Chinese New Year Level: Key Stage 1 - Listening, appraising & movement
Floaty Scarf Music! (timbre)
Before the the children watch this video of someone playing the Chinese zither, it's a good idea to focus their listening by explaining what you are going to ask them at the end. These are possible questions:
- Which instrument is playing?
- Is this a Chinese instrument, or not?
- Think of words to describe the music – (eg. is it quiet, restful, peaceful, loud, lively, jumpy?)
- Was the tempo fast or slow?
Before the children listen to the music again, give out floaty dance scarves for them to make graceful patterns in the air according to how the music sounds. You can buy these cheaply online. The surest way to get a sensitive response from the children is for you to dance with a floaty scarf too - go on, you'll enjoy it!
The Year of the Dog!
It's a good idea to prepare the children for what you will ask after they have watched the video. As you hear what the children have to say, you can praise perceptive answers and also take the opportunity to supply some Elements of Music words, like this:
- Child: It was high and then low
- Teacher: Yes, the pitch was often high and there were also a few, very low-pitched notes.
Here are some suggestions for questions and talking points:
- Which instrument was playing? (Piano)
- Can you think of some words to describe the music? (eg - is it trickling, low, quiet, rumbling, tinkly.)
Creative Extension
The tunes here were based on a pentatonic scale, giving them a 'Chinese' flavour. The children could experiment, individually or in pairs, with using just the black keys of an electronic keyboard or piano to make up 'Chinese' music. Giving a focus usually produces more worthwhile tunes: in pairs one child could ask the 'question', 'What is your name?' using just black keys and the second child could answer, 'My name is ...', again using only black keys. They could also experiment with playing more than one note at a time. The idea is to make up something original rather than attempt to play a tune they already know.
