Primary School Curriculum Music Arts Education Teacher Guidelines DUBLIN PUBLISHED BY THE STATIONERY OFFICE To be purchased directly from the GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS SALE OFFICE SUN ALLIANCE HOUSE MOLESWORTH STREET DUBLIN 2 or by mail order from GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS POSTAL TRADE SECTION 4-5 HARCOURT ROAD DUBLIN 2 (Tel: 01-6476834-5; Fax: 01-4752760) or through any bookseller Design Consultancy: Bradley McGurk Partnership Designed by: The Identity Business Photography: Christy McNamara Typesetting: Spectrum Print Management Printed by: Mozzon Giuntina - Florence and Officine Grafiche De Agostini - Novara © 1999 Government of Ireland Music Arts Education Teacher Guidelines Contents Section 1 Music in the primary curriculum What is music? 2 Music in a child-centred curriculum 2 Section 2 The content of the music curriculum Basic structure and terminology 6 Content strands and strand units 7 The musical elements 10 Section 3 School planning for music Curriculum planning 14 Organisational planning 28 Section 4 Classroom planning for music The teacher’s planning 38 Children with differing needs 40 Planning a unit of work 42 Section 5 Approaches and methodologies A variety of approaches 52 Listening and responding 53 Performing: song singing 70 Approaches to music literacy 89 Performing: playing instruments 104 Composing 110 Information and communication technologies 122 Looking closely at children’s work 124 Section 6 Appendix Musical instruments suitable for primary schools 130 How to hold and play some percussion instruments 132 Handsigns 136 A suggested sequence in rhythm 137 A suggested sequence in melody 138 Listening to music: a selection of examples 139 Information sources for music materials and activities 146 Source references for the curriculum and guidelines 148 Glossary 151 Membership of the Curriculum Committee for Arts Education 155 Membership of the Primary Co-ordinating Committee 156 Acknowledgements 157 Music Teacher Guidelines Children of all ages have potential in music Section 1 Music in the primary curriculum Music in the primary curriculum What is music? Music in a child-centred Music is so much part of everyday life curriculum that its nature and purpose are rarely Music is an indispensable part of the questioned. It is a diverse and lifelong child-centred curriculum as one of the activity, enjoyed by people of all ages. range of intelligences and as a special As a universal part of all cultures, music way of knowing and learning. Musical exists in a great many forms, for a great activity challenges the child to act in many purposes and at many levels of unique ways to listen discerningly to complexity. his/her own music and the music of Music is a non-verbal form of others, to sing, play or read sensitively communication that can convey ideas, and accurately, and to evaluate critically. images and feelings through selected In posing these challenges, music sounds and symbols. Music is a source contributes to the development of of history, reflecting the social and artistic awareness, self-expression, self- cultural context and the era of its growth, self-esteem and multicultural creation; at times music can even sensitivity and, therefore, to the portray the country, the mood of the development of the whole child. people or the thoughts of the individual An important aspect of music in the who lives there. curriculum is the way it contributes to Music involves people in both making the personal, social, mental and physical music and listening to music. These are development of the child. Co-ordination unique ways of knowing because they of mind and body is achieved through entail the construction of sound patterns singing action songs, playing singing and structures through reflection and games, tapping rhythms, moving to music Section 1 Music in the primary curriculum analysis. Music making is also a and playing in time while simultaneously kinaesthetic activity, requiring the listening to others, following directions body and the mind to co-ordinate and or reading from notation. interpret simultaneously. Speech development is fostered through Most importantly, music is an art that working with vocal sounds, chanting, combines many concepts and techniques singing nursery rhymes and songs, and uses them to inspire, to imagine, to experimenting with vowel and consonant invent and to express feeling. These are sounds and learning to control breathing. the features of listening and responding, Language development is enhanced performing and composing, on which through exposure to a wide variety of the curriculum is based. songs, containing new words, idioms and phrases. These words are used and 2 extended in responding to music, As a collaborative, interpersonal activity, describing sounds heard, feelings music develops social skills through sensed, or stories related. group performing or composing projects where ideas, instruments or specific The development of listening skills, a skills are shared. It also provides critical aspect of all learning, receives opportunities for the development of special attention through the exploration lifelong leadership skills and fosters of sound and the identification of and Music in the primary curriculum verbal and non-verbal communication. discrimination between sounds in the Music enhances the child’s self-esteem environment, leading to increased through allowing him/her to see his/her sensitivity to musical works. Listening own inventions valued and enjoyed by skills are also emphasised in performing others, and to participate in singing and composing activities, where the games, songs, dances and group development of ‘inner hearing’ (or performances where each individual’s thinking in sound) is nurtured. contribution is vital to the group’s The development of both long-term and success. short-term memory occurs mainly, but Music is an integral part of the child- not exclusively, through performing. centred curriculum, not just because it Musical activities such as echo-singing enhances other areas of learning but and clapping develop short-term memory, because it deepens the child’s sense of while rote learning of songs, rhymes or humanity, teaching him/her to recognise games help to extend the capacity of beauty and to be sensitive to and to long-term memory. appreciate more fully the world in which Opportunities to develop the imagination he/she lives. arise in unique ways in the music curriculum, through listening to familiar and unfamiliar musical works, hearing sounds internally, creating sound pictures or stories and expressing feelings and emotions in sound. This type of imaginative work also enhances spatial reasoning, which is the brain’s ability to perceive the visual world accurately, to form mental images of physical objects, and to recognise variations in objects. Music Teacher Guidelines 3 Music education recognises the joy of shared experiences Section 2 The content of the music curriculum The content of the music curriculum Basic structure and The integrated nature of music terminology While the curriculum presents Listening and responding, Performing and Composing Levels as three areas, these are not discrete categories. Listening is an essential The content of the music curriculum is activity in both performing and set out in four levels: infant classes, first composing, and indeed the listening and second classes, third and fourth response itself may inspire a performance classes, and fifth and sixth classes. or composition at another stage. In a Content strands similar way, while performing, the performer will listen to the music The content is presented in three he/she is playing, considering the strands at each level: expressive and technical qualities of • Listening and responding the music and the structure of the • Performing composition. Later, he/she may adopt similar approaches when improvising, • Composing. arranging or composing something new. Strand units Within each strand the content is organised into strand units, which provide a means of listening and responding to music, singing and playing music, reading and writing Listening and music, and making new music. responding Section 2 The of content the music curriculum Musical elements The musical elements are presented in progressive steps at each of the four levels. They provide both the teacher Music and the child with a means of thinking Performing Composing and behaving musically while engaging with the strands of the curriculum. The music curriculum comprises the inter-related concepts of listening and responding, performing, and composing. 6 Content strands and In the strand unit ‘Listening and responding to music’, the teacher may strand units use recorded music as a focus for the child’s listening, although the experience Strand: Listening and Listening and responding of listening to live music will be of responding In the Listening and responding strand, immense value to the child whenever new emphasis is placed on the range this is possible. The range of responses Strand units: and units strands strand Content and depth of experiences in listening to that the child can make, such as gesture, • Exploring sound music, and on becoming an ‘active movement, speech, written or graphic • Listening and responding to listener’. The child is encouraged to forms, will allow for active involvement music explore and listen to a range of sound with the music and encourage the child sources, from ordinary household to sustain concentration throughout sounds to a variety of percussion