This unit highlights the musical skills that require regular practice and ongoing development throughout the key stage. It focuses on the development of the singing voice and other essential musical skills (listening skills, aural memory and physical skills) that should be a regular part of classroom work week-by-week. All the activities in this unit are designed so that they can be taught in short periods when opportunities arise. The unit is designed to be used flexibly throughout the key stage. The material in this unit can be used in any order. The 'points to note' column includes suggestions about how the activities could be extended when the material is revisited.

• Music QCA 1
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Educate the Children
• Ideas for graphic notation
• Vocal warm-up for small children
• Vocal Warm-Up ideas for your class (word 97/31kb)

Use an electronic keyboard to help with pitch when singing call and response games

Play the minor third, to improve pitch

Use a virtual keyboard to hear the minor third

Use 2play from 2Simple Music Toolkit

As an alternative to chime bars, use a virtual keyboard
Aldo's Pianito 3.1 Shareware Download

• 2 play
  

Sing along to music played by VanBasco's Karaoke Player. It comes with full-screen lyrics display and you can change tempo, volume and key. You can also mute instruments so that the children can listen to various combinations of sounds. You can download this free of charge.

• VanBasco's Karaoke Player
• Choose your Karaoke song here

Midi files from these other websites can be played with your free karaoke player.

Please note that although the sites below contain midi files of children’s songs, you will usually find that you can’t beat VanBasco’s Midi Search. Remember that this is all free!

Download MP3 files here for a small charge of 70p each. The songs are of a high quality and a few are available free of charge. Songs are categorised into useful groups, such as action songs. Early Birds Music is recommended by the National Grid for Learning.

• Early Birds Music

Here you will find some children’s favourites that can be saved to your midi player or played directly from the site. Do beware of pop-ups on this site

• Children's favourites

Here you will find a huge selection of children’s songs in midi format. Please note that not all the lyrics have music, but the majority do. This is an American site and some of the music will vary from the traditional ones known in this country.

• Good selection

A simple page filled with children’s midi files. This is a good site to use for children exploring the technology for themselves. Some of the music is not always at the correct tempo – remember that you can change the tempo on the VanBasco’s Karaoke Machine.

• Exploring tempo

This page has very simple midi arrangements of some children’s songs that could be particularly useful for children to play along to.

• Simple midi arrangements

Action songs for the early years – to order

• Action songs (pdf file)

This unit develops children's ability to identify different sounds and to change and use sounds expressively in response to a stimulus.

• Music QCA 2
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Educate the Children
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service

Use electronic keyboards to provide a rich source of different sounds that children can use to respond to a given stimulus, e.g. explosion, storm

Identify sounds within music software programs and use the sounds to respond to a given stimulus. For example adding sounds to a story

• Music Box 2
• Music Explorer
• Compose World Junior
• 2Simple Music Toolkit
• Super Duper Music Looper

Identify sounds by playing Lotto. This can be played online or downloaded to your computer.

Click on teacher’s notes to print the Lotto boards

• Lotto Game Sounds
• Lesson plan
• The Sound Game - teachers notes

This unit develops children's ability to discriminate between longer and shorter sounds, and to use them to create interesting sequences of sound.

• Music QCA 3
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Educate the Children
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service

Experiment making long and short sounds with your choice of software and create sequences with them.

2play from 2Simple music toolkit works well. Hold the mouse button down to make a long sound. Quick clicks will give short sounds

• 2Simple Music Toolkit

This has a great composition area where sounds can be drawn on the screen. A short sound would be a dot or a short line and a longer sound would make a longer note. You can play online or order a CD

• Making Music

This unit develops children's ability to recognise the difference between pulse and rhythm and to perform with a sense of pulse.

• Music QCA 4
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Educate the Children
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service

Use of a chant to develop children's sense of rhythm

• Tea Coffee chant

Using different examples from the tune files in Compose World Junior. Children may change the tempo, and compare the effects. Percussion instruments may be added to tap the pulse.

• Compose World Junior

Create a simple rhythm with this ‘Beat Machine’

• Beat Machine

Learn about the sounds that have a 'steady beat' and sounds that don't.

• Sound Search

Listen to steady beats in Super Dooper Music Looper and create a piece of music

Listen to rock beat 12 loops and create a piece of music

• Download Super Duper Music Looper XPress (free)

This unit develops children's ability to discriminate between higher and lower sounds and to create simple melodic patterns.

• Music QCA 5
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Educate the Children
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service

A song exploring pitch with actions

• Pitch

Pitch Maps

• Maps

Use the software Music Maker Pitch to progressively learn about pitch. It introduces the idea of pitch without formal musical notation

• Music Maker Pitch

Use SOUND BOX in Music Box 2. Children can play with pitch and the way different instruments sound. sounds are arranged vertically by pitch

• Music Box 2

Experiment ‘drawing’ music with high and low sounds

Use the main composition area in

• ‘Making Music’

This unit develops children's ability to recognise different ways sounds are made and changed and to name, and know how to play, a variety of classroom instruments.

During this unit children explore classroom instruments and learn that instruments that make sounds in similar ways can be grouped into families. They create symbols that represent the various ways an instrument can be played and use these to help create a sequence of sounds. This unit should be revisited during the key stage.

• Music QCA 6
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Educate the Children
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service

Create a sequence of sounds using this earthquake poem.

• Poem (pdf file)

Simple Graphic Notation Ideas

• Ideas

Use music software to listen to sounds of various instruments and families of instruments.

• Aldo's Pianito 3.1 can be used to listen to hundreds of instruments! It is a shareware download so you can try it for free. However for about £10 you can buy a licensed version.

Use Music Box 2 to explore instrumental sounds and then sequence the sounds using the Tune Box Mode.

• Music Box 2

Learn about families of instruments at these Virtual Orchestras and musical dictionary.

• Visit the Virtual Orchestra at Northumbria Grid for Learning
• Musical Instruments and Tools
• Instruments of the Orchestra
• Another great virtual orchestra!

Listen to pieces of music played by different families of instruments

• Visit the New York Philharmonic Orchestra instrument storage room

• SFS Kids - radio

This unit develops children's ability to recognise how sounds and instruments can be used expressively and combined to create music in response to a stimulus.

During this unit, children explore how sounds can be changed, combined and organised to create a class composition. They respond to stimuli suggested by the weather and explore ways in which sounds can be used expressively. They record their compositions using pictures, symbols and words.

• Music QCA 7
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Educate the Children
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service

Making a Rain Dance

• Dance

Rhymes that mention rain

• Rain

Rhymes mentioning the weather

• Weather rhymes

Musicbox2 contains thunder, splash and wind
Listen to weather sounds online and guess the weather.

• Guess the weather

This unit highlights the musical skills that require regular practice and ongoing development throughout the key stage. It focuses on the development of the singing voice and other essential musical skills (listening skills, aural memory and physical skills) that should be a regular part of classroom work week-by-week. All the activities in this unit are designed so that they can be taught in short periods when opportunities arise.

The unit is designed to be used flexibly throughout the key stage. The material in this unit can be used in any order. The 'Points to note' column includes suggestions about how the activities could be extended when the material is revisited.

• Music QCA 8

Download music into Karaoke player for children to sing along to, alone and in groups.

• VanBasco's Karaoke Player 2.52

Once songs have been learned, experiment changing the tempo and pitch to see the effect this can have on the mood of a song.

Set the pitch that best fits particular children’s/groups of children’s voices.

Remove various instruments from the midi sound, for example the instrument that plays the melody, to assess the children’s ability to sing in tune without the accompaniment

Project lyrics onto interactive whiteboard or wall using LCD projector.

See website addresses in unit 1

This unit develops children's ability to create, perform and analyse short descriptive compositions that combine sounds, movements and words.

In this unit, children learn to recognise how sounds can be used to describe different things, eg animals . Using this understanding, they create their own music in pairs, add movement and narration and rehearse towards a final performance for others. During the unit they explore how the elements of pitch, duration, dynamics and tempo can be combined to describe different sounds, eg animal sounds .

• Music QCA 9
• Lesson plan
  
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service
  
  
  

Lesson plan based on Carnival of the animals.

• Carnival of the animals

Compose electronic music relating to an animal or groups of animals with your choice of software.

Listen to pieces of music on the radio.

• Channel4

Listen to pieces of descriptive animal music.

• Flight of the Bumblebee

Follow lesson plan by BECTA

• Sound walk

This unit develops children's ability to create simple rhythmic patterns and perform them rhythmically using notation as a support.

In this unit, children extend their understanding of rhythmic patterns, and in particular, ostinato. They create their own patterns and play them separately and in combination with other patterns. They identify repeated patterns in different types of music.

• Music QCA 10

Use 2Beat in 2Simple Music Toolkit to develop rhythmic patterns

• 2simple Music Toolkit

Create rhythms by dropping instruments onto a time line, or with a simple 'drum machine'. Beat Box defaults to percussion sounds, but any instruments can be used.

• Music Box 2

Listen to and create rhythms

• Rhythm section

This unit develops children's ability to create, combine and perform rhythmic and melodic material as part of a class performance of a song.

In this unit, children develop their understanding of how instruments can be used to accompany songs. They explore a variety of accompaniment devices, select appropriate phrases and patterns, and practise and rehearse towards a final class performance.

• Music QCA 11

Listen to midi files and discuss accompaniments to the lyrics.

See website list in unit 1 and download karaoke machine.

This unit develops children's ability to recognise, and use, pentatonic scales and create short melodies and accompaniments.

In this unit pupils sing songs based on a pentatonic scale. They experiment with the five notes of a pentatonic scale and play them on a range of pitched instruments, individually and together. They use the scale to make up simple songs and accompaniments. This unit should be revisited during the key stage.

• Music QCA 12
• Pentatonic scales

Listen to pentatonic midi files and discuss.

• Pentatonic midi files
• Pentatonic wind chime samples
• Tidbit - Asian Music

Create electronic pentatonic music.Use the software program of your choice.

• Programs

This unit develops children's ability to create, perform and analyse expressive compositions and extend their sound vocabulary.

In this unit, children develop understanding of how the sounds made on different musical instruments can be used expressively. They explore how sounds can describe the moods stimulated by pictures and words. They create simple compositions combining rhythm and melody and share these with the class. They begin to explore the more abstract use of sounds.

• Music QCA 13

Listen to pieces of music and suggest the mood.

Select the appropriate mood for the piece of music – excellent for use with an interactive whiteboard or use individually for assessment.

• Moods

Listen to and analyse musical compositions based on events and situations.

• SFSKids radio

Children can explore playing a combination of 3 notes or loops to create different moods. They can create a short composition to match an image

Use the software of your choice for example 2sequence and 2synthesise work well for this objective.

• 2Simple

This unit develops children's ability to recognise and explore some characteristics of singing games. It consolidates their sense of pulse and ability to perform with others.

In this unit children sing and play a selection of traditional and contemporary singing games. They look at their characteristics, eg structure, tempo, rhythm, tunes, words, actions . They think about the origins and uses of singing games.

• Music QCA 14
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service

Listen, sing and explore some well known playground game tunes.

• Children’s Midi Site
• Action songs

This unit highlights the musical skills that require regular practice and ongoing development throughout the key stage. It focuses on the development of the singing voice and other essential musical skills, eg listening skills, aural memory and physical skills , which should be a regular part of classroom work week-by-week. All the activities in this unit are designed so that they can be taught in short periods when opportunities arise.

The unit is designed to be used flexibly throughout the key stage. The material given in this unit can be used in any order. The 'Points to note' column includes suggestions about how the activities could be extended when the material is revisited.

• Music QCA 15
  
  

Make use of technology to help children develop their singing voices.

Sing along to midi files played in karaoke machine, experimenting with pitch and tempo to suit own voice.
Use electronic keyboard and software resources to practice singing short rhythm arrangements in key.

This unit develops pupils' ability to perform rhythmic patterns confidently and with a strong sense of pulse.

In this unit, pupils learn basic rhythmic devices used in many drumming traditions. They play a variety of sounds on percussion instruments and learn how to use timbre and duration to add variety to their rhythmic ideas. They invent and improvise simple rhythmic patterns.

• Music QCA 16
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service
• BECTA- lesson plan

Simple ideas to teach rhythm and pulse.

Lesson plan using music and the Internet – BECTA communities
Listen to and match rhythm patterns

• Match the pattern

This unit develops children's ability to sing and play music in two (or more) parts. They explore the effect of two or more pitched notes sounding together - harmony. They experiment with clusters of pitched notes and discover which combinations are 'comfortable' (concords), and which 'clash' (discords). They sing rounds and experiment with melodic ostinati to provide accompaniments. They play drones and single note accompaniments. This unit should be revisited.

• Music QCA 17
  
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service
  
  
  

A range of rounds for voices and instruments

• Rounds

Investigate the effect of playing notes together.

Chord box in Music Box2 works well, as children can experiment with concords and discords. They can then use the chords they make to sequence a composition.

• Music Box 2

Sing along to music for London Bridge.

• London Bridge

This unit develops children's ability to extend their sound vocabulary, including the use of ICT, and to compose a soundscape. In this unit, children explore a wide range of sound sources, including ICT, to capture, explore, change and communicate sounds. They make expressive use of vocal and instrumental possibilities to create and structure compositions in groups and share these with the class.

• Music QCA 18
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service

Children can create a piece of music with a space theme. Discuss the different vocabulary that would describe such a journey and then find sounds to match them.

The sound effects in Musicbox2 synthesiser are fantastic to create a space atmosphere.

• Music Box 2

Super Dooper Music Looper for a more advanced composition, which can then be emailed to others.

• Super Duper Music Looper

2sequence & 2synthesise or 2compose can be used for less able children.

• 2Simple

This unit develops children's ability to compose a song with an awareness of the relationship between lyrics and melody. In this unit, children learn of the important role played by lyrics in songs. In particular they focus on the different functions of lyrics in conveying mood, expressing attitude or telling a story. They employ simple techniques for composing lyrics of their own and setting these to melodies. They learn about the cultural and social significance of many lyrics and how that meaning should be reflected in performance as well as in the composition itself.

• Music QCA 19
• Lesson plans to support the unit from Solihull Music Service

Use Karaoke player to display lyrics. Discuss how lyrics convey mood, attitude or tell a story.

Search for midi files of songs where lyrics play an important role. For example, search sad songs, happy songs and examine the music structure and the effect this has on the mood.
Experiment changing key, tempo and instruments and discuss the effects. Which works best and why?

• VanBasco's Karaoke Player

This unit develops and demonstrates children's ability to take part in a class performance with confidence, expression and control.

In this unit children sing and play a two-part song, play instrumental accompaniments and rehearse and develop musical and performance ideas with understanding of how to achieve a quality class performance. The skills required of the teacher may make this unit more demanding for a class teacher without specialist support. However, the song could be recorded by colleagues, parents or pupils, and this recording used as a means of teaching the song to the rest of the class. In this case, teachers may wish to place a greater emphasis on the descriptive activity included in the final section, 'Bringing it all together'.

• Music QCA 20

Stars, hide your fires - teachers guide

• Guide

Stars, hide your fires

• Music

A short musical play

• Play

This unit provides an opportunity for children to develop and demonstrate the musical skills, knowledge and understanding achieved in years 5 and 6.

During the unit children will develop an understanding of the process of composing by creating and performing music in response to musical and non-musical stimuli.

• Music QCA 21

• Graphic scores

Download karaoke song file.

Learn song by using this karaoke file
Teachers can then:-

• Familiarise themselves and their pupils with the sound of the whole piece or its individual component instrumental and vocal parts
• Rely on having a secure accompaniment in class that can also supply the parts of any missing instruments
• Change the key if necessary when practising, to suit the children's voice range
• Slow down the tempo when first attempting passages that are unfamiliar/difficult
• Display synchronised words for pupils on a computer monitor (in full-screen) or interactive whiteboard

Video Performances

Play back the video to appraise and improve the class performance.

Overview of music software and links to their websites.

• Music Software Options

Create your own sheet music and import ready made midi files. Free download. No restrictions

• Finale Notepad

This demo contains the entire PrintMusic program with the exception that you can’t save your document

• Finale PrintMusic

Sharing PrintMusic! and Finale NotePad™ files on the web.
A FREE web browser application

• The Finale Viewer

An easy and fun way to learn musical notation!

Free trial version available

• Notable Impressions

Learn to read music with the aid of flash cards

• Music Notation Flash Cards
• Blank sheet music
• Free Staff Paper

Teach children formal musical notation

• Introduction to reading music

Great schemes of work for teaching music at KS2 complete with printable lesson plans and prompt cards.

• BBC Radio 3

Many valuable games from Radio 3

• BBC Radio 3 –games

A good link to North West Learning Grid where you will find simple explanation of musical terms.

• Glossary of Musical Terms

Linking ICT and Music in Year 3

• Hitchams School

ICT in primary music

• Becta ICT advice

Resources to meet your software and hardware needs.

• Counterpoint