How can I learn to sing and make music in tune? - Continuous Provision

Learning to sing and make music in tune can be an enjoyable and immersive experience, especially for children. A continuous provision approach in an outdoor setting can be particularly effective. Start by ensuring that a variety of musical instruments are available in the outside area. These instruments should produce a range of sounds, allowing children to explore different tones and pitches. Incorporating storytelling into music-making can also enhance the learning experience. For instance, having a Small World version of a story such as 'The Bear Hunt' allows children to over-learn the narrative through play, which can boost their confidence in storytelling and musical expression.

Additionally, setting up an outdoor sound-making area with found and household items can be a creative way to explore music. Children can discover new sounds by tapping, banging, and scraping different objects with various implements. In terms of structured activities, sound stories are a fantastic tool. Discussing sound effects used in stories and films and then involving children in creating these sounds with instruments can be both educational and entertaining. For example, assigning different instrument sounds to characters in a book like 'The Gruffalo' means that each time a character appears in the story, the child plays the corresponding sound. This method not only teaches musical cues and association but also encourages children to think about the character traits - pondering whether a mouse would have a loud, low sound or a high, quiet sound helps in understanding the relationship between musical tones and storytelling elements.