work, which teachers can download and adapt to meet the
needs of the children in their communities and classes. Each unit has a
specific focus of listening, singing, playing, and creating and representing.
Just as the strands of the curriculum document are linked and woven
together, so the skills and aspects of music learning are integrated through
each unit. Audio tracks from the original Into Music 1 CD (Crown copyright
2001) are provided to support the specific learning contexts of each unit. Links
are made to relevant and useful online support materials.
The downloadable units in this resource are each contextualised around a
central key music learning aspect and a piece of music. They are as follows:
Listening and Responding:
“In the Hall of the Mountain King”
“Tihore Mai”
“Trains”
Singing:
“Koromiko”
“O le Pepe”
“The Rattlin’ Bog”
Playing:
“Jazzy Cats’ Walk”
“Hailstones”
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
“The Sandcastle Song”
Creating and Representing:
“Whakarongo”
“Fireworks”
“Night Countdown”
Introduction
“By making, sharing, and responding to music, students contribute to the
cultural life of their schools, whānau, peer groups, and communities. As they
engage with and develop knowledge and deeper understandings of music,
they draw on cultural practices and on histories, theories, structures,
technologies, and personal experiences.” The New Zealand Curriculum
(2007)
Making and sharing music are important social activities in the lives of young
children. Making music with others can be one of the highlights of the school
day as the children sing their favourite songs and learn new ones, enjoy
performances from visiting musicians, play instruments, create new pieces,
move to music, and listen to and talk about different kinds of music.
Music is very social and celebratory. It’s intellectually challenging and has
obvious and meaningful connections to children’s everyday lives and
experiences – birthdays, religious occasions, festivals, sports events,
welcomes, and farewells. Music is an integral part of these occasions.
Many teachers feel that their own lack of musical experience and confidence
in teaching music prevent them from providing worthwhile musical
experiences for their children. This resource aims to support and develop that
personal music knowledge as well as to provide units of work that are userfriendly, musically valid, and challenging for children.
The approach to assessment used in each unit acknowledges the fact that
teachers are assessing all the time as they teach. Assessment happens as
you observe and question children, give them feedback, and extend and
challenge their language and ideas.
One of the joys of teaching junior children is that they are open and
enthusiastic and show their enjoyment of the music-making experiences
provided for them. Music programmes need to be accessible to and inclusive
of all learners, providing challenges and opportunities for all to participate and
contribute. Teachers expect diversity in their classrooms, and making and
sharing music is an ideal way to cater for different learning styles and needs.
Music programmes also provide many important opportunities to celebrate
and develop understandings about aspects of tikanga and te reo Māori. They
should reflect and celebrate the cultures and communities represented in the
schools, including those from the Pacific and from Asia.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
Listening and Responding
Every musical activity requires us to listen and respond to sound, whether we
are singing along to our iPods, moving in time to a beat, choosing instruments
to create a soundscape, or imitating a pattern played on a drum. Listening is a
fundamental aspect of the Music - Sound Arts discipline in the NZ Curriculum
and is integrated throughout the four music strands. Aural perception,
developed through careful listening, is the foundation for all other music
making. As a teacher, you need to plan listening experiences that will broaden
children’s musical horizons, opening their ears to an unlimited sound world
and celebrating the wonderful variety of music styles and forms available to
them.
Children are used to having music playing in the background, for example, at
home, at the supermarket, and in the car. You can use background music in
your classroom to create a particular atmosphere of either calm or energy as
the children take part in activities such as painting a picture or tidying the
room. However, it is vital that your music programme also provides
opportunities for focused listening. On these occasions, you can direct the
children to attend to particular features of music and other sounds and give
them opportunities to respond in different ways.
Your music programme should include popular music, which is a part of even
very young children’s lives. Children are often well informed about the latest
popular groups and singers, and this knowledge can be a valid part of class
discussion about music. The Music-Sound Arts discipline in the NZ
Curriculum is structured around four inter-related strands and focused
listening activities enable learning in all four strands. As they talk about the
music that is part of their everyday lives and discuss the social and cultural
purposes of different kinds of music, they will be working towards the goals of
the Understanding Music – Sound Arts in Context strand of the arts
curriculum. As children listen to and talk about musical performances by their
classmates or visiting musicians, they will be developing skills central to the
Communicating and Interpreting strand. Listening for and reflecting on the
elements of music is a significant component of the Developing Practical
Knowledge strand of the arts curriculum and as they consider the tools
composers and artists use to create mood and tell a story, they are
Developing Ideas to bring to their own creativity.
Learning Experiences

Children need to acquire a music vocabulary so that they can talk about
the features of the music that they notice and discuss their responses to
these features. You can model the use of a music vocabulary to identify
or describe the important elements in a piece of music. Encourage the
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
children to use terms such as high and low (pitch), loud and soft
(dynamics), fast and slow (tempo), long and short (duration) as well as
beat and rhythm. Use favourite poems and say in lots of different voices
to reinforce the children’s understanding of the elements of music.

In order to identify when changes occur in a piece of music, encourage
the children to show with their hands and their bodies how the music
changes, for example, moving their hands up and down when the pitch
changes, patting on their knees as the beat changes.

Collect sound sources from the natural environment (harakeke stems,
stones, dry leaves, water) and explore the qualities of these sounds.
Can the children describe the sounds? It is important to be aware of the
protocols around collecting natural materials.

Play listening games regularly.

Provide opportunities for children to think about the way music is used in
their lives. Watch a movie with and without the music. Discuss whether
the movie is as exciting, sad, happy, scary or funny without the music.
Alternatively record the music beforehand and use it in the “wrong”
places, for example, happy music at a scary part and discuss the impact
the music has.

Listen to music from different parts of the world and help the children to
identify and discuss the purpose of music. Is it music for telling a story?
... for dancing? ... for a ceremony, such as a wedding or a concert? ... for
a lullaby?
Teaching Approaches
There is no one single way to listen and respond to music. A variety of
teaching approaches is appropriate and will help to keep the children
motivated and excited about listening. Both the approach and the behaviour
while listening need to suit the music, the teacher, and the children.
Sometimes you might encourage the children to move as they listen,
particularly if you want them to identify and respond to the beat or tempo of
the music. For other pieces of music, you may encourage them to lie down
with their eyes closed and listen in a quiet, relaxed way. Alternatively, you
may prefer the children to be sitting up so that you can maintain eye contact
with them and they can see how you are responding to the music. Most
importantly, children need opportunities for repeated listenings.
Getting motivated
Preliminary activities will depend on the purpose for listening and the nature of
the piece. The following suggestions are ways to turn on children’s ears and
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
imaginations before they listen:

Find a picture that captures the mood of the piece, for example, a
picture of the New Zealand bush would set the mood to listen to
“Koromiko”.

Choose an object that provides a clue to a theme, an idea, or a
significant element in the music. For example, the children could
explore the sounds of wood, stone, and shells before listening to
the sounds of traditional Māori instruments in “Tihore Mai”.

Use a poem, a picture book or a song with a similar theme to focus
children’s attention.
Focus questions and teaching points
Get the children to listen to the music once right through so that they can
enjoy the impact of the music as a whole. Ask for their initial general
responses: What did you notice in the music? What did you think was
important in it? Did it remind you of other music you’ve heard? Did it make
you want to dance? ... relax? ... march? ... play an instrument? If this was
music for a movie, what might the people in the movie be doing? What
instruments did you hear?
Prepare the children for a second listening, perhaps by focusing them on a
particular feature of the music. As we listen this time, I want you to notice
when the music gets louder/softer/higher/lower. Show me when the rhythm
stops/starts. Tell me when the melody changes. This piece has fast parts and
slow parts. Show me, by patting your knees in time to the music, when it gets
faster or slower.
If the music has a particular theme or tells a story, you can use this to
encourage the children to talk about the elements in the music. For example,
“The Elephant” from Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens or one of the
themes from Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev could lead to a discussion about
the size and shape of the animals, how they might move, and how this is
reflected in the music. This piece is about an animal. Does it sound like a big
or little animal? How do you think the animal is moving – slowly or quickly?
Would it make a loud sound or a soft sound?
Follow-up responses
Some listening experiences may be enhanced by a follow-up activity. If the
music evokes imagery and the children respond naturally with visual ideas,
then an art activity may be a fun, relevant way to respond to the music. This
music makes me think of a starry sky;... people dancing around a fire; ... a big,
old elephant; ... a battle in space; ... a volcano erupting. For other pieces,
movement, shared writing, or creating a soundscape, may be more
appropriate. Let’s make up butterfly music; ... music that has a loud part in the
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
middle with lots of short and long sounds; ... music that uses water sounds,
shells, and leaves, like the piece we’ve been listening to.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
Have a class listening box
filled with everyday objects
to play with that the children
have to recognise aurally,
for example, a stapler,
scissors cutting paper, a
pen scribbling on paper,
ripping paper, clicking pen,
Sellotape ripping, keys
rattling, water bottle
swishing.
Choose a new piece of music
for the children to listen to
each week from a variety of
genres. Let them hear the
piece several times during the
week so that they notice
different features. Encourage
them to identify the music by
its title, composer and
performer.
Encourage a variety of
responses to the music you
share with the children, for
example, writing a creative
story or a letter to someone
about it, painting or
sculpting, dancing to it or
creating another piece
inspired by the music.
Have music playing for class
routines, such as tidying up, or
lining up at the door. Talk with
the children about the way the
music makes them want to
move, for example, quickly or
slowly, giant steps or small
steps, quietly on tiptoe or loudly
stamping.
CREATING AN
ACTIVE LISTENING
ENVIRONMENT
Provide opportunities for the
children to hear and view live
music and dance. Invite
individuals or groups from
your local intermediate or
secondary school or the
community. Ensure they are
well prepared with things to
listen for and questions to
ask.
Focus the children’s attention on
the sounds around them, both
inside and outside. Go for
listening walks and make
listening for the sounds an
important focus for any class
visit. These sounds can become
useful sources for their own
compositions.
Treat the songs you teach as
listening material. Encourage
the children to notice and
talk about some features of
the song, such as the style,
the mood, the instruments
used in the accompaniment,
the lyrics and the story they
tell.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
Moving
"What then is elemental music? Elemental music is never music alone but
forms a unity with movement, dance and speech”. (Carl Orff)
Children need to move! Not just for the sake of their physical development,
but also for social, emotional and cognitive development.
Movement is a very natural way to respond to music, particularly for young
children and it is essential that this need for movement is provided for. Nearly
every music experience at this level will offer opportunities for movement
whether it is marching to the beat, learning a haka, improvising to a piece of
music, responding through movement to the sounds of untuned percussion
instruments or learning a folk dance from another culture.
At this early stage the focus is on developing a vocabulary of locomotor and
non-locomotor movement that can be used in many combinations and
situations, and the use of body, space, time, energy and relationships.
Responding through movement is a way of showing an understanding of the
elements of music and of developing learning in dance.
Through movement, the children can show changes and contrasts in:
 melodic shape (when the tune goes high or low);
 dynamics (when the music gets louder or softer);
 tempo (when the music gets faster or slower);
 tone colour (wiggle on a tambourine sound, stamp on the drum sound).
They can also move:
 in time to the beat;
 expressively to show the mood of the piece;
 to show when a phrase begins and ends (folk dance is very good for this);
 in a way that shows aspects of rhythm and metre, for example, on an
accented beat at the start of a group of two, three, or four beats.
Movement activities help you to observe what the children are hearing and
understanding in the music. Talking to the children about the musical
elements that they particularly noticed and responded to can provide you with
valuable assessment information.
The CDs New Zealand Music for Creative Dance Volume 1 and Volume 2
provide a selection of contrasting pieces that are ideal for discussion and
movement in response to different musical elements.
Opportunities for movement experiences are woven through the units in this
resource and teachers are encouraged to use and adapt the ideas to meet the
natural and responsive needs and experience of their students.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
The Arts learning area of the New Zealand Curriculum has Dance as one of
the four disciplines and there are many excellent resources to support
teachers in meeting the achievement objectives in Dance.
Arts Online has a wide range of readings and units to support dance and
movement learning. For example, Dance Across the Curriculum is three units
of work written to support learning in English, science and maths through
dance.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
Singing
Children love to sing, in and out of school, along with the radio or television, in
church, or on the bus. They come to school already knowing a whole range of
songs from many different sources. Singing is an important social activity that
brings people together and often lifts their spirits. Singing should hold a very
important place in our school music programmes and enhance other parts of
the curriculum as well.
If you can accompany the children’s singing with guitar, ukulele or piano,
that’s great. If not, the children don’t need to miss out on a varied, worthwhile,
and joyful singing programme. Celebrate the fact that there’s a wonderful
selection of recorded material to support you, and push that play button or
download with style! iTunes and YouTube are valuable resources if you are
searching for a specific song.
Through singing, children can develop many important music skills and
directly experience elements of music, such as pitch, rhythm, tempo,
dynamics, and tone colour. Singing can also provide opportunities for children
to practise basic Māori language and be prepared for special occasions, for
example, welcoming and farewelling guests to the school.
Singing develops skills and understandings across each of the four music
strands in The Arts learning area of the NZ Curriculum. As children come to
appreciate singing within their own community or from other cultures, they are
Understanding Music in Context; as they explore the elements of music
through song, they are Developing Practical Knowledge; as they make up
simple songs and chants, they are Developing Ideas and as they perform for
others and discuss and evaluate their own and others’ singing performances,
they are Communicating and Interpreting.
In your music programme, you need to make the most of these important
junior years, when children are so responsive, and provide both planned and
spontaneous singing opportunities. To enjoy singing with others is an
important outcome of singing at school.
Learning Experiences

Foster an understanding of pitch differences by relating to body
movement. Get the children to sing low notes touching their toes and
gradually stretching up high and raising the pitch as they go.

Use the slide outside in the playground to reinforce pitch awareness-up,
up, up the ladder, down, down, down the slide.

Have simple sung conversations with the children.
“Hello Christopher” using the soh-me interval.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
What did you have for breakfast? Extend this by singing the roll at the
beginning of the day: “Kia ora, Tahu”
and Tahu can reply: ”Kia ora, Ms Campbell”.

Learn echo songs, which give children the opportunity to hear and echo
an in-tune singing model. For example “E Toru Nga Mea” or Copycat Rap.

Use important sporting and cultural events to discuss the use of songs for
particular purposes, for example, the Olympic Games, World Cup events
or important visitors to the country or your school. Learn appropriate
Māori and Pacific Island songs for welcoming and farewelling visitors and
guests, for example Tena Koutou for welcomes and Kua Mutu Rā ngā
Mihi e for farewells.

Use every song as an opportunity for reinforcing the elements of musicpat the beat on your knees... clap the rhythm of the words... are these
notes low or high notes?.. let’s try singing it all in a high voice… which
verse should we sing softly?... what effect does that have on the meaning
of the words?...if we sung it loudly how would it change the song?...is this
a fast tempo or a slow tempo?...do we use a different quality of voice for a
lullaby and a pirate song?...and so on.

Provide opportunities for children to hear live performances of singinginvite the choirs, chorales or glee clubs from your local intermediate or
secondary school. Have the children well prepared with things to listen for
and good questions to ask.
Teaching Approaches
Teaching a song

Get to know the song well first, so that you can teach it with confidence.

Warm up the children’s voices before they sing (See Games and Starters
suggested for the singing units in this resource.)

Introduce the song in a motivating way that sets the scene for singing. For
example, when introducing a song about pirates; “This is a very lively
song about pirates. Who can talk like a pirate? What sorts of things do
pirates in stories say? Who can walk like a pirate?

Let the children hear the song several times. While listening, they could:
 pat their knees in time to the beat;
 move expressively;
 focus on features of the words or the
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
accompaniment.

Let them sing along with the chorus or with the whole song if it’s not too
difficult. If they find some of the words tricky, the children might just hum
along for the first couple of times.

The children will need to listen carefully to how the song begins and
practise coming in at the right time. If you are accompanying them on a
guitar or keyboard, you will need to either play an introduction or give a
clear starting note and set the speed (tempo) of the song by counting in.

Praise what they do well and then ask them to share their ideas on how
they could improve next time.

Encourage them to think of ways that they could enhance the
performance of the song (for example, by adding instruments, body
percussion, actions, or dance movements).

Make the song and words available for the children to practise and enjoy
before school and at lunchtimes.
Singing Māori songs

When learning songs in Māori, children need to be able to pronounce the
words correctly and understand their meaning and the purpose of the
song.

Waiata-ā- ringa are songs with actions. Some have been written for
children to practise basic Māori language, for example, Pakeke Mai.

Other waiata-ā-ringa and waiata have a particular social purpose (such as
welcoming or farewelling) that the children need to understand so that
they can perform the songs appropriately.

There are many simple waiata that have been written for children to enjoy
and that are appropriate for everyday classroom singing, for example,
songs by Hirini Melbourne.
Singing soh and me

The words soh and me represent two pitches that are a minor third apart,
for example, G (soh) and E (me) or F (soh) and D (me). These two notes
occur in children’s rhymes in many cultures and are easy for children to
sing or chant which is why they are referred to as the playground chant.
“I’m the King of the Castle” is an example of such a chant.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
Within your school, learn
five new songs each
term. At the end of the
term the whole school
votes on their favourite
song and the top two go
into the resource “Our
Favourite Songs” This
gives the children some
ownership of the school
songs.
Provide opportunities for
buddy singing with a
class of older singers.
Choose songs that you
will enjoy teaching and
that link to the children’s
interests and
experiences.
Make song words
available as a reading
station and song
recordings available for
children to listen to
before school and during
indoor lunchtimes.
CREATING AN
ACTIVE SINGING
ENVIRONMENT
Start and end every day
with a song. Singing will
wake up their brains for
a good day’s work and
send them home smiling.
Give the children feedback
about their singing and
encourage them to listen
carefully to themselves. Are
we making a pleasant, natural
singing sound? Are we in
tune? Are we singing in time
with the music and with each
other? Are we singing
expressively, making the
words clear?
Teach new songs but don’t
forget those old, catchy,
sing-along songs. Call them
“Songs my Grandma used
to sing”!!
For example, You Are My
Sunshine.
Use songs to accompany
routines such as tidying up
and coming together. Make
up new lyrics to well-known
tunes, for example, “It’s time
to tidy the classroom now” to
the tune, Here We Go Round
the Mulberry Bush.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
Playing
Playing instruments is a highly motivating activity for young children. They like
the look, feel, and sound of instruments. They like to make them out of
bottles, cans, and boxes. They like to shake, strike, and scrape them and use
them to play along with recorded music or to create sound effects for stories
and poems.
Making music is what musicians do, and children need to feel that they are
participating in the real world of music making.
Playing instruments brings together, into one experience, many important
music skills and understandings that link across the four strands of the arts
learning area. As children listen to live and recorded music featuring
instruments playing in different styles and for particular occasions, they are
Understanding Music in Context. As they explore the elements of music using
instruments and environmental sound sources, they are Developing Practical
Knowledge. As they improvise and create simple rhythms and melodies, they
are practising the skills described in the Developing Ideas strand. They are
Communicating and Interpreting as they play to one another, give feedback to
others, and evaluate and make changes to their own performances.
Classroom-made instruments are certainly cheaper than bought ones, and
making them can provide the children with a great experience in technology.
However, it is also important to provide some quality, commercially-made
instruments for the children to play. So, prepare for some joyful, noisy musicmaking in your classroom!
Learning Experiences

Encourage children to explore the sound potential of instruments and
share their discoveries, describing the techniques they are using and the
sounds they are creating. “Show me all the different ways you can play
this instrument. Tell me how you played your instrument to make it sound
so exciting; ... sound like a rainstorm; ... sound quiet and mysterious.”

Play simple, four-beat patterns on untuned percussion instruments for the
children to imitate. When they are confident with this, try putting the
children in pairs. One child plays a short pattern, and the other
copies.

Perform beat circles. The circle shown represents a simple beat
pattern. As the leader points to the dots around the circle, the
children play as indicated. Other symbols, words, or actions can
be added to create different beat patterns.

Give the children a simple graphic score to perform. A graphic score uses
pictures or symbols to represent sounds. Working with a graphic score
gives children a further understanding of the elements of music and the
effects of making and combining sounds in particular ways. The graphic
symbols may be rhythmic or non-rhythmic.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)

Use rhythm flash cards to introduce simple rhythmic notation. The
children can read and play these patterns to provide an ostinato
accompaniment for a song. You could notate a simple melodic pattern by
writing the letter-name notes under the rhythm of the words or tune.

Encourage the children to play familiar tunes by ear by getting them to:
work out part of a simple tune that moves in steps. For example: “Let’s
sing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and show with our hands when the tune
goes up or down. Now we’ll play it. It starts on E and goes stepping down
to C. See if you can work out the next little bit. Does it go up or down?”
(Other examples of songs that move mainly in steps are “Frère Jacques”,
“Three Blind Mice”, and “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”.)
Teaching Approaches
Using body percussion
Clapping, finger clicking, stamping, knee patting, tongue clicking, and chest
tapping are all ways to play to the beat and imitate or improvise rhythm.
Encourage the children to show the beat somewhere on their bodies while
they are listening to a new song or instrumental piece. It’s also fun to create a
body percussion rhythm piece by layering body percussion patterns. For
example, group one claps a beat, group
two clicks on beats two and four, group
three taps, a pattern on their knees, and
group four slaps a different pattern on
their chests. These patterns could
accompany a song or poem.
Using untuned percussion
instruments
Once children have had plenty of opportunities to explore the sounds of
untuned percussion instruments and have established appropriate playing
techniques, they will enjoy using these instruments to add a rhythmic
accompaniment to songs, poems, and instrumental pieces. With untuned
instruments, the children can develop important practical knowledge by
playing the beat and imitating and improvising simple rhythmic patterns. They
can also use untuned instruments to create soundscapes and sound effects
for stories.
Using tuned percussion instruments
If you don’t have a class set of tuned percussion, children can work two to an
instrument. Alternatively, if you only have a very small set of instruments, you
could make this a teacher-directed group activity. The following activities will
help the children to explore and use the instruments you have available in
musically purposeful and satisfying ways.
 Show the children how to hold and use a beater so that the notes vibrate
and ring. Encourage them to play with two beaters, one in each hand,
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)



using a bouncing motion.
Let the children use instruments to accompany stories that involve high
and low. Let’s climb up a high mountain and slide down again.
Encourage the children to make up their own high and low, up and down
stories.
Play or sing a pattern on one, the two notes. Name the note. See if the
children can imitate your pattern. Let them try first with a finger, tapping
on the note they will play. Then, using a beater, they can work in pairs,
playing and echoing one-note patterns.
Play patterns of notes an octave apart for the children to echo, for
example, low C and high C. Use this skill to accompany rounds, for
example, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” or “Kookaburra Sits in the Old
Gum Tree”.
Playing recorder
The recorder is a popular instrument to support music learning. It is light to
hold, relatively inexpensive and a very valuable tool in fostering the learning of
music notation and the techniques of playing wind instruments. Even at a
young age children can enjoy learning a few simple tunes.
Playing ukulele
The ukulele is a popular instrument for young children to learn. It is a great
instrument for accompanying singing and even very young children can learn
one or two simple chords. Arts Online has a useful ukulele resource that will
support the teaching of this versatile instrument.
Improvising rhythmic and melodic patterns
An ability to improvise requires many musical skills and understandings, all
working together. To improvise rhythm, the children need to be able to hear,
feel, and show the underlying beat. After repeated experiences of imitating
three- and four-beat patterns, they will begin to have a sense of metre and
phrasing in their improvisation. The pentatonic scale is a safe place to begin
melodic improvisation. Using two or more notes from the scale, the children
can make up simple patterns over the beat. On Arts Online you will find an
example of a school-wide unit based around the pentatonic scale.
To help develop the ability to improvise:
•
provide opportunities for jam sessions where the children play their
instruments or use body percussion along with a song or instrumental
piece that has a strong beat. Encourage them to make up their own
rhythmic patterns over the beat;
 try some question and answer phrases. Clap or play a four-beat pattern
to a child and see if they can improvise a four-beat pattern in response;
 create a rhythm or melodic rondo. For this, everyone claps or plays a
class pattern, for example, of four beats. This pattern alternates, with
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
individual children improvising their own four-beat pattern in between
each repeat of the class pattern. The resulting piece has the rondo
structure of ABACA, and so on.
Encourage the children
to explore the soundmaking potential of
everyday objects from
home, the classroom
and the natural
environment.
Encourage the children
to children to decorate
and display the
instruments they have
made.
Use musical instruments
to enhance shared
stories, for example,
represent each character
in a story with an
instrument or use
instruments to create
sound effects.
Teach children to treat
the instruments with
respect: instruments are
expensive and they need
careful handling and
regular maintenance.
CREATING AN
ACTIVE PLAYING
ENVIRONMENT
Use the Jon Madin
resources to introduce
playing of tuned percussion.
View for a unit that can be
used alongside these
resources.
Display graphic scores
and patterns of
conventional notation on
the walls for children to
play.
Invite community musicians,
school staff, older students
and parents to perform in your
school.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
Creating and Representing
Exploring and creating with sound can provide a lot of fun for young musicians
as well as a challenge to their imaginations. Through their creative work, the
children will be demonstrating the development of some important skills and
understandings. These skills and understandings will enable the children to
select sounds and to use these to create soundscapes or tell a story through
sound.
These explorative and creative experiences are examples of the Developing
Ideas strand in action. As the children select, organise, and combine sounds
to create a particular mood or effect, they are applying, in creative ways,
Practical Knowledge that they have developed through singing, playing, and
listening to music. The children also work within the Communicating and
Interpreting strand as they reflect on and make changes to their compositions
and respond to and evaluate creative presentations from others. As they
create music for particular purposes and begin to make links between their
own creative decisions and those of other composers, they are exploring the
Understanding Music in Context strand.
This section and the relevant units also describe the skills that the children
need in order to represent music using graphic or pictorial notation.
Representing music using graphic notation enables children to keep a record
of their creative ideas and to share these ideas with others. Using graphic
notation doesn’t mean that just any old squiggle will do. The notation should
demonstrate the children’s developing understanding of the musical elements
as they use symbols to show the characteristics of particular sounds and as
they combine and sequence these symbols to create an overall effect.
Learning Experiences

Explore and talk about all sorts of sounds: environmental sounds, such
as those made by leaves, water, or stones; body and mouth sounds,
such as finger or tongue clicking, hand rubbing, or clapping; and
instrument sounds (from tuned and untuned percussion). It’s important
that the children can talk about the characteristics of the sounds they
discover, how these sounds are produced, and in what way they might
be changed to become, for example, louder, softer, scarier, or more
peaceful.

Provide an opportunity for an improvisation circle, which will foster sound
exploration and an understanding of how sounds can work together.

Accompany a dance or drama activity, using instruments, found sounds
and their voices to provide mood, atmosphere and sound effects.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)

Encourage the children to create soundscapes in response to a source
of motivation. The term soundscape refers to a sequence of sounds with
a particular linking theme or idea and for the children this involves
selecting, combining, and organising sounds to create a structured
piece. Soundscapes require a stimulus for the children’s creativity, for
example, a text, a picture, an experience, or listening to a piece of
music. With appropriate motivation and careful questioning, the children
will begin to think about and plan their soundscapes in terms of tone
colour, texture, and form. What kinds of sounds do we want in our
piece? (tone colour) When do we want a single sound, and when do we
want to put sounds together? (texture) What will happen at the
beginning, in the middle, and at the end of our piece? (form). To help
motivate the children:
o choose a stimulus that will generate lots of discussion and
ideas;
o model initial soundscape activities with the whole class so that
you can direct the activity carefully and seek ideas from the
whole group.
Encourage the children to talk about their soundscapes using music
vocabulary and imaginative words to describe the mood or atmosphere
created by different sounds.

Make a mobile of hanging sound-cards (cards with a symbol for a sound
on each of them) to hang above a sound table. The children can
interpret the sound cards using the instruments and sound-makers from
the table.

Provide opportunities for the children to experiment with making up
different symbols for sounds, for example, blobs, circles, triangles,
squares, or wiggly, wavy lines. If they work in pairs, one person can
create a sound, and the other can represent the sound with a symbol.

Encourage the children to create simple graphic scores of their
soundscapes. Writing a graphic score helps the children to make
creative decisions about the effects of putting sounds into particular
combinations and sequences. The score can show the theme of the
piece, the kinds of sounds to be made, and the order to make them in. It
can show sound, silence, and changes in tempo and dynamics. Most
importantly, the score provides a written record of the children’s creative
work, allowing for multiple performances by both its creators and others.
Teaching Approaches
Opportunities for children to create and represent will arise throughout your
music programme. This section and the Creating and Representing units
focus on developing creativity through exploring sound and the musical
elements, particularly tone colour, dynamics, and texture.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
Exploring sound
Sound exploration is a good way to start developing children’s skills in aural
discrimination, which are necessary for creating with sound. Encourage the
children to find sounds using their voices, classroom instruments, and
environmental and unconventional sound sources. The children could work in
pairs or groups and present and describe their sounds to the rest of the class.
Encourage them to change the sounds they are making, for example, from
loud to soft, from short to long, or from high to low, or to try making sounds
that capture a particular mood or effect. Play me some sad/ happy/
mysterious/ exciting/ lonely sounds. Try putting some different sounds
together (wood with metal sounds, for example, or vocal sounds with body
percussion).
Putting sounds together
A useful, beginning step is to make sound cards, each card showing a symbol
or short sequence of symbols, which the children can interpret individually or
in pairs. Let them hear the effect of combining cards together, playing their
sounds either in a sequence or at the same time. Once the children are
familiar with the idea of making and changing sounds to create an effect and
can represent these sounds with symbols, they are ready to create a
soundscape around a theme.
Setting guidelines and giving feedback
Children need clear guidelines for their creative work. For example, it’s helpful
to set limits on what will need to be explored in the piece. Your piece might
include some short sounds and some long sounds; ... some silent moments;
... an exciting moment; ... a quiet ending; ... times when everyone is playing;
... times when just one or two people are playing; ... just metal sounds or just
wooden sounds. Negotiate these limits with the children and make sure they
are relevant to the particular theme, story, or mood of the piece to be created.
Questioning the children carefully and giving them specific feedback and
encouragement will help them to identify and value the skills, concepts, and
vocabulary that they are developing through creative experiences.
Sharing creative work
Opportunities for the children to share work in progress and to perform their
soundscapes for others are an important part of their creativity. They also
need to receive responses and feedback about their work from the audience
and have the opportunity to speak about their creative intentions and
decisions. What can we ask the performers about the shape of their piece or
the sounds that they chose? Tell me about the sounds you used at the
beginning/end of your piece; ... the sounds you put together; ... the way you
made the sounds. I liked the way you played slowly and quietly, and then all
the sounds faded away. That sounded really mysterious! If you were going to
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)
perform this piece again, what would you do differently?
Make sure that the children have opportunities to extend, refine, and practise
their pieces for further performances.
Link creative activities to
the children’s musiclistening experiences.
“Remember how the
music for “In the Hall of
the Mountain King” gets
faster and louder and
has an exciting ending.
See if you can do
something like that in
your piece.”
Display the children’s
graphic scores for others
to play from and as a
record of ideas for future
reference. “See how this
group used big, dark,
shapes to show loud
playing on the drums.”
Keep reinforcing the
vocabulary of music
during creative activities.
Model this vocabulary
and encourage the
children to use words
such as high, low, loud,
soft, short, long, sound,
and silence when
describing their creative
work.
Set up a sound table or
instrument corner to
ensure that there are
sound-making materials
on hand for the children
to explore and use in
spontaneous ways.
CREATING AND
REPRESENTING IN THE
CLASSROOM
ENVIRONMENT
Encourage the
children to use
instruments that they
have made
themselves in their
compositions.
Look for opportunities to
create music, for example,
providing sound effects to
enhance a poem or story,
retelling a school trip through
sound, or marking a special
occasion, such as a birthday.
Provide opportunities for
children to give each
other constructive
feedback on their
compositions. They
could make one positive
statement and one piece
of advice.
Accessed from Into Music 1 Classroom Music in Years 1 - 3, Ministry of Education 2001 (Learning Media)