Musik, Serious Gaming und Konzentrationsfähigkeit – mit der App entdecken die Kinder die Magie der klassischen Musik mit interaktiven Spielen.
Activity 1
Listen to music
Whole class
15 min.
Teacher:
“Can you remember what Smetana wanted to represent musically with the 'Vltava'? Listen to a short excerpt from the music again.”
A3: Vltava's main theme (play)
Answer:
Smetana wanted to depict the flow of a river - the Vltava.
Teacher:
"I will now play two pieces of music. As you listen, decide if the music you hear sounds like the flow of a river (thumbs up) or not (thumbs down)"
A9-10: Vltava's main theme: staccato/legato (play one track after the other)
Teacher:
“Which of the two pieces of music sounded the most like a river? What differences did you notice between the two pieces?
Answer:
'Vltava's main theme' was played in two different ways on the piano. In the first one, the notes played were detached - staccato (it sounded a bit like the hammering of a woodpecker). In the second one, all the notes were tied together - legato (it sounded a bit like the curved body of a dolphin). Have a look a the musical symbols represented on these pictures.
Info
Legato is good for depicting something flowing, such as water. The tie you can see over the music shows this very clearly. You can imagine that the tie represents the curved body of a dolphin.
Staccato, i.e. choppy or detached playing, is indicated by a dot above or below the note. The dot means that the notes are only played very briefly and not connected to each other. It sounds like a woodpecker tapping on a tree.
Teacher:
“These different ways of playing music on instruments is called articulation. We will now listen to more musical examples for each type of articulation. Can you hear whether it’s played staccato or legato?”
A11-12: Musical examples: staccato/legato (play one track after the other)
Activity 2
Create music
in groups
30 min.
M5 printout
Teacher:
“We are now going to become composers and storytellers! Each group will create a sound fairytale and act it out using character, weather and location cards.”
Instructions
1. The class is divided into two groups.
2. In each group we need:
- a storyteller to tell the story
- actors (characters, weather, locations)
- orchestra musicians to accompany the story with percussion instruments
- a director to give cues and coordinate the story and the orchestra
3. M5: Sound fairytale cards (each group draws 2 character cards, 2 weather cards and 2 location cards)
4. Using these cards, students have to come up with a short story. One child tells the story (storyteller). Some children act out the story (actors), and others perform it using percussion instruments (orchestra musicians). One child coordinates everything (director).
5. The stage is at the front.
Here is an example of what a soundfairy tale could look like:
The following cards are drawn:
- 2 character cards: child + dragon
- 2 location cards: city + forest
- 2 weather cards: thunderstorm + night
The story is first introduced by the storyteller who shares the title of the fairytale and starts narrating. Music plays briefly.
Once upon a time there was a child (character card: child comes on stage). She/He lived in the city (map: children act as the facades of houses), where everything sounded very loud all day long (orchestra musicians: play loud music). Suddenly a thunderstorm started (weather card: children stamp their feet on the floor) and a dragon (character card: dragon comes on stage) appeared. The child was frightened (character card: child acts frightened), but the dragon was kind and invited the child on a journey. Together, they flew (character cards: child and dragon shake hands and walk through the forest) over the forest (map: children pose as trees) and lovely sounds were heard (orchestra musicians: create sounds of the rain). When they returned, it was night (weather map: children cover their eyes) and the child happily fell asleep (orchestra musicians: play soft music at the end).
If there's still time...
... groups can imagine more stories and/or give each other appreciative feedback.
... play a concentration game in which the two musical articulations are translated into movements. First, the teacher (and then individual children) names a type of articulation and the class responds with the following movements: legato - flowing arm movements, staccato - fast clapping.
Skills learned in this lesson:
Students…
… learn how Smetana uses musical articulations to make the flow of water audible.
... learn about two different forms of articulation in music: staccato and legato.
... create their own fairytale and accompany it with improvised music.