Week beginning 20/04/2020

Music which is fast and slow

Our topic this week is ‘Tempo’, which means the speed of the music.

Listen to different pieces of music which are very fast or very slow, or perhaps some which get faster or slower or have several speed changes within the piece.  There are a few suggestions below if you can’t think of any yourself, but feel free to use your favourite songs.

Here are a few activity ideas that you might like to try:

Move around the room / dance to the speed of the music

Clap / stamp / march in time to the music

Wave ribbons/scarves to the music 

Bang a drum / saucepan / table / floor in time to the music

If you have any percussion instruments, you can use them to play along to the music

Use your voice – make short, fast sounds, and then long, slow sounds.  Sing a simple song (e.g. a nursery rhyme) at different speeds

Take turns with others in the household to give instructions such as:

Play fast / play slow / get faster / get slower

Ask the question “Am I playing fast or slow?”

Use the AnyTune app to change the speed of any music/songs that are on your device – this is really fun!

Use an app such as Kaosillator to create a rhythm track – try varying the speed  (beats per minute – BPM)

We’d love to see any videos/photographs/sound recordings of your music-making / dancing!

Suggested music for listening:

Fast music:

Flight of the Bumblebee (Rimsky-Korsakoff)

Assassin (Muse)

Runaway Baby (Bruno Mars)

William Tell Overture: Final (Rossini)

Supercalifragalisticexpialidocious (Mary Poppins)

Slow music:

Come Away With Me (Norah Jones)

Unintended (Muse)

The Swan (Saint-Saens)

Gymnopedie No. 1 (Erik Satie)

Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King)

Music with tempo (speed) changes:

Nelly the Elephant – has slow and quick sections

Come on Eileen – slows down at around 3 minutes, then speeds up again

In the Hall of the Mountain King (Grieg) / Zorba the Greek (Theodorakis) / The Sailor’s Hornpipe – these pieces all get quicker and quicker building up to a big climax

 

Can you think of any others?