<h3>Play Happy Birthday to You (pitch, rhythm)</h3><p>Everyone knows how to sing Happy Birthday but not everyone can play it! It's perfectly possible for children of this age to learn it by rote if they have help and practice. The easiest way is like a cascade; you learn to play it first (scroll down for help) then teach it to a group of children, who teach it to the other children. Teaching others is a great way to consolidate learning. The children can learn to play this on a keyboard, a piano or on an iPad using Garage Band. </p><p>Garage Band is a free app that comes as standard with up-to-date iPads. There are a number of versions depending on your last update so it's best to experiment before helping children to use it (it truth, they will probably be helping you!) When you open it up, you'll see all the instruments that you could use. The best setting for learning to play a tune is Classical Grand Piano, as shown here:</p>                                                                    <div class="img img_lrg">        <img class="lazy_img" src="/internal/----/_lrg/gradn_piano.jpg" alt="Gradn Piano">    </div>                                                                <h4>How to play Happy Birthday to You</h4><p>Please don't write the letter names on the keys (the ones here are superimposed onto a picture) - it prevents anyone from remembering them in the easiest way, which is by looking for the patterns of two and three black keys - eg C is the key just to the left of the pair of black keys. </p><p>The easiest way (trust me on this) is to learn to play the tune without having the notes written down. Otherwise you'll always be looking at the bit of paper with the notes written on it and you'll never remember how to play it without them. Remember the order of the notes by the patterns they make when you play. </p>                                                                <div class="video">    <div class="embed">                    <iframe class="lazy_embed" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/363844203?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;color=A2D6BD" allowfullscreen="">            </iframe>            </div></div>                                                                <p>Oh go on then ... I know you're busy and you'll want the notes to start with, so here they are, beginning on the lowest G on the left. Don't write them out for the children though!</p>                                                                <ul class="simple lyrics">            <li>G  G  A  G  C  B</li>            <li>G  G  A  G  D  C</li>            <li>G  G  ^G  E  C  B  A  (^G means high G)</li>            <li>F  F  E  C  D  C</li>    </ul>

How to play happy birthday to you - Video

<h3>Play Happy Birthday to You (pitch, rhythm)</h3><p>Everyone knows how to sing Happy Birthday but not everyone can play it! It's perfectly possible for children of this age to learn it by rote if they have help and practice. The easiest way is like a cascade; you learn to play it first (scroll down for help) then teach it to a group of children, who teach it to the other children. Teaching others is a great way to consolidate learning. The children can learn to play this on a keyboard, a piano or on an iPad using Garage Band. </p><p>Garage Band is a free app that comes as standard with up-to-date iPads. There are a number of versions depending on your last update so it's best to experiment before helping children to use it (it truth, they will probably be helping you!) When you open it up, you'll see all the instruments that you could use. The best setting for learning to play a tune is Classical Grand Piano, as shown here:</p>                                                                                                                                                <h4>How to play Happy Birthday to You</h4><p>Please don't write the letter names on the keys (the ones here are superimposed onto a picture) - it prevents anyone from remembering them in the easiest way, which is by looking for the patterns of two and three black keys - eg C is the key just to the left of the pair of black keys. </p><p>The easiest way (trust me on this) is to learn to play the tune without having the notes written down. Otherwise you'll always be looking at the bit of paper with the notes written on it and you'll never remember how to play it without them. Remember the order of the notes by the patterns they make when you play. </p>                                                                                                                                                                                <p>Oh go on then ... I know you're busy and you'll want the notes to start with, so here they are, beginning on the lowest G on the left. Don't write them out for the children though!</p>                                                                <ul class="simple lyrics">            <li>G  G  A  G  C  B</li>            <li>G  G  A  G  D  C</li>            <li>G  G  ^G  E  C  B  A  (^G means high G)</li>            <li>F  F  E  C  D  C</li>    </ul>

Sad music - Song

<h4>Sad Music</h4><p> First the children make up some 'sad feelings' words using this a template: </p><ul><li>Feeling ... feeling ...</li><li>Feeling ... feeling ...</li></ul><p>The words chosen by Jack and Nathan rhymed too!</p>                                                                <ul class="simple lyrics">            <li>Feeling sorry, feeling sad</li>            <li>Feeling lonely, feeling bad</li>    </ul>                                                                <p>I asked them to choose notes from this set: A, C, D, E and to play slowly to create sad music. It's a good idea to tell the children that they don't have to use all the notes and that the notes don't need to go up and down in order.</p>                                                                <p>Jack and Nathan experimented with different ways of playing and this was the version they liked best, played on the school piano. Jack played C, D and E and Nathan played the A, which we thought sounded good as the last note.</p>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Happy music - Song

<h4>Happy Music (also uses pentatonic)</h4><p>For Happy Music, I helped the children to make up a happy rhyme about Maestro the Dog. We thought of some rhyming words first. The notes to choose from this time are any of these: C, D, E, G, A which is a pentatonic (five note) scale. </p><p>The notes can be played in any order and the children don't need to use all of them. I asked them to use some repeated notes (hear them at the end) and to play quickly to make the music sound happy. This Happy Music was made up by Ava and Sophia.</p>                                                                <ul class="simple lyrics">            <li>Happy happy, happy day</li>            <li>Maestro Dog is here to stay</li>    </ul>                                                           

<h3>Maestro the Music Dog and the New Piano</h3><p>This is the story of how Hannah got a new piano for her birthday and Maestro went on an unexpected journey!</p><p>Tell the children you are going to ask them at the end of the story where Maestro went on his adventure and how he got home again.</p>                                                                <div class="video">    <div class="embed">                    <iframe class="lazy_embed" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/146524419?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;color=A2D6BD" allowfullscreen="">            </iframe>            </div></div>                                                                <p>All Maestro the Music Dog materials Â©Music-Playtime: Arts Enterprise Limited</p>                                                                <ul class="simple lyrics">            <li>Original watercolours and story: Sandy Holland</li>            <li>Original music: Peter Noke</li>    </ul>                                                                <h3>Copy Me</h3><p>Later in this unit, the children learn how to play Happy Birthday to You by copying you play it and then the children can help each other to play it. Here, we are practising copying:</p>                                                                <div class="video">    <div class="embed">                    <iframe class="lazy_embed" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/392673318?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;color=A2D6BD" allowfullscreen="">            </iframe>            </div></div>                                                                <h4>On the subject of copying ...</h4><p>Children of this age are just becoming aware of the concept of copying and it's usually associated with cheating, for example copying spellings from another child. In music, we learn a lot by copying others as well as by experimenting with our own ideas and, throughout history, composers have re-used the ideas of other composers.</p>                                                                <div class="video">    <div class="embed">                    <iframe class="lazy_embed" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/399589573?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;color=A2D6BD" allowfullscreen="">            </iframe>            </div></div>

More Maestro the Dog Stories Level: Key Stage 1 - Skills & games