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Music

All pupils at Lower Park receive lessons on music making, performance and appreciation. Pupils are offered lessons on the recorder and Key stage 2 children have the opportunity to learn a variety of instruments. These include woodwind, brass, guitar, piano, keyboard, violin and viola. The School is regularly involved in musical work for school performances. In 1987 the School won the BBC television "A Song for Christmas" Competition and also reached the final in1988 and 1996. The school has also won the Sunday Telegraph Christmas Carol Competition. During the Summer Term all KS2 pupils perform in a major show. They also take part in other events with KS1 pupils, for example the Christmas Concerts.

Peripatetic instrumental tuition is available. A charge is made for these lessons. This complies fully with statutory requirements.

Whatever you are studying in Music there maybe something useful for you to look at on the web. Here is a list of useful sites which may help with your music lessons or learning an instrument.

If you come across other good Music sites e-mail them to your Lower Park Web Editors saying why you think they are 'cool'.

Catalogue of Classical Composers
Biographies of composers from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th century eras are featured in this extensive catalogue. A useful feature is the linking of descriptive terms in the biographies to a music dictionary, so if you are unsure about what Bach's use of counterpoint means, one click will take you to a definition. Good for use at Key Stage 3 and 4.

Children's Music
Word play, story, metre and melody feature strongly in this site and can be used in a variety of ways to teach phonics, rhythm and pitch. The site is suitable for Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils and the teachers part of the site has a useful section where the songs are arranged into themes suitable for school plays.

Earth Sounds
Key Stage 2 pupils will enjoy the shipwreck challenge - learning to communicate to survive. This includes information on hearing, deafness and transmission of sound waves. Alternatively, download animal sounds and pictures to help Lauren Gazelle compose a 'Natural Symphony', or discover the secrets of drums and follow the instructions to create a Native American water drum. A fun and varied resource for Key Stage 2 science and music topics.

Energy in the Air: Sounds from the Orchestra
Ever wondered how an orchestra is arranged? This excellent music site will explain every section and provides sound files to listen to (you'll need Real Player to hear them), and recommended compositions worth finding. Much of the information is science-based, particularly in the explanations of sound, so as a cross-curricular resource it is useful. Some interesting sound-related practical projects make for simple experimentation and complete this exceptional music resource for Key Stage 2 and above.

Fun Music Ideas
Fun Music Ideas is a culmination of musical ideas, lessons, tips and tricks and a lot more, offered by hundreds of music teachers around the world. The resources are updated monthly; there are over 30 pages of information and it is still growing. It is an ideal site for finding ways to introduce pupils to the nuances of music theory and practice.

Hop Pop Town
This excellent website for children aged 3-10 is a great introduction to the world of music. It requires the free Shockwave plug-in and, once downloaded, children can choose from nine games and quizzes to learn about notes, scales, pitch, tempo and the instruments of the orchestra. There is also a quiz and a writing game which would provide useful cross-curricular links.

KIDiddles
The star of this site is MoJo, a 'singin', swingin' music mouse-chine'. She'll be happy to take you on a guided tour of her musical 'mouseum', where you'll find almost 2000 song lyrics suitable for children aged 5-11. The songs are easy to find as they're well organised alphabetically and by category or you can use the search engine.

Make at Home Sound Effects
Tom Keith likes to make noises, he specialises in making sound effects for radio programmes. In this site he tells a story using ordinary objects like a comb, a newspaper and a pair of shoes to make the sound effects. Key Stage 1 pupils would enjoy making the sounds that accompany his story and using their imagination to make sound effects with other suggested objects.

Mr Note's Gameland
This music site is suitable for children at Key Stage 2 and provides games and quizzes on a variety of subjects including composers, instruments and notation. A certain level of musical knowledge is needed but this site is clear, compact and fun to use. Best viewed using Netscape.

Music Notes: an interactive online musical experience
This comprehensive site contains information on music theory, style, instruments and history. Suitable for music students of all ages and levels, you can take a break from studying and still learn by playing the musical word games or listening to extracts and trying to identify them. Neatly laid out and supported by a dense glossary and appropriate links.

Music in the National Curriculum
This is a practical and informative resource for teaching music at Key Stages 1 and 2. There are numerous suggestions for progressing through the musical elements and developing skills necessary for the understanding, performing and composing of music. It is a very useful guide with content easily downloaded.

Percussion for Kids
The site's purpose is to advertise a percussion show, but there are some good ideas on percussion activities for teachers to try with Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils. Follow the links for lots of activities and lesson ideas which introduce the concepts of vibration, volume, amplification, pitch and frequency.

PlayMusic
A fun, Shockwave-driven music site for children that includes games, animation and audio files. These features explain the role of different instruments and their music groups such as strings, percussion, woodwind and brass. There are also plenty of musical extracts performed by young musicians and some straightforward learning activities for children at Key Stages 1 and 2.

Rain Stick
This is a great making activity that any child at either Key Stage 1 or 2 will love. If you haven't already used a rainstick then you are in for a treat. Simply download the activity details and all the children have to do is follow the step-by-step instructions to make their own instrument. Try challenging the children to change the sound of their rainstick or to compose a rainforest medley. A great cross-curricular idea for music, design and technology and geography.

Sounds of the Rainforest
Bring the rainforest to your classroom with this streamed or downloadable sound clip from the Exploratorium of frogs and other night sounds. Use your school instruments or make some of your own to recreate the wide range of eerie sounds in your own class. A great opportunity for cross-curricular links with science.

The Land of Music
Enter the Land of Music and visit Quincy Quarter Note, Walter Whole Rest and many of their friends at this attractive site aimed at young children learning about music for the first time. You can print and colour the friendly musical characters or listen to the singalong songs. A simple introduction for pupils at Key Stage 1.

World of Music
A bright site, this provides information and soundclips on selected instruments from Africa, Japan and South America. It would make a useful research tool for a project about different musical styles around the world. Teachers could ask students to identify the different instruments after hearing their sounds.