Weekly Roundup

25th May 2020

In the Hall of the Mountain King 

This week's activities are all based on this well-known piece from The Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg. Some of you may already know it from the movie Trolls, and you might have done some similar activities with your Music Generation tutor at school.
 
We are including links to videos for each activity, so check with an adult before you go online. You don't need any special equipment or instruments for the activities, just yourself, your family, and maybe something to tap!
 
The first video is a cartoon which tells the story of Peer Gynt, which comes from an old story from Norway. Edvard Grieg was a Norwegian composer who put the story of Peer Gynt to music, you might recognise even more of the music!

The Story of Peer Gynt
 

Instruments of the Orchestra

Listen to the music - it starts quietly as the trolls tiptoe into the cave carrying Peer Gynt. Then it gets louder and faster as Peer Gynt runs from them, and ends with a big bang as he lands safely outside the cave!
 
See if you recognise or can name any of the instruments. You will see how the main theme moves around the orchestra, starting with the low instruments first.

 Instruments of the Orchestra
 
This listening map will help you to see exactly what instruments are playing each time.
 
You might notice a bit of a conversation happens between different types of instruments!
 
Keep a close eye on them and see if you can name them all!
 
Listening Map
 

Reading rhythms

Practice reading your Ta's and Ti-ti's with this fun video! Use your kitchen instruments to play along, maybe using wooden spoons or chopsticks, or tap something like a pot, or plastic tub.

 Reading Rhythms
 
Body Percussion

Here is a challenge for you - can you do the actions to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes along to the music for In the Hall of the Mountain King?  
 
Watch out as the piece gets faster and faster! 
 
Let's see how you get on with the challenge. Send us in your video to musicgen@offalycoco.ie

 Body Percussion
 
You can use your kitchen percussion instruments for this video if you want.
 
How about composing your own body percussion by using different parts of your body for each symbol? Try it with your family and share the parts out.
 
We would love to see what you come up with together! 
 
Musication video
 

Line Rider
We absolutely love this version of the piece, the animation is really cool! Keep an eye out for the different symbols in the music, showing where it is to be played loud and soft.

 Line Rider
 

Today is Bee Day! For some fun Bee activities, click on this link to the Green Schools' page: stphilomenasns.weebly.com/green-schools.html

Weekly Roundup
18th May 2020
It's Singfest week!
As many of you may know, this week was meant to be our Singfest week, with our Big Sing Days for Primary and Secondary Schools, our Gala Concert and Community Sing due to take place. Due to the current crisis, our events, along with many others had to be cancelled.
Instead, we are sharing a few memories and videos from last year's festival. You might spot yourself somewhere along the way!
Our artistic director Greg Beardsell is also very disappointed to miss this year's Singfest and has sent us a very special message which you can see by hitting the button below:
Greg's message  

Junior & Senior Infants
The Big Sing for Little Singers
This year was going to be the first year that we had a Big Sing for some of our youngest singers in Junior and Senior Infants.
Maybe you might remember some of the songs you already learnt, and would like to sing along with them here for your families.
There are also some new songs you might like to have a go at learning yourself at home!
Click here to sing along  


Big Sing Days 2019: 1st - 6th Class
Your families are probably wondering what Singfest is all about. You might like to show them this video from Singfest 2019 so they can see why we have so much fun at Singfest and why we all love it so much!
Singfest 2019 
Gala Concert 2019

Some of you also took part in our Gala Concert last year singing with children from other schools.
We are delighted to share these videos of your fantastic performance with you all!

Riversong  

The Cat Came Back was a really fun song to perform, you might remember your parts in this one!

The Cat Came Back  

The big finale to our Gala Concert was the song This Is Me, which was performed by all of our choirs together.

This is Me  

The Big Sing 2020
To keep up with your practice, here are the songs that we were working on for this year's Big Sing.
Don't worry of you didn't learn them all, there are practice tracks and music included for your part to help you.
All of our songs are in 2 parts and you would have learnt either the top part or the lower part.


If you are in 1st, 2nd or 3rd class practice Part 1
If you are in 4th, 5th or 6th class, practice Part 2.


If you are not sure which part you were learning, ask an adult to send us an email and we can check it for you and let you know.


Our email address is musicgen@offalycoco.ie



The Lighthouse
The button below will take you to a file in Google Drive with the different parts for this song. You will find both the music and words and a recording of your own part that you can sing along.


There is also a video of the full song if you would like to listen to all the parts together.
The Lighthouse 

A Child of Song
We love this jazzy song! You might remember that this song is a round, where our choir splits into parts and follow each other.
If you are singing Part 1 you are the leader all the time, and if you sing Part 2 you follow!
Some of you were singing the Descant Part, which comes in last, but don't worry if you can't remember which part you were singing - try them all!

A Child of Song 

Circle of Life
This song should already be familiar to you, it's from the Lion King. Watch the video to help you pronounce some of the words. 
Take your time and repeat each phrase with the children in the video until you know them well.

Circle of Life  
   

​

Have a look at the Green Schools blog for a fun 'Insect Hunt' activity that you can do in your back garden! Go to'School Activities', then click on 'Green Schools'. 
​Enjoy! 

Music Roundup

11th May 2020

The Science of Sound

This week we thought we would share some cool science experiments to help you see sound! 
 
Musical instruments create sound by moving the air all round them back and forth, sending out sound waves or vibrations that our ears pick up and our brain processes as notes and music.
 
Below are some experiments that will help you to "see" sound, they are really easy, and you will find everything you need for them in your house!

How does sound work?

Sound is made up of vibrations, or sound waves, that we can hear. These sound waves are caused by objects vibrating, or moving backwards and forwards really quickly. 
 
All sounds a bit confusing doesn't it? This video from House of Sound should help!

 What is Sound?
 


How do musical instruments make sound?

House of Sound have lots of videos showing us how different musical instruments make sound.
 
This video is all about woodwind instruments, which are instruments that you blow into to make a sound. Have a go at making your own woodwind instrument!

 Woodwinds
 

Make the sprinkles dance!

For this experiment you will need some cling film, scissors, sprinkles or rice, a bowl and a plate.
 
You could also use a speaker instead of humming and play some music through it right next to the bowl.

 Dancing Sprinkles
 


Cymatics

Cymatics shows us what sound vibrations look like. High and low sounds make the sprinkles or rice move in different ways and even make patterns appear. 
 
Have a look at this video and see for yourself how cool it is! 

 Cymatics
 
You might be interested to have a look behind the scenes to see how the experiments were put together.
 
Remember they were performed under very strict conditions and need to be conducted in a laboratory.
Do not try any of them at home!

 Experiments
 
Even Disney include the science of sound in their movies.
Check out the Tesla Coils making music in the Sorcerer's Apprentice
and note the lightning cage!!!

 Movie Clip
 

Weekly Roundup
4th May 2020
May the 4th be with you!!

Hello again everyone, we hope you are all keeping well and busy at home with lots of different activities each day. As it's Star Wars day on May 4th, we have included some Star Wars themed activities this week, along with a game you can do with things you will find in your kitchen!

John Williams

John Williams is a film composer who has composed the music for all of the Star Wars films, as well as over 100 other films that you may know like Jurrassic Park, ET, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter to name a few. You might have more movies at home with music composed by John Williams.
 Have a look at the video below to see John Williams working with and conducting the choir and orchestra recording part of the soundtrack to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
 Keep an eye on the screen behind the choir!

 Click Here!
 
In composing the music for Star Wars, John Williams created different themes for each character and here are some of the more well known themes below. Ask permission to go online and see if you can find more themes to listen to.

Darth Vader's theme: The Imperial March 

One of the most well known themes is Darth Vader's theme, also known as The Imperial March - it always gives me goosebumps when I hear it!
 
Click below to see John Williams conducting the LA Philharmonic Orchestra and see if you can recognise which instruments are playing. (Here's a hint, the trumpets start off first!)

 Darth Vader's theme
 


Rey's theme / Kylo Ren's theme


We first meet Rey in Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Her theme is very different to Darth Vader's theme. It is played on flutes at the beginning instead of loud trumpets, and has a much lighter feel to it, not so scary!
 
We also meet Kylo Ren in Episode VII. His theme sounds more creepy and dark, reminding us that he comes from the Dark Side of the Force.
 
Have a listen to them both here and see if you can tell the difference between them.

 

Rey's Theme
 

Kylo Ren's Theme
 

Star Wars: Main Theme

Probably the most familiar theme from the Star Wars films, it is used at the opening of each movie in the series.
 
Trumpets play the main theme first, then the strings take over. Have a look at this video below from the BBC Proms a couple of years ago and you can see which instruments are playing each time.

 

Star Wars Main Theme
 


Maybe Star Wars is not your thing...


Our friend Rob has made more fun videos using things you find in the kitchen, and the whole family can get involved in this activity. All you need for this one is a bowl or pot, something to tap it with, and concentration!
 
Rob uses Ta or Ti-Ti (Ki-di) rhythms in this game, seems simple enough - make sure you listen carefully to the game instructions!

 

Rob's Kitchen Music
 

Here is an important message to our girls inspired by a poem Ms. Gaffey's class composed and very kindly put together by Ms. O' Meara. Enjoy the long weekend everyone. Please click here.