Music - Curriculum

1 Arts EducationTeacher GuidelinesMusicPrimary SchoolCurriculumDUBLINPUBLISHED BY THE STATIONERY OFFICETo be purchased directly from theGOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS SALE OFFICESUN ALLIANCE HOUSEMOLESWORTH STREETDUBLIN 2or by mail order fromGOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONSPOSTAL TRADE SECTION4-5 HARCOURT ROADDUBLIN 2(Tel: 01-6476834-5; Fax: 01-4752760)or through any booksellerDesign Consultancy:Bradley McGurk PartnershipDesigned by:The Identity BusinessPhotography:Christy McNamaraTypesetting:Spectrum Print ManagementPrinted by:Mozzon Giuntina - Florence andOfficine Grafiche De Agostini - Novara 1999 Government of IrelandMusicArts EducationTeacher GuidelinesContentsMusic in the primary curriculumWhat is Music ?2 Music in a child-centred curriculum2 The content of the Music curriculumBasic structure and terminology6 Content strands and strand units7 The musical elements10 School planning for musicCurriculum planning 14 Organisational planning28 Classroom planning for musicThe teacher s planning38 Children with differing needs40 Planning a unit of work42 Section 1 Section 3 Section 4 Section 2 Music Teacher GuidelinesApproaches and methodologiesA variety of approaches52 Listening and responding53 Performing: song singing70 Approaches to Music literacy89 Performing.

2 Playing instruments104 Composing110 Information and communication technologies122 Looking closely at children s work124 AppendixMusical instruments suitable for primary schools130 How to hold and play some percussion instruments132 Handsigns136A suggested sequence in rhythm137A suggested sequence in melody138 Listening to Music : a selection of examples139 Information sources for Music materials and activities146 Source references for the Curriculum and guidelines148 Glossary151 Membership of the Curriculum Committee for Arts Education155 Membership of the Primary Co-ordinating Committee156 Acknowledgements157 Section 5 Section 6 Children of allages have potentialin musicMusic in theprimarycurriculumSection 1 What is Music ? Music is so much part of everyday lifethat its nature and purpose are rarelyquestioned. It is a diverse and lifelongactivity, enjoyed by people of all a universal part of all cultures, musicexists in a great many forms, for a greatmany purposes and at many levels is a non-verbal form ofcommunication that can convey ideas,images and feelings through selectedsounds and symbols.

3 Music is a sourceof history, reflecting the social andcultural context and the era of itscreation; at times Music can evenportray the country, the mood of thepeople or the thoughts of the individualwho lives involves people in both makingmusic and listening to Music . These areunique ways of knowing because theyentail the construction of sound patternsand structures through reflection andanalysis. Music making is also akinaesthetic activity, requiring the body and the mind to co-ordinate andinterpret simultaneously. Most importantly, Music is an art thatcombines many concepts and techniquesand uses them to inspire, to imagine, toinvent and to express feeling. These arethe features of listening and responding,performing and composing, on whichthe Curriculum is in a child-centredcurriculumMusic is an indispensable part of thechild-centred Curriculum as one of therange of intelligences and as a specialway of knowing and learning.

4 Musicalactivity challenges the child to act inunique ways to listen discerningly tohis/her own Music and the Music ofothers, to sing, play or read sensitivelyand accurately, and to evaluate posing these challenges, musiccontributes to the development ofartistic awareness, self-expression, self-growth, self-esteem and multiculturalsensitivity and, therefore, to thedevelopment of the whole important aspect of Music in thecurriculum is the way it contributes tothe personal, social, mental and physicaldevelopment of the child. Co-ordinationof mind and body is achieved throughsinging action songs , playing singinggames, tapping rhythms, moving to musicand playing in time while simultaneouslylistening to others, following directionsor reading from development is fostered throughworking with vocal sounds, chanting,singing nursery rhymes and songs ,experimenting with vowel and consonantsounds and learning to control development is enhancedthrough exposure to a wide variety ofsongs, containing new words, idiomsand phrases.

5 These words are used and Section 1 Music in the primary curriculumMusic in the primarycurriculum2extended in responding to Music ,describing sounds heard, feelingssensed, or stories development of listening skills, acritical aspect of all learning, receivesspecial attention through the explorationof sound and the identification of anddiscrimination between sounds in theenvironment, leading to increasedsensitivity to musical works. Listeningskills are also emphasised in performingand composing activities, where thedevelopment of inner hearing (orthinking in sound) is development of both long-term andshort-term memory occurs mainly, butnot exclusively, through activities such as echo-singingand clapping develop short-term memory,while rote learning of songs , rhymes orgames help to extend the capacity oflong-term to develop the imaginationarise in unique ways in the musiccurriculum, through listening to familiarand unfamiliar musical works, hearingsounds internally, creating sound picturesor stories and expressing feelings andemotions in sound.

6 This type ofimaginative work also enhances spatialreasoning, which is the brain s ability toperceive the visual world accurately, toform mental images of physical objects,and to recognise variations in a collaborative, interpersonal activity, Music develops social skills throughgroup performing or composing projectswhere ideas, instruments or specificskills are shared. It also providesopportunities for the development oflifelong leadership skills and fostersverbal and non-verbal enhances the child s self-esteemthrough allowing him/her to see his/herown inventions valued and enjoyed byothers, and to participate in singinggames, songs , dances and groupperformances where each individual scontribution is vital to the group ssuccess. Music is an integral part of the child-centred Curriculum , not just because itenhances other areas of learning butbecause it deepens the child s sense ofhumanity, teaching him/her to recognisebeauty and to be sensitive to and toappreciate more fully the world in whichhe/she in the primary curriculum3 Music Teacher GuidelinesMusic education recognisesthe joy of shared experiencesThe contentof the musiccurriculumSection 2 Basic structure andterminologyLevelsThe content of the Music Curriculum isset out in four levels: infant classes, firstand second classes, third and fourthclasses, and fifth and sixth strandsThe content is presented in threestrands at each level.

7 Listening and responding Performing unitsWithin each strand the content isorganised into strand units, whichprovide a means of listening andresponding to Music , singing andplaying Music , reading and writingmusic, and making new elementsThe musical elements are presented inprogressive steps at each of the fourlevels. They provide both the teacherand the child with a means of thinkingand behaving musically while engagingwith the strands of the integrated nature of musicWhile the Curriculum presents Listeningand responding, Performingand Composingas three areas, these are not discretecategories. Listening is an essentialactivity in both performing andcomposing, and indeed the listeningresponse itself may inspire a performanceor composition at another stage. In asimilar way, while performing, theperformer will listen to the musiche/she is playing, considering theexpressive and technical qualities of the Music and the structure of thecomposition.

8 Later, he/she may adoptsimilar approaches when improvising,arranging or composing something Music Curriculum comprises the inter-relatedconcepts of listening and responding, performing, 2 The content of the Music curriculumThe content of the musiccurriculum6 Listening andrespondingPerformingComposingMusicCon tent strands andstrand unitsListening and respondingIn the Listening and respondingstrand,new emphasis is placed on the rangeand depth of experiences in listening tomusic, and on becoming an activelistener . The child is encouraged toexplore and listen to a range of soundsources, from ordinary householdsounds to a variety of percussion andmelodic instruments, as well as Music indifferent styles and traditions. Chiefamong these is Irish Music and folkmusic of other cultures, along withmusic in the classical and popular younger children respondinstinctively through movement, theimportance of a movement response isencouraged at all class levels.

9 Severalapproaches to listening and respondingin a variety of ways are extend into the process ofperforming and composing, where thechild is encouraged to be an activelistener while playing with, improvisingor arranging his/her own teacher may set targets for the childto focus his/her listening specifically inthe two strand units Exploring sound and Listening and responding to Music .Listening activities that require listeningfor (a structure, a specific feature or anassociated idea) may be described asmore active listening than listening to ,which may be considered a morepassive the strand unit Listening andresponding to Music , the teacher mayuse recorded Music as a focus for thechild s listening, although the experienceof listening to live Music will be ofimmense value to the child wheneverthis is possible.

10 The range of responsesthat the child can make, such as gesture,movement, speech, written or graphicforms, will allow for active involvementwith the Music and encourage the childto sustain concentration throughoutthe listening Performing strand emphasises theimportance of active Music making,beginning with the voice and laterincluding instruments, as a means ofdeveloping musical understanding. The importance of experiencing a widerange of musical activities before theintroduction of musical literacy is alsoemphasised in this strand. Opportunitiesfor the children to make Music , asindividuals, groups or as a whole class,will occur in two strand units: Songsinging and Playing instruments . The approach adopted in the musiccurriculum seeks to build on the familiarsong-singing aspect of Music making ina number of ways.