Music in Action

Music and Science workshops for  Primary 4 – 7

 The Workshop

What’s your favourite song? Do you have a favourite film? Is there a TV advert that you like more than others?

Have you noticed how the music can make you feel happy or sad, excited or calm, nostalgic, romantic, scared or angry?

In these sessions we will set out to explain how and why music has such an effect on us, and how it is used in theatre, film, television and in songs to do the job of communicating ideas and telling stories.

We will listen to music from theatre, film and television, discuss how it makes us feel and what pictures it brings to mind.

Then, we will take apart some musical instruments to find out some of the science of how music works – How is sound made? What are sound waves? How do our ears work? What happens when different sounds get mixed up?

This leads us into the psychology of music – how we respond to hearing major and minor modes, melody, rhythm and repetition, harmony and dissonance, discovering and exploring the techniques that composers can use to affect the way we feel.

Finally, bringing together all that we have learned, we will use our voices and instruments to compose our own sound underscore for a chosen story, culminating in a performance of the finished piece.

Aims and anticipated outcomes

• To encourage active critical listening and develop an understanding of how different arts media collaborate to convey meaning
• To encourage recognition and discussion of emotional and imaginative responses, providing a vocabulary and entry point for the further development of emotional literacy.
• To introduce scientific concepts (sound waves, frequency, the harmonic series etc) in an exciting, clear and accessible way.
• To develop awareness of music and sound as it affects and influences our daily lives
• To create, organise and develop musical ideas
• To provide an opportunity for practical music-making that is accessible to all
• To develop pupils thinking and problem-solving skills
• To improve pupils interpretation, communication and presentation skills
• To raise pupils self esteem and confidence
• To encourage innovative and creative approaches to teaching and learning in sciences.