<h3>Floaty Scarf Music! (timbre)</h3><p>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:</p><ul><li>Which instrument is playing?</li><li>Is this a Chinese instrument, or not?</li><li>Think of words to describe the music Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (eg. is it quiet, restful, peaceful, loud, lively, jumpy?)</li><li>Was the tempo fast or slow?</li></ul><p>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!</p>                                                                                                                                                

<h3>What Shall We Do with A Chinese Dragon? (pulse, pitch)</h3>                                                                                                                                                                                <p>This song uses the tune of <em>What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?</em>, which has such a good tune but is now thought to be unsuitable for use in school due to the associations with alcohol. </p>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

What shall we do with a Chinese dragon? (pulse, pitch) - Video

<h4>Teaching How to Keep in Time</h4><p>The skill to be practised here is that of playing in time to accompany the song. First teach the son using the <em>First Me, Then You</em> method explained in the <a href="https://music-playtime.com/faqs">FAQs</a> section. Once the song is known, the first step is to practise tapping the pulse on knees.</p>                   

How to keep time - Video

<h4>Teaching Which Notes to Play</h4><p>If the children are new to playing instruments to accompany their singing, the activity will need careful explanation and modelling. The best instruments to use are individual chime bars because the children can concentrate just on the timing having too look carefully which notes to play. If you are using xylophones with removable bars, it helps to take off the bars not being used (be sure they are put back because they are easily lost).</p><p>Two notes are needed to accompany this song, D (for dragon) and C (for Chinese). D sounds right for most of the song but, for two phrases, it clashes with the tune and you need to change to C - see below which note to play when. Children do pick this up well if they have a visual cue and it need not be difficult to achieve - here, IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve simply used little bears to show the pattern and the children latch onto it straight away. </p>                                                                                                                                                                                <ul class="simple lyrics">            <li>What shall we do with a Chinese dragon? (D)</li>            <li>What shall we do with a Chinese dragon? (C)</li>            <li>What shall we do with a Chinese dragon? (D)</li>            <li>Early in the (C)  morning (D)</li>            <li>__</li>            <li>Polish her scales and make them shiny (D)</li>            <li>Polish her scales and make them shiny (C)</li>            <li>Polish her scales and make them shiny (D)</li>            <li>Early in the (C)  morning (D)</li>            <li>__</li>            <li>Ask her what she&#039;d like to eat for breakfast (D)</li>            <li>Ask her what she&#039;d like to eat for breakfast (C)</li>            <li>Ask her what she&#039;d like to eat for breakfast (D)</li>            <li>Early in the (C) morning (D)</li>            <li>Ã‚Â©Music-Playtime: Arts Enterprise Limited</li>    </ul>                                                                <h4>Extension - Make up an intro (rhythm, pitch)</h4><p>Help the children to make up an intro to each verse using just the notes D and A and some untuned percussion instruments, based on the word pattern of <em>Here's a Chinese Dragon.</em></p>             

Teaching which notes to play - Video

<h3>Dragon's Tail Sculpture (texture)</h3><p>This activity focuses on texture, which goes from thick to thin, or from thin to thick, depending on which end of the dragon's tail we start with!</p>                                                                                                                                                                                

Dragon's tail sculpture (texture) - Video

<h3>The Year of the Dog!</h3><p>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 <a href="https://music-playtime.com/about/support-for-your-teacher">Elements of Music</a> words, like this: </p><ul><li>Child: It was high and then low</li><li> Teacher: Yes, the pitch was often high and there were also a few, very low-pitched notes. </li></ul><p>Here are some suggestions for questions and talking points:</p><ul><li>Which instrument was playing? (Piano)</li><li>Can you think of some words to describe the music? (eg - is it trickling, low, quiet, rumbling, tinkly.)</li></ul>                                                                                                                                                                    <h4>Creative Extension</h4><p>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.</p>

Year of the dog - Video

<h3>What Shall We Do with A Chinese Dragon? (pulse, pitch)</h3>                                                                <div class="video">    <div class="embed">                    <iframe class="lazy_embed" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/392667569?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;color=A2D6BD" allowfullscreen="">            </iframe>            </div></div>                                                                <p>This song uses the tune of <em>What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?</em>, which has such a good tune but is now thought to be unsuitable for use in school due to the associations with alcohol. </p><h4>Teaching How to Keep in Time</h4><p>The skill to be practised here is that of playing in time to accompany the song. First teach the son using the <em>First Me, Then You</em> method explained in the <a href="https://music-playtime.com/faqs">FAQs</a> section. Once the song is known, the first step is to practise tapping the pulse on knees.</p>                                                                <div class="video">    <div class="embed">                    <iframe class="lazy_embed" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/392667828?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;color=A2D6BD" allowfullscreen="">            </iframe>            </div></div>                                                                <h4>Teaching Which Notes to Play</h4><p>If the children are new to playing instruments to accompany their singing, the activity will need careful explanation and modelling. The best instruments to use are individual chime bars because the children can concentrate just on the timing having too look carefully which notes to play. If you are using xylophones with removable bars, it helps to take off the bars not being used (be sure they are put back because they are easily lost).</p><p>Two notes are needed to accompany this song, D (for dragon) and C (for Chinese). D sounds right for most of the song but, for two phrases, it clashes with the tune and you need to change to C - see below which note to play when. Children do pick this up well if they have a visual cue and it need not be difficult to achieve - here, Iâ€™ve simply used little bears to show the pattern and the children latch onto it straight away. </p>                                                                <div class="video">    <div class="embed">                    <iframe class="lazy_embed" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/391993865?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;color=A2D6BD" allowfullscreen="">            </iframe>            </div></div>                                                                <ul class="simple lyrics">            <li>What shall we do with a Chinese dragon? (D)</li>            <li>What shall we do with a Chinese dragon? (C)</li>            <li>What shall we do with a Chinese dragon? (D)</li>            <li>Early in the (C)  morning (D)</li>            <li>__</li>            <li>Polish her scales and make them shiny (D)</li>            <li>Polish her scales and make them shiny (C)</li>            <li>Polish her scales and make them shiny (D)</li>            <li>Early in the (C)  morning (D)</li>            <li>__</li>            <li>Ask her what she&#039;d like to eat for breakfast (D)</li>            <li>Ask her what she&#039;d like to eat for breakfast (C)</li>            <li>Ask her what she&#039;d like to eat for breakfast (D)</li>            <li>Early in the (C) morning (D)</li>            <li>Â©Music-Playtime: Arts Enterprise Limited</li>    </ul>                                                                <h4>Extension - Make up an intro (rhythm, pitch)</h4><p>Help the children to make up an intro to each verse using just the notes D and A and some untuned percussion instruments, based on the word pattern of <em>Here's a Chinese Dragon.</em></p>                                                                    <div class="img img_sml">        <img class="lazy_img" src="https://rippleeducation.blob.core.windows.net/media/thomas-despeyroux-1203996-unsplash.png" alt="Thomas Despeyroux 1203996 Unsplash">    </div>                                                                <h3>Cat and Mouse (rhythm, pulse)</h3><p>This is a traditional Chinese children's chanting game for which you need a large space. One child is the Cat and one child is the Mouse. All the other children form a circle, holding hands, with the Mouse inside and the Cat outside.</p><p>Teach the chant first, making sure it sounds rhythmical. The children could first clap in time, before practising walking in time to it (most will find clapping in time easier than walking in time). </p><p>When the chant is known, the children circle round, chanting:</p>                                                                <ul class="simple lyrics">            <li>What&#039;s the time?</li>            <li>A quarter to nine</li>            <li>What&#039;s the cat doing?</li>            <li>She&#039;s ready to dine</li>    </ul>                                                                <p>When the rhyme stops, the children stop and the Cat starts to chase the Mouse, who weaves in and out of the ring of children. The Cat MUST follow the mouse's path. When the Cat catches the Mouse she can pretend to â€˜eatâ€™ him. Say the rhyme again as two more children take a turn.</p>                                                                    <div class="img img_sml">        <img class="lazy_img" src="https://rippleeducation.blob.core.windows.net/media/ramiz-dedakovic-9SWHIgu8A8k-unsplash.png" alt="Ramiz Dedakovic 9 Swhigu8 A8K Unsplash">    </div>

Chinese New Year Level: Key Stage 1 - Skills & games

Year 1

Year 2

Music

Floaty scarf music (timbre) - Video

Music Playtime has been created by a Key Stage 1 and Early Years Music education specialist. The schemes are built in recognition of the fact that most primary teachers are not music specialists. Access the knowledge and the ideas you need to feel confident teaching music.